You & I Framing

SO - it's done, no more painting for a reason. I had a deadline - August 20 - to finish what I had been painting and take it to You & I Framing to get framed. I finished 3 paintings, which is fine - I had hoped for 3-4 new ones. I actually have a 'show', man, if you can call it that, at this gallery in little downtown Kennewick. I've never had a 'show' before so this is definitely the place to start. Here I go, naked in the world, for all to see, ack. Sometimes I am really happy with a painting once I finish it and sometimes I can even look at a painting for a couple months and like it still but gee whiz, when I compare myself to some others I see? I should stick to collecting.

I will, however, keep doing this - if only to torture myself, or maybe to keep a dream alive that maybe, some day, I will create something that is so, so beautiful that it would never be considered anything else. For me, that is the test - it's really got to be beautiful.

A New Rug

Yes, a blog about a rug. Ah, but this is not just any rug. It's not only red but it's CRAZY - like quarter size flat discs of heavy wool attached by a little tail to the pad - tons of them! I've really loved this rug for quite some time but it was crazy expensive and I thought you could never even walk on it, so I always passed it by. I was in the Design Within Reach store in Seattle yesterday and they still had it hanging with their other rugs and the sales girl said they were discontinuing the red and that I could probably buy their sample for pretty cheap. Whoa.

I don't walk on it - I just walk around it. Kinley though? Nah... I hope it vacuums.

Getting to Know You

While everyone was here this past July, 2009, Beck put together a game where we listed our favorite things then she called 3 of us up at a time so we could guess who's list was who's. It was great fun and the only thing we missed was Flynn & Krista! We found out that Shayne likes squid, Grace loves 'Chase and the Reach' and Grandma's favorite is cherry pie! The looks on everyone's faces was the best... Thanks Beck!

Elayna

So, I have this granddaughter, Elayna (Laynie), who lives near me. She just turned one and she screams and laughs when she sees me, which is the best. She is so darn cute!

My Berberian Purchase

And so, I bought a painting. Ah - not just any painting, but A Painting by Ovanes Berberian. It is glorious and huge and intense and my pride and joy - my heart tightens just thinking of it. It is hanging in my entry. All by itself, well, across from the Chihuly, and now I will find a color to paint the wall behind it and I will tint the front door glass as there is too much glare on it in the daylight and the lights above it get turned on every evening until I go to bed. I can see it from my bathroom as I brush my teeth and wash my face, which, as everyone knows takes forever.

The painting is so great I forget the painter, who, amazingly enough, personally delivers the painting to my house just at sunset - what better time - and wanders through and around my house exclaiming about the beauty of it all. Now there is a bit of competition...

Ovanes Berberian Painting Class

The first week in June, 2009, I drove from Provo, UT (after visiting with Erica and kids) to Rigby, ID for a 5 day painting class with an artist named Ovanes Berberian. I took the class because he is heralded as one of the greatest 'colorists' on earth and because David Dunlop was going to Italy again this year and I wanted to stay close to home because of my little building project. I was not all that impressed as the first day wore on as there wasn't much instruction, in fact, we saw little of Mr. Berberian at all and we were all pretty much left to painting random still lifes of fake flowers and old pottery left on boxes around his yard. The second day my opinion change drastically as it was raining so hard outside (though we were under huge umbrellas) the water was splashing onto our pallettes so Ovanes herded us into his studio for a demonstration. And what a demonstration. What paintings. I was amazed, bowled over, in absolute awe watching this man paint. No one says a word, the classical music takes off and so does he. I have seen nothing like it. How I wish I could paint like that.