Author: Francesca Filanc

  • Confidence In Life Confidence in Art

    Confidence In Life Confidence in Art

    I had a gentleman tell me one time Fran, the art that sticks with people is the art that is done with confident strong powerful strokes with the energy to back them up. There’s also a quote in the Bible, Hebrews 10, Verse 35, So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (New International Version, 1984©) I love this message!


    A contemporary example of outstanding confidence is the Rock Star Pink. She is so inspiring! Pink writes what she knows and she performs without fear. A circus performer at her best, she performs with wild abandon that rocks her world and the millions who love her and her music! Stretching her limits, taking great risks! This is a perfect example in my view of what we are to do in life. When we do this we can accomplish greatness in whatever our calling is in this world.

    My best paintings are painted in this manner. I go to that deepest honest spot emotionally to bring something out of my soul that is real and true. This process can be exhilarating or it can be painful. It can be painstakingly tedious and seeming without end. But in the end, if I persevere, something beautiful emerges voilà on the canvas that I am satisfied within myself. Some of my best work has actually been a gift. It just emerges and I flow with it like being on a journey. Perhaps as if led down a path to an enchanted secret garden that sparkles in moonlight.

    Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success a chapter about the 10,000-hour rule. His observations were that you need 10,000 hours to be a phenom. Also, some other interesting points he makes:

    In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers (violinists) had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. — p. 38

    The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything, writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin. — P. 40

    To become chess grandmaster also seems to take about ten years. (Only the legendary Bobby Fisher got to that elite level in less than that amount of time: it took him nine years.) And what’s ten years? Well, it’s roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice. Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness. — p. 41

    When an artist can stand in front of the canvas and paints from a totally honest spot in body and soul, intentions may be realized through paint placed on the canvas. The painter’s job is to impart the painting that comes through her intellect, emotions as well as experiences and manifests itself on to the canvas in the form of art.

    An artist is blessed with the ability to sway a person’s emotions with a visual creation. Artists that I admire Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, Mathew Smith, Van Gogh – what makes their paintings great is the inner essence of the artists soul that is shared with no reservations to the world! Once these great artists completed a painting that they considered good, the painting is then in the eyes of the viewer to interpret what she sees in the art. Art is then for the pleasure of being interpreted by the viewer. If a viewer asks me what were you thinking when you painted this painting? What does this painting mean to you? I might respond, how does this painting make you feel? What do you see in the painting?

    Why do we like a particular piece of art? A painting may invoke in us a certain feeling or remembrance that we can as individuals relate to in some way. Why do we see the sadness in a particular painting, where another person comes along and sees only joy and happiness in that same piece of art? We as the viewer are drawing our own conclusion and experience transfixed by the vibrations and soul of the man or woman who painted the work.

    Pink, a remarkable vocal and visual artist, works tirelessly to produce and perform her rock concerts. Flying high over audiences singing with deep passion the songs that she has written out of heart ache, despair, sexual feelings intensity and love this is why millions of people flock to by her CD’s and thousands to her performances. She is being real taking chances living on the edge preforming with precision what she has envisioned in her own soul.

    Here’s to being Confident in the inner knowing of what is right for us in our own lives.

    Filled with inner confidence we can strive to great heights!

    Bye for now

     

    Francesca

    PucciI had a gentleman tell me one time Fran, the art that sticks with people is the art that is done with confident strong powerful strokes with the energy to back them up. There’s also a quote in the Bible, Hebrews 10, Verse 35, So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (New International Version, 1984©) I love this message!

