White Christmas

White Christmas
Originally uploaded by V G.

We had a White Christmas, involving a 1 hour drive there and 1 hour back trip. We didn't spend too much time out in the snow, but it was very memorable and worth the drive.
It was me, Z, my husand and G'ma (my husband's mom).
We drove up to Wrightwood Ski Resort and played in the "no snowplay" zone. We were getting a kick out of the sign that says "no snowplay" and watching all of the people who obviously did not
pay attention to the sign either. On Christmas day it seemed like a hard rule to enforce. There were also so many people disobeying the sign that it would have been hard to stop. We didn't last long in the cold, but we were very happy for the memory of Z's first snow experience.

This is Not a Rock.

This is Not a Rock.
Originally uploaded by V G.

Z says: This is not a rock.
V says: What is it?
Z: says: It's a heart

This was at the beach today. We had a beautiful Magritte surrealist moment.
Z saw me (V) drawing a heart in the sand just minutes before he (Z) found this heart.

I heart that Z found this heart and declared that it was not a rock.

Mama love.

"Hotdog" painting

Hotdog
Originally uploaded by V G.

This "Hotdog" painting was for an art auction benefit for PAWS/LA in 2003. 12 x12" acrylic on canvas.
I was reminded of this painting due to a mini PowerPoint presentation I did today at San Bernardino Valley College with my very good friend, my art collaborator, Meredith (Fine Art Photography). We were invited to talk to the painting class there when the painting instructor found out we were making a trip out to visit the art gallery. So, it was a fun day of talking and thinking of art. In preparation for the talk, I got to look through some digital files of paintings on my computer, the ones I could find, to make this presentation. A project I still have yet to do is organize my digital files of paintings. I still have them on different computers in various folders, with titles I may have forgotten until I start browsing my hard drive. Back to this painting... The dog is Elmo Diddle, Meredith's dog, who let me take photos of and study her dog curled up like a hot dog. The main reason for our visit out to San Bernardino Valley College Art Gallery was to see the new gallery space and start thinking of our proposal for an art show. In 1999, Meredith and I did a colloborative work called Pet/Circus at SBVC Art Gallery before it moved to the new building it is in now.
We did this show before either of us had kids, so preparing for a
new show now will be a lot more challenging time wise, but easier in other ways. At any rate, I'm excited about it and just as curious as anyone else as to what we will come up with. We have some ideas brewing which I'm sure I'll post about more as we get more into it.
We think this project may happen next fall in 2008. I'd better start painting now.

Native American Dancer

Native American Dancer
Originally uploaded by V G.

This Native American did a dance and storytelling at my son's daycare last Friday for their annual Fall Festival. I was very impressed with him and how he presented himself. He told a story of the flute and did some samples of different Native American dances. Part of me (I'm sure it's the 50% Chippewa) wants to know more about the Native American stories. Over this past Thanksgiving my mom, who is 100% Chippewa reminded me that Iron Eyes Cody, Hollywood's most famous Indian, was not really even an Indian. Ironically, he fooled just about everyone, even myself when I was young. He was a good actor and really lived the part. I'm going off on a tangent here, but an interesting fact is that my grandma lived next door to Iron Eyes Cody in Silverlake, CA when I was very young for many years. When visiting my grandma, I got to go next door and visit Iron Eyes Cody and had always believed he was an Indian. He had many great Indian costumes. My grandma was a good friend to him. Iron Eyes attended my grandmother's funeral in 1992. Just Google "Iron Eyes Cody" and see the Wikipedia definition. It's interesting. In his heart and soul, he was a Native American. And...going back to this image I posted, it reminded me of
how little I know of my Native American heritage. One day I'd like to explore more of the storytelling.

Dandelions Rock!

Dandelions Rock!
Originally uploaded by V G.

Rock On!
Toddlers know what's happening.
I would buy it.
Actually the nuts and bolts of this image came out of a "bummer" accident when I had the wrong setting on my camera, totally overexposing some cool photos of my son. I still loved the images and was kicking myself in the butt that I had the wrong setting. I was desperately trying to salvage them in some way.
Then, "Ah ha!" tonight it hit me how cool overexposure can be when used with a purpose, like fashion or music cover art.
Did I ever mention I like fantasy?

Acorns

Acorns
Originally uploaded by V G.

