The Results

It was a beautiful day in Grants Pass on Saturday. Just warm enough to feel like a real summer day, which is something that we who live in the foggy area of Humboldt County appreciate (Eureka/Trinidad are the coolest communities in the contiguous United Stated during the summer, averaging about 62 degrees). We had five runs for the day---three games and two standards. As you can see from these photos, both dogs did pretty well, qualifying in four runs each. Emma got three firsts and a second. Raleigh won a first, second and third. The thing that makes this quite remarkable is that I am not a very good handler. In fact, I am a terrible handler, and believe me this is not false modesty. There are numerous videos out there to back this up.

Teacup Dog Agility Trials

We traveled to Grants Pass this past weekend for our first runs in the TDAA trials. I heard about this organization from Sally Dunn, our Rally teacher (more on that later). This is an agility group that is limited to dogs that are less than 17" at the shoulders, which of course my dogs both are. (Yes, they may be a bit longer than some of the other dogs, but their legs are short, so they do qualify). The judges and organizers, Michelle Reehl and Joan Wieckowski, are terrific women who set the stage for a stress-free, enjoyable experience. We were only able to participate on Saturday, the day that Michelle judged. How great to have a judge that has such a good time and enjoys the dogs so much. It made it all so much fun, which is what the sport of agility should be.

The event was photographed by Terry Tuttle who was there with his camera, unobtrusively capturing some pretty wonderful moments. These two of Emma and Raleigh taking jumps are his work.

Fish Festival and Vets

Yesterday was the annual Trinidad Fish Festival. It was a great day with all of the usual qualities-bustling activity, lots of visitors (with and without dogs), music and crafts. The whole community gets involved setting up, cooking, serving and yes, cleaning up (no small task). Lots and lots of activity for days, and a real flurry on the actual day of the event. Speaking of flurries, we can always count on that day being one of the windiest of the year. Perhaps it is just because we are out there on the main street that goes directly to the bay which is always windy but on this day we (hundreds of us) are out there long enough to really notice. We had an Honor Flight display, and our large sun umbrella lasted about 20 minutes before the wind blew it over. Within an hour the vendors had taken down their canopies which were pulling entire displays over. Unfortunately, one potter down the way had a real catastrophe.
On a brighter note, we had lots of vets turn out for our Honor Flight booth, and good interest and support from the folks who stopped by. It is always good to get together with theses terrific veterans. Many thanks to Hugh Paz, (in the blue shirt in the left above) for this photo. He is the photographer (yes I realize he didn't actually take this shot since he is in it, but it was his camera under his directions). Hugh was a photographer during the war, and I'll bet he will share some of his photos on this blog. Watch for that in future posts.
Many thanks to all of the people who stopped by to visit, and for your donations. Watch for us at the Humboldt County Fair. If you are interested in volunteering, or getting involved in Honor Flight, please contact me. Summer is a great time for fundraisers---have your friends over for a barbecue and make it a benefit for Honor Flight. I'll bet we can get a few vets to come as your guests of Honor. Our big flight is planned for early fall.
By the way, the veteran on the front left, Kay Hartley, is the senior Marine in Humboldt County.

The workshop was cut short due to some pressing needs at home, however, my time there was fruitful in unexpected ways. I learned and experienced different approaches to the model, and was reminded of how people respond in very different ways and how individual the creative process is. The emphasis was on action---active poses, rapid drawing, energetic responses. The teacher, Michael encouraged me to be more spontaneous, move my feet more and to start drawing with lots and lots of energy, which is just the opposite of my usual approach. As many of my students know, I come at it from a very different angle-----a contemplative approach of engagement. Quiet the mind, still the voice, engage, and then draw. So it was fun and challenging to try a very different strategy. I plan to give that a try in a bit and see what happens. I'll post the results in a few days.

Speaking of drawing, I plan to offer a series of drawing workshops this summer---probably one day events out here at Trinidad. I'll be sending an email out in a couple of days, but if any of you are interested please contact me and let me know what days might work best. My workshops have been on hold for quite a while and I am looking forward to teaching again.

