Snippets of Time to Paint

I don't usually paint this way - from one side of the paper to the other - but that is what it is turning out to be. I just got back from an over-night at our house in Truckee. I was there such a short time I left my painting in progress at home on the kitchen table. So, before dinner and later before dessert, I did a little more....

We've had wonderful thunder and lightning storms in both Truckee and Reno. Last night around 11pm I was awakened by the clap and rolling thunder and bright lightning lighting up our room. I couldn't see bolts - just flash through the tall forest. Then the pitter patter of rain. It went on for about 30 minutes.

Tonight, just as we were sitting down to dinner (in my outdoor studio canopy!) outside in my garden, we had a thunder cloud over us and some rolls of thunder, little pitter patters...then a downpour! The canopy is not water repellent! So we dashed inside with plates in hand.

Granite Cliffs Watercolor

I have a photo that I took from the gondola that climbs the snow-topped mountain at Palm Springs and Palm Desert area. So I thought I would paint it in watercolor. My sketch was to block in the dark, medium and light shapes, and to make sure it worked out. My patience didn't hold out to finish drawing on the watercolor paper. A very nice CD was playing and I just felt like doing wet on dry - just being interpretative and loose. Not much to look at right now.

Yesterday my husband and I drove up to the meadows at the top of Mount Rose Highway. We did a little hike. I took lots of photos - I'll share a few here. We enjoyed the cooler temperature (it has been in the high 90's for a while now). Then we drove along the North Shore of Lake Tahoe and had lunch on the deck of Garwoods, then took in the arts and crafts faire at Kings Beach, (where we bought some mugs from our favorite Potter, Sue Fox). Great day!!! What summer is all about.