"HARVEST MOON" 2007
20" x 24"
acrylic on canvas
SOLD
Ronstadt collection, Tucson, AZ

"HARVEST MOON" photos just can't quite do justice to show the neat texture found throughout this painting... i primarily paint using many layers of transparent glazes, a process that usually doesn't produce a lot of texture, but with this painting i heavily textured the canvas first keeping in mind the composition i was imagining... i really like the way it turned out, especially the swirls in the sky...the grass and tree texture is neat too....i've included a few close-up shots with some texture and signature details... click on photos to enlarge a bit more.

I am a retired florist and a frustrated transplanted floridian gardener... my yard is beautiful... with flowers, ferns, hibiscus and such blended with our local more native plants.....my yard has always leaned towards having more of the tropical stuff than the native stuff, and i guess that would be ok, if i wasn't living in the desert... trying to maintain this little oasis takes a lot of work (which equals time) and a lot of water (tucson's shrinking water table has been on my mind quite a bit lately).

This last year i've begun to resent the amount of time my gardening takes from my studio time...i still love to garden, but i want to reduce my workload and reduce our water consumption... i have been saying goodbye to the high maintenance water guzzling stuff and replacing it with some really stunning low maintenance native stuff... no cactus though!... i don't do thorns and spikes!... although i have made an exception for a really nice giant spanish bayonet that was living here before us and he's here to stay! stunning! he just sent up a 20 foot bloom last month that was incredible!.

Anyways, the results of my yard makeover so far are really nice and i know brian will appreciate the lower water bill... in some of my outdoor pots, i'm using native plants to mimic the look of flowing water... the effect is really neat and these pots could someday star in one of my gardenscape paintings... i also designed and built a waterless fountain, that uses succulents, asparagus fern and dusty miller to suggest the look of water in a fountain...below are a few photos of my back yard taken today.

I will go into a bit more detail about the succulents and native plants i've added to our backyard in a later post... some of the potted plants that mimic water flowing are in these photos, but difficult to see, so i'll post some close ups later, along with botanical names and such.

On a different note, this last week our 5 year old grandson needed a soccer banner for his team and i was elected to make it... being an artist i probably spent more hours than necessary on the project, but trevor loved it, as did all his cute little dinosaur team mates..... i think casey will have some pics of the finished banner in the livingstone family blog soon. When i finally catch up, i am looking forward to some serious studio time.

I've been on vacation this last week or so... my best friend from childhood, Lisa, came from Vero Beach, Florida for a 5 day visit... she brought her two daughters, Kristen and Jenny and we had a great time!... we got in lots of local Tucson shopping, including the 4th Ave and the University of Arizona districts...we also did a lot of sightseeing, including a visit to Kartchner Caverns and a scenic drive through our Saguaro National Monument... i don't think either Kristen or Jenny had ever seen a saguaro catus before, let alone a 'forest' of them... it's neat to see the desert through a newcomers eyes... it reminds me of how i felt the first time i came out here to arizona from florida... the mountains are beautiful, and much of the vegetation is beautiful in a unique way... i just wish we had an ocean... i miss my ocean... probably why i paint a lot of seascapes and waterscapes.... landlocked, i am, and at times, restless, for the sea.

We found time to take an overnight trip to Sedona, Arizona and spent about 5 hours being pampered at Sedona's New Day Spa... facials, sauna and something called the 'true sedona clay treatment'...oh my gosh! it was amazing! a great getaway!



Lisa with her girls.


Me, with Kristen and Jenny.

I have lived in Arizona 37 years and had never visited Sedona's beautiful area before..it's was absolutely breathtaking and a fun experience for all of us...



A few photos shot on our way out of Sedona, Arizona. To see enlarged versions of these photos, click on each picture.

Thanks, girls, for a wonderful visit! I'll miss you!