A Bit of a Landscape

I haven't painted much in recent months, or at least posted anything. So here we go...

The beginnings of a sky, using the "Gamblin 1980" line of oil paints and an Artist's Loft (Michael's) 11 by 14 stretched canvas. This first stage used 3 colors (titanium white, cerulean blue, neutral gray).

Beginnings of a Sky

Adding some pinks to the sky, and a horizon fading into the distance. Added colors are cadmium red medium, Payne's gray and Veridian green.

Sky and a Horizon

Lastly we add olive green, ultramarine blue and yellow ochre. Soften the horizon transition. add a foreground.

A Bit of a Landscape

This was fun to knock out in an hour or so, but there is so much left to learn. And it's amazing how much things seem foreign after a hiatus of only a couple of months. It's kinda like starting over again...

Gobi Matar

I haven't posted on cooking in a while. Or much of anything for that matter. But I have been a bit obsessed with learning to cook more Indian food in recent weeks.

Gobi Matar

A side dish for a Massaman curry tonight was a new recipe for Gobi Matar (Cauliflower and Peas). This is a fairly typical Indian dish of a sauce base made from onions, ginger and garlic, and then tomatoes, to which you add about a dozen spices and simmer for a while. An oversimplification, but true nonetheless.

It was delicious. Nobody around here seems to be complaining about the Indian food kick...

Hiking, in the Best Way Possible

In the Fall semester, Grace was able to go on a couple of day hikes with a UDel hiking club.

When she came home for her extended winter break, she wanted to go on some hikes around here. We were only partially successful, getting out once to hike a few miles in the Woodlawn tract along the Brandywine River.

Rocky frozen run-off

We hope to get out more in better weather, but it gave me great joy to be out in the woods (however close to home) with my daughter.

Path skirting a rocky shoulder

We took some nice pictures during the hike, and she often said "you should paint that". Indeed I should...

Stream in harsh light

And maybe I will.

Relief

Health issues are always a concern, even if they affect our pets and not the people we love. 

Boys and Bones

Ryder's couple of lumps and bumps are benign and not cancerous. At least for now.

So Many Things

The Phillies got to the World Series, in spectacular fashion. And lost. To a better team. Which I suppose I have to live with. Six trips to the World Series in my lifetime (1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2022). Two wins in six attempts. Not a great winning percentage, but at least we have those two wins.

The Eagles play for the NFC championship tomorrow (as favorites and at home), and a ticket to the Super Bowl. Result TBD. Again, in my lifetime, we lost the Super Bowl in 1980 and 2004 (to the cheating Patriots). Won in 2017 for the first time ever....

In music we have lost in recent years (among my favorites)...Greg Lake, Keith Emerson, Graeme Edge, John Wetton...and now Jeff Beck and David Crosby.

Jeff Beck reminds me of brother Dave, and a musician I would not learn to love until many years later. Somewhere Over the Rainbow. LPs on vinyl and Dad's stereo in the living room.

David Crosby reminds me of a live show in a very small venue in Wilmington where Amp and I got to see Graham Nash in 2013, sparking a renewed interest in CSN and CSNY. And a surprising recognition (for me) that Stephen Stills was the bedrock of CSN. Full stop. And Crosby was the mid-range anchor between Still's gruff lower range and Nash's higher end. In respect to Crosby, I can't go back to a CSN or a Byrds video and not recognize what he contributed... He had a significant reputation for a reason.

Flynn. Sleepy boy.

Grace is rounding out the first semester of her first year at Delaware. Honors College Deans List. But more importantly, finding her own way. Fly little bird...

Hobby stuff continues, and may be posted here in the future... or not.

Feelings on these things come and go, but today I find the thought of posting updates here to be more of an afterthought than a priority.

Ryder. Also sleepy...

Be well.