Cloud Appreciation Society Newsletter

I’ve missed posting the last couple newsletters….something to do with having been on a mental hiatus from normal art life for half a year… but here’s one I couldn’t resist. The time lapses of the storms are especially spectacular. I’ve been more inspired my clouds since we’ve had actual ‘weather’ here recently instead of the plain cerulean dome. The California low desert needs a bigger share of the rain from the storms now sweeping in (just not on weekends as there is the occasional art fair back in existence now…..).

Cloud Appreciation Society Newsletter

Always my pleasure to pass along the CAS Newsletter.  I recently became the leader of an Imperial County Cloudspotter group.  If you’re into clouds – and I am – in fact at the moment I’m writing this I’m inside a cloud because it’s raining – you should consider joining – and if you’re in Imperial County, join the cloudspotter group too.  We don’t always have a lot of clouds around here, so they’re more of a treat!

 

Newer work #94

I love the desert rain when you can see it falling from a distance – sometimes the air below being so dry the rain never reaches the ground – the effect known as virga.

#1409 Desert Virga. Watercolor collage on foamcore, 7.5×5.5″ in mat to fit 10×8 frame. $45.
Contains the haiku:
Desert virga falls,
precipitation transforms
into a thin veil.

Tales from the field #32

Tomorrow is Black Friday and I’m a retailer so I’ll be at a show in Palm Springs.  Today is Thanksgiving so I wanted to find something to be thankful for:

The flood got deeper as I continued the setup

This Thanksgiving I am thankful that:

• the rain I set up my tent in was merely heavy rain and not freezing
• that it wasn’t windy so I could put the walls up without having to put the weights on first
• that my booth is on a well drained grassy slope
• that my truck was ignored by Palm Springs finest, alongside the red curb and half in a flood, with the park anywhere lights on
• that my truck has a heater because I was soaked from my head to my hips and my feet to my thighs
• that my truck was able to navigate the floods along Ramon Road
• that there weren’t any crazy fast drivers who caused a crash on the freeway
• that I decided to go for this wet setup so I don’t have to get up at 4 am to set up tomorrow
• that I am writing this listening to the rain on my roof while a turkey cooks

Tales from the field #20

I’ll take any kind of water – rain, hail, flood, fog, sleet, snow – (I’ve only so far done shows with the first 4) – and even earthquakes (yes, been there done that) over wind any day.  Wind is the true 4-letter word.  Nevertheless, it’s not easy to set up in the rain.

The ground was sodden when I got there, hence tarps under everything. The 4th wall is doubling as a second ground tarp inside the booth.

Soaked items include: sneakers, socks, jeans, inside of truck tailgate (it has rug), some corners of the cardboard boxes, eventually the outside of the partial walls you see set up, hoodie, mat bin, cooler, ground tarp.  The weather forecast for Litchfield Park, AZ, though is better for the actual show days.

Tales from the field #16

Well, it is sky, after all.  That is my biggest inspiration. Set up in warm weather on Friday, regretting not having brought a pair of shorts and a tank top with me!  But there were a few clouds around.

In the evening I was outside at the airbnb where I was staying in Cornville – about 25 mins drive to the south east. There were clouds and a beautiful double rainbow.  At one point I thought there was a hint of a triple, which is a first-time-in-my-life experience for me.  Unfortunately I was on the phone so didn’t catch the triple.

Double rainbow in Cornville

Today was a nice day until about 11am.  Then we started with a steady drizzle.  At about 2:30 it let up a little, enough to run to the restroom.  From there I could see these clouds low between the mountains.

My booth is on the row second from the right, with the white wall hanging out covering half of the front.

We were thinking tomorrow will be better, but I’ve just looked at the forecast.  <sigh>.

Sonnet Challenge #29

I spent some time in early August hoping we would get rained on, without joy.  I was hopeful yesterday too, with a wind coming up from the gulf, but the dessicating desert air all mopped it up and we just got haze.

Storm Building

I watch the nimbus build across the west
a great gray blanket blotting out the sun,
the gathering of storm has just begun –
we need the rain! The cumulus start to crest
off to the south, into great thunderheads.
The tension builds in the electric air.
I bring the lawn chairs in and thus prepare
for wind that might just tear such things to shreds
with its intensity. I know the drill;
stratus accumulate and start to bear down
as if to smother this belittled town –
they’ll rumble, crack and then they’ll start to spill.
The coulds build up as if to promise rain,
but in the afternoon’s heat dissipate again.

Newer work #81

Well, a couple of paintings from a recent batch ended up going to forever homes before I had time to post them here!  Better get a few more up before the next show takes them away (I hope).  Though there are a few I wish I could hang onto for a while before they fledge the nest.

#1353 New Umbrella. Mixed media on panel. 9×12″ $90. Ready to hang and very shippable!

Desert version…

Remains of the puddle from the last couple days.  The ocotillo is** actually blooming a little.

I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas

with every neighbor that I’ve met

May your ocotillo bloom red,

and my all your Christmases be wet.

Storm over the Badlands when we drove home yesterday.

 

Newer work #50

I thought I would choose the raindrop shapes and the pink background for this one because we always think of rain/water as blue/gray/white.  So I thought I would be obstreporous and go the other side of the color wheel.

#1229 Love Rain II. Mixed media on pine panel, 17″ diameter. $300.

The picture of this in place gives a much better idea of the texture and sheen.