Category: Sources of inspiration

The mind of one artist, part 3

It was 3 miles to the Golden Gate Bridge from the Dr.’s office where D was undergoing surgery. I was having a blast, and sort of feeling guilty while she was in there suffering. Knowing that sitting in the office would not have helped her in any way kept me out there enjoying the day, in spite of my guilt. I decided to cross the bridge on foot, because as you know, beautiful bridges hold great fascination for me. It is set up very well to accommodate tourists. There were people from lots of different countries taking photos, walking and riding their bikes over the bridge. On the bridge it was very noisy from traffic, and there was a cold wind blowing across it, but it was such a nice morning! Here is how it looked:

That one little building on the Marin County side really caught my fancy. I’m dying to know what it is! Can anyone tell me?

Golden Gate Bridge

The mind of one artist, part 2

D told me how to get to the Presidio from the Dr.’s office, so I set out in that direction. It wasn’t far, and I got to pass Diane Feinstein’s house, although I wasn’t sure which one it is. They were all rather posh and impressive to this country girl! When I reached the Presidio, there were multiple sign posts directing me here and there; the only place I recognized was the Golden Gate Bridge, so that is where I headed. The trails looked like this:

After a couple of miles, the signs went away, and I just started aiming in the direction of the bridge. I came to this view and was seriously sidetracked for a moment or 6:

Then, I remembered that I had been at the beach in October and no matter how strong the pull is to the beach (and it is strong, oh so very strong) the bridge had to take precedence. I pressed on in the direction of the bridge and was finally rewarded with this view:

To be continued. . .

The mind of one artist

That one artist would be me, but you probably knew that. Here is a story. My dear friend, whom I shall call D, needed a driver to bring her home from some surgery in San Francisco. We have been friends since I was in 3rd grade and she was in 1st and don’t get much time together, so when she mentioned her need, I was all over it! We took my car (hers seems to have a permanent disability of no rearview mirror, and although it doesn’t bother her, I’m not having any part of that!) and went the day ahead of time. (She brought one of those talking lady gizmos that tells you where to go – it was fun, and my speedometer isn’t as far off as I thought!) We had a crab dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf and enjoyed a saxophone player beneath a giant Christmas tree at Pier 39. The next day, I delivered her at 8 a.m. to the place of surgery which had a parking garage. (Parking is a Big Deal in the city!) Here is the view from the garage:

The nice people in the dr.’s office offered me movies to watch while I waited and said that D should be ready to go by 1:00. Watch movies? Are you nuts?? I’m in San Francisco, for Pete’s Sake! (who is Pete, anyway?) San Francisco is incredibly beautiful, full of architectural and historical and semi-natural wonders, and you think I’m going to spend it sitting inside a doctor’s office? Obviously these folks don’t know me. I had my walking shoes on and my Garmin Forerunner on my wrist, so instead of staying in the relative safety of the known, I elected to go exploring. (I’m sure you are so very surprised by my adventuresome spirit, right?) This story could go on for several entries. . . I think I’ll just continue it in another posting!

That Bridge again

Same bridge, different view. The light wasn’t much to write home about, but isn’t this a neat angle? Bummer about the line running across the top horizontally – rather than Photoshop it out, I will paint it out, should I decide to paint from this view.

You Know You’re A Dork When. . .

. . . you’re in love with a bridge.

We drove our bikes to the 3 mile marker on the Mineral King Road on Sunday afternoon and rode the 3.5 miles to the Oak Grove Bridge. It was up most of the way, but not horribly upical.

The light wasn’t great on the bridge, but it was quite fun to have it be our destination and to just hang out on foot.

Mineral King Road Oak Grove Bridge

Lots of Walking

Perhaps you have puzzled over the reason why I walk so much (or perhaps not. . .) I was training to walk the Lake Tahoe 1/2 Marathon, which happened on Sunday, September 27.

It was hot for Tahoe, and I was all jeezled up from finally arriving at the event after months and months of ground pounding. So, I made the mistake of running the first 2 miles. The second 2 miles were steep steep steep (they call it “Hell Hill”) so I just walked. Had great energy and strength, but couldn’t figure out why my feet hurt so much. By the time I reached the top, I knew I had major blisters, and it must have been the first 2 miles that caused them. I slowed my walk – they hurt. I sped up – they hurt. I jogged – they hurt. So, it seemed the best approach was to get it over with as fast as possible.