It's a glorious day here on the coast.

Mendocino Workshop

Open Studios was a great success and I thank you all for coming north to visit the studio. It's good to see old friends, and meet new people---many of whom I have "met through this blog.

I am now in Mendocino at a Life Drawing Workshop with Michael Markowitz. a San Francisco artist and instructor. This guy has some great energy and lots of information and even after one day I feel that I have been challenged and pushed. It looks to be an exciting and fruitful week.

When I travel, I use a list for my packing. There is the standard list that includes all of the basics, and the specific list that I usually make the night before I leave. I started doing this when I was a pilot many years ago in West Texas---the laminated checklist that you go over carefully each time you take off. I was even trained to touch each item with my finger so nothing was overlooked. I should have done that with my packing list as I walked off and forgot my camera. This means that posts of this experience will rely on words, rather than photos of people, places or drawings which is kind of interesting since the experience is all about leaving the verbal and concentrating on intuitive visuals. And keeping with that paradox, here are a couple of poems that I wrote this morning:

Day One---Get Your Hands Dirty

A new approach to drawing--

being present and open so that I might

capture the essence of the

divine in

each pose,

Forget

gauging proportions, I

have to go deep

inside

just to

keep from

letting

myself fall into the

naturally

occurring

pattern of

quickly

roughing out proportions.

Spirit is what this is about.

Treading in different,

uncharted

venues of drawing

without being afraid to

express

your entry into another

zone.

Here's another:

Drawing from Life

Being in an intense life drawing workshop is an interesting experience.

Ten people have gathered with like intention for one week.

Most of us enrolled simply to improve our drawing--

to learn some new approaches, or get a kick start in what we do.

It’s a focused week of drawing from the model.

This is what I notice.

When we draw, we are pulled into one body,

not that of Isaac, our lithe and expressive model,

although he is certainly the catalyst.

No, in a very mysterious way,

we become a body ourselves,

united in the common goal of making marks to express our response to what we see,

which is Isaac in some very remarkable poses that only last a minute or so.

In those moments, we go away, and the sound of compressed charcoal dragging across smooth newsprint becomes

background music to this new entity born of seeing.

Between poses, our instructor, Michael, probes the experience by asking questions that frankly are a little cloudy and enigmatic.

I think he is trying to coax us into self-awareness,

in order to help us get to a deeper level of relationship—

with ourselves, the model, the marks.

Our responses are usually questions in return,

tentative attempts to describe what just happened,

or, more commonly, how we think we fell short.

This is not territory that lends itself to verbal acuity.

Words, when chosen carefully, can crack the shell that holds old patterns,

but the tap, tap, tap, however well intentioned,

can feel so invasive.

More preview

It is so good to be hearing back from so many of you regarding my Open Studios announcement! It is pretty remarkable that so far today I have heard from Maui, Jerusalem, Bulgaria, Greece, England, in addition to points all over this country. Needless to say, those from far away were regrets, but it was great to hear from all of you. And good to hear from the nearby folks who are planning to come by this weekend. Here is a bit more of what I will be showing. My trip to India a few years back inspired quite a few elephant (and other Indian animal) paintings, which were really the beginning of my current involvement with elephants and conservation. Since the trip to Africa followed shortly after that trip, I never exhibited that work, so this will be the first showing of the Indian elephant series.

Forward Day by Day

Many of you have mentioned (from as far away as Jerusalem!) that you have seen my paintings on the covers of Forward Movement, Day by Day, a quarterly devotional published by the Episcopal Church. This was a great honor and it has been fun to get feed-back from around the country (the world, really). This painting is Paraclete (Holy Spirit), and is the current cover, as it refers to Pentecost which is coming up on June 12. The painting was inspired by a medieval sculpture of the Trinity that I saw in the Legion of Honor in San Francisco a few years back. I confess that my parrot, Wyckham, was the model for the Holy Spirit.

Our first Flight . . .

