WALKERS PASSING

Beach etiquette is an intersting, unspelled out phenomena.  We find ourselves semi clothed toe to head lying about on the beach and rarely do we interact at all with strangers.  I have found beach goers to be extremely polite to each other.  Here two walkers pass very close with no acknowledgement of the other's presense.  Each takes it for granted that a walk on the beach is for solitary contemplation.  Is it the great natural wonder of nature that brings out our respect for each other?  Or are we simply happier here and not interested in disturbing that tranqility?

DIGGING

It isn't only the ocean itself that is the draw at the seashore.  There is that vast expanse of sand to dig in, curl your toes around and build drip castles with.  I love to watch kids endlessly engaged in their own fantasies on the beach.  No computers or TVs necessary.  They throw themselves into their imagination with such enthusiastism it is a joy to behold.
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YELLOW RAFT

Where else can you take off most of your clothing, lie down in public and feel safe enough to go to sleep, except on the beach?

MORNING SWIM

While Pop-Pop is gazing out to sea, the kids are gazing at the next wave and wondering if they have the guts and the skill to ride it in.   In the morning the sun lights up each wave with sparkling intensity and seems to be the embodiment of joy.

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GAZING OUT TO SEA

One of the most satifying occupations of any shore vacation is staring at that big horizon and contemplating our place in the world.  The tides are a palpable connection to the whole universe and whether we make that conscious or not, we can not help but being swept into the magnitude and majesty of existence at the beach.
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DOUBLE RAINBOW

On the second day of our vacation it poured all day.  I was content with the pounding surf as a back drop to my reading, as I was in the middle of the GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO TRILOGY.  Just as the day was about to end, the sun came out, and through a soft drizzle the most beautiful double rainbow I have ever seen appeared over the ocean.  It was an entire rainbow, very clear with its echo just a tad dimmer.  It lasted for quite a while and as the clouds moved through it, created a beautiful light show.  A small crowd gathered near our front row seat overlooking the ocean and even a police car drove up and joined the spectators.  What a thrill!  This is just a small piece of the action.  I wish I had had a panoramic movie camera.

CLEARING SKY

There are two things I love about the seashore.  The first is the wonderful light that exists because of the huge horizontal skyline that changes all day.  The second is the human joy exhibited by people of all ages as they bathe in the ocean.  I will be exploring these phenamena in the next few paintings.
The first day we arrived at the beach it was cloudy, but as we were driving home from our fish dinner the sun came out and this beautiful sky appeared over the bay.

FIRST DANCE RECITAL

How does it feel to take your first delicate steps as a ballerina in public? Last week I was on vacation at the sea shore, but before I went I had the delightful experience of seeing my beautiful grandaughter, Emma, in her first ballet recital.    

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PEAS

How beautiful is the lowly pea.  Packed in their own disposable container, picked fresh from the vine, a crunchy sweet treat.
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BEE AND LARKSPUR

This painting was inspired by my daughter Anna's new blog Anna's Edible Adventures.  The blog is all about cooking, gardening, bee keeping and even raising chickens, which she does in her Mount Airy back yard.  She is a real hand's on gal, a great cook and gardener... and it turns out she can write too!

 As luck would have it, she has an article in today's Inquirer about
Pizza made on the outdoor grill.

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MORNING IN THE BACKYARD

The light seems to be magically focused on my vegetable garden.  It  can  use all the magic it can get this year.  No string beans, few tomatoes, no egg plant and only two cucumbers.  Anyone else have a poor year?

DUSK IN SOUTH PHILLY

I got this view from some good shots of South Philly sent to me by my dear 

grandson, Luke.   The telephone lines make it look like a painting from another era.  The sky is a bit brighter in the actual painting.  

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SUMMER MARKET #2

Here I was drawn to the way the color of the oranges affect all the other surfaces, even the shovel.

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REFECTIONS IN A BLUE NIGHT

These are the reflections from the light over my hospital bed in the window looking out into the blue night.  Develish to paint, but I could not resist the way the light sliced into the buildings and held them together.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Here is a quiet spot on Harbor Road in Prince Edward Island, Canada.  I've been off on a virtual trip again as part of the virtual paintout.  From what I could see if you want to do nothing but look at the sky and drive down some empty roads, this is the place to do it.  Check it out yourself by clicking on the tittle and when you get to the map, drag  the little yellow guy in the upper left hand corner around to view the scenery and cruise the island to your heart's content.

BEE BALM

My garden has been completely taken over by these bizarre beauties.  They are not only very hardy, the foliage smells like a musky mint when crushed and it can be made into a medicinal tea.  For more info click on MONARDA.

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MORNING SUN AND BAY

In a couple of earlier paintings I noted that my dog Jake was a 'poser', always getting into the picture. This is Bay, his buddy, who is just the opposite.  He doesn't seek out the limelight but stays near me most of the time, and couldn't resist a peak at what I was up to. 

