July 4th

It is heard to believe it is summer and the 4th of July was yesterday. Eugene did not have fireworks but the other nearby towns did and as the moon rose I watched from the 14 floor and it was a beautiful sight to see all the lights of the city, fireworks and moon, and my digital camera picked up some Orbs flying around. 

The temperature has been in the low 70ies . I ride the bike to the river and take a dip, and watch the ducks, dogs, and children splash around the water and there is always some people that add rocks to the little stone inclosure that changes shape as new parts are added and older parts are repaired. I have not been painting as much as I did in the past, I spent to much time watching you tube. The Ya Po Ah gardens are beautiful and it is relaxing and peaceful to walk around them. The Saturday market is fun and I buy all my vegetables there. My garden has an abundance of peas this year and I grow kale, cucumbers, chard, zucchini and Basil.  

All the flowers are growing in the Ya Po Ah gardens

magnolia trees are in flower now

farmers market

July full moon

many kinds of grasses now in seed

queen Ann lace

grass 

children at the river

picked flowers

from my garden

Sacred Geometry paintings

Balanced Square

Room in Perspective

The top two paintings I have introduced perspective.

For a few years I have been working on a series of paintings based on sacred geometry. All shapes fit in a circle. I have created paintings using all shapes from 3 equal sides to 9 equal sides. I also set them up to to certain ratios, like what is called the golden section. I don't know the math but can figure out how to do them by the diagrams in the two books I have. These shapes are the buildings blocks of life. I start by drawing out the designs on paper. It might take me several days to figure one out and get what I like as a composition. Then I have to decide on the colors I want to use and the values. They evolve through trial and instinct, with much changing in the process. When it looks right I stop. There are other variations that could work and I could make many paintings from one design. The top two below are finished and the two below are steps in the process .
The drawings at the bottom are for Rotating Square.

pinks

white square

I am going to do this one next

Rotating Square This painting has 3,4,5, and 8 sides

Rose Garden

The weather has been warm and I have made several trips to my swim spot. There is much to watch there as many people come to enjoy the water. There  are ducks and geese, family’s, young and old and dogs and there owners. It is a greet place for children. You can see in the phots the stone enclosures that are always being worked on. For some reason when one is there you have to add a few rocks. Even older people do this. The young and hardy have been floating down the river and some pass by and some pull in at this spot. The water is cold and I have only been able to stay completely under for about five minutes. Standing up to the knees is comfortable. The kids don’t mind the cold splashing  about and have a great time.

Just before the swim spot is the rose garden and the roses are in full bloom. It is a big garden with thousands of roses and hundreds of varieties. It is a beautiful peaceful spot, to walk, sit on the grass or benches or take a picnic lunch. I am interested to see the roses up close as to how they open from buds  to full bloom. I love flowers and roses are my favorite. The tree in the garden is a cherry tree planted in 1846. It is roped off and some of the huge branches are held up with posts . It is an amazing tree.