Today was a busy day. We had three extra girls at our house. We had High School registration - they got my daughters schedule wrong. My husband was painting the shed- studio. It was rather chaos, but I found by putting on my earphones and painting was a good way to escape!
When my husband and I bought our house last year we had talked of turning the back yard shed into a studio/writing space. Well, this week Franz decided the time had come. Not being a handy man by profession, he is after all an English Professor, this is all new to him, but together, and with the help of a friend, it is coming along nicely! It does mean however that I am not getting nearly enough painting done. With school starting next week we also have the renewal of exhibitions. All the call for entries are next week as well. I am busy trying to frame things, fill out forms etc.
I've been wanting to paint the California migrant or day laborers for ages, but never found myself in the right place at the right time. Finally, on my drive around Watsonville I came across this group hard at work. I believe it was some sort of cabbage they were picking. These people are the back bone of the California economy and should not be excluded from exhibits of mission paintings, bougainvillea, fountains, and seascapes.
While in Gilroy we decided to take some time out at the beach. The closest one is in Watsonville - Pajaro Dunes. I don't know how it got it's name, but the windblown trees on the tops of the dunes are rather bird like. This is genuine plein air - evident by a few grains of sand stuck in the paint!
