Snowfall in the Berkshires....

Thursday December 5, 6-8PM Hang Gallery

Mass MOCA.

Mass MOCA is a wonderful contemporary museum for both it's interior exhibitions and installations, but also for it's exteriors...it is set in old factory buildings where the patina and details are amazing. I found myself in 30 degree rainy weather trying to capture these geometric stills of the fading walls, fire hydrants, stonework...I could have spent hours doing so, as the opportunities are endless there.

Good Morning. Sonoma.

 

I had a beautiful walk-run this morning through the wine country roads near Glen Ellen in Sonoma. The vines are all orange and red and stunning against the deep blue skies. 

I woke up to our host preparing me the perfect cup of Cappuccino. He has a thing for the decoration of the foam and it always puts a big smile on my face as he "slows down" and takes the time for this meaningful act of creativity.
My walk was magical...I came across a fox and a bob cat. Sadly no photos but it was the experience that was so overwhelming. Like a gift I was quietly given to observe, slow down, take it in.

My saltbox.

 

 

 

I told myself by the time I was forty I would own a little saltbox by the sea. Well, I'm just a couple years late on it, but I did it.

After wanting a little root back East for years and years- and years...I bought a sweet little 600 square foot saltbox called Bayberry Cottage on the Cape. It's more of a studio retreat amongst other little charming cottages right on Sandy Neck Bay.
My doorstep is fifty yards from the dunes which lead me to the Bay, the lighthouse and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. The little group of cottages border the Audubon Preserve protecting 120 acres of land next to us. A little dream finally realized. I have painted this view for years and now I will be leaving my flip flops by the door...

New Mexico 30 X 40"

A great glass of wine.

It's always a bit of a rare occasion that I am heading into the heart of San Francisco from my Marina studio rather than heading back over the Golden Gate bridge back to Marin.

Last night I had the gift of having many hours into the evening with a great old friend in her neck of the woods called Potrero Hill which I find an incredible neighborhood here with endless hidden gems of stores, galleries, restaurants, great design, etc...Being a successful interior designer with her architect husband, (www.mobleybloomfield.com) it's a perfect neighborhood of innovative and creative surroundings for them.

She took me to a wonderful wine bar called Ruby Wine Bar followed by Sushi dinner at Umi Sushi both on 18th street.

I have to share the wine we had...we had a 2012 label, but it was crisp and felt like we were right on the ocean by the Loire. Truly a delicious wine.

The little things.

There is always the one flower in a bouquet that sits apart from the rest. Sometimes it starts drooping away from the rest of the bouquet, or bends at the stem, needing to be separated and given life again. A dear friend of mine visited me on the Cape this summer and gave me this little stone vase,- just for that lone flower --who now shines brightly and proudly on her own.

Breakfast colours....

Sketching out a painting inspired by the landscape I was traveling through this weekend...

Santa Fe, New Mexico

I has a "sliding doors" moment a few days ago when I was having lunch with a very good girlfriend of mine...the topic of Santa Fe came up and she said, "Why don't we go for a few days...?" and before I knew it, she had her handy phone out and was checking flights. Within minutes we were booked - and off we flew a day later. Being here has cleared the mind, opened the soul and inspired me in countless ways. I lived here in 1991 and came again in 1998 for a visit, but it's been 15 years since I set foot on this rich beautiful soil and seen horizons so vast and skies so blue...there is a texture here that is so incredibly moving and I am blessed to have had the time to soak it all in again. It has been a chance to see cousins, walk along Canyon Road, visit Museum Hill which has one of the most wonderful Folk Art Museums, wander through the galleries, and take in the architecture. Every morning I have woken up early to catch the sunrise against the adobe buildings and listen to the church bells ring on the half hour. One afternoon we decided to drive just a bit out of town to feel the vast plains, enormous blue skies and 360 degree horizon lines surrounding us...