above are some pictures—in a gallery—taken with my flip phone (sorry for the poor quality) on august 17. after a busy weekend helping some friends move their daughter to charlotte, we decided to go over to the broad river greenway to escape the city sounds and hike along the riverside trails ... this area is part of what is called the carolina thread trail which is a regional collection of greenways in the area and provides some alternatives to the urban sights and sounds along with natural areas to hike ... there were actually a lot of people at the river, mostly picnicing or swimming and playing in the water, but we walked away from the chatter and laughter down river into a more wilderness area where there were birds, turtles, snakes, squirrels and deer. there were probably more animals in the area, but we didn't see evidence on them on this hike. since the area was very moist, we saw a lot of mushrooms, or 'shrooms' as they seem to be called these days. the most interesting was a fairly bright blue one of which tried to take a decent photo, but had limited success. it was actually quite stunning in color and i didn't capture it very well.

15-progress on the painting ... i'm continuing to work on small things and layers. they don't show well from photo to photo though. so it goes ... progressing along anyway.

this blog was set up to show and talk about the progress of the painting commission for my friend who requested it, so i need to keep that in mind ... i could talk about all of the events in the world that i hear about on the new reports from the radio, television and internet when i pay attention to them, but who would care for just another opinion on such matters ... they are what they are and writing here doesn't modify, solve or change things. struggles between the haves and have nots are the events of the world when the population continues to increase. i could talk about all the things that go on in a particular day ... sometimes that's fun, other times it sounds like rants ... i think i'll stick to the painting ...

14-progress on the painting ... i'm continuing to work on the those things—mainly in the middle panel—that look a lot like leaves on some kind of vine or bush. maybe that's what they are? or, maybe not. working with the gold fleck paint is interesting ... it's has a very, very transparent binder and requires some underlayers to pop off the canvas in the manner which my thoughts and mind's eye are heading toward. it's not what i expected, but i am learning to adapt to it's properties.

13-progress on the painting ... more lines, more details. trying several different techniques on the masking of the line work ... sometimes it's working, other times, not and are requiring some reworking and learning on technique. the way it goes ...

seems like lately i've had too many activities or work on my agenda ... and, painting has been a back burner. a back burner, it's not really true, just too many other activities going on. nevertheless, i have finally made time to get back to it and need to finish up this painting along the others that i am working on.

12-progress on the painting ... a few new colors and edge definitions, some overwashes, textures and a lot of tape lines masking areas waiting for their next edges or overcoats. so far, this painting has been entirely in acrylic with all the colors mixed from my basic three r-y-b primary color paint pots, plus black and white. i'm only adding two special colors—gold and a fairly light burnt ochre—so far. somebody gave me the burnt ochre last year when they were cleaning out some art supplies and i figured that i better use it before it dried up in the tube, but it took a while for the right painting to come along.

we also have a new camera to use for photos ... well, i say new, but it's new to us at least ... got it used for a much reduced price and it works fine. i needed to replace the one that got fried on the battery recharge when we were driving back from texas. so, back in business ... yet, i did get a few pictures on the trip from my old flip phone:

nothing to report on painting ... i've had too many interruptions and some graphic jobs to work on, so, i'll write some about our latest adventure ... a trip to and from houston, tx ... that has eaten into work time for july.

the journey for a funeral contains these cities and towns:

back in the swing ...
more lawnmowers and string trimmers in the am and this time in the heavy rain, isn't that rather dangerous? what if they slipped or fell? why not wait for clear weather? just so, it's a new month and for me it's more rain driving up to see my father ...

so, dad was fairly good physically, much better than a few months ago, but kept asking me about fraternities? seems there were two of them. i asked about sororities, but he was unsure. he seemed to think he was at some university. he really had no idea or clue where he was and since he can't see, i guess he relies on what people tell him or however the voyages around the inside of his brain move him. i tried to reassure him that he was safe and took him some bbq from hill's restaurant in winston-salem for our lunch. that seemed to cheer him greatly. read to him for a while from the dail devotional then said goodbye as his reader was coming in. they were continuing to work on gone with the wind ... lost in georgia after the civil war.

my uneventful drive home in the rain was the usual ... stopped to get gasoline at the rather crowded truck stop and listened to the overloud country music. is that their assumption that american truck drivers all listen to country music?

