Excited

 

Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve

Graphite Pencil, Watercolor, and Gouache

on 7" x 7" Arches 100% Cotton Hot Press Paper

Richard Thorn, I don't know you but I sure appreciate you. Your short video on using pencil with watercolors just could be a game-changer. I've thought this before about other artist-influencers, but this seems like it could be for real. 

Like a Rubber Band

 

Another House in the Alameda Hood

Watercolor and Gouache

8" x 10" on Arches 100% Cotton cold press

So. You try a new style in the vein of someone like Frank Francese, whose quick, colorful, expressive paintings you admire. You learn a little as you try to make those quick strokes and operate more intuitively, but your own style pulls you back like a rubber band. The end result isn’t Frank, at all. It’s you.

You can’t even articulate what your own style is. Yet. You see each effort as a whole jumble of mistakes.

But way back in the inner recesses of your heart, your own style is there, just waiting to be embraced. By you.

 

Flying Above It All

 Lake Merritt, Oakland

8" x 12" Watercolor and Gouache

on Arches 100% cotton cold pressed paper

Like everyone else during this time of poor air quality and still-sheltering-mostly-in-place in the SF/Bay area, I'm missing the ease of what used to be...like walking around Lake Merritt, which seems too crowded these days, and playing gin rummy with my husband at the Lake Chalet outdoor bar, next to the lake.   

Today, it helped to paint this scene. What caught my eye when I took the photo months ago were those birds, flying above it all. May we all find that place within that lets us fly above it all. 

Strong Like a Rock

"Strong Like a Rock" 

Tennessee Cove Beach

8" x 12" watercolor

on Arches 100% cotton cold press

It's a time to dig deep. To cultivate equanimity. To be strong like a rock.