    A contemporary example of outstanding confidence is the Rock Star Pink. She is so inspiring! Pink writes what she knows and she performs without fear. A circus performer at her best, she performs with wild abandon that rocks her world and the millions who love her and her music! Stretching her limits, taking great risks! This is a perfect example in my view of what we are to do in life. When we do this we can accomplish greatness in whatever our calling is in this world.
    My best paintings are painted in this manner. I go to that deepest honest spot emotionally to bring something out of my soul that is real and true. This process can be exhilarating or it can be painful. It can be painstakingly tedious and seeming without end. But in the end, if I persevere, something beautiful emerges voilà on the canvas that I am satisfied within myself. Some of my best work has actually been a gift. It just emerges and I flow with it like being on a journey. Perhaps as if led down a path to an enchanted secret garden that sparkles in moonlight.
    Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success a chapter about the 10,000-hour rule. His observations were that you need 10,000 hours to be a phenom. Also, some other interesting points he makes:
    In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers (violinists) had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. — p. 38
    The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything, writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin. — P. 40
    To become chess grandmaster also seems to take about ten years. (Only the legendary Bobby Fisher got to that elite level in less than that amount of time: it took him nine years.) And what’s ten years? Well, it’s roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice. Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness. — p. 41
    When an artist can stand in front of the canvas and paints from a totally honest spot in body and soul, intentions may be realized through paint placed on the canvas. The painter’s job is to impart the painting that comes through her intellect, emotions as well as experiences and manifests itself on to the canvas in the form of art.
    An artist is blessed with the ability to sway a person’s emotions with a visual creation. Artists that I admire Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, Mathew Smith, Van Gogh – what makes their paintings great is the inner essence of the artists soul that is shared with no reservations to the world! Once these great artists completed a painting that they considered good, the painting is then in the eyes of the viewer to interpret what she sees in the art. Art is then for the pleasure of being interpreted by the viewer. If a viewer asks me what were you thinking when you painted this painting? What does this painting mean to you? I might respond, how does this painting make you feel? What do you see in the painting?
    Why do we like a particular piece of art? A painting may invoke in us a certain feeling or remembrance that we can as individuals relate to in some way. Why do we see the sadness in a particular painting, where another person comes along and sees only joy and happiness in that same piece of art? We as the viewer are drawing our own conclusion and experience transfixed by the vibrations and soul of the man or woman who painted the work.

    Pink, a remarkable vocal and visual artist, works tirelessly to produce and perform her rock concerts. Flying high over audiences singing with deep passion the songs that she has written out of heart ache, despair, sexual feelings intensity and love this is why millions of people flock to by her CD’s and thousands to her performances. She is being real taking chances living on the edge preforming with precision what she has envisioned in her own soul.
    Here’s to being Confident in the inner knowing of what is right for us in our own lives.
    Filled with inner confidence we can strive to great heights!
    Bye for now

    Francesca

    Path:

    Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an hard-on to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney illness will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

  • Butterflies, Dragonflies and Enjoying Our Surroundings

    Butterflies, Dragonflies and Enjoying Our Surroundings

    One of the author’s new paintings

    Lately I have been noticing a profusion of butterflies and dragonflies in north San Diego County. One day there were so many that I actually counted them; twenty-five butterflies floating about in the garden! I had just returned from an invigorating swim in the ocean that left my body feeling tingly all over! Seeing the butterflies and dragonflies floating through the garden overwhelmed my senses and gave me the feeling that I was living in a real-life Alice in Wonderland dream world. It’s moments such as these that I am inspired to paint.

    My sister Wendy has been calling almost every day.

    Want to meet down at Swami’s for a swim?

    I am so grateful to her for turning me on to this wonderful amazing playground in my own front yard! The expression the best things in life are free really fits the description!

    I have a friend here in San Diego who is a surfer and a fisherman besides being an excellent cook. He always has a fishing pole in his truck in case the fishin is better than the surfin. One morning last July he paddled out from Pacific Beach three quarters of a mile and caught a thirteen-pound halibut off his surfboard!

    My friend saw a pod of dolphins in Coronado Cays

    I have another friend and she fishes with her boyfriend from their kayaks down in south San Diego Bay around the Coronado Cays. My friend has seen a pod of dolphins swimming around the bay.

    Everywhere one lives there are amazing opportunities for outdoor life. We just need to be adventuresome! It’s funny that we feel we need to go on vacation to do the fun things and if we plan it right we can have such fulfilling life styles doing fun things right in our hometowns.

    Kayaking the Coronado Cays

    When Pete and I were first married we lived in an apartment attached to my grandmother’s house. Peter and his buddies were civil engineers and would go surfing at lunchtime every day. I have a friend whose practice is in Del Mar and he walks to work, keeps a surfboard at the office, and goes surfin every day at lunch year round!

    I have other friends who have just one car. The husband rides his bicycle to the Coaster and takes it down with him to work in San Diego. On his lunch hour he walks for exercise and rides his bike back to the train station after work. What an enchanting life style. Besides being green this friend has the enjoyment of incorporating exercise and outdoor life into his daily lifestyle.

