Santa Cruz Island aka Fluid no.3

I've finally finished my first commission.  As you know if you read here often, I was worried about the dark colors in the painting before and the fact that it didn't match it's mate so well.  I didn't want the dark colors to look like a stormy sea so I played up the sunset colors and finally I am happy with the way it came out....and so is it's new owner. 

BEFORE:


AFTER:


TOGETHER: 

 Obi photobombed:

 

I'm looking forward to my next project, feel some Hungarian flowers coming but it's been a crazy week around here, fires AND earthquakes.  My kids have experienced fires (unfortunately) but this was their first earthquake.  It was a relatively little one but they didn't understand it was an earthquake and froze in place, especially after I yelled at them to follow me outside.  My yelling scared them more than the earthquake that they didn't know was an earthquake!  I need to work out our emergency plans!

Next week is the last week of school and I am looking forward to summer, even though the kids being home with me makes my life much more complicated.  They have a few camps planned and I am hoping work slows down so we can have some fun around our beautiful town.

 

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day...some of my favorite pictures of some of my favorite mothers.

 

My mother in Isla Vista, California shortly after moving to the US from Hungary

 

Where and when unknown...somewhere in Europe and she has a baby bottle in her hard so I'm guessing 1968. 
This was converted to a digital file from slides that were molding...
LATER: AUSTRIA

 

Santa Barbara, CA.  1970.  My older brother and I with our mom.

 

In the backyard of their new home (and the home I live in now!) 1971

 

California. Early '70's

 My grandmother, mother, me and great-grandmother (after whom my daughter is name.)
 Subotica, Serbia (then Yugoslavia. )1972

My mother, me and both my brothers.  London, 1976.

 

 

Santa Barbara CA.  November, 2008. 
My sister-in-law, niece, grandmother, mother, me and my blondie daughter.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there and

especially to the mothers in the picture above. 

 

Progress Santa Cruz Island

 I've been working on my first commission (and first sale!)  It's quite a change for this late in life, self taught artist to paint something for any other reason than fun and personal fulfillment.  I try not to remember my "customer" but it's hard not to get a little nervous wondering if the painting will live up to expectations.

After my first painting session

Continuing to add color

This is where I am now (below.)  I've added a lot more color and movement to the water.  My worry now is that it is getting to far away from it's mate, they are intended to be hung together.



Besides the color variations (which is more subtle in person than in these pictures,) I worry that the water looks flat in the other painting now...but I hesitate to go back and mess with it. 



 What do you think?
Is it OK if they are not matchy/matchy.   I wasn't given any direction but they will hang together so I want a cohesive look. Is it enough that they are tied together because they are two ocean paintings?
 

Happenings Today

Last year I had a banner vegetable garden year, I had more tomatoes than I could handle.  I made Homemade Marinara Sauce.  I peeled, seeded and froze the extra tomatoes before I found a much easier way to preserve by pureeing them in my blender.  I am still using up my pureed tomatoes that have been in my freezer!

My vegetable garden is off to a slower start this year but I still have plenty going on in other parts of the garden.

 

 

 I'm growing better strawberries this year thanks to a tip I learned in Sunset magazine - spend the first month of growing season pinching off all the pretty white flowers from your strawberry plants.  The berries that grow later will be bigger and sweeter.  It worked!

Hoping for a lot of blueberries, I have 6 bushes but they are still young.

These are baby Golden Dorsett apples which grow nicely here because they have a a very low chill requirement.  I have had this little tree for a few years and it's amazing how many apples I get.  Given my success pinching strawberries I thinned some apples hoping for better fruit but it was really hard to cut off the baby apples...I want them ALL to grow!  I also have a Fuji apple tree which is still young, it only gave me 2 apples last year.

Pole beans

Chives.  I love to put the purple blossom petals in mashed potatoes, they look so pretty.

Pomegranates.  I have two small trees in pots, I thought this one was non-fruit bearing because years went by with no fruit so I got another and then this one woke up!  I only got one fruit last year and it was tiny.  It's covered in blossoms, so I hope at least a few of them turn into fruit.

I also have Fuyu persimmon, Santa Rose Plum, a dwarf avocado, blood orange, Meyer Lemon, Pixie tangerine and a dwarf navel orange.  Nothing much going on there...I have a strangely hard time with all my citrus...but I keep tyring.

And today is Oberon's birthday!  He is one.  This is his serious look.