SURF

surfing is riding the wave crest ...

two surfer buddies out for the late afternoon surf

it's

for the moment sort of thrill

and enjoyment...

till the surf loses it's energy...

like everything else.

surfboard atop a 50s wagon...

....my daily diary of 

things to do are devoid of this
heart pounding kind of thrills...
actually not even listed 

to be checked off ...

i usually do things as my mood

and inspiration dictate...house chores like

cooking, cleaning the kitchen, bathroom,

shooting artworks, taking pictures of trails

a twilight view of Pacifica from Rockaway hill...

and other sceneries for the blog 

sunset fog approaching  Peter point

twilight...Rockaway trail

as well

as my painting sessions and catching  up

with current events while watching

Tv news, playing guitar music to calm

my nerves...

speaking of music i've been

looping Dave Grusin's composition

for the movie

"On Golden Pond"

which i listen to during my

painting sessions to keep me

going till the wee hours.

It's that type of music that's

so relaxing and calm as if 

with an angelic gentle touch.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

back to chores,

these are all common sense stuff...

eat when i'm hungry, washing dishes

after the meal, laundry when i'm out

of something to wear, etc. etc.

seagull carcass on the trail

however, after all is said and done

hours have gone by and i'm exhausted

and hardly have time to do my blog so

i'm running behind to keep in touch

with my readers....but thanks for

bearing with me....

here's my latest...

been working on a serious art project,

which means, conceptualizing, 

looking for funding, sending out
proposals to museums in NY,
London, Amsterdam,
collecting reference materials

 and actually

painting the portraits for the project
on relatively large canvases 36" x 48"
to test my endurance,

patience and speed to go through 

as well as be able to estimate

the time table involved to complete one
and from there the full series.

So it's a series of figurative paintings

of women from the 50s era to the
contemporary times..

these are women from different countries 

who have contributed, encouraged

and supported the development of Arts and Culture.

It is my way of paying homage to these

personalities. Some of them are gone and
some of them, gladly,

are still around  casting incessant influence... 

it's no doubt, rather, an ambitious project...

but it's exciting  and fun to do.

so here's an example of one of the paintings...

The Londoner_Jane Birkin

There's more to be done to fine tune

the painting. Jane Birkin has a great

influence on women's fashion in the 60s

up to now. She's also remembered for her
role in "Blow Up"
with David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.

The other personalities on my list are 

Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Liz Taylor,

Gloria Steinem, Princess Diana, Twiggy, 

Evita Peron, Ariana Huffington,  Catherine Deneuve

Golda Meir, Queen Rania, Imelda Marcos,

Gemma Cruz and others whom i still
have to research on from the

Arab world as well as the middle East,

and the Mediterranean region and Asia.

So considering there's so

many personalities 

I'll put more time to this project

and do plein air landscapes
once in a blue moon.

Fog on Taylor St looking towards Bay bridge

Fog by Lake Merced

that will be for now...

i'll try my best to keep you 

up to date.

i'll catch you folks sometime!

Bye Bye Birdie!!

that's how i felt standing close to the edge of the cliff...

to take a photo of

the eroding side of the mound at the summit

of Rockaway hill...a little

adventurous act but silly...

there's plenty of inspirational views 

...one can sit

 amidst fields of flowers...

stare at the ocean below to meditate

or watch the local creatures...

horned beetle...

This lizard camouflages like a root...

it knows how to survive and avoid

detection from other animals...

in human society the same thing can be said of

politicians whose favorite music might either be

"two different worlds" or "masquerade"...

lizard on the trail...

hovering hawk

it's summer and it's time for 

the Stern Grove summer concerts..

last Sunday the SF Symphony

gave the audience the pleasure

of listening to

classical music...

and after two hours of great music

all good things come to an end...

it's work day tomorrow...

hasta la vista!

jt

Unexpected Sizzling Heat

Are you expecting?

when addressed to a woman,

simply means....if one is expecting a baby,

a polite way of saying 

"pregnant".

but in the case of

yesterday's weather,

 the 10th of June, 

the mercury was pregnant

with sizzling heat.

... heat wave drowsed the western side of 

the country....

i usually wake up around 10:30a.m.

when my alarm clock goes off....

but yesterday I woke up to the
rather high temperature

around 8:30 

the air outside was warm
and a little humid...

i had to move my plan to plein air at 4pm to 

6pm and even at this time the temp is in the

high 70s...

 even with the cool

sea breeze i could still feel a bit of heat...

which somehow explains the swarming of

beach goers.

Tuesday, the 11th,

the mercury reports are still high...

120 in the shade in Death Valley,

95 in Portland/Vancouver area...

there is relief on a

forecast of cooler weather for 

Wednesday...

so I might continue my plein air

session tomorrow.

in the meantime, i'll be working on the

revision of the skyline of the

"gathering of clouds"

catch you folks later!

jt

  

Back in the saddle again

Had a chance to plein air last Monday

it was warm when I started out, managed to cover

a bit of the shapes, forms  and tonal values

when finally the fog started to roll in and the 

cold breeze followed.