I went for a hike this Sunday with my son. We walked. I carried him about a third of the way. He's getting better and better about walking. It used to be one half of the time that I'd have to carry him.
He's two years old. Say no more. We make a lot of stops. One stop was to look at acorns on the ground. For me it was looking and arranging. For my son, it is looking, picking up, and throwing. He especially likes to find the things I arrange so that he can pick it up and throw it. Here's a little cirlce of acorns I arranged before they were randomly scattered again by my son.
Happy Thanksgiving fellow bloggers!

I Want to See Wicked!

I Want to See Wicked!
Originally uploaded by V G.

We were in Hollywood last weekend and walked by the Pantages Theatre. I've been hearing great things about Wicked, the Musical.
Tonight the Wizard of OZ was on TV and reminded me of wanting to see Wicked. I always love Glinda, the good witch and still hate the Wicked Witch of the West. From what I hear, Wicked is the story of Glinda and the Wicked Witch during their formative years. Maybe I will get a chance to see Wicked one day? It's also funny that the Wizard of OZ was on tonight, because my son has been playing with my witch hat. I call him the wizard. When I wear it, I am the witch. Whoever has the hat on chases the others around the house.
Anyway, you may be wondering why I was walking around Hollywood near twighlight? I was going to the PAWS/LA art auction at the Avalon with my husband and son to see how
the exhibit turned out. I got to see my Pink Night Owl painting for the last time. It turns out that we won a bid in the silent auction for a Meredith Parmelee photograph on canvas, "3 birds". This was a nice surprise since Meredith is a great friend and I LOVE her work. We didn't stay at the auction for long, but apparently long enough to be a high bidder in the silent auction.

Flying a Kite

Flying a Kite
Originally uploaded by V G.

This afternoon we flew a kite. My son was so excited. He got this kite for his 2 year birthday in September. We finally got it out to fly this afternoon. It was the perfect wind conditions. You can see how excited he was to be at the beach with his new kite.

Spider Toddler and Spider Witch Mom

Spider and Spider Witch
Originally uploaded by V G.

Happy Halloween!
OK, I did it. I dressed up. It was not a major costume, but it's a costume. I used to love to dress up as a witch when I was around
10-13 years old. One year as a witch I used stuff to make warts on my face and painted my face green. I remember it was very itchy.
This year I went with the spider theme for my witch costume to go with my son's spider costume. It's hard to tell from this photo, but the hat has a metallic rainbow spider web print on it. I have some spider jewelry on and a spider ring. Zach loved being a spider. He has seen the orb weavers in our yard this past spider season.

Scarecrow Heads

Scarecrow Heads
Originally uploaded by V G.

I love these themed painted boards that have holes cut out to stick your head in. They are cheesy and fun and I love-love-love them!
This is at a pumpkin patch.

Pumpkin Season

Pumpkin Season
Originally uploaded by V G.

Yes, we are fully in pumpkin season. I'm still in denial that we are already in Oct. 2007. Yikes. However, I do love this time of year.
Here's a photo of my little guy trying to get the big pumpkins, of course.
I was thinking of doing a costume for myself this year, but I'm now feeling like I do want to keep it SIMPLE. By simple, I mean simple. I'm thinking I will just wear orange and black on halloween. But, like I said in my previous post, it's still not too late to throw together a costume. We'll see what happens.
Happy October-almost-Halloween to everyone!

Spider Costume

Spider Costume
Originally uploaded by V G.

October? What? Where is the time going?
I can't believe we are at the last 2 1/2 months of the calendar for 2007.
Anyway,
My son is going to be a spider this Halloween. Here he is testing out the costume from Babystyle. I have been so obsessed with spiders these past couple of years. It's not because I love spiders, it's because I fear spiders, especially venomous black widows which have been spotted on our property. It's almost the end of Orb Weaver spider season. We have been watching them build their webs. My son knows about Orb Weavers and that they make big spider webs.

For me, I already bought myself an orange t-shirt with a black crow printed on it from Target. Yeah, I'm going super simple this year. Orange and black, SIMPLE. But wait, I still have time to make my spider costume. Oh, I do have time? I know, but I don't want to go through the whole pulling together a costume thing again this year. But, we were so cute last year. Yeah, that was last year. C'mon wouldn't it be cool if I did a black widow costume to match my son? I could do it simple. I knew this was going to happen...I probably will throw some sort of costume together at the last minute. It's in my blood. OK, maybe I'll make an attempt. If it's a total disaster I can use my orange tee with black crow print for a back-up. We'll see. No pressure.
Classic.

