Finally made it to Modesto

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

I've been meaning to go to Modesto, 80 miles south of Sacramento,  and today Zing! and I did. The city is not exactly a magnet. Trip Advisor said, kind of, “Why are you coming here?” It’s not for tourists, but it is important to the state — a business center for the Central Valley, the nation’s big farm. Mary Kaye, my almond family friend, asked me to check out the California Almond Growers there. Blue Diamond has a big operation off US 99 just north of town. The city center, however, is almost bleak. I only drove through — Trip Advisor comments said it might be dangerous to stroll those streets. They didn’t look dangerous, just empty, but I took the advice. 

This is what I expected — a city serving surrounding big farms. The road down was lined with crops — grapes, nut trees, and squash or pumpkins lying in the fields. It reminded me of Ohio, except for the bright sun and a few palm trees. Although it was a clear day, the air was heavy with gold pollution, from all the cars and farm operations too. “What’s that stuff in the sky?” I asked the woman at the almond shop. “What stuff?” she asked. “It’s always like this.”

We spent about 3 1/2 hours on the road, going and coming. We went off the main route and zig-zagged over back roads between Lodi and Stockton. I like getting to know the state. 

Love,

k

Getting to know Guerneville on the Russian River

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

Today Zing! and I drove to Guerneville, CA, and discovered a charming, slightly shabby-chic little town on the gorgeous Russian River. I found it when I was looking online for somewhere to stay with friends who suggested a wine and food weekend along that river. It took about 2 1/4 hours to get there and almost three to get home, when traffic was heavier. Of course, the first thing I noticed was the pair of truss bridges near the center of town — one just for pedestrians. The river’s not wide and it's unspoiled, lined with pebbly beaches and tall trees— I suppose they’re redwoods. We left Rosa in a riverside parking lot and had a beautiful walk over the water. When we got back we ran into the driver of the only other car in the lot. She complained gently about homelessness and petty theft and said there are many gay businesses in town. She prefers her home in Sebastopol, where she said she doesn’t even lock her doors. 

Back in Sacramento I ran into a friend, a California native, who told me Guerneville is indeed a gay getaway, and I found online that it’s referred to as “The Provincetown of the West."

What I like about Guerneville is that it’s friendly and not hyper-fancy. I checked out the cottages that led me there in the first place, and they look cozy. When I went into the homey office and called, “Is anybody here?” no one came out. Felt pretty peaceful.

I’m glad I visited.

Love,

k

Poems and a toothbrush

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

Today was the poetry roundtable in the Sacramento Room of the library. It’s maybe a dozen people; some are kind of my age and others are 40 years younger. I arrived a little late and they were all around the table talking — don’t ask me about what. These are word people. I think three are lawyers on their lunch hour. Another is a teacher who had the day off.The rest didn’t tell. Then we started reading poems one by one. I read hag riding by Lucille Clifton and the Witches’ Curse (Double, double…) from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. 

And one crazy thing. (“What," you say, "Crazy? Kathleen?”):

I left my electric toothbrush in the hotel room in San Francisco. Judy is going to mail it back, and in the meantime I’m brushing the old-fashioned way, using my own power. But I’m so used to the automatic one that I keep brushing my teeth, waiting for it to stop.

Love,

k

Notes from Elizabeth St. Hilaire's painted paper collage workshop

Things I want to remember from Elizabeth St. Hilaire's September 

painted paper collage 

workshop in Sacramento

1. Make an underpainting
Elizabeth's YouTube on how to paint an apple is great. I used it to make my underpainting, and liked the result so much that I really didn't want to collage on top of it.
Google Elizabeth St Hillaire. Go to videos. It’s her longest one, about 25 minutes.

2. Paint paper
Elizabeth's technique involves torn paper. She likes rice paper and deli paper --  plus all kinds of other paper -- book pages, music, letters, etc. Print, stencil, paint these to match your underpainting. She does not use magazine or other shiny paper.

3. Rip the paper to mimic paint strokes 
Directional ripping: Pull toward yourself with your dominant hand. The dominant hand will hold the piece with no white fringe.
Tear pieces in shapes like brush strokes.
Vary size and shape.
Make the pieces follow the form of the apple -- curved one way on the left and another on the right. (not too big, though. Elizabeth says anything bigger than a 50¢ piece will wrinkle.)

