European Memories - The trip to Morocco

Spain, 1970, on the way to Morocco with Steve Lewis and two friends.  Steve shipped his Maroon colored VW bug with surf board over to Spain from Southern California to go surfing in Morocco, and picked me up in Madrid on the way.  I invited two other girls to come.  I was a brat.  Here I'm wearing Steve's cashmere sweater.  I probably would have been kidnapped and put into white slavery in Morocco if not for Steve.  Amazing I survived this, among many other adventures.  I've always wondered what happened to Steve Lewis.  I wanted to apologize for my behavior.  He was a great guy.

New Oil Paintings September/October

 Top to Bottom:

1.  Playing in Mud at the Estero 18x24x1.5 oil on stretched canvas.  

2.  Parts 2 if 5 of a 5x7 oil-on-linen mini landscape series:  

    a)  Northern California Quarry & Hills

    b)  Winding Road to Mustard Fields

Mixed Memories - Plaid

How did I get here?  I'm working on a series of oil paintings that are mixed memories - ie family memories based on B&W photos taken by the late, great, E.A. Autrey in the 1950s and 1960s juxtaposed with more recent color photos I've taken.  Various mock-ups happened, then several painting versions were done until the minimal plaid dress (top) is all that remains.  5x7 oil on stretched linen.
 

Memories - Of The Way We Used To Be

Winter gives one plenty of time to reflect on the past.  I used to wish I could lay down in a field and have everyone I was ever friends with walk by and say hello.  Since that wasn't possible, in 2009 I made a "It's a Party" video to digitally gather folks together, including those already passed, to the extent I had photos of them.  The photos from that video make a great background collage!  This year I celebrated my 40th wedding anniversary, thanks to the fact Sam and I have been living separately for nearly half of the 40 years we've been married.  Going through my father's old negatives today, I came across this old 1976 photo of a much younger Sam and me.  It looked like it was just waiting for a background of memories.