3 hours, 7 minutes after starting, I crossed the finish line. This was a great time for me. As I pounded out the miles on my sore feet, I kept repeating to myself, “Shoes off, feet in lake. Shoes off, feet in lake.”

My dear husband showed up to cheer me on for the last 1/2 mile and was surprised when I greeted him with, “Hi Honey! My dogs are barking!” He said “Walk as if you don’t hurt”, and that thought (along with “Shoes off, feet in the water”) pushed me to the finish.

I didn’t carry my camera with me because I knew it would slow me down AND I knew that the mid-day light wouldn’t be very nice for photos. So, here are a few photos from a previous visit to Tahoe.The day was bright and sunny like this. Walking across the sand to the lake was very difficult because of the pine needles!Within the last 2 miles I passed the beautiful Tallac estates (part of the National Forest Service). I said to myself, “Self, when I grow up, I want a house like one of these AND a car so I don’t have to walk 13.1 miles on blistered feet!”

1/2 marathon walking Lake Tahoe Marathon

Thinking like an artist

You know how you just cruise along, living your life, not giving any thought to how you measure up to anyone else? (Maybe you think about other people’s opinions, but I don’t very often.) So you’re just cruising along, doing what you do, doing what comes naturally, and BOOM! Someone tells you that you are weird! Weird? Nope, I’m just unique.

Here is an example: I just finished knitting a pair of socks for a friend. She chose and bought the yarn; I turned it into socks. While the socks were in process, I noticed that the colors on the Mineral King Road were the same as the yarn. That’s not weird, is it? (not that I care if you all think I’m weird – I’m just sort of wondering)

Time Out

In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she insists that field trips are very important to cultivating creativity. Yesterday, I took her advice (or was I using it as an excuse to mess around instead of work?) Have you ever heard of the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno? I’ve been wanting to visit since 1978 but just haven’t. The gardens get closed from time to time for renovation, and when they are open, I am usually in Mineral King. Yesterday, I finally got to see this incredible place! http://www.undergroundgardens.info/ I can’t wait to go back (wish they rented it out for overnight stays!)

Fresno Underground Gardens

Gathering visual information

Michael and I hiked to the upper Monarch Lake. It is about 5.5 miles – the first mile and a quarter is steep and hot and dusty with giant steps up that just suck the juice right out of your legs. The Bigelow Sneezeweed are at their peak in August, as are the Gentian. The next 4 miles are on a beautifully graded trail with a flat trailbed; the trail actually has a few too many (unnecessary) switchbacks. It takes you well above Timber Gap, and it was a bit smoky from the California wildfires.The last 3/4 mile is Find-Your-Own-Way.Upper Monarch Lake is one of the four lakes out of Mineral King with a dam on it. It was constructed in 1905, well before the well-graded trail was ever built (but you can bet it was thought of with great longing by those hard-working men!) The peak is Mineral Peak; it is the one some guy kept trying to convince me was Homer’s Nose while I was painting the mural.We went up one way from lower Monarch to upper Monarch; it wasn’t very easy. We came down a different way that included quite a bit of meandering and backtracking; it was much easier and rather interesting.See what we found? We left it there. Pity the guy who had to hike down on a non-trail missing a sole!

hiking Mineral King

Too Much Beauty?

One of my favorite authors is John Eldredge. In Journey of Desire, he writes this about beauty:“We need not fear indulging here. The experience of beauty is unique to all the other pleasures in this: there is no possessive quality to it. Just because you love the landscape doesn’t mean you have to acquire the real estate. Simply to behold the flower is enough; there is nothing in me that wants to consume it. Beauty is the closest thing we have to fullness without possessing on this side of eternity. “Try to grasp these two huge ideas:1. You simply cannot have too much beauty. It is one thing where you do not have to worry about overindulging. It isn’t illegal, immoral or fattening, although it might be addicting! If so, it is definitely a healthy addiction. 2. You don’t have to own, accumulate or acquire anything to appreciate beauty. It can be found almost anywhere, and no credit card is required! ONE FINAL CLOSING THOUGHT: This too comes from a John Eldredge book. Of course we long for beauty! Our original home was the Garden of Eden!

Sunny Sequoias IX – oil on wrapped canvas – 16 x 20 – SOLD

oil paintings