Giant Hot Dog on Roof.

Giant Hot Dog on Roof.
Originally uploaded by V G.

This hot dog was spotted on Hollywood Blvd. and Western Blvd. in LA.
It's a classic old school roof top sign. I love it. I like how the onions
are square chunks. It's an oldie but goodie. It's getting kind of run down, but the essence is still there.

Pink Golf Gear

Pink Golf Gear
Originally uploaded by V G.

I couldn't resist a chance to wear my pink golf gear which includes my pink visor and pink layered shirts with my pink golf club grip on my driver, and pink ball. It was not so easy to find pink golf gear, then came LPGA's Paula Creamer. In fantasy world, I would love to be
a woman on the LPGA circuit. Remember, I love fantasy. I would be so excited to wake up each day and hit golf balls. Really, I would.
One time my golf instructor said I should be playing in the LPGA. My head took off into fantasy land. I have only taken 3 professional lessons, but each time my game improved dramatically. It was well worth it. I imagined myself hanging out with Annika Sorenstam and talking about technique with Julie Inkster. Then reality sets in and I have to leave the golf course before finishing my round to pick up my son from daycare. Golf has become one of my passions next to painting, work and being with my family. It's a fairly recent obsession. I have only been playing for about 3-4 years now. I still have time to get more pink golf gear than Paula Creamer.

John Deere Tractor (Again)

John Deere Tractor (Again)
Originally uploaded by V G.

We got to see a John Deere Tractor up close. My son was very excited. There's father and son on a John Deere. My father in-law's good friend has this in his front yard. He hooked us up with a visit to see the John Deere. I think it was mentioned this John Deere is from the 50's. Our visit was about a week ago now. It was fun to see the toy miniature, then to be next to the real John Deere. My son was clutching his Tractors all weekend long.

Mama Love

Mama Love
Originally uploaded by V G.

Mama Love is a store in downtown LA in the Toy District. I love this basic painting on bricks. Plus, I love the title, "Mama Love".
Most of the stores down there are wherehouse type/ garage stores which sell wholesale items, but they will often sell single items for cash. It's a very interesting place to shop, but not a glamorous place to shop. It's right next to skid row. This store front painting on brick was the highlight for me.

John Deere Tractor

John Deere Tractor
Originally uploaded by V G.

We saw a John Deere Tractor at the beach today. It was raking the sand. That was the highlight
of the morning for my little guy. He just got a toy John Deere tractor on Friday.
I can't believe it is already Labor Weekend. I hope everyone is enjoying a nice long 3 day weekend and keeping cool. We stayed cool at the beach this morning, but it is
quite a bit hotter now at home this afternoon.

Wiltern Theatre

Wiltern Theatre
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the Wiltern Theatre. I drove by it last weekend and realized for the first time why it is called the Wiltern. It's on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Boulevard. Duh. How long have I lived in LA now? 15 years, plus the 4 years I lived in the Glendale and Pasadena area and plus being born in Los Angeles.
Sometimes it takes me a while to figure these things out.
Anyway, I admire this building everytime I see it. It's a classic.

Pink Night Owl in an AppleTree

Pink Night Owl in an AppleTree
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's my latest night owl painting. It's very similiar to my other night owl. This time the night owl is in an apple tree. The bird in the tree is blue. There are a couple of sunflowers on the trail. Deery-Lou is absent, but the Sanrio smiling mushroom character made it in. Acrylic on Canvas.
12 x12"
completed 8/25/2007
This painting is going to be donated to PAWS/LA for Pet Art 9, an art auction which raises money for PAWS/LA. http://www.pawsla.org
The auction takes place in November sometime, but the artwork for the auction is due by the end of August, which is very soon.
I'm hoping to do more night owl paintings. Also, friend of night owl paintings would be very fun too. We'll see.

Indian Princess: My Grandmother

Indian Princess: My Grandmother
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here is a photo taken in approximately 1937 of my grandmother who is 19 years old in this photo. She was an Indian Princess. She grew up on Walpole Island, on the border of Canada and the US near the Great Lakes in Michigan. Later, she moved
west to Los Angeles with her husband and seven children. She had three sons and four daughters. She was married to another Indian. He was from a different tribe. I don't know all the details. I'll have to ask my mom.
My mom is full blooded Indian. This makes me 50% Chippewa Indian. My other 50%, from my dad's side is a French-Dutch combo. I'm not exactly sure. It's something European. I should find out more from my dad. Anyway, I love this photo of my grandma. She was such a giving person. I have the best memories of her. Pure love.