as for our travels, it seems like most of the radio stations were 1-basically garbage, 2-christian soft rock, ugh, 3-poor country music, or 4-conservative talk radio, really boring.

woke up with the irritating sounds of mowers, string trimmers and leaf blowers ... it's cool in the early mornings, so the yard work and landscape companies all want to start early right now ...

i question why it's so important to people to have such manicured yards. it seems like a over commitment to a value that is very misdirected in this country and other places around the world. are our yards really the things we should focus on? landscape can be artwork, but it's not artwork in most yards. and, not to mention all of the chemicals that get poured onto the landscapes just to make the plants grow, just so that they need to be trimmed and landscaped for what is rather unnatural to begin with ... sounds a bit stupid? what we waste our resources and energies on is amazing. the world, as the shadow of our souls—as emerson suggested—lies around us reflecting our acquaintance to our minds ... our minds must be quite weak.

for all of the stupidity it may show, i still think the engines and devices for all this landscaping should all be required to have mufflers because the sounds produced are way too loud ... most of the landscape maintenance operators already wear ear protection for blowers and string trimmers, so, doesn't that indicate something ... that the sounds are too loud? ... it will probably come to head in legal battles of hearing loss by parties not directly involved. not surprising. i have the same issues with vacuum cleaners ... they all need to be quieter ... i like to hear the birds singing and the wind rustling as it blows through the trees.

11-progress on the painting ... and while listening to some old fleetwood mac music, believe that?? ... and it's another hot, humid day in the studio and charlotte ... i'm really noticing the difference in paint drying times with the humidity level ... right now, most of this painting is acrylic, so it's drying fast. if i decide to add other mediums, that may change.

worked on changes and more some graphic work for a client today ... and then spent time trying to read through some technical issues required for a publication ... digging out the specifications for what they want—really unclear instructions—that seems way too painful ... who wrote this stuff?

among other reading, just started the glass sentence after it was on display as a new book at the a local bookstore and the library had a copy ... so far, it hasn't caught me, maybe that will change. it has been getting such great reviews on-line and in print (but as i have learned, those reviews can be really biased and swayed by the publishers) ... meanwhile, for summer reading our book club has been reading another bestseller empty mansions which i just finished. (talk about wasted resources ... )

oh ... and yes, to answer a question ... i'm still reading the history on world war i ... it's slow going.

we had a staff and caregiver's meeting to review my father's nursing care today. i found out in the meeting that after i had blogged about how confused our conversation was on my june 21st entry (see below), it turns out he had actually been fishing. some of the staff had taken a group of the residents at his retirement home to the lake on the property and some of the residents and staff had fished. dad had no clue where it was that the group had gone since he can't see, but he had not completely lost his mind ... he had been along on the fishing trip! he didn't fish himself (which i can't even imagine my dad doing in any way at all), but was aware that the others had been fishing ...

it's very interesting where the workings of the mind can take us ...

ok ... listing to adele 21 tonight while i'm entering this blog and painted most of this afternoon in the muggy heat

i've been adding lots of new layers to begin to frame in the final colors of this painting and exploring some new techniques in getting some reasonable transparencies and building textures for the paints.

i also was listening to a fascinating recording: elegy: masterpieces for string orchestra played by chamber orchestra kremlin led by misha rachlevsky. rachlevsky arranged many of the works. one of the works, crisantemi by giacomo puccini was the first piece i had heard and then i found the entire collection.

10-progress on the painting ...

hey ... thanks to all the potluck group that came by yesterday ... the food, company and conversation was all yummy

here's a photo of our shy kitty cat that came into the studio while i was working ... you wouldn't know he was so shy from this image ... getting in close to sniff the lens of the camera ... typical house tiger ...

mr monck ...

