I’ve been painting again.

Music from a saw

I am hopeless at multitasking. When I paint I don’t blog, and I seem to need to paint all the time. And silly Facebook takes up computer time.

The young man above, playing a saw, I took a photo of in San Francisco a couple of years ago. The sounds coming from the saw were heavenly and he was beautiful. Nobody was paying the slightest attention.

South Island Diptych

The diptych was done from about 3 photos and some imagination. The photos were all taken in the South Island New Zealand. Jerry and I had a long tour last fall (spring in New Zealand) with my dear cousin Jocelyn and her Irish husband, Albert.

Serenade in Zhou Zhaung

The Chinese musician in this painting serenaded my daughter, her husband and me in a little restaurant in the Chinese “Venice”. The streets of Zhou Zhaung are canals. The restaurant was built out over the river. The food was peculiar, but the view was great.

Emu seen in Florida

The emu was on a farm in Florida. I took a picture of it at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of my grandson which was held at the farm. I thought the background was not interesting, so I found a short video of an emu in Australia in an environment a bit like the one in the painting. The photo of the emu that I took had its feet obscured by grass and I wanted to paint feet on it. I had no idea what emu feet look like, but I thought I might try to Google “emu feet”. The web is wonderful. I immediately got images of emu feet in all positions.

Peacock in Santo Domingo

The peacock was in Santo Domingo where I went a couple of years ago to visit my granddaughter who was there working in the Peace Corps.

Turkey in Florida grass

The turkey was on the same farm as the emu. I needed help with its feet (too much grass) so I googled “turkey feet” and was rewarded with lots of pictures and recipes too. (There were no recipes for emu feet.)

Queenstown Buskers

The buskers in Queenstown, New Zealand were energetic and appeared to be having a good time. The onlooker was unimpressed.

Salome, Arizona

Jerry and I had to go to Salome, Arizona to take care of some property that belonged to his late brother. I call this painting my “I hate Arizona” painting. It seemed like a benighted, desolate place where you can get nasty diseases (Jerry’s brother got Valley Fever there) and where everyone has a gun. But the painting turned out to be one that quite a few people like.

Planning an Expedition in Dominican Republic

My granddaughter’s work in the Peace Corps was in a small village about 2 hours by bus from Santo Domingo. She was working with youth groups and teaching adolescents about AIDS prevention. She worked with some of the kids in the painting above. I thought they were nice kids and they looked happy and healthy.

These paintings were all completed in the last six months. They are hanging now in the Artisan Wine Gallery which is a short walk from my house. They all have prices on them, but I can’t help hoping they don’t sell. I have some of my older paintings displayed at the Willows, our local super high end restaurant and inn. I hope those don’t sell either, but the paintings are beginning to accumulate and take up too much space. It’s a dilemma.