Here's what I've been doing lately. On May 12, North Coast Honor Flight had our first trip to Washington DC with a group of 39 vets. I wish I could show all of the photos that I took, and if I were better at technology, probably could, but this gives a flavor of the experience. What an honor to accompany these heroes on this trip. Without exception they were delightful, humble, admirable---well, the list of positives could go on and on. We are working towards a flight in early fall, and have had lots of people indicate that they would like to help. Please let me know if you are interested in being part of this---there are many things that you can do, and it is a joy and privilege to be involved.

More Tulips

Normally, I would save these images and post them one or two at a time, but this is going to be a very busy week since our first flight for North Coast Honor Flight is this coming weekend and there are lots of loose ends to tie up. The local Board has been a dream to work with and I marvel at what everyone has managed to accomplish while still running businesses, homes, and a ranch(!). Thad Greenson of the Times-Standard wrote a very good article in today's paper, which gives an excellent overview of what is coming up.

In the meantime, I keep painting these tulips . . . These are all acrylic on board and range from 8x10" to 18x24".

Tulips

Okay, here are a couple of tulip paintings. Many of you have asked what I have been painting lately, to which I reply, tulips, I'll post some on my blog---but then have neglected to do so. I have about six, no, make that eight paintings around the studio that are just about finished, but not quite. I'll get them up in the near future. Quite honestly, the Honor Flight project has been taking lots of time, and it has been great. Still painting, but not finding time to keep up with this, and the other non-painting activities involved with art. Thanks for the nudge. More to follow in the near future.

Benefits Near and Far

As evidenced by the sporadic posts, life has been pulling me away from blogging. Yet, I continue to produce art, trying new approaches and will be posting some of the new work in days, (yes days not weeks) to come. In the meantime, here my most recent poem. Since in a roundabout sort of way, Raleigh is the protagonist, I am also including a recent painting of him that I painted and donated to the local Japanese Tsunami Animal Relief efforts.

This painting is titled:

Raleigh in Front of Mt. Fuji in the Moonlight











Where Do We Go From Here?

Last night my two dogs and I attended our weekly agility class.

This is a sport where you run a course of obstacles with your dog.

The handler’s job is to clearly let the dog know what obstacle is next and the best way to take it.

From the sidelines, it looks very straightforward

and when I was merely an observer,

I used to wonder why so many people had such difficulty getting through the course,

and quite honestly,

why so many of them looked a little clumsy out there.

Then I took up the sport myself,

and now people who watch me are wondering the same thing.

How can something so simple and straightforward as a front cross

which is exactly what it says it is,

be so difficult to pull off,

not to mention with any semblance of grace?

But it is.

And I have videos of myself to prove it.

I practice on my own at home,

with and without my dog,

and think that I have it down pretty well

until I go to class, and completely blow it.

My classmates are very supportive and when I do something right

they cheer me on with shouts of encouragement.

But I know from personal experience of being on the sidelines myself,

that they are wondering how I can have such difficulty with what is essentially a change of direction.

The real tip off is when they glowingly praise my dog, Raleigh, who obediently does exactly what I direct him to do,

even though at least half of the time, the directions are wrong.

There has to be a truth in this.

Something about knowing where I stand in relation to obstacles or

accepting the fact that a good part of the time,

I don’t know as much as I think I do,

and that failure isn’t the end of the world.

But maybe the most important lesson is being modeled by Raleigh,

who doesn’t wonder about such things,

and doesn’t make a big deal about getting it right or wrong.

He simply loves to zoom through the course,

taking on whatever challenges are set in his way,

doing the best he can with imperfect guidance.

In the Beginning . . .

Life has been full and busy, so much so that I haven't had time to post the work and exciting things that have been going on. First, I am pleased to say that the painting of Emma featured in the last post was accepted in The Art Show at the Dog Show and will be shipped off to Wichita in a couple of days. It inspires me to do more watercolors but lately there is only this one titled In the Beginning, which I did for the Word and Example Exhibition on ECVA.org, a wonderful site that is worth a look, (we'll see if the painting gets accepted---I'll email the entry tomorrow). Otherwise I have been working on acrylics---new techniques, different imagery. As soon as something seems to come together, I will post it.

