The case of the missing watercolors

Today I continued my search for the missing watercolors. Since they weren't in the "drawer", I thought maybe they were in between some heavy books. Sometimes, if watercolors get a little too curly, I will flatten them out with heavy books. I had already combed through my bookcase the other day when I was looking, but today, I decided to pull every single book out of the bookcase and flip through the pages and MAKE SURE the watercolors weren't there. So that is what I did. Still, no watercolors. I have no idea where they could be, at this point. They become more precious to me with every day I cannot find them. Where ARE THEY???!!! I did scan them, so I have digital files of each one, but it's just not the same as the actual painting. I am supposed to be working on the oil paintings, but this search for those little paintings is becoming a roadblock. It is consuming me!!! help. please.

When I get too desperate about this search, the best remedy seems to be distraction. So first, I gave the dog a bath. Pono hates baths, and he makes sure I know it every moment I am scrubbing him down with dog shampoo. The sad, long - suffering eyes bore into me. The ears perk up with any sign that the ordeal may finally be over. If I take too long, he will begin to utter tiny little whines. It's as though I am skinning him, rather than rubbing him with shampoo. Despite his hatred of the actual bath, the post bath is something he loves! He gets extremely happy and loves it when I rub him all over with the towel. Usually, he has to skid around on the tile floor with his wet paws, crashing into the walls, until he gets a toy to play with during the rub down. It's pretty funny. Next time he gets a bath, I should try to get a video of it.

The best part (for Matthias and I) about Pono's bath is how soft he is afterwards. His fur is a pleasure to touch, and you simply want to sit down on the floor and rub your fingers in it. I always lean down to Pono and say "Gee, your hair smells terrific!" Wasn't that an advertisement for some shampoo ages ago on TV??? Amazing how those jingles stick in a person's head. A little frightening, too.

I leave you with some photos of the coyote melon, or cucurbita palmata. This native desert vine produces round gourds, a bit bigger than tennis balls in the fall. This one is growing outside in front of our house. I tried to find information about it, but there isn't much. Some websites say coyotes eat it, others say they do not. The websites all seem to agree that the gourds are bitter. One of the more interesting things I found out about it is that native people used to cut the gourds into slices and rub it into clothes until it began to foam, and used it to bleach and clean clothes. Here is the link, if you want to read more: http://www.heydaybooks.com/news/issues/articles/14.3.acjachemen.html As you can see, the ripe gourd is green with white stripes, but as it lays there in the hot sun, it turns a golden yellow. Eventually, it will turn a buff color, and when you shake it, you will hear the seeds rattle inside.

The agony of an Artist Statement

I have been working in watercolor some more. The new paintings are different, and I am not sure how I feel about them yet. I guess I will post one now. I am not even sure if it is finished, although I like it right now. So maybe it will have to sit for another day or so first. This painting measures 12 x 9 inches. I think it will be called "Ravine". Maybe.

In addition to painting, I have been putting together a couple more portfolios to take to galleries. Part of this involves writing the dreaded "ARTIST STATEMENT." For those of you who aren't familiar with the artist's statement, it is how an artist describes their own work. I don't think I am alone when I say I would rather have someone drill a hole through my head than have to write an artist's statement. It is important, I know, I know, Alyson! I re-write mine ALL THE TIME. I could probably write it over again every single day. The reason it is so difficult, I suppose, is because I am trying to WRITE about something that is not about words. It is about color, form, IMAGE. Also, I am a painter, not a writer. Yet, this is an essential part of being able to talk about my own art. And so I perservere.

This is the most recent version of my artist's statement (re-write #5 for the year 2008):

The utmost concern for me in the finished painting is harmony of color. I love rich, yummy colors you can sink your eyes into. The reason I prefer to work abstractly is because I feel our lives are already too involved in the physical - that which can be seen, heard, touched or tasted. This art is about the spirit and the soul. The soft transition from one color to another offers a path leading from our busy lives to the realm of the spirit. These paintings provide a serene space with visual elements to intrigue and arouse curiousity. The geometric elements, such as the circle, oval or square, are a reference to ourselves, and how we fit into this place of meditation. I feel it is important for us to recognize our connection to all that is around us.

So there it is. My current artist's statement. I still think it needs some work, but I am going to see if any of you have helpful comments or suggestions. Does this make you want to look at my art? Does this statement provide you with an understanding of how I see my own art? Does it help you understand it? I am open to suggestions, at this point. Keep in mind I have more than one statement. This particular statement is for the most recent body of oil paintings and monotypes. Thank you for any input you may have!

drum roll, please...

So here are a couple of the new paintings. This first one is called "Joy". It measures 9 x 12", and is painted on 100% cotton, cold press 140 lb. watercolor paper. I like the colors. The next one is the same size and paper, and I have named it "Lime Green and Serpentine". Well, Matthias helped with the title. What do you think? There are more, but they are for later. I swear I am not really a tease. I do think these have more emotion, less control than the first watercolors in this style, but I could be wrong.


The other exciting news is that Matthias put up our Christmas lights today. I had a vision of what I wanted for the new adobe house, and here it is - just as I imagined!!! Fat red lights along the edges of the house. I am so happy! We were going to buy the LED lights for this project, but it turned out to be not only expensive, but the LED lights were shorter, so they would not have stretched all the way. Apparently, you can only string three strings of the LED lights together, and they are about half the length of the regular ones. Bummer! I still really love my red Christmas lights. We did put them on a timer, so the environment won't suffer too greatly. I know, I know. LED would have been better.

Grapefruits do grow on trees!

I haven't been much in the mood for writing lately, I guess. I have been busy putting together all of my marketing materials to take to galleries. Now that we are here in a new place (California), I need to find some wonderful place to help me sell my art! I have been printing out digital images of my paintings, and burning other images to disk. I am pretty much "computered out" right now.

I did celebrate another year in my life on Sunday. It was a quiet day, and I was glad Matthias was home to spend time with. He even bought me a tiny cake with coconut for a good, solid birthday sugar fix. YUMMY!!! He only ate one small piece of it, and I am glad it was a small cake, since I managed to polish the rest of it off single-handedly. I am still recovering from the overload.

One thing we have been enjoying immensely here in the Coachella Valley is the fruit. After living in the middle of the continent, and having slim pickings for produce, it has been a welcome change to live in a place where fruit trees grow in our neighbor's yards. There are two citrus trees in the yard here at our rental house, and one pomegranate tree. There is also a tree in a yard nearby where the house stands vacant. It is LOADED with ripe grapefruits! They ripen and fall to the ground to rot. We consider it a neighborly duty to help prevent so much yard debris, so we have taken it upon ourselves to harvest a few of those tree-ripened grapefruits every other day. We usually just juice them. Let me tell you, that is the most amazing grapefruit juice! There are plenty of other yards that are littered with ripe fruit, and it is so hard to walk by, knowing that someone could be enjoying that fruit. There are plenty of birds who do take advantage of the bounty, but I find it really strange that people aren't out there, picking those grapefruits and having fresh-squeezed juice every day. Do they just get sick of it? I couldn't really say.