Super Toddler & Cat

Super Toddler & Cat
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's our Super Toddler with
the neighborhood cat. The cat's name is Krusty and he lives down the street.
Super Toddler loves Krusty and Krusty seems to love ST. We take walks down the street and every time we go, Krusty joins us. ST gets so excited. Lots of times Krusty will stop and lay in somebody's yard for a little bit. Then ST has to do what Krusty is doing. It's too cute for words.

Super Family

Super Family
Originally uploaded by V G.

I was at Comic-Con in San Diego last week, so I couldn't resist working some Photoshop skills to composite this photo together. The photo of my son and myself was taken last Halloween in 2006.
Yep, we were super together. My husband's head shot is more recent at about 5 months old.
I got his body from a comic book using the body of Black Adam.
Going to Comic-Con this year was inspiring. I can't believe how packed it was. It seems like there were more people than ever.

Tonight I was watching the new TV series, "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" with Stan Lee as the commentator and judge of who stays and who gets booted off the show. It's fun to watch. At first I thought, hey, I should be a superhero on that show, but I don't envy the tasks that Stan has put them up to, especially the live spelling bee with real bees buzzing as punishment. From what I have seen so far, it is close to a Fear Factor kind of show.
Anyway, I'm more of a behind the scenes superhero. Right now my superhero duties are all about my son and husband. That's why we are the Super Family!
KABLAM!!!

Tacos Y Mariscos

Tacos Y Mariscos
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's a cool Food Truck that I have been seeing lately.
I haven't tried their food, but I love the painting of the mermaid. It's the best art I have seen on a Food Truck.
Usually this type of truck is referred to as a roach coach, but this one seems to be unusually clean and refreshing.
I may have to try it just because.

Mobil Station Skeleton Mural by Anonymous

Mobil Station Skeleton Mural by Anonymous
Originally uploaded by V G.

I've just been corrected on the identity of the gas company which used the pegasus logo. I was saying Shell, but it is Mobil. Duh, I should have known this one. The yellow and red coloring of the cigarette price sign threw me off. Anyway, this painting is on an out of service Mobil Station.
I love it. It says so much. I took this photo of it last September in 2006. The painting is still there. The building is still unoccupied.
I drive by it at least 4-6 times a month.
So much can be read into this that I don't want to mess it up with words. One last note on this, the sign for cigarettes says $2.35, which gives an indication of how long this service station has been out of service.
The red pegasus logo was found here on the internet...www.cartype.com

Spider City at LA Zoo

Here's a photo from the spider exhibit, "Spider City" at the LA Zoo.
My husband took this photo of my son and myself sticking our heads into a painted board that gives me a spider body and my son a fly body. It was at the conclusion of the exhibit right next to the "Spider City" t-shirt sales booth. I decided to face my fears head on and see the spider exhibit. It wasn't so bad. In fact, I had no fear. I think a big reason is that all of the spiders are well kept behind glass. My fear is the fear of randomly running into a spider at home. You know, reaching behind something and getting biten. Since living in our house, I have seen 4 black widows at different times. I remember each one specifically. Each time, I was slightly paranoid and could not sleep soundly until the black widow was terminated. My husband thinks I'm crazy. I'm not afraid of Daddy Long Legs, they are not poisonous.
I have not seen any black widows recently, but it is spider season so I wouldn't be surprised if I come across one. I've become better at knowing what their webs look like. That is usually the first sign. I'm way more cautious of old boxes and stacked chairs that have been sitting around for a while in the garage or backyard.
I'm starting to see the Orb Weaver make it's way onto the scene.
We had our first Orb Weaver sighting in the front yard roses and also one in the backyard roses.
Since finding out more about spiders via the internet, I am not so scared of them either. In fact, the good thing about spiders is that they are great at keeping the flying pests under control.

Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver
Originally uploaded by V G.

