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While You Were Sleeping

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Getting wet at The Children's Pool. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

Getting wet at The Children’s Pool. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

 

California Brown Pelicans. La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

California Brown Pelicans. La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

 

Cormorants, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

Cormorants, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

 

Tree to paint. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

Tree to paint. La Jolla CA. SMD 2018

 

Mount Soledad, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

Mount Soledad, La Jolla, CA. SMD 2018

 

A quick trip to San Diego, only a couple of hours for sightseeing. Didn’t think there would be time for anything beyond chauffeuring. I had to drive Mom in for a minor surgery. Pleased as punch to find myself in La Jolla with time to wander.

I was able to visit two of my all-time favorite places. The Children’s Pool and Mount Soledad.  It felt wrong to leave Mom alone, but she requested photos of La Jolla for a friend. While she was “sleeping”, Pete and I headed south. I took nearly 600 photos! In about an hours time. Mostly because I was trying to catch the animals, or the waves.

Haven’t had time to go through them. We’re on the road again to Phoenix, and our family turkey dinner. We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving Day with friends before heading home.

 

Happy (what day is it?) Monday to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And It’s On!

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View of Mingus, 8-27-18. SMD

View of Mingus, 8-27-18. SMD

I just love that swoosh of color. New shape of a shadow. Come and gone in a few moments time. Want to paint that.

I know I wasn’t the only one worried. Leslie Saeta posted today, time to sign up for the September 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge. In TWO DAYS!!?? I lost a week somewhere. Thought I still had a week to prep and paint a little. Are you ready for the challenge?

I have two themes in mind. But I may just go with the flow. I have decided to go small for the most part. My September calendar is full, only one week is clear of distractions.

 

New And Improved

I am so excited! I will be putting my new palette to use! Just finished setting it up. After researching palettes, paint colors, paint makers, and of course, how to set up a palette.

I decided on a Mijello 18-well palette. Hard decision, so many options available. I thought surely this would be big enough. HA! I like the abundant space for mixing. It takes up a lot of room on my desk. But I won’t need the multiple small porcelain palettes I used in addition to my Cotman sketchers box.

 

Yay!

 

I followed the examples of others, and washed the palette first. I made sure not to scratch it. I left space in each well to work, not filling them completely. And I made the cheat sheet.

It is not a perfect, or balanced, color wheel palette. There are some new colors that I might end up not liking, or using much. Time will tell. And already, I know of at least five colors I would like to add. A good grey being one of them.

I am clearly heavy on the light side. Not enough mid to dark values. I do have a basic red, blue and yellow, so the mixing options are wide open. Looking forward to the learning ahead.

Large storage box.

I found a great box at Michaels for storing my paint tubes. Meant for storing photos, you can find them in the scrapbook section. I bought two each of the large and small. They snap closed securely. Much better than the Ziploc I used at one time.

 

Pete is home!

Finished Proton Therapy on the 15th. There will be follow ups of course. They said it would be nine months before he feels 100%. He IS starting to sleep longer at night. That is a major relief for all of us! He is doing physical therapy and weight training to regain strength. And playing word games to strengthen different areas of the brain. Very happy to be home, and in his own bed!

So grateful for your well wishes and prayers!
Prayer is POWERFUL!
So blessed with your kindness and good thoughts!
Thank you!

 

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

We give thanks to God always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you in our prayers.
1 Thessalonians 1:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind The Scenes

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Storm Clouds, 8-3-18. SMD.

From early this month, a storm on the way. Thought I had posted it. Thought I had posted period. It’s been turbulent indoors as well. Computer issues. Photoshop. Ughh!

“Could not transform because the scratch disks are full.”

“Low Disk Space. You are running on very low disk space…”

Turns out, I had almost NO disk space. Took a full week to figure things out. Save files, and regain the use of Photoshop. That sent me down the rabbit hole, cleaning files and deleting. I still need to buy a portable hard drive and I am researching those. Suggestions are welcome! I am planning to replace my system in October. Fingers crossed. Now if I can just get through September. Fingers and toes crossed, and prayers said!

 

Mingus Tower, 8-3-18.

Still enjoying the monsoon season. Which I think is nearing the end. Rain is forecast the next five days. That could mean a downpour, or a few minutes of sprinkles.

Goodbye Zazzle?

I am thinking of closing my Zazzle shop. I am very disappointed in the quality of their fabric printing. I have seen different products, purchased by friends and family. And the quality on those items is great. So maybe, I just won’t offer fabrics for sale on that site.

A few months ago I ordered fabric samples from Zazzle. I compared those with swatches from Spoonflower. There is no contest. Both sets are on the basic fabric offered. For Spoonflower that is “Basic Cotton Ultra” and for Zazzle, “Custom Combed Cotton”.

Swatches on Spoonflower are 8 x 8 inches for $5.00. Zazzle 9 x 9 inches for $5.60. It might be hard to see on-screen, but there is a huge difference in the quality and feel of the fabrics.

 

Comparing Spoonflower and Zazzle custom printed fabric. Designs by Sheila Delgado.

Comparing Spoonflower and Zazzle custom printed fabric. Designs by Sheila Delgado.

It’s been a few months, but I am certain that I ironed the samples. They have sat on my desk, folded. You can see the wrinkled Zazzle swatches. That fabric is stiff, and makes a crinkly sound when you move it. I wouldn’t want to wear it. Makes me think of the crinoline skirts my Mom remembers.

The Spoonflower swatches are soft and pliable. You can also see the difference in printed details. On the sailboats, a large-scale print, the quality is nearly the same. But on the feathers, you can see that the fine detail is lost. The Zazzle feathers is even printed in a larger scale, and still, the fine detail is blurred.

Unfinished Projects

I have missed painting. And the shadows on Mingus make me want to paint even more. Hard to believe we are already at the end of the month, and I have yet to put brush to paper. There are a few more projects that need attention, so that in September I can be free to paint daily.

I have dealt with a Lupus flare this month as well. Just bone tired. I had an Esophageal manometry on the first, and it seems I have been in recovery mode ever since. It was a very quick and simple procedure. It required fasting, and it was an afternoon appointment in Phoenix. So I think the mix of not eating, not taking my meds and a long drive (3 hours there and back) just zapped my energy.

Luckily, I was able to do the test quickly. My cough did not interfere. It seemed I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. I even arrived early, and within five minutes I was taken back to start the test. WOW!

Pushing through. Napping when I can. Crossing tasks off my list. Just at a slower pace than I would like. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!