Ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more!

Great time yesterday painting at the Harley Goat Farm in Pescadero. But I never got to paint the goats!

Back in the Saddle Again!

After a long hiatus due to health and weather, I finally got back into the kayak yesterday and had a fun paddle in the outrageously warm weather.

Was testing out 2 pieces of kit: Removu P1 remote viewer and floating pole for my Gopro. Mounted the P1 on my wrist and linked by wifi into the camera, which was mounted our of my reach on my Railblaza with the pole extending it further. Setup worked very well.

So here's to some fun!

Encaustic adventure

Three ancient techniques I have wanted to try, but never got around to: encaustic, fresco and egg tempera. An art store was giving a demo of encaustic, so I signed up, and they actually let us try it out. Too expensive and messy for me, but fun to do for once.

So here's the result - on the left true encaustic (wax and pigment only) done with massive brushes and a blowtorch - on the right second attempt using incision, oil stick on wax. Obviously easier without the blowtorch! Then there's the 2000 year old master works that I was hoping to turn out on the far right...... I dont' think I'll pass that one off as mine. LOL

Picchetti Winery Painting Day

Up in the hills above Cupertino, near where Terri Nuckels and I used to mountain bike 20+ years ago, is an open space district with a working winery inside. Picchetti is historic. Some nice old barns, winery building and a house.
We did have fun, though a small group, today. Painting up here was pleasant, though not really moving.
I am not satisfied with this painting at all. It's passable, but looks amateurish. And the color rendition starting with my cell phone is really way off!
Learned something, or reinforced what I thought from last time: Painting on those cheap canvas boards is not what I like at all. I prefer the stiffness, absorbency and smoothness of gessoed panels, and I think I'm going to stick with those from now on. Paint flows better, drawing with the brush is far finer and less frustrating, and coverage seems superior.
Anyway, here's today's product and a picture from a different viewpoint.

Ahhhh, Carmel!

You can easily forget how beautiful it is around Carmel by the Sea. In fact, we'd never even been to the beach there before, and it's great.

Had a nice overnight at Carmel by the Sea with Nancy. Pleasant weather. Good room and view. Nice dinner. A good, quick, though not cheap, get away, which I've needed.
Nailed a couple of good pix in the bargain. First is a colorful pic of the marine layer hanging over the bay; pen, pencil, pastel and gouache. Second is strictly inks on colored ground of a well known cottage in the shopping district. (If you click on them to see the full picture, what comes up is actually much larger than the originals, so won't quite look the same. Back away from the screen.)
I seem to be hitting my stride.