RV Life on the California Riviera/Thar She Blows

The Farmhouse and Hunter's Moon Farm remain active even though we escaped for the winter holidays to sunny Southern California to visit our children and to soak in the warmth of this climate. 

After spending time in Temecula and Oceanside, we are finishing out trip in San Diego, California, the last in the cities and towns on the California Riviera.  Even though a SoCal native, I never spent more than a day or two in San Diego.  In our month here we've decided it's the nicest kind of city by the bay there could be.  So far the developers haven't overbuilt downtown; thus, the water is always visible and that's what is so wonderful (besides the temperate climate). 

We've been on the Italian Riviera and it was beautiful.  Now I truly see how Southern California mirrors that wonderful place.  Only it's within reach.

We lived in Laguna Beach for 10 years.  Laguna is about 50 miles north of here.  I loved Laguna.  Palms and every specie of Mediterranean plant.  Bougainvilleas grows like weeds on every hillside and rambling fence.  As an artist I revel in all the colors of plants, trees, bushes, vines and, yes, even the architecture. 

So, wouldn't you know it, the one day we had planned to go out whale watching the wind picked up gale force and the rain came down.  Tickets already purchased, Bonnine anti-motion pills already taken, we departed at 9:30 AM from the harbor and headed out to sea.  Not far out into open water we encountered two Navy battleships.  Our captain said the Navy uses heavy weather seas for practice.  And these seas were in the beginning of becoming heavy.

Once out there the Captain said heavy seas made spotting the whale blowing difficult and it did.  He said the sonar each Navy vessel was sending out bothered the migrating whales and it did.

I learned gray whales have no teeth.  They have a "moustache" called baleen.  Baleen are hard filtering devices.  The whales dive and scoop along the mud.  The baleen separates the goodies from the uck.  Sperm whales have teeth.   Gray whales migrate from farthest Alaska down to the Gulf of California to mate.  Between January and March are whale watching times along this coast. 

The sea was gray, the battleships were gray, the Mexican islands in the distance were gray.  I think these elements were perfect examples of the varying shade of battleship gray.  I'm going to post some photos and let you decide.  In one is a splash in all that gray water.  It's the finish of a whale's tail.  And the finish of my tale too, we're heading home in a week so we can see the glory of and East Texas spring begin in our woods

Anxiety in Art

5 more days to the Art Market and I am in a dither.  The acupuncturist put some needles in for anxiety (it turns out the spots were the neck, base of skull and several in the earlobe--ouch).

My left eye twitches slightly (another sign of nerves) and I find myself holding my breath while clenching my teeth.

When I listen to famous artists discuss their work (and that includes actors, writers, musicians too) there is always talk about having to have a thick hide toward criticism.  It takes more than talent to be a successful artist.  My hide is thin as parchment paper.

Anyway, my sculptures are covered up and waiting in my studio for Friday's set-up time.  The strong backs are lined up to carry the heavy stone and pitch the canopy at 2 PM.  My photographs are lined along my living room fireplace.  More to be done, of course.  I want to get some photos printed for greeting cards and some other ways to sell little pieces of my art to interested people who's budget doesn't have room for 200 lbs of marble Mermaid.

I've begun (finally) to work on my website:  http://www.bonniesirkegian.com/ and hope it will be up for the show.  Regrettably, prograstination is my middle name.

I've washed and ironed the sheets and pillowcases for The Farmhouse B&B which will be rented out to two couples in the art show and the countdown begins.

If you'd like to see some of the art that will be in the show check out http://www.winnsboroart.com/.

How I became a Stone Carver

So, I carve stone.  Yes, a sculptress or sculptor or sculpt person if you prefer.  I've been sculpting since 1992 when I lived in Laguna Beach, California.  And this is my story how it came about: 

It started by volunteering as a docent in the three-acre Hortense Miller Garden located in Boat Canyon just above Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). 

Ever since I'd read a magazine article about a princess who was a hands-on-gardener of 20 acres I wondered what it would be like to garden large.  HMG was an opportunity to learn from the originator.
Hortense used trees like bushes, bushes and vines like flower plots and only bulbs as spots of flowers during the different seasons.  

I loved it there--so much greenery with a view out to the ocean.  I liked my fellow docents too.  One of them, a former art teacher, suggested if I liked green-scapes then I'd love the location of the Saturday stone sculpting classes out at the Art Institute in Laguna Canyon.  I went the next Saturday and he was right.  Within an hour I fell in love with stone, stone carving, carving tools and carving out under the shady sycamore trees with sandstone cliffs in the distance.

My mother, a native Texan, where I live now, always said when I told a story I'd go all around the house and come up by Nellie's room (her way of saying I'm wordy).  Guess she's right.  But I'll talk more about Stone Carving the next time.

Hope this inspires some reader to just get started doing something they like and maybe it will lead to something they like even better they didn't even know was there.

Live the life you've imagined--Henry Thoreau