Lotus Land

Today I attended a meeting of my fellow botanical artists at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena. After the meeting, I took advantage and the time to slip into the new Chinese Garden that was just opened earlier this year. They've done a spectacular job with the pagodas, ornamental plantings, koi pond and beautiful tea house. These Lotus plants are enjoying their new location and blooming profusely. Many people mistake them for waterlilies but they differ in that they raise their leaves and flowers out of the water. Their seed pods when dried are often used in decorative dried floral arrangements.

"Lotus Land" © Kathy Dunham 2008

Balloons at Sunrise

One of the pleasures of living in the desert is watching hot air balloons rise in the early morning light. As development takes over, there will be fewer take off and landing spots and I will miss watching these colorful orbs rise in the the desert morn.

"Balloons at Sunrise" © Kathy Dunham 2008

French Graffiti

I spotted this graffiti in Paris near Montmarte, the area famous for artists. It certainly beats the work of taggers we see in this country.

"French Graffiti" © Kathy Dunham 2008

Artistic Humor

This one's for you John.

I have a dear artist friend who enjoys life and has a wonderful sense of humor. We poke fun at each other and understand that being able to laugh is healthy to one's psyche. He paints using only three colors.... Naphthol Red, Phthalo Blue and Cadmium Yellow. And when I saw this cartoon in the paper the other day I couldn't resist sharing it. I use a moderate palette of colors and we've joked for years that we should teach a workshop together and title it "Anything You Can do I Can do Better, in Three Colors". We won't quite be doing that, but next year we will be teaching a workshop together in France. Please join us and we guarantee you'll have a great time. Check it out at http://www.roussset-perigord.org/

Pride of America

For the past two years I have spent part of the summer cruising the waters of Alaska, teaching painting and drawing to passengers on cruise ships. It's a great way to cool off from the summer heat and I never tire of it's beauty. The air is so clear and the glaciers, mountains and wildlife are stunning. A must see for all. It's wonderful to see the Bald Eagle, our national bird, flying free amongst the tall trees and over the waters of the Inside Passage. This eagle isn't so lucky. He's in a rehab center in Ketchikan and is not able to be released into the wild due to an injury. I will never understand why anyone feels the need to shoot these American beauties.

"Pride of America" © Kathy Dunham 2008

Summer Storm

Living in the desert has it's joys and a summer thunderstorm is one of them. Our skies are normally void of clouds but this time of year we get the "monsoons" that come up from the south and show off their big thunderheads. The best part is the lightening. Today we were lucky enough to get some rain and a few displays of lightening. But I was at the other end of the valley that La Quinta calls home and missed all the fun. I could see the action in the distance and by the time I got home all that was left was wet streets. The weather is spotty here and it can be sunny at one end of the valley and rainy at the other.

"Summer Storm" © Kathy Dunham 2008

A Foggy Day

I am very fortunate to be able to teach at the fabulous Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles. It's a long drive to get there as I live in the desert a little over two hours away, but the experience is worth it. I have been asked by the Getty to teach their "Sketching in the Garden" program for the summer. It's a free program offered to the public on the first and third Friday evenings in July and August. We start at six o'clock at the top of the beautiful sunken garden designed by artist Robert Irwin. After a short demonstration and lecture of techniques we venture down into the garden to sketch whatever speaks to us at the moment. The class also covers journaling and writing skills and the shared sketches and thoughts are the highlight of the critique. But as the last two classes were ending at dusk, the coastal fog, so common this time of year in Southern California, came creeping in to create this beautiful image. The Getty is an architectural wonder but the blanket of fog added a new dimension.

"A Foggy Day" © Kathy Dunham 2008