Checking in and Checking it Out

It didn't take me long to grow accustomed to the sounds my home away from home makes: wind on corrugated metal, squawking hawks, cats fighting, moths throwing themselves against the windows and the pops and snaps of temperatures cooling. Snug under a heavy wool blanket and a down duvet, I slept.

Today I checked-in for my Residency. I drove to Sheep Rock where the visitors center is and met Rangers Bethany and Michelle.

I signed paperwork, received not only a hat and shirt to wear while painting in the park... I have a few hats, a few shirts and best of all a fleece vest. 

I toured the center; it has Paleontologists working in a lab which is viewable through large glass windows, a very impressive history center with mammal fossils and diorama murals with minerals and bones on display. 

I'm a bit obsessed about not running out of gas and locating the closest stations so I drove to the small town of Dayville to fill up the tank and then drove 1.5 hours to a section of the park called Painted Hills - stunning even in today's grey flat light.

Did a few very short walks through various points of interest and took an embarrassing number of photos.

It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow so I plan on scouting nearby locations and sketching... Painting I'm sure will be on Thursday!

5 Miles Down a Gravel Road

First though, 90 miles from 'town' THEN the dirt and gravel road up to my lodging. 

You'd think I was stocking a bomb shelter by looking at my cart at the last grocery store for 2.5 hours. Beans. Quinoa. Packages of Mandarin oranges, tuna and chicken. Cans of vegetarian baked beans, tomato soup and a jar of almond butter. Green bananas, 12 Fuji apples, 8 oranges. Seriously, a very funny cart. 

Smart though, because I am truly, really, removed from it all. 

I filled the tank in Pineville and the next stop was a tiny town called Mitchell, known for having a public restroom.

Finally, up and up the gravel road, through obviously recent burned hills, I turned in to Lands Inn, my new temporary home.

I have a lovely apartment inside an airport hangar. My room has antique toy airplanes and various wheels and metal signs hanging from the ceiling. I love it.

I learned how to work the solar, the on demand hot water and was introduced to a sweet old dog named Black and a menagerie of field cats. I checked out my studio (perfect!) The view from my room is so serene.

Three adorable A-frame cabins line up outside the hangar, and I met the Geologist who has been staying here during her internship at the Park where I have my residency. She lives in Redwood City. I kid you not. She brought her cat, Apricat. Yep. Amazingly it hangs around outside while she's away at the park and then is here when she returns. Impressive.

We had a great visit and shared a Shiraz  I brought from home. Such a small world.

I'm writing this tonight but know that there's no wifi out here, so hoping I can post this tomorrow from the visitors center when I check in with the Park Service.

I'm so happy.

Heading North

I'm on my way.

Headed North by way of a car show in Cottonwood, CA followed by a delightful but quick visit with my NorCal family.

Cottonwood is like a movie set, with its 3' curbs and rings for tying up your horse. But the only horses I saw were the horse-powers under the hood of some beautiful classic cars! My Dad's car club, from Weaverville, had a couple cars in the show, so I stopped by to take a guided tour of the cars with my Pop. 

After the car show, I pulled my Subaru in behind a line of 57 Chevys and 38 Fords, and we drove North to Redding. 

Redding was my pit-stop for the night, and I was thrilled to get a proper visit in with my Sister-in-Law, Sarah (I know! Yes, there are now two Sara(h) Mordecais in our family!!) and my Nephew Nico (4) and identical twin Nieces Ruby and Zoey (2). My Brother is out fighting fires near Napa so I didn't get to see him.

My Dad and his wife Pam provided my Bed and Breakfast and sent me off in the morning with big hugs and well-wishes.

More North...

The drive was a gorgeous one, past a very low Lake Shasta and then a right at Weed and through the mountains and a very full Klammath Lake. I love these mountains!

More North still... and finally, Bend, Oregon. Love this town! The Deschutes was dotted with colorful paddle boards and kayaks, the temperature a tolerable 82, and it just plain smells good! It's the trees. Maybe all the breweries too.

I'd scheduled an in-room Massage (I'm a genius!) and a wonderful Jane gave me a well earned 90 minute deep massage followed by a terrific suggestion on where to grab dinner.

The Lot! A corner on the west side of the river with Food Trucks :)

Today my North will list to the East and after I stock up on groceries for 2 weeks, I'll make my way to John Day.

I hope I have wifi!

NPS AIR OMG

Yes, that actually means something!
I'll elaborate...

National Park Service + Artist in Residence = Oh My Gawd!

