Storyboard Sketch

My sketches for last night’s sunset, which I’m just about to post — three phases on one sheet that make a kind of storyboard. In the top, first phase, which is more or less what I went with, I’m hoping I’ll know what “flat bluish greenish with orange” is supposed to mean. Then there’s a diagonal on the left labeled “cirrus contraily” that sort of didn’t make it into the painting. I called the last panel, when the sun was behind the mountains, “The Moment It Glowed” — which is kind of funny because it was glowing the whole time.

Live Oak

William Van Doren, pencil, 9 x 12, 2013.

A dead tree too awkwardly placed to cut down for firewood. A tall oak leaning, dead these two years, which on falling would have its choice of electric lines to take down. Might be enough wood for a month. But a dead tree that will just have to go on living.

A Lion Sitting on My Porch

I have a lion sitting on my porch — actual size, I believe (the lion). It was given to my uncle Del. Perhaps because he was a loyal member of the Lions Club. Perhaps because he was a Leo. Or maybe just because, in the world of individuality, he was a king. Anyway, I did love my uncle Del. It didn’t take much in the way of meditation to discover Del with me today, in the lion.

Celebrating “The End of the World” with Gypsy Zen

I’m honored that Gypsy Zen in the south of France has selected my November 28th twilight painting to publicize a very special way of observing the “end of the world” on December 21st. They’ll be having tea, dancing to flamenco guitars, and meditating on personal renewal, in a yurt on a farm in the Camargue, outside Arles. Gypsy Zen apparently is more than just a name, as their host is from the Romani people and studied with the Dalai Lama. If you’re in the area, drop in, and stay – til the end of the evening, or of the world, whichever comes first!

Tweets Illustrated: Right Hand Knows What Left Hand Is Doing

Deciphering a Grocery List Made While Driving