"Point Dume Coreopsis "  Work in progress 11"x14"

I've been involved in so many activities lately that it has been hard to catch up with things that are important.  I've been painting but the last few efforts were so bad that I couldn't even save them to make them decent enough to post them.  

Last week I had gone with Sharon Weaver to paint with the Thursday "Irregulars" group...  It was a cold and grey day, but some of the other painters made absolutely gorgeous paintings.   I didn't.  I totally understood Walter McNally's critique when he talked about my need to mass the shapes rather that daub in individual leaves or flowers.  I tried to save the painting when I got back home but alas... it was a true dud.  On top of  THAT, my regular computer just up and DIED ! We have other computers in the house, but my files and programs that I depend upon and love are out of reach until I can get it fixed.

Over the last weekend I went to two demonstrations and had an art show opening.   I'm going to blog about Karl Dempwolf's demo later this week.   I do however, need to cut back on the weekend art activity.

Today, however, was absolutely glorious.   It had rained last week and again earlier this week so I couldn't get out but everything worked out today for a wonderful, beautiful day.  There was a film crew getting a set ready for a movie of some kind so I had to park far away but when I got to the base of the cliff and began to climb up, that's when the real beauty reviewed itself.

I hiked all over and just gloried in the scene.  I've been in this area before, but never when the coreopsis was in bloom...    Yellow flowers rioted across the top of Pt. Dume and danced in the light breeze. 

I finally settled in and started painting.  Several people came by and made nice comments...  As always, I laughed off the nice comments and said something like it would look better later.  All the while I talked to myself saying that if someone had something nice to say, I should accept it.   I was almost ready to start packing when a nice lady walked by and started talking to me.   We talked about the beauty of the spot and she said something to the effect that when days were this glorious...  if God took her at that moment, it would be okay.  It was a sentiment I totally agreed with.   After a while we exchanged information and she said that she might be interested in the painting.  Wow... A perfect day made even better!

Shortly after she left, I began to pack up in order to get back and volunteer in Tyler's class.  As I came down the cliff, one of the fellows working on the movie set stopped to talk.  He told me that if I waited around for a while I might get to see Tom Cruise.  Ah well...  The day was already perfect and I had to get back to work in class.

Now that I'm home, I can see that the painting needs some work, but I did get the color notes and a bit of a feel for the scene.  I think it's a nice study... one to finish or one to use to make a bigger painting.

WHAT A FABULOUS DAY!!