CLOSED B&K HOTDOG STAND / PHIL AND TIM THAWING OUT

B&K WEINER STAND


Today was a really great day...everything was thawing but still chilly for T-shirts.
We are so glad that winter is on the way of the dinosaur for now...anyway. We decided to 
 town and look for subjects. Tim asked me where I wanted to go. Let's try the Swifty gas station...I've wanted to paint that place. We can park in the B&K parking lot.
Let's check out this one and then the other one on the south side of town. Sure. Off to the south side B&K...let's try here. OK, right over there...sooo... Tim parks under the dripping overhang.
Like a Chinese water torture. A steady dripping  with me in the backseat...Hey, This water makes me want to pee. Tim continues workng with a radio station playing. Nobody, said this was easy.Tim's answer. Ok. On we worked...I'm done, really done...let's go gets something to eat. Subway? Sure. 

9-COUNT ART SHOW INSPIRATION

Winter's losing her grip as the snow melts away.
It's sooooo.. time for this white stuff to move on back up 
to Canada and beyond. The snow goes the way of the
mountains. Down down down to the sea. Oh yeah, the blog. 
We came over to the Nine County Art Show at the 
Honeywell center. It is pretty cool in that many of the works 
were drawings and some nice pastels. There were also some 
really nice oil aitning landscapes done in an impressionist
with a rich palette of turquoise. The winners were some good some not. The judges of these shows is like the judges of Aunt Emma's pie at the 4H fair. Everyone has an opinion.
I think that these pieces were selected based onone person's
opinion. I don't like to show my work anymore in exhibitions because of the politics, the attitudes and above all the fact that I stopped enjoying and feeling about my art work. Tim has helped me on that account as he could care less about accolades.
So we paint and  enjoy each other's friendship and company.
Todays art was on a side street. I did this old carriage house in the changing afternoon light while Tim did the long view down the street.He is very good at this...I think he has a tele-focal cornea...ZZZZZZZ..
out comes his eyeball...ahh the long view!!! Me I have a close-up lens for those details...and arrangement of shapes.Here's todays work...enjoy.

philandtim paintoutdoors..again, if the river don't rise.

ALL I CAN SEE IS WHITE and MORE WHITE

This is going to be a short blog... word-wise...I got behind. The first two pictures are from our day trip to Lewisburg on Monday and the next one is Tim's night picture alone. Then he talked me unto painting after dark this Wed. We left at 6:30 PM with a half an hour to go before it started getting dark. By seven it was dark. We drove around and finally settled for West Main St.in Peru. I'm not a big night painter as the car is small last night was the coldest night of the year so far and I can't see in the car except with a baseball cap fitted with LED's. Not the best light source... but I took the challenge and here they are for what they are worth. The photo is the scene where we painted.

"I'll get caught up and blather on some more next time out."

Later,

philandtimpaintoutdoors

It's a b_tch crammed in the backseat of the car with the windows fogging up and no light to speak of...Maybe next time I'll get it figured out...a light source.

BIG STORM LOOMS UPON TWO LOCAL PAINTERS

The big hubub today is the looming winter storm ready to ice and dump on the Midwest with the fury of Zeus, Thor and the American middle class public. Tim called to leave early since he woke up today  earlier than usual. Stiff neck or not let's go painting today. Okay,what time I chimed in? Nine and breakfast first. Ohhhh, I know it's my turn to buy. OK,breakfast but I have to drop off bills at P.O. We'll do that after. So we head for the Track's end and have the usual. I'm not going into that because it's good and still about the usual. So we head down town and run by the P.O. Incidentally we had breakfast next to guess who? George Washington. No turkey feathers!!! Tim knows this guy. He worked at Lockheed Boeing and now is retired n Peru. We strike up a conversation and in the back of my mind I am fighting the urge to ask him. Did you? Yo know the cherry tee. But I don't it would be so 6th grade. George Washington, I felt like saluting the guy. 

We are looking for a place to paint and I suggest East 8th St. as there is a place there with an old garage and some other buildings. It's  neat with the shadows and all. Tim heads for 8th St. As he is driving I am saying there, how about there...over there...Tim still is driving. Turn around let's go back that old house looks like a possibility. He does. Surprise. He parks and we start to set up. The wind is picking up as I can feel the car move with the gusts. No, that is Tim scrubbing in a base pastel layer with his palm. Hey, your'e going to have to hold that down. I'm trying to draw lines back here for the buildings and there all over the place. He smiles. Okay, I start  and I'm thinking of a guys work I saw a week ago which I really liked so I am thinking in basic forms like blocks or Monopoly houses you now those little green ones. I'm looking at the buildings and the light is from he left but it is not a clear light like Tuscon as the sky is overcast somewhat. 

With the Big Storm coming Tuesday and Wednesday I should be glad for any light. The more I work the more I realize that guy isn't a plein air painter. His work is methodically planned like a chess strategy and it just isn't working for me. Why am I doing this? Because I like his work and would like to incorporate that style into my work but it's like putting panty-hose on a donkey. Now I'm getting frustrated which is about 1 inch from pissed. "This isn't working! This is going to be the lousiest painting Iv'e done so far counting all of them. Tim," yeah I know mine isn't seeming to work either."  It's the BIG STORM messing us up. The barometer is probably below 28 millibars of mercury. What ever that means. Yeah, yeah I know atmospheric pressure, a LOW comes in and the storm follows it. But to say, Hey man the mercury is below 28 millibars sounds down right geeky and stupid. Bob Gregory, I'm not.