Had to go to Stonestown, anyway, so I 

hightailed it...

as they say

"he who runs away

lives to paint another day"...

in keeping with my goals to

keep myself busy after

a lull....

i worked on fine tuning 

"the Londoner",

a painting based on the 

1965 b/w photo of 

Jane Birkin, the actress in
"Blow Up" and Agatha Christie's
"Evil under the Sun"

as well as managed to put in 

a few hours on the Twiggy painting,

all in a day's work...

I'll catch you folks later.

jt

rain break...

after 2 weeks of rain

there was a quick break in the

incessant rain and freezing temperatures

lately...

as usual the first sign of 

relief is manifested by the

amount of motorists on the road...

highway 1 usually gets pack 

from the city to Santa Cruz

or at least as far down as Half Moon Bay...

i had a chance to work on my

Pacific Heights cityscape

though I had to sketch in my 

car as the 9mph wind

 made the outside temp

freezing in the late afternoon...

Scott/Pacific st

I had a chance to work on my figurative 

project "women/culture

in the 60s "

the 3rd session i spent about 45 minutes...

3rd session

4th session

and tonight I spent about 4 hours on 

the 4th session

did  a little bit of the background

which I'm guessing is the

London Bridge...

and of course did further modeling

of the head/face...notice her

mascara....

Didn't get a chance to put in more

hours as I came down with cold

virus for 5 days....

managed to get over it with lime

and honey 3 times a day...

that's all folks!

jt 

Rain, rain go away....

Come again another day....

it's been raining most of the week with

temperatures from low 40s

and hi's from low to mid 50s....

it's characteristic of winter

nothing surprising except

the Canadians had to be naughty

once in a while....

so they send the blasting arctic wind to 

East coast and to the Bay area...

commuters waiting for Bus #18 at Stonestown Trader Joe's

 it's freezing  particularly

when winds get up to 30mph...

...this is the 2nd

week i'm stuck indoor...

it's good i have started 

the figurative series ...

it keeps me occupied 

and not too bored...

1st session about 3hours of work

it's 2 a.m. ...i have this

2nd session of the Londoner

woman in the swinging 60s

(based on B/W stock photo)

spent 30 minutes on this

session working on the face....

2nd session 30 minutes of work

Still raining at the moment...

ready to make my snack

and watch late night news....

Good night folks!...

jt

A woman in distress

Hollywood and the movie studios....

have often explored and exploited

the subject of a woman in distress...

and one couldn't get enough of it...

Ela hanging and waiting for Tiresome or Tarzan to rescue her...

Filmmakers, novelists and screen play writers

have fun exploring this theme.

Some of Hitchcock films for example,

Vertigo, Rear Window, Marnie and others

are good examples... 

In the meantime, back to being an artist

there was a construction going on at the site

where i painted last and the earth movers

and other machines were in the way

of my picture composition so

i sort of wasted my trip to the 

Pacific heights area...

The rains this week also impeded

my plein air endeavor so I started a new 

project about the

women and culture in the 60s.

This is from a B/W stock photo reference....i still have to trace
the photographer and/or the model....

Painting still in progress, 36" x 48"
(based on a B/W photo) which i started last night

of a Londoner in the swinging 60s.

I'll let you in as i get along with the project,

Twiggy would be part of the series.
The woman in the painting has a resemblance to
Stacy who was my diligent and brilliant
classmate in Fine Art and Animation...
we burned the midnight
oil together rushing projects in the animation lab...
she now
lives and paints in Laguna Beach.

au revoir!

jt

Holiday Nighthawks

i'm not sure what to say about holidays anymore....

Christmas Tree at the Pan handle GG park

they seem to be holidays

for the merchants...

the shops in the malls are 

set up to ensnare the

shoppers with signs

 advertising substantial

discounts as if they're

at all true for the consumer...

If one had memorized prices before

the holidays he wouldn't be

surprised that holiday prices

are jacked up by whatever discount

is being offered to compensate and

to retain the same levels of profit....

But nobody seems to pay attention 
to that stunt...

anyway, the Christmas spirit

is more alive among the younger

whose pristine optics 

of love, peace and 

prosperity are

genuine and clearer than

the older generation...

at least from what i've observed...

Delia...a Swiss tourist at my easel

As an artist I had to work

on a cityscape painting on Christmas eve

simply because it's paramount for me

to see first hand the scenery on

California St. in the Nob Hill area...

mainly that of the fog rolling in

and light rain pouring...

almost on the finishing stage...

I painted for 2 hours and 

soaked myself in the rain...

without getting sick after...

On Christmas day 

after church I ended up

in the Laurel heights area.

Laurel Heights Starbuck

Starbucks which was opened

till midnight...

Christmas eve customers

 I observed in the cafe

what Edward Hopper

Holiday Nighthawks...

had seen generations ago that inspired

him to paint the "Nighthawks"...

it's no longer a surprise to see

in people that sense of isolation

and loneliness hovering in their

holiday nighthawks

psyche despite the so-called

progress in an urban environ.

Grapevine on I-5 N

Couple of days later  i had to drive down to 

Southern Cal where I spent 4 days

and 3 nights and driving

Sunset in the Bakersfield area I-5N

500-some-miles 

back to Sf on New Year's eve...

that was truly exhausting...

Happy New Year to all!

jt