    One of my daughters and her husband live in a small town on the way to Point Reyes.
    My son-in-law’s passion is cycling. My daughter shares his love for cycling.
    In my view where they live is like living in Europe. They both work in San Francisco but totally utilize the advantages and natural resources of their beautiful environment.
    They have had at times ridden their bicycles to work over the Golden Gate Bridge! Every weekend they take amazing bicycle rides to Point Reyes or different spots in and around Mount Tamalpais.

    I admire my son-in-law. He comes home from a hard day at work and goes for a mountain bike ride! Great exercise and what a way to enjoy nature with all 5 senses!

    Here’s to enjoying the gifts around us and incorporating them into our daily lives!

    Bye for Now,

     

    Francesca

    Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an erection to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

  • Summer Days Remembered and Today

    Summer Days Remembered and Today

    Last week my sister called our mother and me.

    Let’s meet down at Swami’s to go swimming. Swami’s is my favorite beach right now! Fran, it’s like when we were kids! No crowds and the beach is amazing!

     We have been having unseasonably hot weather for San Diego this summer. I really should not complain because by comparison San Diego is quite comfortable year-round. A friend who lives in Texas assures me that I live in paradise. The water temperature has been in the mid 70s°F, in places the water feels like a bathtub, closer to 80°F.

    Summers growing up in what was then a sleepy little beach town, I could not wait for school to be out and go to the beach every day. My birthday is in July and all I wanted every year was a new raft. I remember my parents would come into my bedroom and place it on my still sleeping form. Oh, the excitement I would feel! I remember a silver blue plastic raft that I received one year. It had clear plastic so I could look down into the water where my head would rest. Thinking back, I can even recall the smell of the new plastic and the feeling it invoked to run into the ocean clutching my raft!

    For the millions of us who love to swim it is no small wonder. The human body is made up of so much water! I was talking to a friend about this just yesterday.

     About 70 percent of the human body is made up of water and, coincidentally, more than 70 percent of Earth is covered in water. Water creates an environment that sustains and nurtures plants, animals and humans, making Earth a perfect match for life in general. Nasa Site

     Water is so soothing to us! Maybe it feels like we are back in the womb. I have always found it so interesting that as human beings we often do not enjoy the gifts that we are blessed with in our own backyards!

    It had been years until recently that I had been to Swami’s beach let alone swimming there. First off, the walk down the stairs is breathtaking. Chalky white sandstone cliffs line the beach. On a clear day views to La Jolla fifteen miles down the coast. No wonder Swami’s has been made world famous by the Beach Boys and professional surfers! Not to mention the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple from which Swami’s derived its name.

    Wendy, our mother Pat and I laughed and played in the ocean. Our mother had not been in the ocean in over five years. What a great way to spend a couple of hours riding waves and frolicking in the surf!

    My deceased husband’s mantra was work hard and play hard. Pete’s way is, of course, not everyone’s but I do appreciate the fact that my sister reintroduced me to a life-long pleasure from my childhood. Just down the street!

    Here’s to doing fun and creative things like painting and swimming and taking advantage of the opportunities we have at hand to enjoy life and nature.

    Bye for Now,

     

    Francesca

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Did somebody tell you about watermelon Viagra? If you’re concerned about sexual disorder, you have to study about it. Erectile dysfunction, defined as the persistent failure to maintain an erection to the orgasm, exerts an estimated 15 to 30 millions men in the United States only. Because some of symptoms are medical emergencies, it’s considerable to know what to do if they happen. On occasion kidney disease will lead to erectile dysfunction. As a rule, this may include high blood pressure, anxiety, or a venous leak.

  • Butterflies in our Gardens, Butterflies in my Art

    Butterflies in our Gardens, Butterflies in my Art

    Cloudless Sulphur

     

    Journal Sketch By Author

    As I was strolling through my garden yesterday and then during my daily walk,  I saw some beautiful butterflies, some whose names I don’t recall, but others remembered from childhood. There were always many butterflies in my mother’s garden when I was growing up, Morning Glories to Monarchs. Frequently as a child I experienced  Mourning Cloaks landing on my arms. Nine years ago I saw a all-yellow butterfly for the first time.  I actually wrote about it in my journal years ago and drew pictures of them with colored pencils.

