Concrete -The New Green

I picture California as lush and green... except for the desert part. The draught in California is shocking, especially after living with our lush too much rain spring and summer. I have needed to water my patio pots of herbs twice since I planted them in May.

The drive from the San Francisco Airport to San Jose was a scene of brown after brown rolling hill and deadened trees. California is often the canary in the mine for what the rest of the United States will experience.

I saw a man at Starbucks this morning wearing a t-shirt and across his back was Conscapes. Having just witnessed the two escapees from New York and hearing my traveling companions tour of Alcatraz I didnt rightly think about what his business might be. Back in my hotel room, I read the letter left on my desk that explained that the hotel was proactive in its drought mitigation and relief efforts. They are repaving in  concrete wherever they had green space. I take away from this a sense of horror at what is to come and a sense of entrepreneurism for those who work in concrete.

7.22.15

Urban Sketching - Plein Air June/ July

Since taking the online Sketchbook Skool classes I'm rarely without at least one of my sketchbooks, pens, Niji pens and watercolors. None of these are more than 15 minutes of effort. My lines are out of perspective, but with each I learn. 

A Workers Rally in Union Square, San Francisco with Tuba, Horn and Drum

Casa Tortuga, our Air BnB Santa Fe, NM

Evanston IL, Lighthouse

 

Fourth of July - Prep for Parade

China Town, Chicago, IL 

Vegetables For Sale 

Guest Artists

Missed My Train by a Minute, Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL

Condoms as Art

Condoms as art in my room at the Westin in San Francisco. Fitting for an old health educator like me. Oh, Brick Lancaster, those were the days. (As County Health Department staff, he took me on my first health education foray with the public, where I had to do a talk on sex education.) If you ever wondered why I'm not particularly scared of public speaking, I used nearly every bit of fear that day in front of twelve women who knew a whole lot more about the subject than me.