Saturday, July 23, 2011

Take Flight

Music and nature blend into one.  The music is Yann Tiersen's "L'autre Valse d'Amélie" from the "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" soundtrack.


powerlinerflyers from wesley johnson on Vimeo.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Bliss

Finally, a birthday present (offered in April, mind you) is reality. I must give all the credit to my procrastination but I am happy to have a wonderful new easel for the studio.  It is massive but just right for my needs.  I love doing large paintings and this one will support them perfectly.  With two masts, I can even paint two canvases at once.  I saw tall, narrow canvases in the art store and side by side, they would create a interesting piece of art.

I read all the reviews before deciding on this one and the only fault anyone could cite were the assembly directions but they said the same thing about other easels.  Armed with that knowledge, I went slow and managed to get it together - all 66 pounds of luscious wood.  They were right, though, the directions were the pits. Thank goodness for online photos!

I have used the same easel for most of my life.  It only presented a problem when I wanted to do a large painting.  I'd have to hold it steady with one hand, wield the brush with the other and play a demented game of Twister to load the brush with paint.  Since Chris works with a smaller format, I have now passed it along to her.  The one my parents bought me when I was in my teens is now my daughter's. It is nice to know that it will witness her artistic growth as it did mine.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fourth of July Boat Parade

As usual, the 4th of July weekend was a blast starting with the boat parade on Saturday.  This was the first year we weren't in it since we were gone much of June and when the boat finally did get in on July 1st, it was acting really testy and ended up needing a new fuel pump.

Anderson's boat was a paddle-wheeler this year with dual smokestacks and rotating paddle wheels.  The usual cast of characters dressed the part making The Gambler a hit.

It is wild to see a car on the lake.  They took out all the heavy parts - engine, axles, whatever - and mounted the body on pontoons.  Motoring around the lake, it is disconcerting to spy it coming towards you.  It is nice of him to use his turn signals, though, when he changes course.

We partied at Oram's, walking over to Paul and De's to hear the band.  Dave made masses of chicken and the tropical shrimp I brought was devoured in minutes.  Will have to make that one again.