Something I have wanted. Something I have dreamed about. Something that seemed attainable but most likely out a few years... has happened: I have been selected as an Artist for the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Residency program, and I couldn't possibly be more proud or more excited.

JD Fossil Beds, as the locals call it, is in the high desert of Eastern-Central Oregon. When I began my search for a Residency opportunity I was immediately drawn to this park for its rich colorful topography, the geological diversity and its prehistoric significance. Let me go all Wikipedia for you...

"...the park is known for its well-preserved layers of fossil plants and mammals that lived in the region between the late Eocene, about 45 million years ago, and the late Miocene, about 5 million years ago. "

"...The (park) covers a total of 13,944 acres of semi-desert shrub-lands, riparian zones, and colorful badlands."

AMAZING, right?!

Now, LOOK at this place, of course I want to paint here!

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument brings together two of my first loves:  Painting and Geology. Only my family knows that there was a time when I considered studying Geology instead of Fine Art.  I was the little girl with the rock tumbler in her closet who was lulled to sleep by the sound of rolling rocks and swishing water.  My favorite book as a child was a large coffee table book called something like OUR EARTH, and I would spend hours throughout my childhood looking at the chapters on sediment, earth crust, layers of rocks, fossils and shifting plates. It was mesmerizing! But, instead I followed my love of color and composition and I became an artist - an artist who paints outdoors. 

Outdoors, I see rhythms and folds and stripes and angles. I love design in nature. John Day Fossil Beds has ribbons of colors, heavy folds on windblown outcroppings, vertical pillars of basalt and waves of blue volcanic ash hillsides. It is heavenly!

This Labor Day Weekend was a labor of love: I spent it running errands, packing up painting supplies, ensuring I had plenty of supports and panels for paintings... getting ready for this honor, this thrill, this Artist in Residence at one of our National Parks.

Middle of the Road

Truly. Literally. 

That's where I was over the weekend.

One of the best chalk festivals in the nation is held every June in San Rafael. This was their 22nd event! My first festival was 1998 I think!

The Italian Street Painting Marin had a theme this year of Venetian Carnivale- artists created murals of masks, costumes, gondolas... A wonderful variety of colors and textures and scenes. There were also people in costumes parading through the festival!

I always come up with an original design and this year I wanted to give a nod to the fantasy, beauty and surrealism of a Carnivale.

My piece is 'Bella Dea' or 'Beautiful Goddess'. She appears in the canals in a gondola, her hat (which is the night sky) casts a shadow across her face which is her mask.

I have two very talented little nieces who assist me each year. They're 9 and 12. We talk about color and light sources, school and plans for the summer. most of all, we laugh a lot.

Huge kudos to the ISPM organizers and volunteers for a wonderful event and congratulations to all the artists on their amazing talents and stunning murals!!

H O M E

Left Barstow at 5:15 and was rewarded with a vivid orange sunrise over the desert. I'm heading West!

A straight shot, no stops, get-me-home drive up Hwy 5. A few rolling twisting turns through Pacheco Pass and a heavy strand of grey fog welcomed me into the home stretch. Something about the golden yellow hills and oak trees... Feels like home.

3965 miles.

17 paintings.

1 (first) Artist in Residence.

I'm certain as time goes by I'll reflect on this experience, this gift of focus, this pause from the hectic pace of my real world and understand its impact. 

My work grew; earlier paintings are thinner, smoother. By the end of the trip there is a looser and thicker more confident brush quality. Throughout my compositions are strong and I can see the observations and interpretations I've made on form, line, mass and design. These are all strong and consistent.

The final paintings where I take these strengths and add more brushwork, show more depth in the environment but keep my heightened colors... These are the best. I feel them.

I'd always wanted to be an Artist in Resident, an A.I.R, and the Starry Night Residency in New Mexico was a great introduction to the work that is required, the focus and commitment, the communal arrangements as well as saturating oneself with an unknown environment and landscape. I'm well suited to this Residency thing!!

I'm now looking forward to future Residencies and how they will balance my day to day work life, my day to day studio life and my weekend warrior Plein Air life.

From Moody to Hell to Home

Thought I'd be able to get a quick painting in yesterday morning...

Packed up my things, grabbed a bite to eat and the clouds only darkened. Drizzle. GORGEOUS! But yeah, storm approaching. Since I had to drive back up out of the canyon (Sedona) up to Flagstaff... I opted to start the drive back west.

Farewell to the spectacular Sedona!

And 5.5 hours later... A special kind of hell: Barstow.

What a shock. What is this place?? Outlets. Buses. Masses of shoppers. Hot like hell. Where am I? A pit stop.

I'm heading home.