blue day

paletteable livejournal for latest art

Well, I've been experimenting with a variety of blogs, and I have to say that the livejournal interface is the simplest and fastest (for me) for posting art. So...I've been putting my drawings and pastels and photos and APCs on that blog. Please, take a sec to click on the title of this post, it's a hot link, and check out the "other" blog.

Florida Fiddlers Convention

Well, today, this rainy ol day, is day #1 of the Florida Fiddlers Convention. The weather is in a holding pattern of rain rain rain, not tropical bullet-like rain, just misty constant make-the-world-green rain until a big front headed south intercepts the big front coming up from Cuba. So, this is not great for those musicians whose idea of a great convention is sitting around the campfire picking til 4am. Even I don't have a collection of plastic instruments.

Adding to the confusion of the weather, we have a new baby in the house, too. He's 10 weeks old, a little ol blue heeler who got dropped off. We found him under the house and the neighbors all plead ignorant. So, the fat wad of vet billage behind us, we embark on quite the wild and crazy ride. His IQ is about 180. Compared to moi, she of the one remaining functioning neuron...he's a genius. His level of energy is superior to any I've seen in the last several years. So, I'm planning on losing 10 pounds just trying to keep up. Tom named him Smitty. HA.

Benefit Concert Success

Well now...that was some little festival!

Huge big fat success. Boy, I wish we had taped the day! Every kind of music you would want...and The Best Musicians!

From Traditional Old-Time, to Non-traditional Old-Time, to Swing, to Bluegrass, to Clawgrass, to Rock and Roll, to Celtic, to Singer-Songwriter, to Cracker Grass, to Boogie Woogie, to Soul...we had it all...

Big thanks to all the musicians and the dancers who came out in force.

We raised big bucks for Katrina Aid.

Hurricane Relief Benefit is TODAY!!!!

Ahhh, geez. I'm beat. This has been a wild week. Crisis in the wake of a hurricane. Shame on us. Flood, death, despair, loss, shock. What can you do?

Tom got on it. He organized a big fat festival for hurricane relief. Tara at the GDMA found the building...the City of Gainesville is giving us the Thelma Boltin Center from noon to 10pm. And, dearys, the musicians came out in force for this one. Lookit, there are only so many hours, and so many stages, but the talent! Holy hootis!

Whitey Markle and the Swamprooters, Boilin' Oil, Tuck Tucker Band, Mark Johnson Band, Mike Boulware Band, Joe First, Folk Jam 99, And All That, Neil & Valerie, Edy Richmond, Palm Valley, Art Crummer, Paula, Mack & Friends, Full Circle, Turkey Scratch Ramblers, and then, there are the dance bands. Screech Malone Old Time Band, Physical Medicine, Flying Turtles String Band, and Lloyd Baldwin & Friends will be be playing for contra dances. Several dance groups will be demonstrating their respective things, and there will be a jam tent outside under the trees.

There is no cover charge. All contributions will be given to the American Red Cross. We're hoping that some of y'all will decide to be especially generous. Yes, we're going to give you a fun day of distraction...but there is a reason that all these musicians and dancers are donating their time and talent. We want to raise the fattest wad of money that we can.

Please come on out...support this effort to give some folks a hand up!

The Thelma Boltin Center is at 516 NW 2nd Ave, Gainesville - behind the Melting Pot on University.

Sinkhole 101

Re: the picture below
Comment: What is an oak tree sinkhole?

Well...this is a very old oak tree. It's huge. It's also growing in a very large, natural depression in my yard. Dents like this are fondly called sinkholes. They occur all over this part of Florida. This one is an oldie, and isn't expected to get any bigger. One family down the road has "converted" their sinkhole into a duckpond, complete with fountain. In High Springs, our band plays in a gazebo at the bottom of a giant sinkhole behind the Town Hall. Sinkholes are not unique to Florida, I have to say. There is an old Kentucky tune called "Huldy in the Sinkhole." It's a real hummer!

oak tree sinkhole 

Worldwide Paint Out Coming Up

Next month, for 3 days, plein air painters all over the world will be engaged in the 3rd annual Paint Out. From September 9 through the 11th we'll be painting outdoors, engaging in an art form popularized in France in the mid 19th Century. There's nothing like sketching or painting outside, catching the light, really catching the moment.

I'll be painting in High Springs, and I invite any and all to join me, here...or in your own town. Sign up at the International Plein Air Painters website (http://ipap.homestead.com/) and bring some art to the neighborhood.

Friday Morning at 8

Well, this field looks different from moment to moment, let alone day to day. I need to get out there a couple times a day, I think.

I did this sketch around 8, right after walking around the garden. (Hey, the seeds I planted 2 days ago have germinated! Zinnia, radish, cucumber...and the carrots are almost ready to go into the bed!) Now, though, it's 3:30, the thunder is a-rollin' in and if this afternoon is anything like yesterday, well, we're about to get some rain.

