I've been digging through my archives of reference this weekend, looking for something to inspire the next few works. I've had a request from one of my galleries to do something African and I am more than happy to oblige! It's been some time since I have really dug my teeth into the depth of my African photos from 7 visits to various parts of that marvelous continent. As you can very well see, photo prints - BDC (before digital cameras)! I think, after several hours of head scratching, quicky mini sketches sorting out compositional elements and settling on several good ideas, I've found material for a couple of drawings. Work should commence within a day or two. Now, I must go make myself a cup of African Rooibos Red tea to really put me in the mood. A cup of that distinctly tasting brew and singular aroma filling the air will help to transform my studio, with closed eyes, into a sultry Tanzanian night; only thing better would be to be there in person!

Finished and just in time for lunch. Maybe a glass of milk too?

' New Neighbors! ' is 7" square.

This work, so far.

Played hooky yesterday and spent a delightful afternoon with artist friends, something that needs to be done every once in awhile not only to catch up on what they have been doing, but to refresh the soul! Lots of art talk, lots of general talk, lots of good food, fun and laughter. Did also do a gallery drop with new works as a stop on the way, but the day was really for being out and away from the studio. Of course, being an artist, when great reference material presents itself . . . well, you just have to take advantage! Their pond offered much to select from. Today, it's back to work.

Finally getting around to sitting down to work today. Major storms roared through yesterday afternoon, knocking out power here and there and everywhere it seemed. Mine came back on mid morning today after a rather sultry night. So, not much time in on this one, but she's got a nose and some horns and a very interesting smile! I seem to be in cow mode for the time being. Not a bad place to be, all things considered.

I've been regrouping this week, taking advantage of a few days to sort through ideas, files, reference material, my thoughts about this and that . . . getting myself psyched up for the next series of works. And too, perhaps some of this July heat has taken its toll on my efforts to sit and work. In any event, things will soon be happening on the drawing board. In the meantime, I wanted today, to post a link to the Stop the Serengeti Highway web site which was recently set up. If you go back to some early June postings here regarding this situation in Tanzania, you will get some background. I posted several comments throughout last month on this issue and this new site will link to many good additional places to get more information on how you might voice your concerns. As I noted last month, the Serengeti is one spectacular place; one of the few places left on this earth to see nature working at its best. I am so thankful that I have been lucky enough to have traveled the Serengeti on four different trips of my seven to the continent of Africa. Check out this link and consider supporting, in some way, the efforts of thousands who have already voiced their outrage across the globe.

After the early morning shake and quake yesterday, I got up and put in the last hour or work on this new piece. Could be the last of the new works to go to Troika Gallery for next month's group show, but I might still get another small work done in the coming week. Too hot to do anything outdoors so may as well sit at the drawing board!

It was a dark and stormy night . . . Ah, no . . . it was a warm and steamy night, sultry to the touch. The night creatures were chirping, serenading each other. He had opened the upstairs windows before calling it a night; ceiling fan was whirring away above his bed and, for the most part, he was comfortably asleep.

Somewhere around quarter past four, he became aware that he was awake, looking over at the bedside clock. Not sure what had awaken him, he listened to the night sounds for a bit, trying to go back to sleep. It wasn't working. But then he must have momentarily drifted back to sleep only to wake again, roll over and spy the clock once again to note the time to be a bit before five. The birds would start their morning songs soon, he thought, and then it would be even harder to get back to sleep.

So there he lay, listening to the soft whir of the fan blades as they cut through the air above him, his eyes slowly beginning to close. Suddenly, there came a sound, a strange middle of the night sound that immediately brought him to full wakefulness. The sound seemed to be accompanied by movement and he was instantly thinking, 'I must be asleep and dreaming or . . . this is an earthquake'!

There had been only one other time in his life when he had felt a similar feeling, sensed a similar anxiety, and that was when he was vacationing in San Francisco maybe forty years earlier. On that particular morning, waking from a good night's sleep in the Saint Francis Hotel in downtown, listening to the clickity clack of the cable cars coming and going five stories below his open window, he suddenly felt his bed move and things began to shutter and shake in the room around him. It lasted only a moment, but he knew, he knew he had experienced his first earthquake. And where better to have that first experience but in the town most famous for it's quakes!

So, here he was all those years later, experiencing the same internal, momentary anxiety, as the roar, now very apparently coming from the ground beneath his neat little brick house grew louder as it seemed to travel underground, shaking everything in his house. He thought it was going to go on and on, but it must have only lasted a few seconds, as the roar intensified as it passed beneath him and he could hear it diminish as it moved further on, further down his neighborhood street and toward the direction of the nation's Capital.

