La U'iltima Cancio'n - The Last Song

I thought I had posted progress reports of "La U'iltima Cancio'n" (The Last Song), but they are not appearing in the blog. I am almost finished and then this cowboy (I am uncertain of how to title - The Last Song OR Los Caballeros) is on his way to his new home in California. He is watercolor; free-hand drawing; on 22x30 unfinished 300# paper....should frame out at 30x40. He was fun to do and as you can see, I truly need to focus on drawing/shading hands.

Hawaii Orchids, Crab Cove and me

The Botanical Garden in Hilo is a fascinating "must see" place to add to your bucket list.
The swirling surf at the edge of Crab Cove and a photo of me taken by our fab SCW friends - B&T - who joined us on our 14-day Hawaiian cruise.

Summer Sojourn

In an ongoing effort to escape the desert heat, this is the type of weather we were seeking and actually experienced for a few days. Being near water, foggy skies, and a large variety of water vessels was most appealing. Of course, it was greatly appreciated when viewing the photos upon returning to the heat. Actually have very few photos from several weeks of travel because I had wrong camera setting.

"The Pond" in North Carolina

This is a photo looking down from the upper deck of R&A's home in the mountains. As I mentioned before, R&A had an extremely talented and creative architect/builder who designed and placed each stone by hand to construct this masterpiece. The wonderfully peaceful sound of falling waters puts you in mind of the Frank Lloyd Wright home inn Falling Waters, WI. Thank you, R, for sending this fantastic photo.

Views from Chimney Rock, NC

Because of our busy schedule, it appears that I photographed little in the way of scenic wonders. Or, perhaps I was just enchanted with the beauty of the area. At Chimney Rock, taking the elevator up 26 floors and then walking up an additional flight of stairs to this fab sight was great. Walking down 27 floors on a combo of wooden steps and rocks was rough on the back of the legs. Walking around the hills of Ashville, the Biltmore Estate mansion (up and down stairs) and their beautiful gardens (up and down stairs), the Antler Village, their stables, and then their winery (the wine tasting softened the stairs), staying on the 3rd floor (no elevator) of our beautiful B&B Albermarle Mansion, and because we had LB's sister (it was her 80th BD celebration)use the MBR in the cabin, we used the 2nd floor...lots of walking. LB's nephew/spouse had just finished a beautiful waterfall and pond feature in their mountainside home. It is not only a beautiful creative masterpiece, but the sound effects are wonderful.

Interior of "Little Log Cabin"

First, a view of the kitchen;
second a view of the adjacent DR; third a view of the LR

Didn't take photos of the bdrms and baths, but it was all delightful and tastefully decorated.

Little Log Cabin in the NC Mountains

This is the front entrance to our little log cabin in the NC mountains. It was a 2-story 3 bdrm 3-1/2 bath. Now THIS is my preferred style of roughing it. What a beautiful area and it was definitely cooler than AZ. More photos of interior coming.

It's anyone's guess how many photos will show up this time.

 
 
 
 

Okay - 3 photos at a time

 
 
 
 

River Cruise - second try

 
 
 
 

River Cruise - Antwerp to Basel

 

Let's see if this works. This is a collage of photos taken along our cool....and I mean temperature cool as well...our river cruise. We left from Antwerp and visited Willenstad/Kinderduk, Nijmegen, Bonn, Cochem, Bernkastel, Trier, Traben Trarbach, Boppard/Speyer, Speyer, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, and Basel. We had a couple of side trips to Augustusburg Palace and Marksburg Castle, visited a brewery built like a castle - with fab brauts, beers and mustard and pretzels; a stork preserve and a well-preserved medieval village which I believe was called Stein-am-Rhein. To be able to dock along the river and walk right into town is priceless. Even though it was too cold to fulfill my vision of basking on the top deck cruising along the Rhine and Mosel rivers gazing at the many, many castles and ruins whilst reading a good book...I was not disappointed.

Flowing Water - Final

 

Thanks to the guidance of Woodie Mackie, Susan Roper and Barb Lang, I have now completed this piece. If every aspiring artist was lucky enough to even know these three artistic masters, they would be very fortunate indeed. This was painting was named Pueblo Pottery #2 but after incorporating Woodie's idea, Flowing Water seems more appropriate. It will be going to its' new home in early June after I return from Europe.

Lighting a Candle - Phase 3,4,5 and going

 
 
 

Another piece in the works and again, a ways to go. This is my third "head" and my newest attempts to work with light values and Frisket application.

#189- Bakery Bounty - Phases 1,2,3

 
 
 
Of course, this is a long way from being completed, but thought I would try my hand and capturing the different phases of the painting to determine where and how I can improve.