Prescott Lake - pink & green plates

Test print, showing the combination of the rock plate and the trees plate together. I have quite a bit of work to do on the color, but at least the two plates match up fairly well... 

Prescott Lake - rock plate tests

These are test prints for the pink/rock plate. I'm trying to get a feel for how to apply multiple colors on a single plate. Also, I'm using a brush (actually, a mushroom brush meant for cleaning vegetables) that leaves distinct marks in the paint, which allows me to impart a sense of movement and structure to the surface. 

Another picture of the Prescott Lake print. This is the pink plate for the rocks. The colors shown here are much more vivid than what I will probably use on the final print. I'm still figuring out how to apply different colors during the same press, and it's more fun to practice with a lot of colors. 

I'm working on a print of a lake in Prescott. Jun and I went up there in August, and were kayaking out on the lake as a storm came up from the east. I have only done on other color print before (a frustrating disappointment), so this is all a bit of an experiment. At this point, I'm just playing around with my technique for applying the paint to the surface of the block, etc.

This picture is of the "green" plate for the bushes and trees. 

Walk for the Cure

I came home from work on Friday to find that a small city of tents had sprung up across the street. It turns out that the San Diego Walk for the Cure charity event is happening this weekend, and all of the participants are camping out in Mission Bay Park for three days. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they will all walk 20 miles a day, ending in Balboa Park on the last day. As my neighbor Dennis put it, "there are 10,000 women camping out 20 feet from our apartment." 

A ride in the park

I've been trying to do something semi-active at least once a week (pathetic, I know). So today I took a bike ride across the bay to the mudflats that run along Mission Bay Drive near Sea World. It was a great day for it--partially cloudy, but with the seen peeking out here and there. More importantly, it was nice and cool. Which was good, since I worked up quite a sweat just getting over the first bridge. I may want to step up the exercise routine a bit :) Also, I noticed after a few minutes that both of my tires were partially flat, which makes it seem more like I'm riding an exercise bicycle, rather than a mountain bike. I finally made it to the mudflats, and it was well worth the tremendous effort. There were quite a few birds there, including two blue herons and 10+ white herons. At least, I think the white ones were herons. I'm no ornithologist. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the blue herons, as they flew away before my camera could turn on. Stupid camera. Definitely on my list of things to purchase now that I actually have a real job...

Pictures from the ride:

View up the estuary towards Sea World Drive.

View across the estuary

Grey/blue heron is near the bottom of the picture, but it blends in with the grasses fairly well...


Then I fell on the rocks and started bleeding everywhere, so the ride was over. Home again, to clean up in the shower...