4. Glue with Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium
Press glued pieces down three times. in one minute,
Lay  background first -- at least around the main object. Work back to front. Overlap as you come forward.
Work from both sides to the center.
Thick, chunky paper comes forward.
Use bigger shapes as you get to the center.
Use papers that relate to your subject matter.
Layer with tissue to mute.
For a mosaic effect leave a little of the base color around the torn paper.
You can have a painted background and only collage the main subject. (That's what I did with my apple.)

5. Varnish finished piece with Satin
Matte dulls colors.
Varnish two coats-- wait 6 hours between applications.
        Brush slowly
        Brush evenly
        Don't shake the varnish
        Don't over-brush-- it will either get cloudy or bubbly.

Materials Elizabeth recommends
Clean brushes with Murphy's oil soap.
Utrecht mixed synthetic brushes
Frames she recommends (wood gallery frames)
https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-essentials-wood-gallery-frames/
Take plexiglass off and don't use it.

Collage artists she recommends:
Derek Gores (magazine collage)
Sean Callahan (Key West artist with his own gallery there)
Ellen Lindner, Florida quilt artist

Elizabeth St. Hilaire

My underpainting

My finished, framed collage

San Francisco: Strikers on the sidewalk and rigs against the sky

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

I began writing this while waiting for breakfast at Oren's Hummus restaurant in the San Francisco museum/convention area.  I love their French press coffee and potato-eggplant hash with eggs and chicken sausage, and also the yogurt with Muesli, apples and dried fruit.

Two tables down, men are talking business and also the cost of a haircut ($40-$60). Across from them sit three serious guys with name-tag necklaces, possibly among the thousands of anesthesiologists here for a conference. One wears a well-cut suit and tie shoes without socks. 

Outside, people rush on electric scooters — I think they've just been legalized after a fight. Many women wear tidy designer leather backpacks. And across 3rd Street, a man wearing bright emergency orange is hanging from a construction safety rig high against the blue sky. One block down, striking hotel service workers line the sidewalk, marching and banging pots like drums, hooked up to microphones; they plead for higher wages from 7 a.m to 10 p.m. 

Yesterday our LA cousin Judy and I went to a poetry reading in Glen Park, a neighborhood of smallish old houses that (according to the local paper) sell for more than $1.5 million. And this afternoon we will celebrate Christy’s birthday lunch  in a shabby neighborhood cafe where there are more homeless on the sidewalks than patrons inside.  

This is just a bit of San Francisco. There was also great talk and food, a Bay boat tour, and a visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I don’t know if you can tell, but I loved the long weekend with cousins there. 
Love, k

From panic to pears

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

When I first moved to Sacramento I panicked over everything, big and small. It’s getting better, so good that now I can even tolerate the inevitable computer glitches  (One took an hour of phone calls today) 

… I've been meditating 15 minutes each morning ... I like the pointlessness of just sitting ... 

I also drew and painted pears. 

Love,

k

3.5" x 5"

ink and watercolor

12" x 12"

pencil

Comfortable day

Written last night:

Dear Friends,
Today I caught up and relaxed. I made rice pudding because it is my comfort food, and now sweet potatoes roasting smell delicious. (Also comfort food.) It is dark out and I am going to close the living room shades. Up above, on the 14th floor (we skip 13) there is scraping and bumping and the drop and bounce of little hard things. I think someone is arranging furniture. It was a speedy day.
Love,
k

He does everything for fun

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

It was a busy Sunday and it’s already bedtime. But I wanted to show you this picture of the photographer Duane Michals (He’s second from left, approaching the desk.) at the Crocker Museum today. Decades ago, when I was beginning to study photography, Michals made groundbreaking work in series and portraits. He was my hero. Today he spoke around the corner from me. He lives in New York, but has a show here. He has a great sense of humor, and one of the best things he said is

"I do everything for fun” 

Here Michals is getting ready to sign books following his talk. That building beyond the window is where the Crocker family used to live. It is now part of the Crocker Museum, and the outdoor area between is where there are often concerts and other events. A guard told me that the first plan was to have the big window area be able to rise like a garage door, so there could be a roomy celebration area, but that proved too expensive.

Love,

k