randomness is good …
sort of

here’s how the story was today …
where was the insight?
and yet
the reflection coming from the birdbath water … almost relational
relational or recreational … well, at least to the birds … more recreational
to the extreme and then it opens up
the whole world beneath the surface … blue systems of light rays
down, down, down … i adjust slightly
to balance my sunglasses and allow the polarity catch more vision

i had known that it would be more like this the next time i went
and my memory was only now fading
into how the sand had felt at the shore …
between my toes
under my feet
how i miss it
the sound of the thundering wave crashes
the shells underfoot
the smell of salty air
and on occasion
her hand holding mine against the wind …
tightly … squeezing
lightly communicating from the pressure
pleasure
one, then two, back to one …
whatever contribution it made into the inner depths of my memory suited the better parts
of the recollections (or the relations)
how could it be this way …
and why would it go in the same way?
seems unfair
seems that the rest of it just gets there before me
always there before me
and, what about those failures?
failure in general?
failure to follow warnings?
it could be detrimental to one’s health or well being
i’m not versed in that nature, that leap …
others made it faster
sometimes better
rarely as pictured and as a migrant
i still do and can, she remarked
relational … i stood and stared into the back area
it was black as the coal bin at my grandmother’s
i’m not sure why it was going in there that made the difference
it’s not a fantasy (at least to me)
and for simply imagination?
yet, at that time we lived at the edge of a forest
a better definition might be a woods
there was a stream with salamanders and crayfish that flowed
until the main under culvert was replaced
and newer houses were built that blocked the main spring source up the hill
in there was a house and a barn with a stable where i learned to “ride” horses
galloping, cantering, side-stepping around the corral
probably to tunes by the beatles
down in the area in-between was a beach (actually two)
with an occasional pond
there was buried “junior faithful” years later
and we never dug it back up
rain, and the beach would be there more as clay
dry, it was sandy
the chapel was up the hill …
somebody lost a ring there and we all looked for it
but never found the thing
the worship place was nearer to the short path
a cut through up towards the school
where our cat had died
somehow killed, but we never knew how
electrical failure or struck by lightning
and from the other path (perhaps an old logging path)
maybe just spoils of construction
there, the airplane
parts made from the school building
but the muddiness of the place ruined my pants
then the small winter cabin much further away
private
and the upstream camp, as well
where running naked in the forest of poison ivy
called it simply stupid young flesh
i found the first bottle there …
filled it with fluids, but couldn’t get enough
probably still can’t without being worn out
and now
it’s all gone
no one cared to save it
for the nature and the trees
from a bulldozer

what was it that my father had said yesterday? …
today, he was confused on the telephone and wanted to make sure that he could stay where he was ...
the nurse who had called hoped that a familiar voice would calm him down … he was really anxious ...
i reassured him that it was ok, he was safe and he could stay … the bill was paid …
“i pay it monthly” i said.
he answered me back, “oh, that’s good, i don’t have any money”

oh, i do remember some of it …

it seems he had ‘gone fishing’ for the last two days and he wasn’t sure where the place was ...
where was it?
"it was on the coast"
"the town started with the letter “m”
the coast … of north or south carolina?
"north carolina, i think"
manteo? morehead city? or south carolina … myrtle beach?
"no, none of those … what was that name?"

either way they “had caught $75 dollars of fish, no, it was 75 pounds and it was more than the containers could hold,
but there were not enough of them"
“of what? containers?”
“no, cars … “i don’t know where harry’s car is, do you know were it is?”
—harry was his brother who died in 2007
what cars?
“his chevrolet …”
“i didn’t know he had a chevrolet … what color was it?
"green and tan …"
—very interesting
“do you have your car? we could go there in it”
do you remember harry’s old blue plymouth? it was one like the “blue goose” that you got from papa ...
“that was a good car …but, we didn’t have enough of them”
enough of what? cars?
“we had fish, we had 75 pounds of fish and where is harry’s chevrolet?”
i don’t know, dad.
“do you think they will let is bring them all here?”
bring what?
“on the train it was not allowed … that was detroit i think”
“and those chinese women in this cathouse are trying to take me away from this place“
who?
“i don’t have any money for this place … are you sure they will let me stay?”
here? yes, they will let you stay
“i don’t have any money”
would you like something to eat? some candy or chocolate?
“i don’t know where we can take the fish”
where would you take them?
“back to mom’s … “
your mom?
"you know where the house is, granny is supposed to be there”
where’s that, dad?
“you know that house over on sunset drive”
—my grandmother’s house, where he grew up
i don’t know who lives there now, dad
“harry is supposed to take us there, but the car can’t hold the fish”
oh
“i think i may have dreamed it”
maybe you did …
“but, those chinese were taking it from the back of harry’s car”
when did you ride the train?
“that was last week, but it might be later”
oh ...