This is the second Orb Weaver spider I have seen so far in my backyard. As the summer goes on, there will more frequent Orb Weaver sightings. They tend to be in full swing by late August- September. They build webs right before your eyes. Usually they are large webs too. I've noticed they prefer to get busy building their webs at sundown, then by daytime their webs are usually partially dismantled or up for just a while before something knocks it down. I also just found out via the internet that the spider in Charlotte's Web is a type of Orb Weaver. Orb Weavers are known for their magnificent webs.

Plein-Air Paintings at the Malaga Cove Library Art Gallery.

Plein-Air Paintings at the Malaga Cove Library Art Gallery.
Originally uploaded by V G.

I went to see an exhibition of Plein-air paintings at the Malaga Cove Library Art Gallery in Palos Verdes, CA. The exhibition features a group of artists who call themselves the Portguese Bend Artist Colony. Here is a water fountain that is just outside the library. My son immediately found it and climbed up to put his hands in the water. I met my artist friend Wendy there who brought her 3 1/2 month old son in a Bjorn pack.

http://www.pbartistcolony.com
Here's the website to the exhibition for more information on the Portguese Bend Artist Colony.

I really enjoyed seeing Daniel and Vicki Pinkham's work. They are all extraordinary painters in the PBAC, but I kept coming back to the Pinkhams' work. They are a married couple who go Plein-air painting together. I think that is so cool. It was so inspiring to see the paintings. They have an excellent website which inspired me to see the exhibition (as well as my friend Wendy who told me about it in the first place). However, once you see the work in real life there is no comparison. It is truely great work. I'm inspired. I may have to find time to get out my Plein-air easel even if it is only to paint flowers or toy trucks in the backyard.
It's another spare time fantasy...but crazier things have happened.
Hmmm...
We'll see. It's amazing what a mom on a mission to create can do
during naptime and late night time. I've seen it in my artist friends who are moms and in myself. Go artist moms!

Batman Action Figure and Puppet.

Batman Action Figure and Puppet.
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's something new and something old.
I like both of them for different reasons.
I'm a superhero fan from way back. I like Batman and his
Bruce Wayne self. This new Batman action figure by Mattel is great because it uses the extreme block-like sculpting which today's cartoon superheroes are using. I think it's a fun style. The puppet I just got from my mother in-law is probably about 20-25 years old, maybe more. She has a fondness for toys from
other countries, particularly hand-made toys. She had this Batman puppet and let me keep him once she saw my interest in him. His strings need repair. He was made in Mexico, but she said she thinks she remembers buying him in downtown LA at Olivera Street, the street dedicated to Mexican culture which has shops with trinkets and souvenirs. It sounds very likely. In my spare time (which is extremely rare and super limited these days) I want to eventually re-string the puppet Batman. If I have more time (in my dreams) I want to make a puppet. Also, in my dreams, I want to make a little puppet theatre stage. I would have so much fun. We'll see. It might happen in the distant future. I have another friend who has some string puppets from Spain. We could stage little puppet shows. Anyway, those are some fun things that I would do if I had unlimited time to just do stuff. I'll keep it in my list of fun things I want to do.

Pink Night Owl

Pink Night Owl
Originally uploaded by V G.

"Pink Night Owl" is a recent creation I painted about 4 weekends ago. I've been dying to post this. I had to wait because it was a surprise gift to my friend at work from one her friends.
It's a 12 x12" acrylic on canvas painting.
My friend at work loves owls, the color pink and forest friends. We both love Deery-Lou and the little mushroom character in the forest by Sanrio. Since we are not "morning" people, I think it is safe to say we both fall into the catagory of "night owl". We "try" to get bed at decent hours, but with the little ones it's hard to get things done (like go on-line) and we stay up later than we should. When her friend told me she wanted to buy a painting from me for my friend at work I decided that I would do a special piece for her. At first she asked to see what paintings I had available, then after some thought, I
knew what I wanted to paint. It had to be a "Pink Night Owl".
Then it became a commissioned piece. She wanted to buy it just from the description. This is what I came up with. My friend at work is very happy with it, plus her baby daughter loves it too.

Bee Nest

Bee Nest
Originally uploaded by V G.

