Wednesday, August 07, 2013

August 7 - First Day up to Morro Bay

Follow the Journey
 
On Facebook (Art) Elin's Facebook ART Page which is all about art, or
"Regular" Elin on FB Elin's Facebook Page which includes motorcycles, politics and other edgy topics.
Elin's web page: See all her art!
Elin's Daily Painting Blog: The Blog
Twitter: @ependleton
 
Blogging the Trip
 
I'm posting these blog entries after the end of the trip, because I just couldn't get it all to work as I was on the road.
 
I made notes and took images, and now am sharing them with you on this "official" blog.
 
First Day - Morro Bay
First day: 277 miles from Riverside to Morro Bay. No painting along the way because of traffic and Los Angeles congestion on the freeway. But once we dropped down to Oxnard and then headed up the 101 to Santa Barbara, the freeways opened up and the vistas along the ocean were grand. Jo and I rode our bikes into Morro Bay where we were able to find excellent, dog-friendly accommodations at the "Pleasant Hotel" just a block and a half from the bay. The image above shows my bike parked with the edge of Morro Rock visible on the left. The ocean is right THERE... as is the "Embarcadero" or dock area. Wow!
 
Our rooms weren't ready quite yet, so I took Jo on a tour of the area south of Morro Bay, including Los Osos, and we stopped where I'd painted almost 30 years ago with Joyce Pike. Joyce taught me so much about "painterly strokes" during that workshop, that it was an honor to sit there and paint another of the same vista.This is a tiny 5 x7 oil of Morro Rock from the State Park area, done in oils, with the fog coming in. Soft colors, distant fog.
 
 
Jo took a picture of me painting with Sparky finally getting a nap on his "doggie donut" aka security bed.
We were both tired from the long, busy drive on freeways, so made a short night of it after a quick dinner down by the ocean. Morro Bay is very dog friendly!
Thanks for reading,
Elin
...and please forward this to your friends.
Elin Pendleton, POB 5954, Riverside, CA 92517, www.elinart.com
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Monday, August 05, 2013

August 5 - The Road Trip Preparations

Follow the Journey
 
On Facebook (Art) Elin's Facebook ART Page which is all about art, or
"Regular" Elin on FB Elin's Facebook Page which includes motorcycles, politics and other edgy topics.
Elin's web page: See all her art!
Elin's Daily Painting Blog: The Blog
Twitter: @ependleton
 
Blogging the Trip
 
I'm posting these blog entries after the end of the trip, because I just couldn't get it all to work as I was on the road.
 
I made notes and took images, and now am sharing them with you on this "official" blog.
 
Before the Road Trip Began
How would you feel if someone told you that you needed to sling a leg over this hunk of metal and then drive almost two thousand miles on it? And then you would stop and paint an oil painting every day?
 
Well, no one TOLD me to do this. But I did it and loved every minute of the journey.
 
You've heard me say that art is a journey, and the waypoints along the road are what matter, and not the destination. Well, it is true as evidenced by what I've become in the past few years and how I plan to live my life in the next bunch of years. This road trip is part of the new direction my life is taking.
 
First the ride: a 2007 Harley Davidson Softail Classic, about 1500 ccs of engine and 750 pounds, over 25,000 miles already on it. Packed with my oils and SPARKY the dog (see the black case just behind my seat? That's Kuryakyn dog luggage for motorcycles, and Sparky hops right in. It has mesh openings and comes with dishes and handles, just like a regular dog carrier, but posher.)
 
Then my oils. I bought the 5 x 7 thumb box from Guerilla Painters, and cut down the pill boxes of my Color System to hold five pigments (the image below is before I did that). I took white, burnt umber and thalo blue in tubes to fill out the missing compartments. I bought (It worked BEAUTIFULLY.)
 
 
In the next nine days, I'd like to share with you the daily journey of this motorcycling road trip, with images taken and paintings painted along this journey
 
Thanks for reading,
Elin
...and please forward this to your friends.
Elin Pendleton, POB 5954, Riverside, CA 92517, www.elinart.com