Tulsa Int’l Airport Plein Air

“A sense of humor… is needed armor.  Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
–Hugh Sidey

Right on!!



Tulsa Int’l Airport Plein Air – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor Sketch

When I was waiting for my departure from Tulsa, to go to Jackson Hole, I did this little sketch.  Before I even finished drawing the plane… it backed out and left!   So, to continue, I just made stuff up. 
Sunday afternoon, I resumed my flying.  I haven’t flown in three months because it’s been so dang hot!  They are selling the plane in Muskogee, so my instructor  met me in McAlester and flew with me, so he could re-endorse me for solo flight.  I did great!  I had some beautiful landings and even got a compliment from my instructor.    (Those do not come freely!)  It was a great day.

I’m ready to get busy and finish this thing up and get my license.  I’ll be doing a lot of studying and very little art, until I am done.  I may post some older paintings for a while, just to keep my little positive quotes in front of you.  I’d hate for you to forget to wiggle your butt. 

Hugh Sidey  1927 – 2005

Hugh Sidey, who covered the White House and the American Presidency for TIME for close to half a century, died in 2005 in Paris of a heart attack. He was 78. Born and raised in Iowa, Sidey came to understand the presidents of the last 48 years as well as anyone. He was with Kennedy in Dallas and Nixon in China. He was the iconic insider, staying close to many presidents even after they left the White House, becoming great friends with Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush.

A fourth-generation journalist and son of a country editor in Greenfield, Iowa, Sidey never became a prisoner of the Beltway. He’d often go home to Iowa to listen and learn what Americans were thinking. He was among the first print journalists on regular television, appearing on the late Agronsky & Company. As he scaled back his work for TIME, he continued to be deeply involved in the life of the White House. He was active in the White House Historical Association and co-wrote a book, The Presidents of the United States of America, that is a good history of the men and the office.

 

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1133407,00.html#ixzz1Z9nhKftW

Carlton Landing Plein Air

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche



Carlton Landing Plein Air – 5.5″ x 6.5″ Watercolor

Saturday, I went to a Memorial Day picnic at Carlton Landing.  They had this big beautiful pavilion there that was made in San Antonio, taken apart, shipped to Oklahoma and re-assembled on site.  There is no metal in it.  It is put together with wooden pegs.  It is really beautiful and huge!  My little plein air painting doesn’t do it justice.  This is just a small corner of it.

They had the most wonderful music being performed, while I painted.  The artist was John Fullbright, an Okema, Oklahoma native.  I really enjoyed the afternoon.

About Friedrich Nietzsche

Controversial German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is best known for his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Born in 1844 near Leipzig, he renounced Prussian citizenship in 1869, remaining stateless the rest of his life. In his work, he argued against the concept of an omnipotent deity, believing in a “will to power,” a drive toward creativity that could explain everything from natural phenomena to human behavior. He suffered from insanity, possibly syphilis-induced, for his last ten years. He died in 1900.

Jenny Lake Plein Air - September 28, 2009

"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

– Lucille Ball

.

Jenny Lake Plein Air
4" x 6" Watercolor on
Indian Village Handmade Paper

What a beautiful place! I walked in to this spot and climbed on a rock and began my first plein air painting.... ever! I usually paint from photos, so this was an amazing experience.

I left Idaho on Friday morning and spent the day in The Grand Teton National Park and in Jackson Hole. I saw some incredible art in Jackson!

Saturday, I did a little more painting, then headed to the airport for my noon flight. I walked in the door to my house after midnight! What a day! It's good to be home to my honey!

This is a page from my 5" x 8" travel journal, that I did on the flight to Minneapolis.

About Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball, the beloved redheaded comedian, was born in 1911 in New York. She enrolled in drama school — where she was told she had no acting talent, so she became a model. That career led to her discovery by Hollywood. Ball and her bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, pitched a sitcom to CBS, which refused it, but they went on the road with it as a vaudeville act. The act — about a ditzy housewife and her bandleader husband — was a success, as was the ensuing TV show, I Love Lucy. The show made TV history when Lucy's sitcom character was pregnant on the air. She died in 1989.