Author: Frances

Dew in the native grasses this morning at #rancholazaca … preparing to leave home for a few weeks. Exciting but bittersweet … always hard to leave.

Ain’t our first rodeo… rootin’ and tootin’ at the #alisal with supermom-supermodel @amygordonart … #summertime #solvang #alisalrodeo #santaynezvalley

The first of our dahlias coming in, yay! .
#dahlias #rancholazaca #californiacookingandsouthernstyle

Love this card from darlin’ Valley friends, and it got me to thinking. I got an actual letter yesterday, from a lifelong friend with whom i have a lifelong tradition of writing actual letters. I am lucky to have a handful of these friends and they have become even more special as the years pass and technology advances. Nothing against email or texting—staying in touch is what matters. And maintaining our friendships is what matters MOST, however we do it. It is an effort for those of us with active lives and competing priorities, and lately Ive been thinking much about this, and about how I need to do better in keeping up with my friends— because it IS an effort. A joy, too, of course, and as Ive come to appreciate, a necessity in a life of purpose and meaning. Id love to hear your thoughts on this.

Another quick sketch and another quick trip to see family, chirrens and granddaughter. This view of #fishcreek from @pearlstreetbagels in Wilson, a good spot for a picnic and Piper-chasing. (Piper, aka Pipesqueak, is granddaughter) .
#watercolorsketch #jacksonhole #wilsonwyoming

Fun to paint those clouds… .
#watercolorsketch
#jacksonhole

Just impossibly beautiful. #cloudscape
#jacksonhole
#iwanttopaintit #iwanttopaintthis

Mr Proctor getting his mail. Oil on linen board, 9 x 12, by moi. Always so much to learn. What a beautiful place to paint today. At this ranch in Fremont County that has long welcomed artists, we were lucky to continue the tradition. Something gorgeous to paint in every direction, which is rare. Thank you teacher Kim English and Art in the Aspens

This week, joy of joys, I am in the back of beyond Colorado painting with Kim English at an #artintheaspens workshop. Have not painted one decent thing in two days but will post something worthy of you herewith. The important thing, I think, is doing something you love because it is an expression of who you are and who you are meant to be. What Im coming to understand is that I dont think that means we have to be the best at it, or even good at it, but that it’s worth doing because it’s who we are, and who we are is worth doing.

Big tables need big arrangements, and it’s fun to crazy on a buffet table where you dont have to worry about seeing over the top—even if you’re standing up. This hydrangea-delphinium doozie was for our “cabaret” last weekend, and I’m working up to a blog post about it, promise! .
#californiacookingandsouthernstyle #rancholazaca #centerpiece #hydrangeas #delphimiums #kangaroopaws #gardenroses #viburnum #poppypods

Our lavender loves this spot by the pond path… don’t know what it is with me and purple lately…
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#lavender #rancholazaca #purpleandgreen

A fine line between interesting and weird… a small table arrangement for tonight. #cabaretlazaca for @stmarksinthevalley #dontletitrain
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#rancholazaca #californiacookingandsouthernstyle #santaynezvalley #losolivos