flower poetry

 I am itching to take a day trip and haven't been able to.

So any chance I get, I take these little short photo excursions around my neighborhood.

Today I went up Guadalupe Trail. 

It's a street full of beautiful adobes, large and small, old and new.

And some people have really pretty flowers.

I also saw a mama horse and her little baby.

Mama was getting nuzzled.

 Oh, Georgia - if you could only see these!

I think poppies are in my top three of beautiful flowers.

 These are all in one beautiful yard.

I didn't want to get out of my car, 

so I pulled up the wrong way on the quiet street

and shot out of my car window.

Isn't this a gorgeous iris?

If I would've come about five days earlier, I would've gotten all of the blooms.

 Poppies and roses

  This is pink roses, yellow yarrow, a gorgeous purple and white iris,

and orange iris. Really, orange?
Never seen one of those in person before.

 This is Mr. Giraffe. At least that's what I call him.

I've photographed him in various stages of fashion ensembles.

He must be getting ready for Memorial Day.

Might dapper, Mr. Giraffe!

 This might be my favorite photo pf the whole group.

Those poppies are so up close and personal.

The sun is shining right through them and there are

lots of little spots of color in the background.

This will be fun to paint, especially with a knife!

 Another view

 Lots of beautiful color in this one!

Reds, pinks, yellows. magenta, purples, and oranges.

Wow, this is wonderful.

I would like to drop a chair right in there

and hang out for a while.

 Hollyhocks with some catmint or lavender in the background

A saint inside a tree.

Can anyone tell me who this is?

I hope you enjoyed my trip through the flower fields!

Next week?
Painting churches and a day trip to Abiquiu.
And getting my gear ready for the Corrales Garden Tour paint-out!

seeing red...in more ways than one

Greetings!

Today has been a weird day.

It started off really well - I woke up, slept good, then went to Planet Fitness to work out.

I had a good workout riding the bike for 45 minutes. Until...

Until I went to get into my car, and it wouldn't start.

Okay, I'm pretty laid back.

I usually just try to let things roll off of me.

I don't usually get very stressed.

BUT....we have put over $2000 into this car just since August.

I was seeing red. Lots of red. Frustrated red.

So my trusty husband came and jump-started me and off we went to the mechanic.

Turns out we need a new battery. Another $155.

But worth it for a car that runs and starts when I need it to.

So I got dropped off at my house, and I was so tense.

Just hyped up and couldn't seem to get motivated to do anything.

I decided to make myself some lunch, sat down on the couch 

and became a certified couch potato for an hour.

I watched Millionaire Matchmaker and LA Shrink.

Those two crazy shows put my problems into perspective and I felt better.

I finally made it into the studio and finished toning my panels.

And yes, they were red. But a calming reddish-orange, not mean and angry red.

And I slowly began to breathe again.....

Here are a few photos my toning process.

 On the left is a SOLD commission still life in the works.

It will be a blue vase of poppies. And the poppies will be sort of a dark fuschia red.

the red you see in that little red frame on the right.

When I tone, I do the panels all at once and they are put everywhere - on top of photos, 

on top of a roll of upstanding paper towels, on top of my paints. 

I even have one balancing on top of my trash can.

But look at how organized my table looks!

Enjoy it while it lasts...

 Oh I'm sorry, I have not one but TWO panels balanced on my trash can.

I even have one lying on top of my brushes. 

My bad.

A semi-arial view of toned canvas everywhere.

I think I toned about seventy-five of those babies.

Now what to do?

More on that later....