    The Cloudless Sulphur showed up in my life as hope! At Norris Hospital USC, Los Angeles, my beloved husband had just been diagnosed with stage 4 invasive bladder cancer. Peter was 51 years old. We were up on the 6th floor and there were dozens of these beautiful butterflies flying from one building to the next through the Eucalyptus trees far below. Peter went on to have surgery at that hospital a few days later and was proclaimed cancer free. We were all elated and again right after the surgery I saw dozens of the Cloudless Sulphurs flying below his room!

    South Beach By Francesca

    Tragically Peter’s cancer returned and he passed away four years later. But I still saw Cloudless Sulphurs in front of my car on my walks and everywhere I drove! Even after the loss of my husband the yellow butterflies continued to be a symbol of hope. In those first hours, days, months and years that I saw the butterfly I would smile and say “Hi Pete.” It was as if I was getting a message from him or he was coming around to say hi, all is well, all is ok.

    As a very young child I thought that butterflies symbolized transformation, and possibly reincarnation. None of us really know exactly what happens after we pass away. I believe we are transformed to a higher place and vibration if we have lived a good responsible life. I can remember telling my mother and friends that I found butterflies fascinating in that they were teachers. They start out as caterpillars, build themselves a chrysalis and after weeks or days blossom into the most beautiful creatures that have no resemblance whatsoever to their former selves!

    Often while painting I start out with a specific idea in my head. But then as the painting develops it becomes even richer than my original plan. South Beach is one such painting. I worked on that painting for eight months. It started out as butterflies and dragonflies. It ended up resembling a man’s face with a dragon coming out on the right. South Beach was in a show a few months ago and about fifty people sat around discussing this one painting for an hour. Maybe the fact that I started out by painting butterflies made the transformation energy that intrigues and gives deep thought to viewers.

    In my mind, as in Alice in Wonderland, butterflies are one of God’s amazing gifts to our world; and to us as humans to be able to ponder and revisit the myriad of meanings in this insect. If nothing more than the pure beauty this insect adds to our gardens. It is worth in my opinion to plant the plants they like to encourage them to come to my garden.

    Here is a list of plants to attract these fabulous “fairy type” creatures to your gardens:

    Buddleias– they come in many colors and grow very tall, Salvias– all types, Abutilon, Lavenders, Cenonothus, Lavatera, Leonotis, Arbutus. Check my mother’s website and blog http://patwelsh.com/

     

    Have fun attracting butterflies into your world!

    Bye for Now

    Francesca

     

  • Composting Can Be Lots of Fun

    Composting Can Be Lots of Fun

    Just recently I have discovered that composting like painting is a passion of mine!

    Check out my Gallery – https://francescafilanc.com/gallery/

    I have been composting for about twenty-five years on a large scale. But this was always a very simple method that my gardener and right-hand man Sergio has helped me with throughout the years. I call it the Lani Frymiller method. If you are blessed with a large piece of land, take a square area and buy a flake of alfalfa hay and spread out evenly over the ground. If you have horses or can obtain horse manure, cover the hay with a thin layer of horse manure. Repeat the process of layering interspersing with garden waste including lawn clippings.  (Do not include any poisonous plants such as Oleanders.) Within three months I would have beautiful dark loamy compost at the bottom of this pile. I have a little tractor that Sergio uses. Before the tractor Sergio would just dig it out from the bottom with a shovel.

    Some people include their kitchen scraps (vegetables and fruit, no meat or bones) in this type of compost pile but I would never did because I was concerned about encouraging rats.

    About four years ago I dropped by my sister’s house to see her beautiful new raised beds and vegetable garden. While in the garden Wendy exclaimed,

     Fran, come see my composter!

     Wendy had researched, googling world’s best composter. Joracame up on the Internet. This composter is made in Sweden. That country is so GREEN it is actually the law that every family composts their kitchen scraps!

    Jora Composter

    Wendy proceeded to demonstrate, adding kitchen scraps, vegetable, fruit and fish, into the composter. The composter has two chambers and she was able to show me a completed batch. Like magic, in three months she had dark loamy soil that smelled marvelous! I decided I wanted to do the same! After ordering the Jora online, I picked out a spot in the garden to put my composter. I was so excited I found myself checking the front porch every day in anticipation of its arrival.