started my day by cutting grass ... hey, i can make noise with a lawnmower just life everyone else ... noise pollution ... a quiet mower is preferable (and, i still think string trimmers should be banned for noise pollution or at least make the manufacturers put mufflers on the engines and muzzles ... for hearing safety if nothing else.) it goes hand in hand with making quiet vacuum cleaners ... do we all just have to wear ear plugs or go deaf?

weather ... muggy, and i was on the road most of the day. the interstate highways were very crowded with cars ... vacationers? business people rushing home?

seems like everybody was driving way to fast ... speeding ...

maybe we should set up some type of reporting system for speeding drivers where other drivers could just text in the offender's license plate number and if enough of the same numbers were reported in a certain length of time, a citation could be issued.

as for commercial trucks going so fast and over the speed limits, they are supposed to be professional drivers and ought to know better, as well as, fined heavier.

spent the time driving up to visit with my dad. the visit was short and i don't know if he will even remember that i came to see him. his type of dementia seems to rob him of the thinking skills he used to have and leaves him mostly in a state of confusion, disorientation, having trouble speaking and swallowing, as well as, understanding. his sense of time loss can be very confusing and his loss of vision only adds to the deal.

after i left him, i headed to the store to buy some cotton boxers ... hey, it's summertime!

no painting today ... just travel and then dinner with some friends passing through. since it was a friday, fish was definitely the menu item. i read an interesting book on that subject a while back titled fish on friday: feasting, fasting, and discovery of the new world by brian fagan. i remember it was filled with information and fascinating details along with some recipes for the gill-bearing organisms.

i hear the dialogue from sabrina in the background ...

another hot, humid day in charlotte, but the fans feel good swirling the air around and making me feel cooler ... well, kind of ... my studio is quite hot.

i was thinking about the discussion from our book club meeting last night talking about Mary Coin and it reminded me of some comments that i wrote long ago in a high school literature class about the difference between writing fiction, historical fiction and history itself.

basically, the points i made were:

—fiction should only present the necessary information that the author (and/or editor) has created to make a story work. all things included in fiction should ideally be related to the point of story without extraneous unrelated items, events or characters ...

—historical fiction includes events from real life that are (or should be) carefully aligned to research. the characters can be real, based on real, or entirely fictional, but unless the characters are chosen to help decide the point that the author is trying to make, they would be extraneous. the author can choose to exclude events unrelated to the specific point, but that can be misleading if the reader does not undertake additional research to verify facts. historical fiction also can add dialogue based on real information, letters, writings, etc., but is still mostly made-up conversation by the author.

—history writing is generally a carefully collected and researched presentation of events where an author is seeking to order those events in descriptions that either lead to a conclusion to make a point or simply present the events themselves. the events generally speak for themselves as determined by the historical outcome (since they are part of history). some writers can make the historical truths read as novels.

it was nice to realize that the points were still holding true ...

09-progress on the painting ...

09-detail of the painting ...

09-another detail of the painting ...

today it was hot and steamy in my upstairs studio ... really quite humid, nonetheless, the paint was flowing and taking longer to dry than usual. i'm starting to get some the detailing in and finalizing a bit of the colors, but still a long way to go ...

08-progress on the painting ...

we met with our book club tonight ... talking about marisa silver's mary coin. some people liked it, others didn't care for the book. i was one of the former and found some of the word phrases to be really outstanding. i will tip my hat to ms. silver, in her creation of an original novel from historical events—rather than historical fiction, per se—and making it all very interesting as it draws life from a very famous photograph.

since it is june, the first of the summer tomatoes are coming in. so, time to be making tomato pie.
we heard about tomato pie during a visit to a former minister up near the mountains who told us the basics and had in turn obtained it from a member at her church where she was the newly installed senior minister. if you like tomatoes and/pizza, it's a delicious dinner. we made an organic version of it.
here's an image of one we made a while back ... and that i drew for a project posted in my drawings + sketches page.

if you are interested in the recipe, click HERE. (i created this page for a cpcc project a while back.)

yesterday i was sitting, waiting for my car to be repaired, well, maybe not truly repaired, just an oil change and look over to see what was going on with it running rather rough and the good news is that it is just older and really nothing to worry about ... super!
later we had vietnamese food with our friend tracy at lang van restaurant. it's still definitely some of the best vietnamese food in charlotte (or at least to my tastes). we were all bad joking about how many times the staff kept filling up our water glasses. so, i was wondering if that's a just a service issue or maybe a cultural thing? seems like most of the asian cuisine restaurants have similar policies ... like, never, never, let the customer's glass of water get empty. don't know on that, but the attention is nice nonetheless.
this morning i worked and reworked on a book cover design that i am trying to complete. if it goes well, i'll probably post it. also, spent some time researching and reviewing several works by g. k. chesterton.
then spent some of the afternoon working more on my latest painting while listening to franz schubert's quintet in c major (d.956) followed by eels end times.

