Calla Lilly & Hemlock 2002 11
Zantedeschia aethiopica & Tsuga canadensis

Note:
I’ll be going off line for a while as I prepare to move. I should be back up and running, late April, early May.

Pop Peppers 2007 04

Capsicum...

I haven’t quite got a grasp on Pop Art. However, I have explored this in somewhat a playful manner… using basic primary colors. It’s not an original idea because Mother Nature has actually already done the primary color thing with these vegetables.

Green, Yellow, Red and Purple peppers do exist in nature!

Man with Guitar 1972

Here’s a “moldy oldie” I came across while cleaning out the garage.
You can’t make out the date down in the bottom right hand corner… but I can!
It’s 1972 and finding this prompted a lot of memories.
This watercolor & ink was done while I was in scenic downtown Southeast Asia. How it survived almost forty years is anyone’s guess, but I do remember that it was to be the first of several showing instruments I enjoy hearing played.
The additional pieces were never started as the Vietnam War sort of got in the way and my attentions were needed elsewhere.Who knows? I might pull a Phoenix out of my hat in the near future in regards to this idea…

“Art” In Phases!

I’ve gone through a couple different phases and tried a couple different things…
[Note: The beard was one of those phases & things]
Some I grew out of, while others are held in reserve… Why? I don’t know.
I like doing things that are new, different, fun, or provide me or someone else enjoyment… When they start to become a job, then I usually back away from them. [I already had a job!]
I’m not an applause junkie, but will admit on those rare occasions, I do enjoy it when I can get someone to laugh… especially if they’ve been having a rough day.

In response to an email I received… I was asked about my experiences in theater, mentioned in the “Seeds Sown” posting.
The person asking, had attended at least a couple charity fund raising events I participated in, over the twenty years I was involved doing those… but was unaware I had done or at least tried some theater.

Vocal Rehearsals

Yes, I can sing…
I don’t believe I pose a challenge to any current or past artists… You wouldn’t see me on “Idol” and I’ve even been in a sound studio at least one or three times. There may be demos possibly still kicking around somewhere, but I don’t have any in my possession.
I do consider theater and stage to be art, as well as some music… playing an instrument can be art, photography also and a few other things…
[I’ll get around to posting some artsy photos, later...]

I prefer some tangibility…
Renderings, photographs, or audio recordings provide that tangibility…

Theater and stage…
A souvenir program isn’t quite the same, although I wish now I had kept a couple of them. Its fun, its hard work and if you’re extremely fortunate, friendships can develop and you can sit back and watch those friends take off with their careers.
You also get to meet some truly quirky, eccentric and… “Unique” people!

No “Big Time” or even near to big time experiences would show up on a resume, if I were to have a resume for stage and theater… all were local or community theater groups, but hey, it was fun and I learned a lot!

“Ten Nights in a Barroom” Cast

“Ten Nights in a Barroom”[William Platt] and “House of Blue Leaves” [John Guare] were two notable theater performances I was involved with.
I had lines and walk-ons, although I was far from being a principlal character…
That was fine with me.
Set construction was a shared chore too… Now that was a learning experience! Especially when they lit the set! Every mistake popped out like it had its own mini-spotlight!

St Francis, Union Square, San Francisco

My experiences with stage musicals took place in San Francisco and Los Angeles and were usually performed under a “variety-type”, charity fund raising banner with limited engagement. It was a lot of work for weeks before in preparation and then it was over. I recall doing a few of those.

For all those “dancers” who truly can dance and choreograph…
My hats off to you!
I never said I could dance, but… ah what the hell… 5 – 6 – 7 – 8…

Still, they were enjoyable experiences in a different type of art form.
Yeah, they were fun!

Oriental Poppies 2002 01

Papaver orientale

Back to the basics… at least for me!

Avenue to Terrace 2002 04

Browns and Grays

Saxony 2002 02

Although still my personal preference, there are more things then plants. Street scenes and some buildings can catch my eye, but I don’t get the earth tones I’m accustomed to.

Wild Iris 2002 07

Iris douglasiana
I’m slightly partial to the color purple, to be more accurate, burgundy.
A friend of mine in New Orleans would correct me now, saying its pronounced bur-GUN-dy, either way; I too am partial to red wine, verses white wine.