MORNING GLORY

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I have always enjoyed the surprise of experiencing old things in a new light.I remember the first time I became aware of this was when I was a child at the end of a vacation in Ocean City.  I spent the summer at the shore in those days, sitting on the porch of my grandparent's house staring at the long horizon of the bay. There was nothing but open sky, cool breezes and the sea.  At the end of the summer we went home to Philadelphia.  In the car as we came to the city I felt suddenly plunged into a fulsome growth of foliage, the beat of cicadas and the humidity of Philadelphia's throbbing presence. This same presence had a short time ago felt simply like home.   I had not experienced it at all.  It simple was.  It was such a profound moment that I still remember its impact.  

I had a similar experience on my return from the hospital after only 4 days. The first morning I woke up in my home bed I went tentatively outside.  I wanted to get out there before the day went into the 90s.  My medications had reduced my blood pressure to the 'stand up and feel dizzy zone' and I wasn't sure if that was okay, so I was a bit shaky, but was drawn by an aroused perception of things.   I walked around my yard in my bare feet in a state of awe.  It was as if a veil had been lifted from all my senses.  I was there, truly, in a way I had never been before.  I was a part of nature and yet still able to experience it.  I sat on my porch watching and feeling the birds, squirrels, insects, flowers and trees for at least an hour, transfixed by their life and glorying in that life.  I don't know if it was the joy of being alive after fearing death, the sensory deprivation experienced in the sterility of the hospital, or my medications, but I can only say that If we could hold on to moments like these and  be in such a state of heightened awareness we could live a hundred years in a day. 

HOSPITAL ORDER

This is my last hospital painting.  The hospital room has a certain abstract beauty all its own with everything lined up and ready to go.  I wonder who thought up red doors and waste cans?

DUSK IN THE CITY

My second night in the hospital I looked down to this scene.  My feelings about that  were captured perfectly by my very poetic friend Laurie yesterday in her comment on NIGHT IN THE ICU.  This is part of that comment.

 "I often think that what is most shocking about being in hospital is the sense that everything in the outside world is continuing, just as always. The illness that has roiled us or our loved ones goes unnoticed by implacable nature. And so the night descends..."

NIGHT IN THE ICU

The first night in the ICU Walter stayed in my room on a reclining chair.  Neither of us slept a wink, as the sounds and lights from the hall and in our room were an intermittent cacophony.  I was very reassured by his presence however as you can imagine.

GOOD ALLIES

My dear son in law Steve, a bit wary of the camera, a doctor at Jefferson, was a very reassuring presence and daily visitor.  It is never a mistake to have a doctor 'in the house'.  I don't know if my connections with the hospital had anything to do with it, but I could not ask for better care than I received at Jefferson.  The staff was uniformly upbeat, kind and caring and seemed to know what they were doing.  Even the big guy who woke me up several times a night to take my blood pressure was welcome because he seemed so competent and good humored.

BEAUTIFUL WOMEN BEARING GIFTS

How could this trio produce anything but happiness in the heart?  Food for the soul, the eyes and the body.  ( From left to right) My fabulous daughter Ellie who came down to comfort me from Brooklyn, my beautiful friend Madelyne who breezed in all dressed in a snazzy white outfit with flowers almost as big as she is and my wonderful daughter Anna bringing tasty, healthy food from her garden.  Quick visits from friends and family in the hospital are very welcome.  Longer than 10 minutes, maybe not, unless they can talk to each other.  This combo  - no problem.

COLORED PENCILS IN THE HOSPITAL

Last Monday my dear grandson Arlo and his sweetheart Cindy - you don't hear about sweethearts much anymore, but I think it is a very apt discription of how Arlo feels about Cindy, brought me some colored pencils to keep me busy in the hospital.
I was actually feeling rather numb at this point.  How could I have a heart attack when I am healthy and always have been?  Was this the beginning of the end?  Of couse we all have to die sometime but certainly not yet.  You get the drift.  Scared out of my wits.
But the colored pencils called.  I have never worked with them and there they were, and there I was with nothing to do except worry or play.  I opted for play.  First I decided to take some notes.
What were the names of the colors and how did they look when you pressed on them with three diferent pressures.  As you can see the heart attack did not improve my spelling.

I decided putting pressure on the colored pencils didn't feel like fun so I would see how two similar colors could be united using a comfortable pressure.  It is not at all evident but I very rythmically moved my hand as I was stroking the color onto the paper and that created little changes that were very satisfying to me at the time.

Next I decided to find colors that moved nicely into each other in a series.  This is something I have been working on in several media for many years but never before with this set of colored pencils

Now what?  I had no desire to render the inside of my room in colored pencils, although that might have been interesting, it seemed much to daunting, so I decided to simply keep making color progressions which were making me feel calm and content.  I thought putting them inside a shape of some kind would make things more interesting so I opted for a jar shape.

As you can see this is all very delicate and hardly there at all and yet it was extremely pleasurable for me at the time.  What I am wondering is this, if someone like me came around with an 'art cart' in the hospital where people were trying to cope with their feelings of fear and confusion would it be of some benefit?  

Since most people are not artists and may not feel as free to play as I did, perhaps some suggested things to do with the art materials could be part of the 'art cart' experience.  I am asking you out there on my blog list what you think about this idea and if you have any suggestions or are interested in pursuing this idea with me.