May Magnolia

We have an enormous Magnolia tree blooming like crazy in our front yard. It has been fun to watch the activities in this tree since we got here. We had a huge nest filled with baby Blue Jays the day we moved in, lots of squirrels and the blossoms themselves provide us with great entertainment!

As I sit and sip my mint julip on the front porch...that's the way I see it!
Lisa

Spring has sprung!

There is so much blooming in our yard...well.. actually all over the Bay Area. I will never get over how gorgeous it is here! I played around a little and painted a sampling of some of the "show-offs" in my yard right now. It smells FANTASTIC, too!

Farmer's Market

I will surely miss the many Farmer's Markets in California. You can find one pretty much any day of the week, in several communities, within a 20 minute drive of our house. Today I stopped by the one in Concord on the Todos Santos Plaza. I listened to the lady play the harp, watched an artist paint portraits, smelled the fresh flowers and brought home some beautiful artichokes and kettle corn. The colors of the tents, flowers and the sky were all so vivid, I really should have painted straight out of the tube. The way I see it, the scenary on a Tuesday afternoon doesn't get much better than that!

Fast Flowers!

I did this as fast as my fingers would move! It was fun doing it on the bright colored paper and barely hitting it with my water brush.

Napa Tulips

Martha and I designed our own sketchcrawl, visiting some Sparkling Vineyards in the Napa area. We got a real bonus on the way to Mumm. There was a private home that had thousands of bulbs in full bloom! Boy, did we want to trespass! We got pretty darned close, peeking in the gate--we could not believe our eyes! This is my only painting of the flowers, but I intend to try some more and can't wait to see Martha's sketches posted. Sketching and sipping in Napa--that's the life--that's HOW I SEE IT!

Renewed belief in goodness and grace

Today was a tough day. I got confirmation that the company that I shed blood for has "eliminated my position" while I am on medical leave. Many people that I believed in and swore by their integrity and loyalty have sold their souls to the devil. Lives are torn apart, incomes stolen and friendships thrown away. Aware that the betrayals would affect me, we have spruced up the house and put it on the market--complete with fresh camellias from the yard to make it look perfect. How wonderful it was to go to the mailbox right after the call from a emotionless HR person and have a painting from my SWAP (Sharing with Artist Partner). It looks as if an angel stopped by and painted the very flowers I had just placed around my house. It could not have come at a better time.

Please enjoy the GRACE in both the photo and the painting. I am filled with gratitude for both.