Did not win the contest. A palm tree, the view from the bottom up, won to be sent to the National team to be judged. Felt it wasn't the best choice Ron could have made. There were others that would have given the flavor of Visalia. The palm tree could have been any where in the world. But he was the man to choose. And anyway, what do I know? I am too new at this stuff to make judgement. I have talked to two other people who were part of the day and they too felt the same way, but maybe we are jealous, just a little, because we weren't the chosen one! :)
"Kaweah River" from a series "On The Walk...", Three Rivers, Winter 2009. The daily walk along Kaweah River Road is full of adventure if you keep your eyes open. Critters and birds attracted to the water's edge, the seasons change the landscape and the way the rivers runs through it. A new home was built and I realized before long all the wild beauty will disappear, even the local Hawk was so disturbed by the loss of some of his territory he knocked the hats off a few walkers, even hurting a couple. I feel empathy for his rage, even as I understand how lucky the people who moved in are. I take my camera each season, hoping to capture this lovely place, just in case my fear is realized and the wild disappears. "Truck Garden," Three Rivers, 2009 Pat O'connell's Petrol Station is a familiar landmark for those of us who live in Three Rivers, and many tourists who pass through, especially those who find themselves in difficulty and Pat has been cal...
Georgia’s Hands Shirley Keller, 2025 Sketching pencils on drawing paper Darcie, AWE teacher, presented a photo that we are guessing was taken from Georgia O’Keefe’s partner in black and white. Our assignment was to do a timed sketch. This is my rendition. It was a very challenging assignment. The hands were staged in the most awkward positions. I barely was able to place the face and hands in some proximation that matched the photo in the time we were given. Over the next week I worked on the sketch, filling in details. I’d been using a sketch book. Recently, Darcie had shared what sketch books mean to artists, a place to quickly sketch ideas, practice doing parts of what would be whole pieces of art. My sketch books all have a few started ideas, but then I’d not work in them again. So I took the one that looked like a book and every assignment Darcie gave us over the past couple of months I used this book as the source. My inexperience was very evident when ...
Barbara Shirley Keller, 2025 Acrylics - Dots with toothpicks Delia and her husband Erin have no children. When they got together Erin had the dog named Barbara. He’d had Barbara for years by then. Delia fell in love with Barbara. Five years past since they first joined as a couple. My husband Bruce is Delia’s adopted father. He asked her not long ago if she had any plans to have children. Erin is in his mid-forties. Delia is mid-thirties. Her answer to Bruce was, “Probably not have kids, but I am seriously considering adoption.” Bruce teared up. To him that meant Delia feels he, and her adoptive mother, must have done a really good job raising her and she did not seem to feel the loss many adoptive people feel. When Bruce told me about that conversation I had to laugh. “Barbara is their child,” I joked. I’d been having that thought for the last couple of years. Barbara is with them every where they go except when they travel to Bali to see Erin’s father and his family,...
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