We found this bee nest while looking at
a hillside which was burned about a month and half ago.
It is what's left after the fire. No bees. Since the nest was not active we could really take a look at it. It looked like the bees had a well made honey comb dwelling. There were other little holes nearby this larger entrance which the bees probably used as alternate ways to get in and out.
We also saw lots of spider
webs with holes in the dirt. I do not like spiders, but I can appreciate
their intricate webs. It's almost the time of year for the Orb Weaver spider to appear in our neighborhood. They are fairly large...up to a dime in diameter. I am slightly paranoid of spiders so I looked up the Orb Weaver on the internet to identify it to make sure it was not poisonous. It is not. I was relieved to find this out. Anyway, the Orb Weaver makes large webs very quick. They work fast and are interesting to watch. The not so fun part is accidently walking into a web.
There is currently a Spider exhibit at the LA Zoo, which we may go to see.
I guess I like to freak myself out. My husband thinks I'm crazy when it comes to spiders. Actually, the truth I am finding out, is the more I understand spiders the less I am afraid of them. Also, knowing what spiders I really should be cautious of helps, as opposed to being freaked out by all spiders.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's a father and son moment for you.
Our little guy's first official driving range experience.
He loved it. He wanted to keep hitting balls.
He hit half of the balls I was going to use to practice with.
I didn't get much practice in myself but I had a few good shots. It was just good enough to keep me from selling my clubs on Ebay.
Yeah, I still have the golf bug even with the limited amount of time
I have to play right now. One day I'll have more time again... I keep saying this to myself like a mantra. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the moments with my little guy and husband. We watched the US Open today on TV. It was a classic Father's Day.

Street Cleaner Truck!

Street Cleaner Truck!
Originally uploaded by V G.

My son is all boy. "Truck!" He hasn't grasped how to say street cleaner, but he tries. Whenever he hears the street cleaner truck or the weekly trash truck, he runs to the couch to look out the window to see it. It is the highlight of my morning to see him looking out the window so fascinated.

Carnival Poster

Carnival Poster
Originally uploaded by V G.

The flourescent printing is so cool.
I love the old school screen printing technique.
This was found on a telephone pole.
Last year I saw a similar style poster for the same annual event.
Besides painting sandwiches, I have been known to paint circus things. This poster is unlike my circus paintings, but inspirational nonetheless.

Mural Update: Complete for now.

Mural Update: Complete for now.
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the mural as it is. I'm happy enough with it
to leave it alone for now. I may come back at some point to do something else to it. We'll see.
**** **** ****
It's nice to just be able to paint anything. Such a freedom.

The boats and flag are the last details that I painted.

For these details, I used some of my acrylic stash for the yellow and broke out some of my regular oil painting bristol brushes instead of the chip brushes.

The top photo of the overall mural was taken in the afternoon warm light last week...

This detail shot was taken today while it was cool and foggy. That's why there is a difference in temperature.

Princess Valerie of the Greater Los Angeles Region

Princess Valerie of the Greater Los Angeles Region
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here I am as Princess Valerie of the Greater Los Angeles Region.
The first photo is more me. The second photo on the right, I seem to look a little unsure of my role as princess. Or maybe it is the double edge sword of being a princess, being the fact that with such power comes great responsibility.
I consider myself a casual princess.
Having just returned from a journey up north to the Bay Area I will keep my post short to rest up for my routine duties here at home.
*** *** ***
I love the Blog world and the real world. I love it when these two worlds meet :) If you haven't noticed I like to spend a lot of time in Fantasy.

Velma and Shaggy

Velma and Shaggy
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the final version of me as Velma and my friend Bill as Shaggy.
In this photo you can't see the orange socks or Mary Janes, but I do have them on.
I found the perfect Velma wig the day before the party.
It was a lot of fun.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day
Originally uploaded by V G.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
I had a mellow Mother's Day with my son and husband.
It started out a little rocky, because my son was sleepy and cranky.
I didn't get the clue until a couple tantrums later... then realized he was sleepy earlier than his usual naptime.
So, we took a late morning nap...then, we had the best Mother's Day.
It ended up we had a "green" Mother's Day. After a late lunch, out at Islands, which I love, we went to Home Depot. I got to pick out any flowers I wanted, so I went for the classic rose. This is a Chicago Peace Rose. I'm still learning about roses. I just know they need to be pruned in Oct.-Jan. for a good bloom in May, which is right now.
All of the roses are so wonderful right now. My grandma was good with roses, so I feel like there is hope for me. I planted this rose bush today. I felt like it was a nice way to celebrate Mother's Day and
be good to Mother Earth. We got a couple of Spanish Lavendar plants too. I didn't get a chance to plant them yet. We also purchased our first 4-pack of energy saving bulbs. They look like spirals. They use only 14 watts but give off 60 watts of light. Plus, they are supposed to last longer than a regular bulb. They seem to work great so far. We are composting too. It seems like the least we can do to do our part for the environment. That was my "green" and happy Mother's Day.

