Another Palm in the 'Hood

 

Oakland Palm at Chinese Garden Park
8" x 8" watercolor
Fluid cold press paper

More palm practice from a photo I took at the Chinese Garden Park in Oakland. We often go by it as we emerge from the tunnel that connects Alameda to Oakland. 

More Palm Practice

Alameda Palms2
8" x 8" watercolor
Fluid cold press paper

Maybe not as much joy as the last one. This one's overworked, but it does make me smile just the way the tree at the corner park does, especially when the ice plant is in bloom--like now.  

It helps to paint today even though my mind, like everyone's, is on Ukraine.  

Palm Practice

Alameda Palms
8" x 8" watercolor on Fluid cold press watercolor paper

Just when you think you'll never again paint something you like, you hit one that gives you joy. Gosh almighty, how lucky to be in love with a watercolor painting learning curve.

And how lucky to be inspired by Canadian artist Shari Blaukopf, whose online course, "Behind the Palms," inspired this little painting. Shari had us practice painting palms from her reference photos taken in Florida, and then I applied what I learned to these palms in my 'hood in Alameda. This city's iconic palms continue to tickle my fancy, even after three years.

In April I plan to meet and study with Shari Blaukopf in person. She's such a great teacher. I've taken several of her online courses, which are not expensive and are permanently accessible. She's a fabulous artist, a great teacher, and amazingly generous about giving feedback to her online students--for as long as they want. 

SF Bay: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

The Watchers 
8" x 10" watercolor
on Arches 100% cotton cold press paper

I always enjoy watching the brown pelicans watch from their offshore perches. 

SF Bay, you are the gift that keeps on giving. 

Another Try

Snowy Iowa Field2
7" x 8" watercolor on Arches 100% cotton cold press paper

Last time I used a triad of colors: Winsor Newton Cerulean Blue (Red Shade), WN Yellow Ochre, and WN Permanent Alizarin Crimson.  

This time a different triad: Winsor Newton Prussian Blue, Daniel Smith New Gamboge, Winsor Newtown Permanent Alizarin Crimson. 

Happier with the sky on this one. Maybe too much granulating in the sky on the last one due to the Cerulean Blue  But maybe happier with the looseness on the last one. 

Both evoke happy memories of learning to love the rural landscape while living alongside this pasture x ten years.  

 

Iowa, How About More of THIS?

 

Snowy Iowa Field
6" x 8" watercolor on Arches 100% cotton cold press paper

Despite objections by many landowners across Iowa, my home state may be poised to approve 1600+ miles of CO2 pipelines to ferry CO2 from Iowa ethanol and fertilizer companies to permanent sequestration—that is, if the CO2 isn’t sold to fossil fuel companies for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). One pipeline might lead to North Dakota and the other to southern Illinois. The proposed route for the one leading to Illinois would go right through this pasture I have painted.

In fact, it appears that a "massive buildout" of CO2 pipelines may be taking place, and not just in Iowa, according to a recent a recent HuffPost article by Dan Zegart. He writes that the fossil fuel industry has gotten behind this technology that they hope will allow continued production as long as the emissions are buried underground.

Yes, we need less CO2 in the atmosphere. Theoretically, carbon capture and sequestration makes sense, but there are so many unknowns to this new technology that it makes me really nervous to have CO2 pipelines crisscrossing the underbelly of Iowa. That’s why I’m doing my research, as I hope all Iowans are doing right now, because this project is moving fast.

Meanwhile, see this snowy field above? It’s a 40-acre grassy plot that together with other grasslands and forests in the U.S., helps offset about 12 to 19 percent of the U.S.’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2017 U.S.D.A. report, “Considering Forest and Carbon Grassland in Management.”

Iowa, how about more of this?

Holly in the 'Hood

 

Holly in the 'Hood
8" x 8" watercolor on Arches 100% cotton cold press paper

Holly bushes near our dwelling are all gussied up in reds and greens. They make me smile, as do warm January afternoons spent on the nearby beach with grandsons. Life in northern California is pretty darned good.