Any more drawing today will be indoors. That's ok. Blueberry ice cream is almost ready for the freezer. Mmm.

july 28 blackberry field 

Launch Day WHOO HOO in the Field

To celebrate a successful launch, I hauled the ole pastels to the blackberry field again. Hazy day. Hazy hot day. Mmm. That field is warming up more every minute.

blackberry field tree line 

The field below

This land changes every day. I've been taking lots of pictures, recording the mood of this place, but something's been missing. The immediacy of the photo is great, amazing, what have you. But, a drawing, well, a drawing is so much closer. Spending time meditating on the field, using pastels and watercolors, I've just been falling in love with this place.

blackberry field 

And the launch is scrubbed

An LH2 sensor wasn't responding, so, the launch has been scrubbed. I guess they'll have to detank. Ah well, interesting to see that there isn't going to be just a pile of pink paper.

What a letdown. Can you imagine what the crew feels like now? Uuuuuuuuhhhh. Adrenaline overload. Failure mode uhhhhhhh.

So, how long will this turnaround take?

Holy hootis.

Launch Day for Space Shuttle

Well, we WERE going to go towards KSC and watch the launch. We were. But, Tom got sick last week, and today is his first day out of bed. Fortunately, we have NASA TV. Right now, the astronauts are progressing from White Room to Orbiter. Pretty cool.

Is there anything as exciting as a launch? WHOO HOOO!

Tuesday Ichetucknee Idyll

We've been too busy to spit. Today, we took a day off. Rick is up this week, and we all wanted to get together...so the men decided on The River.

The Ichetucknee is one gorgeous river. Famous for tubing...it's pristine.

I've posted a few shots below...more pictures and words later....

Ichetucknee spring 

Rick & Pam 

Mullet 

west 

northwest  

southwest evening sky 

What size is the best?

So...I'm trying to decide what size pictures to post.

Input appreciated...

butterfly & mimosa (bigger) 

butterfly & mimosa 

Home on the Pasture

I've been promising pictures of the new place. But, well, with new camera and new software, it's taken me a while to get to the post new pictures stage o the game. Here's a picture of the rockin chair on the porch.

rockin chair 

Husses

Where do people pronounce "horses" as "husses?" I heard a family talking about seeing wild husses on Payne's Prairie. They sounded southern. There was a Florida license plate on their car. I never had heard that pronunciation before that day.

New Scanner, New ATC

Sanna from New Hampshire sent me a Zetti a while back, but I couldn't post it before now. Technical difficulties as it were...

However, yesterday we installed a new printer/scanner so, here you go.

Cheers from rainy High Springs!

Monday Idyll

The day started with a good paddling. We launched the canoe and paddled upstream. Tom wanted to see where the Santa Fe comes up. (The river "ends" in O'Leno State Park, and reappears a few miles away.) The trip was gorgeous. About 1/4 mile past the bridge at 441, the only sounds you hear are water against the hull, the paddles dipping in and out, the occasional turtle plopping into the stream, and an assortment of birds calling out to each other. Felt really great to be using those old muscles, and getting a tranquilizing dose of nature.

"Distracted by green," Pixie said yesterday afternoon, "sometimes I get distracted by green." She was talking about living in the woods. But, her words haunted me throughout that canoe trip, I'll tell you. The river was a perfect black ribbon, the cypress trees, hanging heavy with Spanish moss, reflected with an unusual clarity. Shades of green on green on black on gold. Green and grey, green and brown, green and green. Once in the rhythm of paddling, I fall into sort of a trance. Those clear reflections threatened to be not reflections after all. Over and over again, I felt myself falling into a sort of HDTV "what am I really seeing?" mode. We were in motion on that river for about 3 hours. Long enough to get hooked. What a beautiful river!

After that great little boat ride, we didn't want to sit around the house. So, Tom charted a course and off we went again. This time in the car. We left High Springs and taking a series of small roads, made our way to Cross Creek. If you haven't been there, go. What a place. What a place. What a place. The lake there has a primeval look, feel, smell. The calmness of the air, wow, I don't know how to explain that either. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings farm is there, preserved, but the gate was closed because we arrived after 5. The "park" is open Thursday thru Monday. When we go back, I'll be armed with watercolors.

We stopped in McIntosh on the way home. The old hotel is for sale. The McIntosh Cafe, aka Los Arcos, was closed. Oh, there were two crabby cats on the chairs out front, but that was all she wrote. See, another reason to go back.

I still don't have my scanner re-hooked-up...so I can't post a drawing of the day. I am sorry about that...this day was one scandalously voluputous sensory experience.

Let's see what tomorrow has in store...

