Another LBB

I never thought I would be painting birds, but yesterday's experience was so satisfying, I've done another one. These little brown birds (LBBs) do of course have formal names, but I'm ignorant of them, and I like it that they are rather anonymous to most of us and therefore still have a freshness that other, better known, birds don't have.

Little Brown Bird

My bird-watching friends call these little no-name birds, "LBBs". I think they deserve a proper name. I've never painted a bird before, but am planning to include one in a future painting, so this was practice. I liked doing it. Maybe I'll do more.

Her Shoes, Her Life

This is my composite shoe painting - so far. No doubt, I'll modify it slightly as it sits on my wall a few days, including perhaps going back into individual paintings as well as organizing them somewhat differently.

Revising the Image

These are revisions of prior daily paintings. Sometimes I can't resist, when a painting sticks around for a while, going back into it. Today I went back into all three of these paintings, muting the background, changing the colors of shadows. It is all part of a plan to modify several of my shoe paintings to become part of a larger, multi-image painting. I like them better with the revisions. But you can be the judge, if you like, by comparing them to the original images on these dates, from top to bottom: "Arm Candy" on May 1st, 2008; "No Shoes" on May 20th, 2008; and "Serious Shoes" on May 9th, 2008. In a couple of days, I'll display the completed work.

Pink Sandals

If you saw this painting yesterday (Aug. 11th), it probably didn't seem as pink or bright as it looks now. When I looked at the photo compared to the actual piece, I realized the photo hadn't properly captured the brightness of it. So I re-photographed it. Amazing how the light or surroundings of a painting impact the colors recorded by the camera.

Green Fantasy Slippers

I'm finally back, following a long trip to Bolivia and Colombia and another one to do the RAGBRAI (Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). It's been too long and it was great to be back in the studio again, though it took a while to get back in a groove with the paint, the brushes, etc.

Another Hiatus!

I'm sorry to report that I won't be back at the easel until early August, when I hope to begin posting daily (5 days a week) again. My husband and I are doing the RAGBRAI ( DesMoines Register Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) at the end of July and I have lost control of my days due to the need to train for this strenuous trip (477 miles in 7 days). For those who check this blog regularly, please don't give up on me. I'll be back with new paintings in August.

With my friend Esther Cardenas in Colombia

I'm visiting my good friend and artist, Esther Cardenas, in Cali, Colombia. This is an example of the small daily paintings that she has been doing. It is about 4" x 6 " and is an image of a farm in Holland where she recently went to paint with a former student.

Pictures from Bolivia

Here is an image of the great Salar de Uyuni, a salt flat near the town of Uyuni in Bolivia. The photo is taken from an "island" that comes up off the flats, loaded with a type of cactus I've never seen before. The salt flats themselves stretch off into the horizon, an endless flat white gleaming surface. It is supposed to be the largest salt flats in the world, a source of a bare subsistence livelihood for the few people who live nearby in Uyuni.

This a charming photo of a desperately poor family making their living from the salt desert. The husband refines the salt he has scraped off the surface of the desert and his wife, here with her two children, put the iodized salt in one kilo bags which sell for about 14 cents apiece.

From Bolivia

My husband and I have been in Bolivia for almost 10 days now and it has been both exciting and a heartwarming experience. We have found new board members for our scholarship program in Bolivia, identified other universities with which we can collaborate, and have met all of our scholarship recipients and their families personally. Tomorrow we go to Colombia and from there I plan to post some photos from our time in Bolivia.

Painting Interrupted

I've been distracted from painting the last several days because my husband and I are preparing to leave next week for a 3-week trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and Cali, Colombia. It has been requiring a lot of preparation. We used to live in both places and have many friends there. We also run a small charitable organization, called B.E.C.A., which pays for college educations for low-income Bolivian students in Santa Cruz. We have 11 students in college now, thanks to donations for many friends and family. A full-year's tuition at a very good university in Bolivia costs only about $750, obviously a huge bargain compared with tuition costs at U.S. universities. In case anyone reading this message has an interest, you might want to check out our web site, http://www.beca-bolivia.org/ We, and the Bolivian students, can use all the help we can get!
I may not be able to do any more paintings before our departure. While we're gone, however, I'll try to post some photos from time to time to let you see what Bolivia and Colombia are like.

Cowboy Boots

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Kickin' Shoes

I revised this one again, brightened it up, and warmed it up.

Cool shoes, aren't they? Not that I'd ever wear them, personally. Too pointy, too high. But fun.

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Pink Tennies

No Shoes

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