ON BEING TAGGED

Two different artists have tagged me in recent weeks and I haven't had time to respond until recently...so I'll take a stab at it over the next few days. I'm in Texas with my best boy, Jay, and that is priority for me. But in essence, if you are tagged, tell seven things interesting, preferably unknown about yourself and tag seven people you think deserve recognition.

1. I am pretty much a loner and can exist for long periods without leaving the grounds or studios. I can survive on netflix, cream of wheat, organic veg. broth, chocolate, some fruit, no phone, no visitors, music.
2. Fortunately for me my husband is a musician -keyboards, piano, jazz, funk, soul, any kind of rock ,every genre -so there is always a good soundtrack behind everything at my house.
3. We have a family conference every night in the livingroom, always at the same time with our animals....they insist. Everyone gets a loving and a kissing, and fluffing and petting and the dogs compete to see who can pick up more dog toys in their mouth.
4. Silly Girl is a terrier/australian shepherd; Puppy is a border collie/australian shepherd; Mother's Baby is a main coon with six toes and a puff ball tail; Sweetie-sweet-sweet is a black and tortise maincoon/mix. I saved all of them from the "end" at the pound.
5. I honestly get along best with babies, small children, dogs and cats. The first thing I ever teach new babies of any race or breed is to give a kiss, always gotta get the puppy kisses. On babies, neck meat and chubby cheeks are the best, then toes.
6. I am married to a guy from highschool who would never go with me anywhere I tried to get him to go. I grew up on the south shore of Long Island in the 50's and 60's and was a wild surf girl with a volkswagen and a long board and he always had to rake the lawn or practice piano. We married in our livingroom 35 years later.
7. I have always lived in very old spaces with ghosts who have made themselves known to me. I always took the message very seriously and stepped back from the brink of despaireach time. jb

Now for the tagging part....have to work on that a bit...stay tuned.jb

KARIN JURICK'S BEST BOOTS

I have been painting, working, healing, working, painting. Blogging went by the wayside. I'm leaving for Texas tomorrow until after the new year. I shipped my paints so I can at least keep up with Karin Jurick's Different Strokes blog challenge. This close up of one of her boots was this week's challenge. I gave my self four hours over two days and still I over-painted. There are, again, at least three great paintings under this final. I love the colors though.

Special thanks to those folks who have tagged me in the last few weeks. This is indeed a special honor and I hope to carry on the game as soon as I get to Texas. I have to get three to four weeks of legal work out before I can ever take off. So I couldn't get a blog entry in even though I'm working on six small paintings.
Take care, my friends, and enjoy this winter solstice season. jb

BLEAK COVE

The last few days have started out marvelously brilliant. By late afternoon you definitely knew it was fall. I caught the cove just as the brilliant light faded back. Standing at the edge of the cove, one could feel the rising damp coolness of the beach below. Said a prayer for a dying friend.
I'm lost...I can't seen to put it all together. jb

LOW TIDE

This is the first painting I'v completed from my first "walk" after knee surgery; Just down to the dog beach around the point in Baywood. This is my first view in the morning and the last view at night..never tire of the scene...so fortunate this is my home. My goal was to work fast and lose yet still catch the wonderful quality of light and atmosphere of early morning tidal flats. jb

GOLDEN EVENING

This is one of the last paintings I did before the October show and one of the first to sell. It never fails....whenever I do something just for myself, no real purpose...it's the first work to go. jb

UPSIDE DOWN

Well, finally back in the saddle.The last four months have been a joyride of sorts. The first of October was dedicated to getting ready for our county Open Studio Tour which goes on through October. In November daughter and grandchild moved from EastCoast to West Coast and stayed with us during the transition. Pure Joy! even though I had fallen in August and now had surgery for knee tear etc. Bad News falling when you are older.
However this is a painting on Karin Jurick's Different Strokes Blog I participate in. Ceck it out. the link is also to the right. You had to paint the piece upside down. Just focus on the shape.
After not painting for two months it was tough to get back to work. jb

BLUE WAVE

High surf warnings and monster breaking wave...that's all the entertainment we need this weekend. "What did you do this weekend?" "Watched waves break." and paint. jb

WHITE PUMPKINS

White Pumpkins, Second Try. I got so wound up painting this week, I decided to do my own portrait just for kicks, which is a real stretch for me. I started it as I was finishing this one, so I had to walk away so I'd get the pumpkin colours out of my head.
Getting out to the studio every day, especially early,what a difference. Every day I understand my oils a little better...what does what when. I've been consciously putting together all the little tips I'm reading and observing and It's starting to come together. jb

CHALLANGE NUMBER 4

This work in in response to Karin Juric's Different Strokes From Different Folks blog. I loved this subject matter so much I painted it twice from different perspectives. jb

SEPTEMBER LATE AFTERNOON

I painted this pochade just as the afternoon warmth began to fade. The water was so still; I was mesmerized by the light and my elevated perspective. Lovely afternoon daydreaming.

In response to a comment on the prior post: I have been watching Karin Juric's videos so I was most definitely influenced by her beautiful work...but really, I went back to basics and broke it all down piece by piece into shapes and values which I took also from Carol Marine's workshop. My muse is "The Jas de Bouffon" by Cezanne, at the very begining of this blog; the brushstrokes!

I just focused on what info was given me, Karin's mandate. Thank you so much for noticing. jb