The wild iris in this rendering grows wild in Northern California and was captured while I was on holiday.

Pink Bromeliad Casting Shadow 2004 09

I received an email request that the Bromeliads picture was too small, so I’m posting a large version of one of them.

[“Older Posts” section now has its first occupant. Bottom of page.]

Armstrong Woods 2002 03

This is from awhile back, when I was living in California, of a path in Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.
It was a chore softening the edges in an attempt to capture the quiet.

[You’d be surprised what you can get away with, using a sponge]

Seeds Sown

The painting pictured in this post is not mine.
The painting, “Evening Mist” is a rendering by my mother

Lillian Park.

The phrase “Seeds Sown” pretty much describes my family.
Originally, there were seven of us [now five], which may have caused some of our relatives to lose sleep at night over the course of time. [Just joking…]

My dad [Matthew] was the type of person who could make, improve on, manufacture or fix, just about anything! He was innovative and creative to a fault, as well as a Scotch-Irish, Catholic taskmaster!
My mom [Lillian] knitted, crocheted, sewed, created, canned and crafted, along with maintaining a home for her five kids and her husband. It wasn’t till later in life, she began painting.
My brother [Matt] was circuit board savvy, long before Bill Gates.
My sister [Dianne] managed to glean traits of both my parents. But sewing and gardening for her can be compared to a skilled surgeon yielding a scalpel.
My brother [Chris] has more of my dad’s traits per volume. He’s as comfortable building an addition on to his home, as he is restoring model HO trains.
My sister [Marianne] took on “Arts & Crafts”, gave the folks at street fairs something to ogle at and then transferred her flair to interior design.

Then there’s me… I actually fall into the pecking order after my brother Matt. I have similar traits as those noted above, leaning towards art, with a blend of theater, music and stage.

As time progressed, as with most families, there were additions…
My sister-in-law [Debra] has helped shape the future, by teaching not only at a high school, but also at a college. She is quite adept at interior design.

My brother-in-law [Robert] is probably the most even tempered member of the clan. [How did that happen?] Build an outdoor deck; pull a tree stump? No problem!

So the seeds have been sown and the influences, like the seasons, continue…

Palo Verde 2005 04

Parkinsonia microphylla
Yes, I enjoy plants!
To be more precise, I enjoy Nature!

[With my last name, is it any wonder?]
Coupled with the fact that I attended a course at Phoenix College, through the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens for landscaping and other associated topics.
[Landscaping… Talk about a BIG canvas!]
When I tap Nature and it taps me, I’m off in a different mental plain.
You can rest the body, but you have to rest the mind also.

Yellow is the predominant color of blooms in the Sonoran Desert.
The fact that the botanical species name includes my name… It only seemed appropriate.

Desert Rose 2006 10

My notes on this rendering have been misplaced.
[Thus no species identification – When I find them, I’ll edit the post]
I do recall coming across this bloom in a rocky, sand and clay area, void of most vegetation and was caught off guard by this small plant almost saying,

“Hey, Look at Me!”

So I did!

Bromeliads Casting Shadows 2004/8

Have you ever gotten into a loop?
Even if it was kind of fun, and everything seemed to flow just right?
That’s what happened with the Bromeliads. I had more ideas on how and which colors to apply, then I had ability. Total renderings numbered eight!
An interesting plant with varying leaf shapes and a flowering spike that can best be described as dazzling!

A little factoid to throw in… The Pineapple is of the Bromeliad family.

Over Lapping 2010/19

Most of my cubistic renderings [at least to me] seemed to be stuck in the last millennium.
With the launch of my first blog, Park Patches, I wanted to do something different.
Oddly enough, to get through the block, all I seemed to have to do was remove my glasses.

As this is truly a work in progress, development, learning curve and what ever other phrase one would impart, to blasting off and publishing in Cyber-Space…

Please bear with me as I self teach myself.

Barrel Cactus 2008/15

Echinocactus grusonii
Originally begun as a circular rendering, true to its form, it just sort of took off from there.
Supposedly, the small pineapple-shaped fruit of a barrel cactus has a slightly tangy, zesty taste with just enough sweetness.
Sorry though…

The closest I’ve come, is to trying Prickly-Pear cactus jelly.

Note: Never, Ever, stoop down without checking behind you, for the proximity of the next nearest cactus!