WATERBABY'S CIRCUS

The annual jaunt to Mexico is going smoothly, Hurricane Rick made his threat and passed on, fizzling out into a "tropical depression". Glad I didn't do something sensible like cancel. Sometimes my gut instincts are right though mostly they just get me into trouble. There were clouds and light sprinkles when we touched down late Monday afternoon. The wind picked up in the night, and waves were crashing. Sandbags were waiting just in case, and in the morning, there wasn't a surfer or jetskier to be seen. Not even a cruise ship. I stayed inside, tracking the storm, catching up on some reading. More showers off and on, by Wednesday, it appeared that Cabo was out of Rick's path and bits of sky were appearing. But the storm had left Cabo with colors I hadn't seen here before: the clouds were purpley, and the water ranged from ultramarine blue to turquoise to almost a citrine green. And Cabo's famous rocks, instead of being rock-colored, had a blanket of gr

Some of you may know I have a daughter in her senior year at UC Berkeley. She and her two kids have been living at UC Village, a housing complex for student families. So she's been in a position to know firsthand how difficult it can be to have to juggle not only your classes and studying and working but also the needs of a family. And she knows what disasters can happen when things like paperwork and computer records get fouled up and a student loan payment or grant doesn't arrive when expected. Then if student fees, including rent, aren't current, you can't sign up for the classes you need to be a full time student to qualify you for your next loan disbursement, and - then what? So many problems to get through, so much frustration and stress, but especially so if children are in the picture. Sometimes all you needed was to make it through another week, but how? Until just recently there was no safety net for these little emergencies that happened too frequently. Many

Just a quick sketch from the Blake Estate garden last week. A foggy day, muted colors, sketched with a non-waterproof pen. Kind of gave it a rained on look.

Teasels in Fall Watercolor, 24x30" The El Cerrito Art Association's Annual Show went off without a hitch last weekend, with a record number of entries and healthy sales. The above watercolor was recognized by the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce with a very nice award. I'm so happy, because this one was a struggle and almost went into the recycling bin. But as other artists have noted, the process of creating your work is similar to raising kids, in that there's a really ugly phase they put you through before you can see the fruits of your labors. So glad I stuck with it! Then, another surprise - a Second Place in the Acrylics division for one of my plein aire paintings! This one: Kellers Beach Acrylic, 11x14" Too much good stuff! And it only got better - this one sold. Sorry to see it go, but there's more where that came from! The past two weekends have found me out painting in the Napa Valley wine country and I'll be there again this Saturday. The fall co

Sorry, Chicago, and everyone else. But how can you compete with this?

El Cerrito Art Association 33rd Annual Art Show & Sale Reception & Meet the Artists Friday, October 2, 2009 7:00-10:00 pm Champagne will be served Art exhibit and sales Saturday, October 3 12:00-7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 4 10:00-4:00 p.m. El Cerrito Community Center 7007 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito, CA I'll be showing my acrylics: as well as three new watercolors. I'll virtually see you at the reception!