Barberville Pictures

Well, here's your chance to see the Flying Turtles String Band in action. (http://www.folkfiddle.com/barber/05/pics.htm) In the long narrow dance hall, the band is at the head of the hall, on stage, and the callers stand below. If you scroll down the page, you will see plenty of shots of the dancers dancin' and the band swingin' away. There are also shots of other "stages" throughout the Pioneer Settlement. Photos by K B W.

High Springs Eternal

We got to High Springs last Tuesday night. Unloaded a few things into Pam's garage. Crashed. Boom. Even Artie The Catt was ready for sleep.

Next day, we found our way to town, picked up the weekly newspaper, gloried in the fresh air and smell of pines. Saw an ad for a farmers' mkt the next day...needing musicians and artists. Well. Alrighty.

Thursday morning, Tom hiked to town along the old railroad tracks. Ended up at the train station - well, now it's the Chamber of Commerce. Talked to a fella there who called a friend who talked to Tom and next thing I knew we were loading up our instruments. Played that afternoon at that Farmers' Market and got paid in...you guessed it...fruits and veggies! Yee ha!

Still unwinding, Friday. Artie got scared by her "first" dog. Amazing watching her tiptoeing around in the leaves. A chill blew in. We lit a fire outside and watched the moon.

Saturday we drove and drove and ended up in Barberville. We met up with Chuck and Sandee and threw together a couple of sets...one for performance...one for a contra dance. Was delighted and surprised to meet Kathleen (an artist whose work is shown below...) and her husband Jeff and their daughter Caitlin. Turns out Kathleen and Caitlin are both violinists. They came to our shows and went to the jams and made quite a hit with the ol fiddlers.

Yesterday, I started to pick apart an old Kentucky fiddler's version of Arkansas Traveler...and got seduced by the dang tune. Ended up playing it for about 8 hours. Now, it makes sense to me.

Tom is cleaning out the gutters for Pam and Rick - the least we can do in exchange for staying in their beautiful river house.

Oooh...he just came in and announced that it would be a good time to take the canoe for a paddle. Yee ha! So...I guess that's what we're up to for the next little while. I'll pack up my sketching goodies and see if I can give y'all a little picture of my NoFla environment.

Cheers, Dolls!

Did I Say Settled?

Whew. Alrighty. Been awhile since I've had the requisite 10 minutes to post a doodle. So...here's the latest doodle. My morning view. This particular morning, the water was pretty flat, so the reflections were pretty clear. Half an hour later, the breeze had kicked up. While we're here, I should take advantage of this view...reflect on the water...

Harbor at 7:30 am 

Settled In

Ah well, the move is complete. More or less. Still plugging in and hanging up.

Just wanted to make an appearance here today, and introduce the latest of the ATC's received. This one is from Ellen in California. Beautiful work. I'm getting spoiled.

See you later, kids!

"Paleo-Unicorn 3" a Paleo-Mythos Monotype by Ellen Shipley 

Flying Turtles String Band 

Blind Painter

The name Esref Armagan has been showing up on lists and blogs and newsletters all week. When I heard about him a few days ago, I had to wonder, "Is this for real?"

Click the title to go to a site that tells his amazing story. Look at his paintings!

20 Questions to a Better Personality

Ok...Go ahead. Take this test. Not your ordinary personality test. Unbelievably, the wacky assessment really described me.

New ATCs in the Mail! Thanks Kathleen & Lee!

Ahhhh. There is nothing like finding a loaded envelope in the mailbox. And there is something even more delightful...finding a painted envelope in the mailbox. Kathleen, o amazing one, sent "Bumblebee Boogie" in a bumblebee boogieing wrapper...I gotta tell ya, that is one envelope that will not be tossed!

The following four ATCs were traded for four of mine. Boy. What a mine of inspiration! Each of these "trading cards" is truly a little work of art. Look at "Don't Fence Me In." This painting would be great at any size. Can't you see it scaled up to 5' x 7'? You bet.

What a great vice!

"Turtle Totem" (Lee) 

"Bumblebee Boogie" (Kathleen) 

"Water Dreams" (Kathleen) 

"Don't Fence Me In" (Kathleen) 

Thrift Shop Art

Click on the title and take a trip to The Wurst Gallery...Spend some time with the befores and afters...and then...make some art. No more excuses. Look at this stuff! What a riot!

Share is having some snow

Hi Share!

Busking in Boca

We needed a break today. I said, "Beach." Tom said, "Beach." We packed up the instruments and drove to the pavilion at the end of Palmetto.

Played for half an hour or so before the nice ranger lady told us we had to stop. "You're getting money," she said, "the City has rules against that." "That's not our fault," said Tom, "we're not that good." What a scream.

Ha. We left with a bunch of ones and a $20. Whoo hooo!

hot tomatoes 

glades profusion 

burned sammy 

Fold-out book. 4 x 4 1/2". Handmade blockprinted cover/Mi Teintes; Pentalic leaves. 

Small Sketch book 4 1/2 x 6". Mi-teintes cover; 5 signatures of Pentalic.