And as is the case these days, lots of time is going to Honor Flight, and the enthusiasm and support continue to grow for our Humboldt County project. Individuals, Rotary Clubs, other service clubs, bikers, veterans groups . . . the support has been terrific.

Another reentry

When I first started blogging I had good intentions of posting every day. Then it became every week. But somehow those weeks melt away and it has been months. What happened? Well, Honor Flight, the holidays, lots and lots of studio work, much of which has been experimental and not the kind of thing I want to post, however what the heck I may as well put a couple of things up later anyway.

Aside from drawing and painting, I have been doing lots of agility. Emma the 14 month old puppy has been so anxious to get started and she is absolutely ecstatic now that she is enrolled in lessons and actually doing agility instead of messing up Raleigh's runs (see video on previous post). In honor of this new phase of her life, I did the watercolor that you see above.

Speaking of honor . . . the Honor Flight Humboldt County project is off to a great start, and I thank all of you who have already donated, signed up to help, or put us in contact with veterans. We can always use more help, so please contact me if you are interested in being part of this very exciting and rewarding endeavor. Our flight is scheduled for April 15.

Honor Flight

You know, I do have good intentions of posting on a regular basis, and it shouldn't be so challenging. But I get caught up on making art, and when I only have works in progress and not much to show, I drop the ball. That may not be a very good excuse, but this is. This past weekend I participated as a guardian in Honor Flight. Here is the article that I wrote for the local paper:

As we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge we looked up and saw jets streaming across the sky, looping, flying in unison, doing incredible aerial acrobatics. The Blue Angels were in San Francisco. “Charles, look! How did they know that your Honor Flight weekend was just about to start?”

This was a fitting beginning to the trip of a lifetime. El Hilligoss and I had the privilege of accompanying Charles Moon, a WWII veteran to Washington DC to participate in Honor Flight.. We had driven down from Humboldt County that day and the following morning would meet up with 24 other WWII veterans, and 14 helpers, (guardians) at the SF Airport to catch our flight. Honor Flight is a program dedicated to taking these heroes to our nation’s capitol to see the WWII Memorial. This is a completely volunteer effort and there is no cost to the veterans. It was founded in 2005 by Earl Morse, a Retired Air Force Captain, who realized that time was running out. We are losing these veterans at the rate of more than 1200 each day--the youngest vets are now 85 years old, most are closer to 90. The vast majority have never seen the monument built in their honor, and more importantly, have never received the gratitude and honor which is their due.

Upon arrival at the airport, we were all given our uniforms for the trip. We guardians wore orange tee-shirts. On the back was the motto of Honor Flight Network, a quote from Will Rogers, “We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by”. Vets wore yellow. On the back was written: “If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English, thank a veteran.”

That is what this program is all about, thanking these men and women, who never considered themselves to be heroes. In their own words, they were just kids just doing what needed to be done. And when the war was over, they came home, and got on with their lives. But what they did saved the world from tyranny and destruction of life as we know it.

Saturday morning we boarded our bus, and set out. The first stop was the WWII Memorial. Because of all of the walking this requires, most vets were in wheelchairs. Upon arrival we gathered for a group photo and then went to the California Pillar for the flag ceremony. Hattie, ninety-two years old (and weighing probably less than her years), placed the flag on the ledge, and we had a moment of silence and remembrance, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Never have those words had more meaning to me. We spent the next hour or so at the Memorial. I took a photo of Charles at the Oklahoma Pillar, his native state. We paused at the Wall of Stars, where 4000 golden stars represent the 400,000 lives that were lost in combat. It reads, Here We Mark the Price of Freedom. Honor Flight groups from Minnesota and Tennessee were there as well and we had a chance to visit with some of them. The accents may have been different, but the joy that was on their faces was the same.

