Peony Season

May 15 ::




I am wondering what defines a "season." Of course we have our seasons of the year... summer, fall, winter and spring. But just now I feel like making a point of recognizing more seasons. Sadly, we have started acknowledging Fire season, with those increasingly larger and more frequent fires we suffer in the West. But, no... I am thinking of watermelon season, when nearly any melon will be crisp and sweet, beach season, when the tourists have left but we are still having hot days, warm water, and plenty of daylight. Lilac season is fleeting and beautiful. Peony season, for us, depends on our Trader Joes bringing in regular shipments of these gorgeous blossoms, and we treat ourselves almost every week, maybe for an entire month.

May 16 ::


I want it to always be swing season, and kitty time, and art making season.

May 17 ::

Our teacher asked us to photograph each of our finished assignments, to email those to her. Our last day of oil painting class is coming up, and our works will be critiqued. I don't know if I will ever feel as comfortable with oil paints as I got with watercolors, but... objectively, and self-critically, I can admit that I learned a lot, and perhaps, it even shows in my paintings.

Quality time with Masaccio, while his family celebrates Andy's graduation from Boston College.

May 18 ::
Here they are, the five large paintings I completed for my first oil painting class. (Do I say "oil painting" too much? Sorry, if I do, but it's necessary. It was a challenging class, with layers and weight, with a burden that compels me to say "oil painting" just to convey the force and substance of the experience. I say this in a serious tone, but winking.)

May 19 ::
When the first petals fell, I was even more deeply infatuated with Peony Season. And I let them stay, and sighed every time I walked by them, thinking, Even as they fade, they are too beautiful to sweep away.

Masaccio and Paper Sack Season. He is deeply infatuated.

May 20 ::
The moon being brilliant, even through the lens of a cell phone camera.

May 22 ::



I think because my oil paints were put away, and the class finished, I felt the wide open and clear calendar space, mental and emotional liberty... and so I started rummaging through storage bins of old and unfinished projects, works in progress. I pulled out pieces that are at least 12 years old, and I think I just initiated Quilt Piecing Season.

(This post was back-blogged on June 30, 2019.)

The New Trail

May 10 :: Walking the New Rail Trail







May 11 :: Global Scratch Day
Bo, Bella, Emma, Doug and Maria~

Ido, Global Scratch Day Organizer for San Diego, and James with San Diego Makers Guild, and Haddington Dynamics.

This year, Maria is teaching 2 vector illustration classes.

Scratch Day 2018.
Scratch Day 2017.




Bex~

Rezah and Stephen, more of our great Scratch team.

Natalie and Bex, seriously.

Leslie, Ido's able and ready partner~

Natalie and Reza, not so seriously.

James and Geoff~


May 12 :: Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day, Ruth~




Everyone feels celebrated when Ruth brings her lemon dessert.


(This post was back-blogged on June 30, 2019.)

Recently...

May 5~












In some ways it feels as though I've been time traveling, and not just in blog posts, but in life. Am I alone? Is anyone astounded that it is May? the other day, I resolved to do something to mark Easter, when I remembered that day has come, and gone. It's May. We have firmly established that it is spring, and Maria is counting how many Mondays of school are remaining. Max has already had mid-terms for his last quarter of his junior year. Geoff is through with crunch-time and the spring training deadline, and onto new projects and goals. William and I agreed, we should open the calendars to mark days, make plans, and ready ourselves for summer, for liberty, destinations, activities, excursions. Alex and Bambi are sharing a countdown, too, and soon they will be done with another semester of classes, and in Japan.

Even my own class will be over, soon, and so I am finishing oil paintings. Have I mentioned? I am in a beginning oil painting class? It started in January, no... it began in February. That seems a long way back, somehow. I am feeling sophomoric about oil painting. Finally, I am developing an understanding of how all the steps come together to complete a painting. The lessons and techniques make sense in a mechanical, rote sense, so at least I know what I am meant to do. But, knowing all of that makes executing the plan almost as hard as knowing nothing at all. It comes to practice, now, I suppose. I need so much more practice, and more than that, and so on.

My physical therapist has become a partner in my art. I see her twice a week, and she helps me recover, relearn, restore. I've learned exercises, means of managing my time and activities, so that I don't slip back into pain, and contortion, as much. Really, without her, I wouldn't be blogging, or painting, driving, making plans. When she works on my neck and shoulders, she knows whether I've been painting, in the garden, or just carrying around worry and aggravation. (Worry and aggravation... My countdown is for the trial, the State of California vs Drunk Lady Driver, and now that I've been subpoenaed and questioned by her attorney, a suited predator with all the appeal of a tick, I am prepared, like a cat, staring into the dark, tense, still, waiting... ready, yet vulnerable.)

I must remember to breath.

Breath, and paint, and walk, and watch for birds, learn their songs. The western bluebirds are back nesting in the birdhouse that hangs from the jacaranda. We watch them, the pair, fly back and forth to the nest, with food for the peeping babies. I wish we could see the babies, too. The father bird is such a blue, brilliant, and fanciful. The mother, wide-eyed and vigilant, seems tireless in her care. They are such a darling couple, a true set.

Cairo is watching birds, too. He has our balcony, now screened, and I've made perches for him, so he can look out, watch. Cairo and Chango keep me company there. As long as we have this spring weather, not too cold, nor windy, nor wet, then I can paint on the balcony. It's become a cat's nest and studio.
In fact, it's so comfortable I almost don't dread the heat of late summer. I like to suppose that with all the windows and doors open, we will have breezes and cross ventilation, and summer will be only hot and bright, not scorching and mad.

May 6~














Yes, like time traveling. I look at these pictures, reminders of changes we've made, improvements, projects completed. We've been so immersed in all of our undertakings, and now the sawdust is settling, the paint drying, and I look around and feel a bit astounded, wondering when did all of this happen? Well, it all happened recently. And, as easy as pie, our Bird House is a Blue Bird House! At last it is painted, and it only took 5 years... laugh out loud, and totally worth it.

William, on our calendars, let's make a note about harvesting apples and apricots. Maybe we should plan a garden party. We can invite friends over to pick fruit and make preserves, and pies. All for sharing.

So much has happened recently, and there is more to look forward to. My thoughts and intentions are traveling back in time, and forward, and for the present, there is much to do...