He lay there, wondering if he had actually really just experienced what he thought he had just experienced. Or, was it all a dream? It was more than an hour before he must have fallen back to sleep, an hour in which all sorts of thoughts ran through his head . . . 'would there be more shocks? . . . what about the gas lines? . . . would he wake in the morning and read about a city in ruins'?

Finally, he must have drifted off again as when he finally opened his eyes, focusing on the digital read out of his bedside clock, it was about a quarter to nine. He went downstairs into the kitchen, after first hitting the 'on' button for his computer, and started to boil water for his first cup of morning tea. A bagel popped up in the toaster, he neatly spread each half with cream cheese, filled his mug with hot water, swirling the tea bag to begin the infusion and headed for his computer screen.

And, there it was . . . news all about the early morning quake that had been centered in a town not fifteen miles from his neat little neighborhood on the outskirts of Washington DC. The news said it 'hit' at 5:04, he nodded his head; the news said there was little damage but for shaken psyches, he nodded his head. 'Wow!', he thought . . . he had just experienced his second earthquake, this one occurring in a place where he never would have assumed he would have experienced it! 'Pretty cool', he thought, as he sipped his tea, starting his day just as he had started the day before and how he would start his day again the day after, but with thoughts and memories of that morning back at the Saint Francis Hotel many years before.

While I fumble around with reference material this morning, mulling over ideas for upcoming works and plotting out the course of the next couple of months in the studio, thought I would post a couple shots of one of my orchids that has come into bloom again. I love these little gems. Might be interesting to think about incorporating into a drawing idea or two, but then I think Georgia has covered that territory pretty well. And speaking of Miss O'Keefe, here's a nice closeup that reminds me of her intense focus. And, for someone who deals with shades of black, white and grey, I love the color blend on these; nature's palette.

Notice arrived this weekend from North Light Books that two of my works, In the Midday Heat and Close of Day, are to be included in next year's publication of Strokes of Genius 3: Fresh Perspectives. I'm thrilled with this news, coming on the heels of last fall's publication of the second in the Strokes series in which five of my works were included. Publication is set for October of next year, which seems like a long way out, but there will be much prep and prelim stuff going on over the next ten or twelve months, so never too soon to begin. As time approaches for the release of the book next year, I will post again and have signed copies available direct from my studio.

Just stepped outside into my back yard for a minute or two to photograph this just completed work and in a matter of about five minutes, I felt like I had the life kicked out of me! It's HOT, bloody HOT! Anyway, this is what I have been working on for the last few days, Blue Monday. I think this one is going across the Chesapeake Bay at the end of the month for Troika Gallery's August First Friday show.

On a day when it is nearly 100 outside the studio window with a THI of about 105, I have stayed put indoors and spent some time this afternoon setting up a facebook fan page of my work. Now, did I ever think a year ago that I would be 'involved' with facebook? Never. But I guess, one should never say . . . never! I've also put a link to it in my link list so you can check it out from time to time. I hope wherever you are reading this, it's a bit cooler than in mid-Atlantic Maryland.

So, what is the perfect thing to do on the 5th of July? Why, it's to go peeping! Spent a half hour getting some much needed and very fine reference material this morning of week-old peeps, or as I like to call them, chicklets. I have no doubt at all that these little ladies are going to show up in drawings rather soon. Just about getting to the last few hours of work on the current piece on the board, which I have not posted any in-progress shots of, but will post the completed work when done. Hope all enjoyed a lively 4th!

While on the subject of exhibitions/shows/openings, I wanted to spotlight an upcoming, well actually currently hanging, show featuring the wonderful sculpture of friend, Don Rambadt. Forged Into Flight: Sculptures by Don Rambadt will be on display through the summer and into mid October at the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

I have always admired Don's work, have a small piece in my personal collection, and marvel at his fascinating way of gathering up bits and pieces and cast offs of metal and other elements and assembling them into unique, one-of-a-kind works. As Don says, his works are 'drawn in space' and he fills that space with wonder and pure joy as far as I am concerned.

This weekend, on Saturday July 3rd, I will be in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, about an hour north of Cape May, for the opening of Camaraderie and Independence, the gallery's next group show, which includes new works of mine. The evening reception will take place between 7 and 10 PM and several of the other artists also included in the show will be present and all of us will be pleased to talk about our works. If in the area of the south Jersey shore, plan to stop in The William Ris Gallery and kick off your celebration of this country's birthday by enjoying some fine art.