WATERBABY'S CIRCUS

 

Lake Anza, watercolor on rice paper              

Yes, it has been awhile. Nearly three months in Brazil, where it isn't always samba and sunshine. Winter storms, mindboggling bureaucracy, and a public transportation system that doesn't always go where you want to go; everything seems to take at least twice as long as it should. It all balances out though. There's lots of great stuff too. Like the art supply store and gallery that's not far from me here, Arte Cedraz . I've met some wonderful artists that I paint with every Friday. I decided to leave my watercolors back in the States this time, since it appears no one in this area works in this medium and quality paints and paper are hard to find. So it's been acrylics for awhile. The painting above was a small warm-up piece I did there. This represents a fairly typical rural scene, more commonly seen in the interior states like Minas Gerais.

Aaaaaaaaaaaah . . . . That's just me heaving a great big sigh of relief. Even though I know that that year-end blitz of too-much-to-do, too-little-time is coming, and try to downsize and minimize the stress factors, I still get caught up in it. Cards never got sent, packages didn't get mailed til after Christmas (it's in the mail, no really, you know how the Post Office is), and now I want to finish decorating, while everyone around me has all their assorted holiday crappage thrown out/packed away/put out on the curb. I guess I just move to a different (slower) beat. On a lighter note, after two months of eating like a sumo wrestler caught in a burning marijuana-field downdraft, I've lost three pounds since Sunday, after starting to eat more sensibly. No ice cream, no cookies. No white flour stuff, pasta, pizza. Just wanna lose another seven pounds. Time to get in shape for the annual migration to Brazil. Gotta dust off the old bikini. Figuratively speaking, of course

Acrylic, 4x10" This is a small piece I did over the summer. The Bay Trail runs along the east side of the San Francisco Bay, and this part of it lies between Berkeley and Richmond. The marshy area has been pretty much restored and is home to all kinds of birds and other things that like Bay wetlands. I miss the warm weather, I want to go outside and paint.