     Finally it arrived and I was as excited as most women are about being given flowers or a new piece of jewelry! The sign of a true gardener?

     To begin, I put a small bucket of horse manure in the bottom of one of the chambers to jump-start the composting process. Although this is not necessary, it does speed up the process. I started adding the kitchen scraps regularly. I bought online an attractive crock that matched my kitchen décor from Gardener’s Supply to keep next to the kitchen sink and collect vegetable and fruit scraps. Per my sister’s advice, I bought Original Feline Pine Pellets. They are made out of wood. It is important to buy the pellets and not the sawdust.

    Here’s the process, step by step.

    Carry kitchen scraps to composter.

    Turn composter eight times to distribute the contents.

    Open chamber and if necessary, with a hand-held three-prong cultivator, break up any large chunks or lumps. Then add kitchen scraps.

    Close the chamber and rotate several more times.

    Open the chamber and sprinkle a handful of the feline pine pellets from the pet store.

    Close the lid. Don’t rotate composter until next day when you add your next batch of kitchen waste.

    (If you turn the Jora right away pellets will make compost lumpy.) The wooden pellets soften overnight and you can then turn the composter several times to mix all the ingredients.

    One can become very educated or be seat of the pants like myself. A friend of mine in Olivenhain Garden Club, Robin, gave a lecture on home composting for our club. She suggested this book to buy: The Complete Compost Gardening Guideby Barbara Pleasant & Deborah L. Martin.  Frankly I have not read it but I do love making the compost! My tomatoes are especially marvelous this season! Maybe in part due to my home made compost.

    One of my grandchildren eating and arranging grape tomatoes in the garden

    I decided to blog about composting this week. My heart was filled with so much happiness yesterday as I, smiling, carried kitchen scraps to my composter in the garden. I opened the lid and smelled deep loamy compost.

    I was thinking, to myself, what a spiritual event it is to make compost. Out of the dead comes the life. We can enrich our soil and grow fruits and vegetables to eat to put the waste back to make more compost to grow more food. What a totally amazing happening! This is so deep that it is kinda the meaning of life and feels so creative!

    It is not us that does it. It is like a cut on our arm healing. Life has the seed of life in it whether soil, vegetables, people and animals.

    Wow what an amazing world life is!

    Happy Composting

    Bye for now

    Francesca

    One of my new paintings
  • Cooking, Entertaining, and Making Art

    Cooking, Entertaining, and Making Art

    I am having a spur of the moment dinner party tonight. As you might know from earlier posts I LOVE to entertain on the spur of the moment! Dinner Party  Breakfast  Expanding Vegetables  Entertaining is one of my passions. It gives me the same feeling that I receive when I paint; entertaining on the spur of the moment heightens the excitement and exhilaration. I know most of you out there are thinking IS SHE NUTS? Yes, maybe a little. It’s what makes me an artist, that creative piece. Not to say a person is not creative if they like to plan out what they do ahead of time. Planning is actually an important part of creating art. I just speed up the process as I do in my style of painting. I like the adrenalin rush!  Having gardened most of the day I picked a large squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, chives, mint, limes, lemons, apples, and kale which is really a winter vegetable around here in So Cal. A friend gave me a small plant this spring and it is doing great! Oh, and egg plant!

    Now what to cook! I roasted the vegetables. Squash is peeled and then cut in small chunks drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper; same process for egg plant put on baking sheets covered with tin foil and baked in 375 oven for 40 min or until a fork goes through vegetables easily. Meanwhile I made kale potato chips for hors d’oeuvres. After washing kale, chop into 2” pieces, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt (not too much, I have made that mistake!). You can drizzle with Ponzu Sauce instead of salting the kale. Bake in 375 oven for 20 to 30 minutes, maybe less depending on how much is on your cookie sheet. This makes a delicious hors d’oeuvre to accompany the dinner. And people love it because it is not fattening.

    The fresh apples make a wonderful soup when combined with butternut squash. Here’s one of my favorite recipes.

    Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

    Ingredients
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
    • 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
    • 2 tablespoons mild curry powder
    • 5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
    • 1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
    • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 2 cups water
    • 2 cups good apple cider or juice

    Directions
    Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.
    Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.
    Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
    Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

    Many people have expressed an interest in my process of painting. I have a high tech studio in my garage with Ott lighting so I can paint into the wee hours of the morning if I am so inclined. Ott lighting gives the impression of sunlight.

    Photobiologist and pioneer in light research, Dr. John Ott, discovered through 40 years of scientific research the remarkable effects specific wavelengths of natural light have on all living things. Dr. Ott developed the first OTT-LITE® product while filming “The Secrets of Life Series” for Walt Disney. A specially formulated blend of rare earth phosphors is used to create this unique illumination that looks and feels like natural daylight. TrueColor lighting allows details to be seen more clearly and colors accurately. Now it is possible to see with superior clarity without the intense heat, excessive glare and harsh distortion of standard lighting.

     

    Last night I painted for 4 hours working on one very large abstract. A few days ago I painted from 3 pm to 11 pm. I took about a half hour break for dinner. My studio is all ready with everything at hand so it is easy for me to start painting without a lot of fuss to get my materials together. It used to be that I would use that as an excuse not to paint. Painting is my passion. So there is a lot of energy and emotion wrapped into the process. As an abstract artist I paint my emotions. If I am happy, sad, angry, melancholy, feeling sexy, whatever the emotion, you name it, the emotions wind up in my art.

    I have said that painting great art is like shining a powerful searchlight up into the heavens at night. The light never dies! Great art is alive. My passion is like a drug! Once I start I do not want to stop. I love squeezing delicious colors of thick paint onto my palette. My favorite is Golden.  I admire the colors before I start mixing them on and off the canvas.

     

    There is an expression that I learned many years ago from Sebastian Capella.

    Paint as if you are the wealthiest person in the world.
    That means, use the best paints and accompanying materials. Don’t be stingy with the paint. Paint with thick luscious colors.

    Another thing I usually do is paint on several paintings at one sitting. I have them all over the studio and spilling out into the rest of my garage. I get into a frenzy of movement from one to another. Sometimes I concentrate meticulously on a painting and make it very detailed with many layers of paint and then with one fell swoop put my whole body into the process of mad strokes of paint and color over the top. In this photo I used a brush. I also use palette knives.

    In my paintings I am moving energy at lightening speeds. Well, maybe snail speeds, but the paint is flying. People feel the energy in my completed work. It is a fascinating process. This is another interesting component to art, being that it is alive. It is forever changing, growing, evolving. They talk of Picasso and his “blue period.” Every great artist has different periods of his work. Françoise Gilot, a great artist in her own right, spent hours every day talking Picasso into getting out of bed and producing more art. In his later years he would paint all day and the very next day say that his art was crap and he would not get out of bed to paint another painting. Thank goodness for Françoise or the world would have a lot fewer of his masterpieces!

    Happy painting and creating,

     

    Bye for now,
    Francesca

    All this paint you see and much more is on this canvas
  • FREEDOM OF CHOICE

    FREEDOM OF CHOICE

    In the twilight of an evening I took a walk from my home. As I walked, admiring the beauty of nature all around me, my mind

    Country Walk

    began to ponder  the words freedom of choice. I marveled at the fact that I have lived in this home for over six years and only just started taking daily walks in this beautiful neighborhood! Now granted, I had my knee replaced a year ago so my mobility is much better than it was for many years, but therein lies the same three little words, freedom of choice! I lived with a bad knee for way too long.

    Now as I walk briskly smelling the delicious night air I think WHY? WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG? Why am I just now enjoying nature at my doorstep when I had six whole years wasted on my freedom of choice not to participate in one of the huge joys in life — walking in nature! Now I don’t want to keep crying over spilled milk or should I say complaining because I had freedom of choice and what did I do? — I chose not to have my knee replaced earlier and I chose not to take hikes and walks from my home. I need to forgive myself and move on and enjoy the fact that I am now doing what I did all through my twenties, thirties, forties and early fifties. Take long walks! It is exhilarating as all get-out! The walking lets out endorphins. I smell the night air and my heart sings.   These are the same trails that I rode my horses on for fourteen years. I smell the horse manure and then my foot lands in a fresh pile of it on the trail. I don’t mind, as you saw in my last post. I love horses and I love the smell!