Red Mary Janes

Red Mary Janes
Originally uploaded by V G.

I have been searching for Mary Janes, red Mary Janes to be specific.
Finally, after hunting diligently for a couple weeks...I decided to paint these off-white canvas colored ones. It's for a costume. Later this week I am going to be Velma from Scooby-Doo and my friend is going to be Shaggy. It seems like I have seen Mary Janes everywhere in every color possible, but when it came time to actually find a pair then it was a different story.
Then, before the hunt of this type of Mary Jane shoe, I was looking for more of a classic leather Mary Jane with a low heel which is closer to what the character Velma wore. After finding some that were black, not red and out of stock in my size, I decided to broaden my shoe possibilites for Velma. My friend who will be Shaggy suggested the canvas type of Mary Jane or even just the old school red Converse. I almost did the red Converse. Then tonight I stumbled across these canvas Mary Janes. They weren't red...but, hmmm...they could be painted. So that's what I did. Doing an internet search crossed my mind many times, but I don't have time to wait for shipping, or surprises if they don't fit properly. If I had more time...I would have definitely searched for stuff on the internet.
Now I still need a pair of "Velma" glasses. To be continued...

Happy Mother's Day to all of the blogging moms on the internet.

In-progress Mural.

Here's the mural in-progress.
I'm still hacking away at it, little by little.
I worked on the mountains in the background.
This photo is not very good, but at least it gives you an update.
It also shows you the time of day. It's the afternoon when the shadows of the tree start to take effect on the mural.
It's starting to really warm up around here...summer is almost here.
So, I don't mind the varied leaf patterned shadows, since it provides shade.
That's it for now on the mural. Any little bit of time I can paint on it is good.

Outside Time

Outside Time
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's my little guy outside. He loves his outside time!
He used to like to pick the little leaves off the plants, but he's getting better about leaving the leaves on the plants now. There is usually a routine tantrum when we have to return inside. He just loves the outside. He lets us know he wants outside by bringing us his shoes and pointing at the backdoor. Or, he'll bring over his jacket. He's learning to say "outside" or "outdoors". He calls it "ou-da". We all have fun outside.
I try to do some weeding, watering, pruning the trees or I just run around with Zach hitting golf balls, bouncing rubber balls and playing with his trucks.

Last Weds. evening I made an attempt to work on the backyard mural. I thought I could paint while Zach was playing outside. Nope. Zach immediately stopped playing to see what I was doing. He wanted to play with the water containers, the brushes and the paint. I painted two rocks in the ocean section of the mural. That was it. I had to pack up the stuff before Zach could reach over for the quart of latex.
Maybe tomorrow during Zach's naptime I can do a little painting.
That's my only hope. The one weekend when I made a ton of progress, my mom was staying over for the weekend and watched Zach while I got a chance to paint. When she was here, I had a good solid 2 hours to paint. That never happens. Now, I'm back to brief moments here and there of painting. It'll happen little by little.

My Dodger Fans

My Dodger Fans
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here are my Dodger fans, my husband and son.
We went to Dodger Stadium on Thursday night to see the
Dodgers v.s. SF game. Sorry to say that the Dodgers lost.
Nonetheless, I have a lot of SF fans in my life too. My mom and dad to name a few. If I still lived in the Bay Area, I would be a Barry Bonds fan too.
For one reason or another, I have converted to living in LA and I am now true blue. I have been for a while now...about 15 years now.
Anyway, these are my two guys...daddy and his little slugger.
Go Dodgers!

Helvetica, the documentary.

I saw "Helvetica" the documentary today.

http://www.helveticafilm.com/

It was great. It was made for graphic designers.

The movie explores all aspects of Helvetica, the ones who love it and the ones who hate it.

Do you love or hate Helvetica? Let Veer know. The "love/hate" graphic above is from Veer.

http://blog.veer.com/archives/001449.html

I'd classify myself in the LOVE helvetica camp.

To me it is one of the most perfect typefaces.

I fell in love with the "a" during my art school days.

My typography teacher had us do graphite renderings

of fonts on vellum to learn the beauty of working with type. Do art schools still do this?

