mARTa's Art

Commuting with Mona today, originally uploaded by mmvgonzales.

Sent from me and my cool iPhone

Fire, originally uploaded by mmvgonzales.

Yesterday was another reminder that we live in Southern California, a desert which is fed from water via the California aqueduct from water in northern California. This was not a brush fire but an industrial fire fueled by plastic at a recycling center. The TV news was quick to get the word out that all 3 major freeways were affected and were closing down and that the thick black smoke was polluting the air with toxic chemicals from the plastic. We were advised to stay indoors with windows closed. Aside from this fire there is a big fire in northern California at Lake Tahoe, one of the most beautiful areas in the US. I love to visit Lake Tahoe and it makes me sad to hear the lake is covered in ash and the sky is dark.

ps: I'm computing as I sip my morning coffee in the family room and not hooked up to a scanner so I took this photo of the sketch with my camera phone and posted it to flicker, thus not a great image, but it's not a great sketch either....

when you get up from a good night's sleep (no migraine for over 48hours now) and have no plan in mind. So you go grab that first cup of coffee, catch up on world events and go check your email. Three hours later after spending too much time browsing blogs, researching for your upcoming European Adventure and doing some online shopping......your artist buddy Dianne sends you an instant message: "So what are you doing today?"

Well that whole conversation led to "I'll pick you up in half and hour and let's go to the spa!" So we got luxurious scalp massages and treatments then had a lovely lunch from Simple Simon's at the pool. We took our sketching supplies and easily slipped into creative mode and began sketching by the pool.

Our attention was caught by the laziness of the afternoon; people lounging, sunbathing or reading the paper. In the pool was a delightful little lady who was enjoying the water with her Nana. She had on little arm floaties and was enjoying as only a child of four years could. Dianne and I both couldn't resist to try and capture this fleeting moment. Despite the constant movement we were both happy with our sketching today.

Jordan and her grandmother came and joined us in the jacuzzi and then later at our table where Dianne let Jordan paint in her Moleskine. I think this little lady enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed our visit with her and her Nana.

Sketching in public is difficult for me, but with experiences such as today's it only encourages me to do it more often. In many ways we are such a small planet,connecting so quickly via the Internet, but that human face to face contact can never be replaced. Today was a very good day indeed.

0525071537.jpg
Originally uploaded by mmvgonzales

I am spending the evening playing around and saw on Flickr that you can upload photos from your camera phone right onto your blog...go figure. So I tried it! I didn't realize my phone (verizon white chocolate) could take decent photos. This is Miss Dottie who posed for me one day.

Tomorrow Dianne and I are going with our husbands to the opening reception at the Riverside Art Museum's Members Art Exhibit where we both submitted paintings. This is not a juried show (they have to hang our paintings because we are members...LOL). If I remember I'll take a couple of pictures while there and send them to this blog.