Blog

Howdy friends!

I just realized that I haven't written in a year, and I don't know how that happened! My ASU classes were keeping me on track with a lot of these things, and I guess it was about a year ago that I decided to take a break and focus on painting. And that's exactly what I've been up to for the past year...lots and lots of painting! Looking back, it looks like I painted 72 pieces; 

one of which was a utility box...

one of which was painted on an old vinyl record...

and one of which blew face down in the sand and was destroyed.

Bye bye sunset painting.

In February, my husband and I took a 3-week trip around Southern California so I could spend uninterrupted time painting the beaches, deserts and mountains around us. We spent a week at Cardiff where I attempted to capture the beautiful greens within the waves, the deep blue of the winter sea and the intense oranges of a golden sunset.

  From there we drove up to Quiet Mind Retreat Center at Lake Cuyamaca and I painted the lake, William Heise Regional Park, and the Julian Pioneer Cemetery. 

After a week in Julian, we drove down to Borrego Springs and I painted the sunrise, moonrise, storm clouds, palm trees...and we did a lot of stargazing from the cowboy hot tub. What an incredible thing to see the stars so clearly and watch them rotating through the sky from one night to the next! The biggest battle of that trip was the cold wind. Unfortunately, I came home with double ear infections, but I feel lucky that I only lost one painting...there were some close calls!

Throughout the spring and summer, I taught my Balboa Park painting class and did lots of paintings and shows. We spent a week in Idyllwild in August for my kid's birthday...I love August in Idyllwild! Here are a couple paintings I did in the garden in the morning before the thunderstorms chased me inside.

And here are the rest of the paintings from this year around San Diego and Redlands.

Ooh also my painting of Space Mountain at Disneyland (still my favorite ride) won an honorable mention in the San Diego Museum of Art Artist's Guild Spring Exhibition! Click the photo to juror James Daichendt's comments on why he chose this painting to receive an award.

In early September I traveled to Vermont to study with one of my heroes, Kathy Anderson. She is a master garden painter who painted with Richard Schmid and the Putney Painters in Vermont. It was one of the most beautiful weeks of my life and I absolutely fell in love with Vermont! We painted still lifes in the studio at the lovely Landgrove Inn, and then we ventured out to paint lush gardens and farms. In the evenings, we ate together and the Inn provided delicious meals by a gourmet chef. At night we drank wine, told stories and I even got to brush up my leading skills by swing dancing with Kathy. It was a week to remember and I returned home with new friends, a new understanding about painting, and an urgent desire to move to New England!

After returning from Vermont, we had a beautiful reception at La Playa Gallery in La Jolla Shores for a three-woman show called "Blossoms and Breeze," with vibrant pieces by Cathy Carey and Cate Dudley, and me. I painted my largest seascape yet for this show, and it's still up if you would like to see it.

So there's my year for ya! Since I quit school and all my normal jobs, I have been choosing to live a life of freedom and adventure. I was so freaked out about not having a "steady income," but when I decided to devote my life to my passion for painting, my income became steadily better than it was before. So I'm grateful for that and grateful that I have passion to keep me going through the hard times. I have plans to spend the rest of the year painting fun seasonal still lifes, holiday twinkle lights and hopefully some rainy California days!

It's been a pleasure meeting you all and staying in touch throughout the seasons. Thank you for coming with me on this painting journey. I wish you a most beautiful holiday season, and I hope to see you soon!

Rebecca