October 04, 2010

In case you were wondering, this blog is just my diary that I left on the bus or something.

It's fall! It's fall! Fall news alert: I have added tofu chili to the fall menu. I may have mentioned that left to my own devices, I am perfectly content eating the same thing over and over again. Case in point, my summer menu selection for dining at home:
Yogurt (vanilla or peach)
Banana
Pimento cheese
Hummus
Saltines
Tomato sandwich on white bread
Soy cheese sandwich
Once a week, (usually on Sunday) I cooked: vegan quiche, made from scratch.
Once a month I bought a nice frozen pizza.
I think I made a salad 3 or 4 times.

Prior to that my L.A. menu for almost 2 years consisted of the following:
Oatmeal with raisins, bananas, cranberries and soy milk
Baked potato with soy butter
Once a week (usually on Sunday) I might order a pizza.

Oh sure, I've sucked down a chess pie here and there, but otherwise, it's standard fare.
So, yes it's a big deal to introduce the tofu chili to the fall menu.
I still have an espresso at 2pm sharp every day.

I came across a blog called daily routines. I like routine. Routine and structure work for me.
Love this one on Mr. Rogers.

I worked on watercolors today- tweaked 2 of yesterday's, and started a new plein air. It was cold today. The garage studio is going to be a challenge this winter. The garage is not sealed tight nor insulated. One of the garage doors is damaged and has a gap between the panels, meaning open air access. I painted in the utility room, standing up, using the washer and dryer as my table.  I painted the view outside the window. It felt good to wake up and paint. It's been a while since I pulled out the watercolors. If I had an ideal studio space, and if the house were in perfect order, I would probably never put my brush down. Painting has become a seamless activity like eating or opening the refrigerator door when I think I'm hungry that I almost didn't even notice I had set up and started painting. I didn't want to put it down, but as I said yesterday, with watercolor, you have to pull out and either call it done or wait until it dries. Later, I was lazy and painted on the counter by the kitchen sink. Today was a good painting day. Works on paper, I have missed you.
I have a sneaky feeling I may use the cold as an excuse to paint inside this winter. I have 4 canvases working out in the garage studio, and I need to complete them. They're barely started.

Yesterday's plein air, reworked. Untitled tree, 8" x 5", watercolor and gouache on paper.  
I like trees. I'm not ready to title my plein air paintings, I'm going to jump on the affordable art bandwagon and offer my plein airs up for sale. email me with a bid.

2 comments:

Carla said...

Love the watercolor. I think I may do the backyard plein aire. I'm waiting for that time after the first frost (kill mosquitos) and before all the leaves fall from my trees/shrubs (privacy).

M.A.H. said...

Thanks, I'm totally into switching back and forth between extremes, but am enjoying the documentation aspect of these. I was a bit self-conscious at first. There's a REAL plein aire painter who lives up the street and is about my age. I haven't met her yet, but everyone in the 'hood has told me about her, and a friend took some classes from her.

It's over.

Nov 7, 2020. Tears of joy and relief. It's been unreal and I'm ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. The desert has been tough.