feature of the decoration, with its imaginative structure that subdivides and expands the space. He completed the work in 1512. 
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is 41 x 13.5 meters (125 x 42" approx.) and took Michelangelo several years to complete.
In November 2009 I spent two weeks in Rome. The goal was to visit art museums and galleries as much as possible. We rented an apartment in Prati, the neighborhood near the Vatican and Castel San Angelo. This view of Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter's Square) was part of our everyday walk, a mere three blocks away. This is a quick watercolor sketch I did in 4x6" (10x15cm.) as a souvenir.
The San Diego Museum of Art has a cool room for creating art. I spent a few minutes there last week, and did this quick self-portrait with a multicolored crayon. You are meant to leave your work on the wall, but I found it interesting enough to take it with me to photograph. It's quite difficult to look at yourself as an object, to be objective. When you are inside, how can you look from the outside?
Impression, Marbella is a pastel, 16x20" (40x50 cm). Marbella is a beautiful beach town in the South of Spain. Sunsets are awsome. Barefoot walks on the beach are heavenly.
I was sketching at the market, and included her in my sketches.
Mirror, mirror... I painted this pastel on swede board, 20x16" (50x40 cm.) based on pictures I took of my grandaughter Emily playing with hats in front of the mirror. Life is good. You are blessed. Enjoy your day, your week, and your year!
Emily is the girl, and Rosie is the beautiful horse. Last year, my grandaughter Emily was learning to ride Rosie. Rosie was learning to allow people to ride her, after having been mistreated for some time. So both of them were working hard, and both had instructors to help them. I took dozens of pictures of them together, and did some quick sketches on site, then I did this pastel. I think you can see Emily's expression on her face.
From a picture taken by her father, I painted this pastel portrait of my grandaughter Natalie last year. Grandma's Joy is 10"x8" pastel (25x20cm) on swede board. I started with hard pastel sticks, then continued with the softer Rembrandt, finishing with the extra soft Schmincke pastels.
Growth as artists happens slowly and almost unconsciously. Beginners are often concerned with finishing a painting, with the end result, but we actually learn more from each attempt, and with failure. We must take risks! I draw and/or paint all the time. I carry a small sketchbook with me, and do value studies or small watercolors or quick pencil sketches on buses, airplanes, in cafes and restaurants, in the car while somebody else is driving. This is a great way to study people and places. When we have to work quickly we can grasp the essential elements, which sharpens our perception.
8x5 in.(20x13cm)
Monts geles et fleuris, trone des deux saisons
It's Not About the Wave: Acrylic on canvas, 14x11 inches (35x28 cm).
A Media Luz (Spanish: at half light, or twilight) is an acrylic painting of tango dancers I did as part of my Tango series. The image measures 30x22 inches (75x55 cm.) The title reflects the words of this famous tango: "Y todo a media luz...a media luz los dos..." (and everything with half light, both of us in half light...) very romantic.
Larissa in Irak, watercolor, 22x15 inches (55x37 cm.) I started this painting with a monotype. I knew I wanted the colors of the American flag as a background, so I laid the watercolors on an acrylic sheet, reversed: the blue on the right hand side. I then placed the Arches watercolor sheet carefully on top, and put weights on it: tons of heavy books. I waited for a couple of hours, then lifted the paper: voila! I had the "flag" as background. Next I painted a blue "storm", and the three female soldiers in Irak, with my handwritten words of a poem by the real Larissa, a poet who has been a soldier in Irak. The soil is gold. It was an emotional painting for me. Larissa in Irak has just been accepted at City of Brea Art Gallery's Made in California juried exhibition from 27 March-7 May 2010.
Pine Cove, Idyllwild, watercolor, 4x6 inches (10x15 cm).
MichelAngelo's Creation, 2007, watercolor, 8x10 inches.
This painting is about life, running away from us faster than we can believe. No Botox, extreme exercising, diet, surgery, will bring back our youth. We see our seconds, minutes and days, our dreams and desires, escaping softly into the universe. We must celebrate our life. My friend Helen turned 80 years old a few days ago. She celebrated her 29,200 days with the following poem:
EIGHTY
I'm looking at eighty, the big Eight-O And I'm overwhelmed.
How did it happen?
Sixty is old, seventy is ancient, But eighty--that's incredible!
You can turn 80 upside down and it's still 80.
And if you stack the 0 in a vertical row On top of the 8,
It could be three 0's in a column
Which wins the game in tic-tac-toe!
Put the 8 on its side with the 0 Lying next to it
And it looks like 2 lemons and an orange
Which may get you something From the slots in Las Vegas,
But doesn't do much for me in its chronological
Reality.
So, eighty-schmeighty, what do I think?
Hey, it's only a number! Right?
I started on location, right there on the beach in San Clemente. Then I took it home and finished it in a few more days. It was exhibited in the San Clemente Art Gallery the following month. Today I drove from San Diego to Lake Forest, passing by San Clemente, and its pier. It was a bright, beautiful day. Here in Southern California we often forget how lucky we are to have such a weather in winter, when the rest of the USA is under a heavy blanket of snow.
This is a watercolor on Arches paper. I started with a monotype, then did the watercolor based on my visit to Crystal Cove beach, with all those sandpipers running around like they are late for the opera, and won't be allowed to get in. They are so funny. So this painting, Three is a Crowd, is a full sheet, 22x30". Today it has been cloudy, raining, and then sunny in San Diego. The sky looked somewhat like this one.
Today is my birthday. I feel like "Malena", going forward in life toward new experiences. Malena is the name of a tango. I used it for this acrylic painting I did in 2008. I started with an abstract background, then superimposed the figure of a woman. It is a fairly large painting, 30x22 inches. It won the Award of Excellence from the American Juried Art Salon in Texas in December 2008.
La Boca is a turistic area in Buenos Aires, where the Rio de la Plata opens into the Atlantic Ocean. Boca means mouth in Spanish. La Boca is a colorful, attractive, happy place. It's full of restaurants, art galleries, souvenir shops. Musicians play on the sidewalk, people take pictures of the buildings and of each other. The famous Argentinian painter Quinquela Martin immortalized it in many beautiful paintings. Many tangos have been written, sang, and danced in La Boca. No trip to Bs.As. is complete without visiting La Boca.
"Refugee" is a 10x8 inches (25x20 cm.) pastel I did in 2009. The country, the war and the reasons may change, but the suffering of the people remains the same. Have we learnt nothing?
Hi there,
