Plein air painting is glorious on a Spring day! The vineyards had wild mustard growing in between the rows and everything was vibrant. Robert Young Winery is located in the Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, Northern California.
Category Archives: A Day in the Life
My first husband Phil and I, before we were married, moved into this little house in Mansfield, Texas. It was 1971 or ’72; I was 19 and he was 21. A friend named Obie had found it first and went there to rent it, but for some reason it was not right for him. However, he came to our apartment straight away to tell us that we had to see it, that it was right for us. There was urgency in his voice and he convinced us to go right away to look at it. We currently were living in Arlington, Texas (Phil had been attending the University there).
We went the next day and it was right; we rented it and moved in. Mansfield at the time was a small hamlet south of Fort Worth and north of Midlothian, Texas, located on highway 287 with one blinking red light in town, at the highway. The house was located in the country over the preverbal “other side of the tracks”. It was sitting on 25 acres of grazing land and beyond that were 25 acres of woods. The house itself was one long room, with a kitchen at one end and the bathroom at the other; the living space was in-between. The whole wall facing out to the back yard acreage was glassed in from floor to ceiling, with an inside planter that had climbing geraniums growing that covered the windows. On the opposite wall was a wood burning fire place where an original Georgia O’Keefe painting hung.
We soon found out that this was the house where John Howard Griffin wrote the book “Black Like Me”. The main house, a couple hundred feet next door, was occupied by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Holland. She shared with us how proud she was of her son-in-law, and showed us some of his photographs. He was a photographer and put a book together on his photographs of his friend Thomas Merton, who was a trappist monk living at Our Lady of Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky.
Evidently, he and Thomas Merton were very close and he visited Thomas many times. As you may be able to imagine, the house was magical; it was a magical time for Phil and I anyway with spiritual portals opening up and consciousness expanding. We feel like we were divinely guided to be in this house.
We eventually met Mr. Griffon, which was a highlight to our time there. We definitely felt touched by Thomas Merton, as well, and I continue to feel touched to this day.
I was sketchbooking back then; these thumbnails are some sketches I did while at Mansfield. Click to enlarge.
I found Steve Martile, whose blog is called Personal Development Made Simple. His address is posted in my blogroll, so check him out. Good stuff, Steve! I encourage everyone to visit his site.
Today is the last day of the month, and so much as happened.
This month found me noting birthdays for these people: son-in-law Yancy, ex-sister-in-law Debra, friend Tom, husband Ed and friend Toni. My stepson Derek and his wife Kim celebrated their 2nd anniversary.
Above: Val and Tom
I went to the Young Living Essential Oils convention in Washington, D.C. with Tara and Carolyn. It was a long plane trip. We stayed at a quaint and historic Henley Park Hotel, right across the street from the convention center. We were saturated with aromatic oils the whole trip and riding very high! Fabulous!
Above: Tara, me and Carolyn, our first night in D.C., beat after our long plane trip!
The convention was as I expected, brimming with enthusiasm and conviction, gratitude and praise. We learned about new products and heard antidotes from Ecuador.
Above: The Young Living Convention stage
We stayed on longer to do some sight-seeing and took a twilight tour of the monuments and memorials highlighted by the White House and the Capitol building. I had sprained my knee the week before we left to go to this convention, so walking was not as easy as usual, but we walked to the Smithsonian several times.
Above: The Capitol Building
Ate at many great restaurants, but the highlight was the art! Carolyn and I made our first stop the National Portrait Gallery. We planned on staying only for a couple of hours, but it was just too good to pull ourselves away from. It was a whole day excursion.
Above: A great portrait of Richard Nixon
The following day Tara joined us to see the National Gallery of Art. I was totally awestruck at the art, the immense talent! There were a handful of great pieces that brought tears to my eyes, but the one that stood out the most for me was Jon Vermeers’s ”Girl in a Red Hat”. Teary eyed, I could not pull myself away from the painting. It was magnetism. I also viewed some Rembrandt’s, Van Gogh’s, Renoir’s, Monet’s and Manet’s. Another great painting I saw was Albert Bierstadt’s “Among the Sierra Nevada”, a massive oil painting.
Once back home I entered the Watercolor Artists of Sonoma County’s Aqua Areas show, and received the Rod Lee Memorial award and a cash prize for “Day Dreamer”, a portrait of my grand daughter, Ashlyn.
It was announced at the Artist’s Workshop of Sonoma County meeting (AWS) that I would be their next president, my duty starting next January.
Last week I hustled to prepare paintings for entry to the annual Harvest Fair. They have to go in the first of October.
I saw my YLEO business partner Sherri, and had a great lunch at Latitudes with former Barefoot Cellars co-worker Toni, and had a goodbye lunch with fellow artist Phyllis Rapp. Networking, of course.
Preparations were under way for my trip to LA next month to attend a Dani Johnson seminar with Tara and Caroyln. And, beyond all this, I did projects for KatGrafix clients. Jen, a client and winemaker just won a gold medal from the Harvest Fair for her J. Lynn 2005 Chardonnay.
Whew! Tomorrow starts another great month!
I am very excited to share my art, thoughts, poems and interests in this blog. I call it “Annointed HeArt” after the heart-felt creation of art, and because of my interest in Essential Oils, their frequencies and therapeutic qualities. When Essential Oils are used with the creative process they have the ability to affect our spiritual and emotional bodies, potentially raising the frequency of awareness and experience, thus “anointing” the process.
New art and posts will occur regularly, so please visit often!