During the course of the day, we also visited other Memorials---Viet Nam, Korea, Iwo Jima (the Marine’s Memorial), Air Force, Navy, and the Lincoln Memorial. At one o’clock we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder. As we drove through the city, we were also able to see the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorials as well as other important sites in our nation’s capital. Not surprisingly, these guys were troopers, but I was still amazed at their energy and endurance. They are awesome. Night had fallen as we drove back to the hotel. Our leader Debby started to sing, and as she sang “God Bless America” forty voices joined in. This great country is indeed blessed in so many ways, and these fine people, these soldiers who fought to secure our freedom, are some of the greatest blessings of all. Being with them for this experience was one of the most memorable privileges of my life.

Honor Flight depends on contributions to make this possible. Time is running out and funds are needed. If you know of a WWII veteran who would like to participate, or to learn more about how you might help, please contact Honor Flight Northern California, 530-357-3380, or email them at info@honorflightnorcal.org. Or call Kathrin Burleson at 677-0490.

Back to Africa . . .

if only in these pages. I work in series, usually several, sometimes up to six paintings at a time, not counting the in progress and warm-up drawings that are usually going on. It works for me to have several projects so at any one time, so that I don't get too caught up in, or invested in, any one piece. What that means is that there are usually lots of paintings around the studio, in various stages of completion. It also means that quite a bit of time can pass before something is actually completed, so there are what seem like long, dry periods, when I am actually quite productive. It can be frustrating, but also kind of satisfying when some of them start coming together, and feeling complete. This is the first of the current batch to "hatch".

Raleigh's First Trials

When I started the not-in-real-time journal for Botswana (which is still not totally completed, I think that there is part of me that doesn't want for it to end), I never dreamed that I would be using that same approach for other topics as well. But somehow a cold virus that knocks you for a loop can let things pile up a bit. But the bright side is that I have had a few days to think about the experience before posting these photos and links to my new YouTube account. As you can probably surmise from this photo, Raleigh did pretty well his first time out. Most importantly, he loved the experience, and so did I. As you will see from this video (click HERE to access YouTube), Emma did as well, so much so that when she saw Raleigh out there, she could not control herself, pulled out of her collar, jumped off of Mike's lap, and onto the course. Fortunately the judges didn't disqualify me and Raleigh was able to take another go at it. Emma got a taste of the experience and is anxiously awaiting the time when she can really compete, rather than just messing up Raleigh's runs. He did go on to win a blue ribbon, (and her interference may have been a blessing in disguise since I had given him some inadequate signals and he was heading in the wrong direction anyway). But we both felt good about that second run (click HERE), and it was a great way to end the weekend. Many thanks to all of the good folks at CPE and Humdog who put in so much time and effort to make the weekend possible and give such joy to about 100 people and 150 dogs. We are looking forward to the next trials.

Pilgrimages of all sorts

Since this is a blog, a work in progress, I don't hold myself to chronology (as you might have noticed), so I am back to the Benedictine Experience. This is a sketch that I did on Desert Day, the Thursday when we have the opportunity to go deeper into silence and solitude, our own personal deserts. We made up sack lunches, were given some ideas to ponder, and then were left to our own devices. I took my sketchbook and walked back into the hills where I found a bench under a live oak tree overlooking the valley. The day was really hot so the shade was welcome and necessary. My plan was to stay there until the sun moved so that it was no longer shaded and then move on. As it turned out, it was shady all day, so I sat on that bench for over three hours---painting the valley, drawing other pilgrims as they walked up the path, reading, eating my sandwich, and having a little nap. It was glorious.

Speaking of fellow pilgrims, Helena Chan was new to BenEx this year, and brought wonderful fresh energy and insights. I sat next to her during a few of the discussions and couldn't help but glance over and notice her notes. She uses the same kind of black bound sketchbook and Artpen that I often use, but the results are very different. She is an engineer, and a very neat person, which really showed in those clear, straight lines of beautiful script and perfectly organized thoughts. And she had no ink on her fingers from that pen! I was so impressed and amazed that I couldn't resist commenting, and pointing it out to others. Helena wrote a bit about the week which she posted on St. Paul Cathedral blog on August 2. She writes beautifully, in both senses of the word, and it really is worth a look.

