One of the many jobs I've had is as a floral designer and florist. Pretty shocking isn't it? I've had said of me, "you are the least likely florist" "not the person I'd go to for flowers but you do a damn good job" "when I saw you I didn't think you'd do a good job, but these are awesome." Me being a florist is slightly ridiculous but I have always enjoyed flowers since I was a small child. My father was an avid gardener, in spring he'd dig up pieces of his  day lilies and narcicus, toss them in the back of his work truck with a shovel and when he'd read the meters at homes with neat flowers, knock on the door and offer a trade. He was younger at teh time, and I'm sure his smile coupled with whatever line he used got him the trades he was interested in.

Funny thing is, people with gardens like to trade for things they don't have already, using my father's model of digging up pieces of flowers I've traded with other people. I also like to give chunks of my plants as gifts.

My pink day lilies are unusual and most people love them. Anyway, I went to the Lynch Park gardens and snapped a few shots. These are straight out of hte camera, which will take square pictures. The garden does NOT have it's plants labeled which drives me nuts, I'd at least like to know the common names of the varities.

The above is a picture of my pink day lily. 

I enjoy my watercolors, a lot and I'm always looking for fun new techniques to try out> Eveline sent me this link to a guy she mentioned could be the British Bob Ross, and I have to say she might be right. I really enjoyed his tutorials! Go check them out.

You can also sign up for  a download of a 60 page PDF of his watercolor book, it's actually a very worthwhile download. A lot if these free downloads are worthless junk, this one however is filled with practical information. Things like paint strength, adding water to a wash of color and things you learn as happy accidents. Good stuff and a great cult of stuff download to get you thinking about practical use of paint and how to manipulate it for the results YOU want. Go sign up and download it.

I checked the weather for the day and it was supposed to be nicer than it is. Everything is wet and it’s VERY overcast. Really I swear mother nature wants  me to sit around in coffee shops drinking really good coffee and not painting outside.

Mother nature better buck up soon, ‘cause I’m headed to the park to paint! (Even if the light is terrible today)

The cult of stuff has been great. I've felt more free since I identified the worm of stuff inside my head. The need to buy more and do less with it, collecting supplies like they are Hummel figurines. (Don't know Hummel? I bet your grandmother had one or 2.)

Since casting aside the yoke of stuff I've noticed I'm more inspired to create. I went painting again this weekend. This time Jane couldn't go so I headed to Salem Willows on my own to grab a rocky patch and do a little painting. The pochade on the tripod was a raging success. The adjustable legs let me set up where ever I wanted. The thing I was mostly worried about- stability of the quick release head, I'm pleased to report, it did just fine. There wasn't any wind to speak of so the stability of the lid and bungee cord wasn't tested, but I suspect it will do just fine.

Moira, of Crafty Moira has a post up called "Buy Nothing Summer." It's great and she quotes the Cult of Stuff in it. Go Go cult of stuff!

I find that the doodle, also known as sketchnoting, helps me to focus and comprehend large quantities of information. I have sketchnoted all my life. There are a lot of myths out there about sketchnoting aka doodling. Here are some links and videos about sketchnoting:

Links:
Sketchnote Army
SketchNote Power Point
RohDesign

I have a lot to say about this but I think that the experts and research is more substantial than what I have to say.

Not much more to say other than happy pride with a sweet little flickr find by Stephen B. Reddy Click through to see it in better detail.

Instead of writing a review last night I chose to paint.

So, uh yeah. Paint. Pochade. Addicted.

I'll get  agood pick of the piece tonight, probably, if I'm not too busy painting.

Every other week Jane and I have an art date and at least for the summer I’m trying to think of it as an art adventure. This week we headed to a local spot, Salem Willows for some walking and painting. The Willows is a place past its prime, like so many places in the North Shore of Massachusetts, the Willows had several prime times in its existence, the first around the turn of the century and again around the 50’s and 60’s when it was a destination with loads of restaurants and games for kids. Now it’s the kind of place you go to chill, unwind and hope you don’t see a dirty old man with a hooker hidden in the far reaches of the parking lot. (You also don’t leave anything of value in your car.)

All that being said the Willows is worth the trip if only for the views alone. The park juts out in to the bay affording a grand view of Beverly, the Beverly-Salem Bridge, the waterfront, Boats, and beaches. The rocky outcroppings are just dramatic enough to offer some scenery for paintings but not so dramatic that you can’t scale them in sneakers.

We headed to Dead Horse Beach. It’s a mystery how it got its name, a Google search brought me back nothing except the quip, “A dead horse washed ashore there.” Which was something I had assumed anyway, but I was hoping to find some sort of tall tale about settlers and 1649 and witch trials.

We wandered the beach, avoiding a large group of children who were in some sort of science class and set up a base of operations. I decided to afford myself a little more time in my image this time than I had originally planned, I still worked quickly but I wanted to get some layers going in the image. I started working with one of those cheap bristle brushes applying color in large swaths. Though it was a dull day we’d get these moments of bright sun, I wanted to capture that fleeting moment, so I used bright colors and toned them down later.

The sky in my first painting was successful I’m not sure about the rest.

The second image I made I decided to focus on a grouping of rocks, 3 of them at the water’s edge, with me looking sort of down on them. In the image are the 3 rocks water and a small bit of ground.

As I waited for bits and pieces of my images to dry I wandered about and snapped some pictures of things, like the remnants of various playground things and rusty bits of metal and tiny little crabs. All in all it was a great art adventure.

I’ve been thinking of the concept of adventure or a life filled with curiosity and exploration. Perhaps the recent death of my Great Grandmother brings this concept home for me. I think of the way I’d like to live my life and how I conduct myself.

Fpr some reason the word adventure comes to mind. I think because it embodies a never ending curiosity with life and the things around me.

Adventure is wrapped around art and art wrapped around adventure.

Sometimes I try and make a trip to Starbucks and adventure by walking the long way and snapping pictures, or I’ll get my coffee and sit outside and sketch. Of course it helps that it sits on waterfront and there is a nice view of boats and pretty trees.

This weekend I’m headed to a tougher place than my usual haunts for a little en plein air painting and possibly photography. I’m looking at it as an adventure in a pretty but run down place. Jane and I will be slinging paint from 10 to 2.

I have more to write on this subject but the words are failing me.