BUNNIES

     OK, these bunnies were pretty busy getting ready for Easter and all. Coloring eggs, making chocolate bunnies, hipping and hopping down the bunny trail, etc. I managed to talk them into sitting for a quick painting. While I was doing the painting, I learned that the brown bunny on the left was from Ethiopia and still had family back there. The larger fluffy one was a grandfather and had close to 3500 grandchildren. The one in the front that was dressed up had previously worked for a circus along with the Lions and Tigers, but said the pay wasn't that great and wanted to try acting in movies. Then of course Bugs had to chime in and advise against that profession because of the pitfalls of fame and not being able to go into a supermarket to pick up a carrots without having to sign a bunch of autographs.

SEDONA SYCAMORE

     The first turnoff north of Sedona, AZ in the Oak Creek Canyon has a wonderful Sycamore tree family down along the creek. It's very enchanting down there. This particular tree I found was a little reminisce of the California impressionists, such as Willam Wendt.

PURPLE BEARS

     FUN stuff. I went into the Thrift Shop to donate some clothes and to check out possible still life stuff. I was walking by these old stuffed animals and stopped in my tracks. It's a long story, but before I could get out of there I had bought a huge trash bag full of these little creatures. Now my studio looks like Toy Story.

SEDONA TREE

     I painted this tree along Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona, AZ. I have been having these urges to paint trees. Some of them just have so much character and personalities of their own.

AFTER THE FLOOD

     I live on a cliff overlooking a river valley in the desert. For the past few years there have been floods. This last year was the largest in what some say was 50 years or longer. Most of the rest of the year the river is dried up and bushes and trees grow very fast down there. The flood washed away all the vegetation and brought in boulders from up stream that were as large as basketballs. It also took part of a trailer park away that was too close to the river down stream. The river got up to 35 feet deep! There are a few very large hardy trees that grow in the river valley. They seem to have an abundance of green leaves all summer in 100+ temperatures and no water? After this huge flood, I noticed this young tree on the bank that even though it was mostly under water during the flood,  was still standing.

THE MATRIARCHS

   I ran into this scene while hiking between villages in the Cinque Terre area on the west coast of Italy. These women just struck me as the wise opinion leaders of the town chatting about the goings on of the people who lived there. These little Italian villages were so charming. There were vineyards in the country side and I believe they also grew lemons. The trail was scattered with exotic flowers. At sunset, many of the towns people came down to the edge of the water and watched the sun go down on the ocean. The children would run and play. They was a small outdoor restaurant where I was sipping some wine.

DESERT RAIN

     This was a demonstration for my plein air class. I did it while standing in the rain. I had to stop and pour the water from my palette numerous times during the painting process. The colors of the desert become more intense and fresh when wet like this. There is also more atmospheric  perspective in the distance with all the moisture in the air.