Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

AN OCCASIONAL RIVER

Remember this?

Well......after this weekend's rain, this is what it looked like this morning, Monday, March 1st.



I really had a hard time trying to figure out what to look at.

The river....


or the snow covered mountains.



River.



Mountains.



Luckily it was easy to do both. 

I followed the walkway under the highway.  It's spooky underneath there.


The river widens out in this area, so there's lots of muddy mess and  things which have gotten washed  away....like this red shopping cart.....


and this silver one.


I know that looks really unattractive but on the way back to my car, I noticed this big old cottonwood tree putting on it's pretty spring green leaves already!


And talk about green!  I have no idea what kind of tree this is...but green, it is!




I left this side of the river and drove to the other side to have a look around and was thusly admonished.



I don't think they meant this little critter.



Or his little buddy.



From this viewpoint, I got a good picture of the mountain range to our west, which I have never shown you.



Just beyond those mountains is Old Tucson Studios and if you've ever seen a John Wayne movie, you've probably seen the other side of those mountains.  They are called, unimaginatively, the Tucson Mountains.

I spent a pleasant hour walking along the river in the nice warm sunshine.  So did lots of others and many of them were dressed in shorts and t-shirts.  As lovely as it was, eventually I had to head home.


Adios you beautiful mountains.





Adios Rillito River.



I am so grateful for:

1.  My old car which takes me on these little treks.
2.  The new battery which means my car will actually start.
3.  My little Kodak camera.
4.  These lovely mountains.
5. This occasional river.




Thursday, February 4, 2010

COLOR! COLOR!! I NEED COLOR!!!

I worked on Lori’s big painting every day last week. It has lots of color in it, but doesn’t have a colorful look, at all. The overall look of it is green, but subdued green. It’s very soft and peaceful, intentionally.


Also, last week,  Tucson’s weather was unusually grey and dreary. Sun? What sun? Nothing but grey clouds, grey mountains, grey trees and grey moods.

So, one day, I took a color break!  Here's what I did...and what I wrote on that day.

***************



One of the things I love about painting is the ability to actually ‘do’ something about the weather! If you don’t like the weather outside the window, you can just paint whatever weather you want! Is that not cool?

I feel cold. So, I painted me a hot sky!




It is wet, wet, wet!!! I 'm grateful, very grateful, for all the rain, but my bones want dry, dry, dry!!! So, I painted me a dry riverbed.




Everything is just so grey! So, I planted me some chartreuse trees. And who knows what else might wind up in here!



COLOR MY WORLD
16 x 20 oil on canvas



I feel warmer, dryer and sunnier already.



Now, please, excuse me….I am going to go paint some more COLOR!



PALO VERDE BRANCHES
16 x 20 oil on canvas

ok...just one more....


MEXICAN FLOWERS
9 x 12
oil on masonite



I am grateful for every opportunity I have to create my world the way I want it!