SNOW AND PAINTING BY STREET LIGHT

Snow was falling when Tim showed up at a little after noon.
Where today? Whose turn is it to buy? Yours, but my time to pick the location. Remember we started late last time. We didn't bother to eat. I have to stop by the post office. When I came out Tim pulled up, I hopped in and away we went. I think we could go down the road a bit to the parking lot of the grocery store on Strawtown Pike. I thought it would be interesting to draw up the hill the houses which sat at the bottom would add some interest. It's a tough view but we ought to try it. Tim looked down the street running in the opposite direction. Or you could do a pastel of the side city street like those you like to do. So he parked while a drizzle of snow and rain started to coat the windows. This isn't helping.

 I know but were plein air painters and were tough. Okay. Can you move your seat up there's no room back here to turn and get my paints out. Let me get something on the radio. I'll pull up. Tim slides his seat up and tunes in a station that's starting to get on my nerves. How about some New Age? Tim looks over the seat and raises his eyebrows like I'm some damn hippy. Hey, I like New Age. My nerves are shot. I just dropped off a package to IRS. I think they want to drive me to ...... Yeah. I understand. Gov. Brown had the right idea 15% for everyone. Everybody pays. The rich dont get out of paying through some loophole. I know it's the same as feudal Europe middle ages. Screw the peasants to the land in debt. 
       Well you can't take it with you, it's only money. Tim smiles. I know but. Hey, how about painting at night? Night? Yeah, it would be different lighting. I guess. When? 6PM Thurs. It'll be dark by then. We can do something in town with street lights. Okay, street lights. By the way I ask what is today. Tim looks at me. Huh. Never mind. Do you suppose this is the way it happens? What happens? Huh? Never mind. 

CHOCOLATE CHUNK VISTA

That's the beater car we paint in and two artists.

    It's three o'clock and Tim still hasn't showed up. Wait a minute. Here he comes. Carolyn had to get her hair fixed. I never really don't know why they call it fixed. Tim pulls up opens his trunk. I already ate. Looks like we skip lunch today. I had a couple chocolate chunk cookies for him just in case wrapped up. Tim wolfs'em down. Where we going?I don't know it's your turn to pick and buy lunch but we'll skip it today but you still have to pick the spot. Tim heads east towards Logansport on the back roads. There's snow on the shoulders so it's hard to tell if there's solid ground there or it a slide into the ditch. We finally stop about 30 minutes later stop along the shoulder where I get out and test for solid ground. It's a vista Tim like you like. Okay I'll zoom up on something out there. I choose two silos about a mile away while Tim starts on the whole scene. Just about that time a lady with a small child in an SUV pulls up. Are you guys alright? Yeah, we're painting, artists you know painters. We ll I live up the road turn in and come on up to the house. Its' safer sitting alongside the road. 

Tim looks at me."I'm good here." "Okay we'll stay put." Maybe we can check it out some other time.  This is going to be a short one today. Yeah, I know I'm about done too. I'm not real happy about this one. Me either. I'm already starting to mess this one up but I like what happened. I kept painting changing colors and trying to keep the landscape more geometric in structure. 

Yeah, I like mine too. Next time let's get started earlier. I'm tired. I'm ready for a nap. Those cookies gave me a buzz..now I'm exhausted. You're just out of insulin. By the way why didn't you give one to Carolyn?

ZEN BUDDHISM AND THE BALD EAGLE

It's lost bridge again after a hearty not so hearty healthy. Lost bridge being closed offered lots of spots to paint from. When Tim got the car parked he pointed out the American bald eagle parked in a tree across the river in the picture he was in the tree top middle. We stayed on the bank and looked at it for a time. Pretty cool a bald eagle, huh? A few crows were also perched on this side and were there because of the eagle (I think sort of a celebration for them). The bald eagle was almost wiped out and is now reclaiming old territories. I set up in the backseat and Tim opened his pastels on the shotgun seat. We got to work.  "Man, that was some breakfast...they fixed it just like we asked them too". That's really good for Tracks End. I think they have a few new cooks.

It seems to me that life has surprises both good and bad. My niece has breast cancer. Our local sheriff died. His wife and I taught together for many years. I went to see him and he looked terrible from such a healthy looking 58 year old last year. I'm 62. My niece is 30 I think.
My wife's work friend lost her mother. Yesterday, I got some pretty bad news for me. Yet I spent the whole day with my son and we went to the police shooting range. I fired two rifles and a handgun. My bullet spread was pretty good for bad eyes. Today, I'm painting with my best friend.
I have a beautiful wife and many many good friends and a great bunch of brothers and a sister who is like an angel. So what's my point? Who knows what's up next? The book Eat Love Pray my wife just finished and gave it to me to read...it has a pretty good message. I'll leave it up to you to read it or not. This was my painting.

A Zen Buddhist monk walked up to a hot dog vendor on the street corner. "Make me one with everything."
Later,
philandtimpaintoutdoors