Mix Those Media!

I just returned from a three-day workshop in Mendocino. The course description looked very interesting, and just what I needed to push my edges a little bit. My approach to making art is pretty straightforward and simple, and I am probably happiest using just a pencil, or just a pen, and if I do use color I prefer a very limited palette. If there are too many colors I get overwhelmed, and even a little anxious (kind of how I feel when I look at a closet with too many choices of clothing--see conversation with Charmion below). In any case, I thought it might be good to get out of my comfort zone, which I definitely did.

The teacher Mira White is a master who creates beautiful visionary pieces using a wide range of materials. (We also discovered that we have a mutual connection to Meher Baba, but I'll save that for another time and post). My fellow students were a very compatible group of seven, with at least one thing in common---they didn't hold back. And everyone, except for me, seemed very comfortable starting with a totally abstract approach and came up with some very interesting work. I may not have created anything particularly notable, but I learned something really important about the way I work---I tend to start from something concrete and work toward the abstract. I do this in painting and in poetry. Kind of like a Lectio Divina approach to art.

Several of the projects started with spraying, pouring or smearing color on the surface and seeing what developed. So I would dutifully do that, and then just stand there and look at it, bewildered. Once I did start working, I would beat it to death until all of the interesting paint effects were covered up by a fairly mundane and lifeless drawing. Oh well. I have no doubt that some of those effects and techniques will inform my work to come, and I am interested to see how that develops. In any case, it was an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.

(The dog is Patch, John's helper)

I like to carry my sketchbook with me and now include some watercolor pencils which are very handy for quick sketches. Often I think that I should draw something besides the view out over the valley, but those Sonoma Mountains are so compelling for me that at the end of the week, I have pages and pages of sketches of them in different light. I was born and raised in Petaluma, and my earliest visual memory is the view over the Petaluma valley from the front porch of our little house, seeing those violet hills. So the view from Bishop's Ranch touches me at a very deep place. Someone once said (I think that it was Camus) that an artist usually spends his whole life trying to recapture his first visual memory, and I can relate to that. That vista is irresistible to me.

Simplicity in all things

I am home now, back into kind of a routine, admittedly a little disorganized and chaotic compared to last week, but I have hopes that now that I am settled back in, starting tomorrow, I will be able to incorporate some of what I learned and experienced. But before I get too involved in the quotidian, I want to share some of the highlights of this past week. I wish I could say that I had a spiritual shakedown, or meltdown, and have a much more profound relationship to God and creation, but that wouldn't be quite honest. However, I did get some tools, and had some wonderful experiences, and having the psalms and scripture swirling in my head today, has been such a gift. (What's that? Oh yes, the Song of Zechariah.) And I met some fascinating people.

The last day I had a very interesting conversation with Charmion, and in addition to having a lovely and unusual name,she had some very interesting things to share. We were talking about simplicity, and how to deal with clutter, which is a topic I love to explore, so I asked her how she dealt with having to many things, for example, clothes. She said that she owns eight of everything---pants, tops, skirts, etc,---in different colors, and each day she just wears what is on the next hanger. After she has had something for six years, she gives it away and replaces it. Now think about that for a minute. She NEVER wonders what to wear. Can you imagine how much time you would save if you never had to wonder, or worse, try things on and change your mind, and then try something else? Oh, and she never shops in stores, but buys everything online from Lands End. We did agree that both Land End and LL Bean have gone down in quality and reliability, but nevertheless, that's what she does. This was very intriguing to me, and I am inspired to come up with a similar strategy. Now, keep in mind, that this is a woman who was on Jeopardy in the early 1980's and won $5000, which she used to buy her first computer. Oh, and she sings beautifully as well. Like I said below, I am so glad that we don't have to keep silence all week.