    At first I was going to write about how lucky I am (as are many of us) to have freedom of choice.  But then I started thinking about Mother Teresa working in the slums of Calcutta all of her life, coming from a well to do family, choosing to help the thousands of people whom she helped directly and indirectly. Even people in the most dire of predicaments have freedom of choice. They teach this line of thinking in Buddhism and many other religions.

    We may use our minds to help create a better life for ourselves, if only in our minds. It is a truth that we are a mental planet before we are a physical planet. If we can dream it, it may happen. Depending on how strongly we want something and believe that we deserve it in our lives; is the truth be told to our realization of the reality of having that particular blessing in our lives! And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (King James Version of the Bible).

    A Walk in the Evening

    Opra’s story is a perfect example of this belief system! Opra came from abject poverty and uneducated folks. Opra wanted something different for her life! She wanted much more! And by gum she received exactly that! It says in the Bible “ask and it shall be given you”! I so believe this truth! As I walked along this evening I saw a bat! I have not seen one in years and here it was right outside my property! I also noticed the shapes and forms of the eucalyptus trees in my neighborhood, the twists and interesting forms they take as they climb to the sky. How majestic they were in the evening light. I felt inspired to paint. Francesca’s Gallery

    Here’s to the ability we have to make choices in our lives. God or our higher power has given each and every one of us the ability to “Choose Wisely”. We can choose to stay positive and bring good into our lives and to help others along the way as we do so.

    Bye for now,

    Francesca

    The Author Is Ready To Paint
  • SUMMER DAYS – OPENING DAY AT THE RACES

    SUMMER DAYS – OPENING DAY AT THE RACES

    Beauty

     Good morning my little Gigi!

     My father would exclaim as he burst into my bedroom kissing me and then opening the blinds.

     Hurry out of bed and we can go down to see the horses.

     As I raised my sleepy head and yawned I quickly made my bed and pulled on my bathing suit not wanting to be left behind! This was a very special time with my father that I cherished.

    We jumped in the car and traveled the mile down to the beach.

    Riding on the Beach in Del Mar

    During the racing season in Del Mar, California which Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Jimmy Durante were all instrumental in starting in the 1930’s. The horses would be ridden in the early mornings from the race track to the ocean. The trainers and grooms, men and women both, would walk them into the ocean because the salt water was good for their joints. Some riding bareback would take them swimming through the waves. The riders also galloped the horses up and down the beach. What a sight to behold!

    Daddy followed closely as I would scurry out of the car and down onto the beach. The delicious smell of salt air mixed with seaweed, horses and horse manure is one that I will remember the rest of my days. Exhilaration and anticipation abound because if I dilly-dallied or daddy did not wake me early enough on those Saturday and Sunday mornings the horses would be gone back to the track and I was sorely disappointed!

    Grabbing my hand we would walk down the beach. Then I would set myself free of his hand and run towards the horses, which seemed like an eternity away! Once we arrived huge smiles plastered on our faces we would watch these most elegant, stunning creatures as they were walked, run and cajoled into the waves for a swim! Many of the thoroughbreds had their legs wrapped with white tape. Some were hurt. Limping, the healing salt water must have felt so good to these athletic horses.

     What a shame this practice was outlawed on Del Mar Beach.

     Dog Beach is now where Horse Beach was up by the cliffs on the north end of town.

    When I was a girl, the horses were on the beach from about 6:30 -8:30 a.m. I was allowed to kiss and hug them. My father would lift me up to pat the necks of some. At the end of this magical period of time Daddy and I would say goodbye to the horses and watch as they left the beach walking under the 101 Bridge and back to the racetrack. It always felt a bit sad.

    Pushing me out of my dream world where I was riding the magnificent beasts I faintly heard my daddy’s cheery voice

     Ok my little Gigi, let’s go have a look and see who is on the beach today and have our swim!

     As we walked away from the horses, me feeling sad wanting to be bigger and having one or many of my very own, I hear my father’s voice,

    Look who’s here– Betty Grable and Benny Goodman.

     My father Lou, a showman himself, would walk right up to these people and say hi. On occasion there were some other exciting events to occur.

    One time my father walked up to a very pretty redhead on the beach.

     How do you do Lucy, this is my little girl Francie. She just loves watching you on TV!

    Well hello there!

    Lucy bent down to shake my hand with her brightly painted red fingernails that matched her vivid red hair.