Helvetica was one of my favorite ones to imitate. It was so satisfying to me to do a perfect graphite rendition.

I love a lot of fonts...but I kind of feel like Helvetica was one of my first true loves. Now I am going to try to think of something to write for Veer's "love/hate". Hmmm?

Bergamot Station Pesto Chicken Sandwich

Bergamot Station Pesto Chicken Sandwich
Originally uploaded by V G.

This is a painting that was painted in 2003 for an art show at Bergamot Station Cafe, Santa Monica. It is 11x 14", oil on canvas.
It hung with about 12 other sandwich paintings, some of which included "Turkey Club", "Tuna in the Sky", "Classic Pastrami", "PB&J"...to name a few.
Now this painting has a new home away from my home.
Somebody at work recently bought it from me.
She originally saw it in 2003, almost bought it and has been thinking about it ever since. At work, once in a while we get the opportunity to hang up some of our personal work. I hung this painting up not intending to sell it, since I really like this painting. The person who did end up buying this painting really did buy it this time. At first I thought she was just saying she wanted to buy it, but she really did want to buy it. I am happy she has it now in her kitchen. She says it is perfect there.

Mural In-Progress

Mural In-Progress
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the latest on the mural.
I was thinking of David Hockney's "pool series" when I painted the mow marks in the grass. Can you tell?
This mural still has a long way to go, but I'll get there.
It's basically blocked in now.
As you may notice, the sandtrap color is actually the original color of the wall coming through.
There is still so much to do to it. I usually don't like to post works in-progress, but it might help me to keep tinkering with it and one day say, "I'm finished."
It's also getting me to look at other parts of the house which need fresh paint for real. Hmmm? Always lots of projects...

My Inner Diego

Here's progress on the Pebble Beach Golf Links, 17th hole mural... I'm still blocking it out and laying in the basic shapes. I've made more progress since this photo today, but I have not gotten a good photo of it yet.

My son is already testing out his golf club in front of it.

Painting this mural is bringing out my inner Diego.

Besides many other things, one thing that separates me from Diego Rivera is today's Home Depot. I was able

to buy "Ooops" house paint for $1/quart and $5/gallon. What a deal. Part of using "Ooops" paint is luck. There has to be a color that someone made an ooops on while mixing for it to be an "Ooops" paint. It's random, but so far I have had luck. I found 3 shades of green and a gallon of blue.

Diego's painting is far from house paint. He painted frescoes. The "true fresco" technique consists of painting on a wet plaster surface (usually a wall or ceiling), using pigments mixed with limewater. The only connection to Diego would be that I am painting a mural. Other than that, it is a very loose concept.

I think I just like the feeling it evokes. For me to say I am bringing out my inner Diego feels like I am bringing out some thing I am kind of familiar with, but still has lots of room to explore. I have no idea if this makes any sense. Plus, with using house paint, I am also feeling a little like Pollock, although I am not dripping it intentionally. I am not using enamel, but instead it is waterbased latex. I'll still call it a "stretch of the imagination" Diego-Pollock combo with a touch of David Hockney. I just mentioned Hockney because I was thinking of his pool paintings. I love the squiggles in his water. So graphic. What I painted today reminded me of Hockney. You'll see when I get around to posting it.

So it is a Diego-Pollock-Hockney...and doesn't look like any of them. It's just what I am thinking about when I am painting.

One quart of Oops paint. Dark Green.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
Originally uploaded by V G.

Happy Easter everybody!
Here I am dressed for Easter.
Actually, I'm not. It's the beauty of Photoshop.
Last month I met James Hayes, the Puppeteer who was giving a
talk on his life as a puppeteer. Very interesting man. What a cool job. Anyway, in the room where he spoke, there was a life-size cut-out of his pink bunny costume where you could stick your head in the cut-out section. Then, you get your polaroid taken. It was so much fun. James says he wears this costume for Halloween or whenever he feels like wearing it. Anyway, I just remembered I had this photo and meant to post it sooner. Today the lightbulb in my head went off, then "Bingo!". It seemed perfect for Easter.
I added a forrest in the background.
It seemed to go with the pink bunny...although this bunny could have easily been in the city too. Or at a nightclub, or a baseball game or viewing the Eifel Tower or promoting pizza cheese slices or whatever...
Enjoy the holiday!

Here's the original polaroid from the James Hayes day.