07-progress on the painting ... beginning to get some of the final colours and textures into place with overwashes. there's still a long way to go and tonight we have two siamese cats visiting us for a fortnight ... got to keep them out of the studio ... unless I want some extra texture from more cat hair around the house!

ok, i haven't been painting for a few days, so nothing to post in the photos. i've spent time cleaning up around the house, making my studio work and doing some yard work and driving around the state. i did get to hear a beautiful playing of j.s. bach's fantasia in a minor (bwv 904/1) as the opening voluntary for a pentecost service along with a wonderful anthem, russel nagy's hymn to the spirit at first united methodist church in charlotte. the music certainly worked to emphasize the holy spirit.

06-progress on the painting ... worked just a few hours this evening, i had other projects this afternoon. laying in more base colours and starting the overwashes.

yesterday, we took some time to go down to landsford canal state park to view the spider lilies on the catawba river.
here's a few images from our hike:

from the overlook at the park this is a view. you can see a photographer in a bright green shirt toward the left of the image. he was paddling around among the lilies on an open-top kayak.

i didn't actually get this close to the lilies, this was taken from a photo on the sign at the overlook. i didn't have a telephoto lens, but there are lots of images of the spider lilies on the web.

this dragonfly was defending his turf, but landed close enough for me to snap a shot of him...other wildlife we saw were snakes, turtles, squirrels, many, many birds and a white-tailed female deer.

05-progress on the painting ... spent some time working on the painting. underlayers, lots of underlayers of paint. also starting to read marisa silver's mary coin for our book club review later this month. no opinion so far. still plowing through the american heritage world war i history as well—it's slow reading.

i've been working on some updates to my website, some graphic designs and on a painting for my friend, raynel.

and, i'm still reading on a copy of the american heritage history of world war i - i am reading about this history at 100 years 1914 to 2014 - a century - after the war began with the assasination of austrian archduke francis ferdinand and his wife sophie in sarajevo. it's difficult reading (just from the style that it is written). my grandfather was one of the participants in the american forces infantry of the war in france and lived through the horror of it. he was exposed to mustard gas—at some point—that later destroyed his teeth (or so we kids were all told) and it probably partially contributed to his emphysema. the maps in the book are really difficult to read ... not enough contrast on the colors, or the type and line spacing.

04-progress on the painting

the beginning of the month of june 2014! happy birthday to our friend, june, born of the first day of the month! i went to the concert by the first presbyterian choir today. they sang a good selection of spiritual songs and hymns ... they sounded great. part ofthe intro was sung a cappella with the choir surrounding the congregation ... that sounded really super! we ended the day at a choir cookout party at lake norman ... wonderful sunset!

03-progress on the painting

02-progress on the painting

01-progress on the painting

we were in knoxville and oak ridge, tn for a wedding today. the weather was super ... cool and crisp for a mid may day. walked along the greenway which is part of the old surrounding fences of the "secret city" with absolutely great sun and early spring. lots birds singing along with poison ivy and honeysuckle blooming. I was reading a book by marina belozerskaya - to wake the dead about the birth of archaeology. it was a bargain book that I got at charlotte library winter sale. it has been a fascinating read. i'm not sure why the library had chosen to purge it from their collection.

celebrated being married for 15 years today. wow! happy anniversary! also, today i finished my program at central piedmont community college ... hail the graduate, again. another degree under the belt.

celebrated henry and ginger's wedding today in pawley's island! congratulations to the new married couple! it was a pleasant drive in front of thunderstorms down to the sc coast (mostly on back roads) after a final exam at cpcc. luckily, the storms never caught me or the wedding!

color study for painting - i posted this image on my drawings and sketches page some time ago.

bw sketch study for painting

original painting sketch - i was digging through my notebooks and scans on my laptop and finally found the sketch i had created for this painting.