    The Author Running into the Ocean

    Sweetheart this is Lucille Ball.

     Oh wow!

     I shouted,

    I watch you on TV every week!

    You just keep doing that baby!

     Lucy replied in her deep husky voice.

    The water felt so amazing as it hit my face. I dove under the waves and swam feeling so perfectly content, daydreaming of how it would feel to ride bareback into the ocean waves. Daddy laughed and I giggled as we played in the sea.

     Time to go sweetheart, breakfast will be waiting.

    A shower never felt better! I felt fresh and tingly all over and boy was I hungry! Mama would have a delicious breakfast waiting for us. We would eat in the top patio looking out at the sea where I had just been but half an hour before. Blueberry pancakes with hot crisp bacon and fresh squeezed orange juice never tasted so good!

     

    Bye for now,

    Good Luck at The Races!

    Francesca

  • SUMMER DAYS –PAINTING AND PLAYING INDIANS

    SUMMER DAYS –PAINTING AND PLAYING INDIANS

    The Author & Artist in her first Studio

    My mother, Pat Welsh, realized I had an aptitude for art at a very young age. Gallery of my current work. In the summertime she taught painting to some of my friends, my sister and me. Mother would encourage me to paint on warm summer afternoons when we were tired of playing imagination games or had had enough beach time for that particular day. I recall so vividly painting in the afternoon after lunch as I matured into adolescence.

    To this day I actually remember the upwelling of joy I felt when painting some particular paintings at ages six to eleven years old. My Mom thought them special herself and saved these paintings, having them framed for my oldest daughter Yvette when she born.

    Long before I vacationed with my husband and children on the Snake River in Wyoming I recollect painting a scene depicting two Indian men with their canoe. One Indian was leaning into the canoe, the other Indian to the side with a thick forest in the background. I took hours to paint this painting in watercolors. I really felt the Indians getting ready to take the canoe out onto the water. Possibly the games I had played as a very young girl influenced my deep emotion in painting this scene. I loved playing imagination games and I believe my mother encouraged us to play outdoors.

    Indians was one of my favorite games. I was a squaw princess and my name was Falling Waters. I have no idea where I got that idea! But I loved the name and no other child could borrow the name, Not Even for one day of play. A little bossy I would say! In those days we had a huge area of Eucalyptus and Monterey Cypress trees growing out of sandy soil. It was a great place to play Indians! We also had an area on our property that had solid clay, which enabled us to have fun making clay pots and cups like the Indians did back in the day!

    Playing Indians

    We were a neighborhood of girls and we all played together. There were at least seven or eight, Barbie, Katherine, Patty, Annette, Mija, Tina, my sister Wendy and me. There were actually more girls, but they were older than we. They played with us in a more in charge role like being mothers’ helpers. We adored these older girls, Joan, Trudy, and Chris.

    On some occasions I remember playing at a friend’s house observing wide-eyed while the older sister got ready for a date, dreaming about the day that I would go to a dance all dressed up in a beautiful shiny dress having been given a corsage by a boy!

    Painting is something I have enjoyed doing my whole life thanks to my mother’s encouragement to paint! As an abstract artist I paint my thoughts and feelings.

    Here’s to lazy Summers Swimming Painting Gardening sipping Ice tea in beautiful environments!

    Happy Summer!

    Bye for Now,

    Francesca

  • SUMMER DAYS – FOURTH OF JULY, DEL MAR

    SUMMER DAYS – FOURTH OF JULY, DEL MAR

    OUT OF THIS WORLD (72 x 60 Acrylic on Canvas)
    OUT OF THIS WORLD

    The 4th of July is just around the corner and I am reminded of summer days growing up in a sleepy little beach town in southern California, Del Mar. Not so sleepy now, but back then it actually was, despite the fact that it was a Mecca for the movie stars.

    Stay tuned for more in my Blog on Movie Stars and Del Mar California once the racing season begins in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, here is a true story about lazy Summer Days Growing up in Del Mar.

    My parents had a 4th of July party every year. My father was a lawyer in Los Angeles. Daddy commuted by train, leaving from the train station on Monday morning and arriving home on Friday night. Orange County was considerably far away to drive in those days. Back in the day, home fireworks were legal. They were illegal to buy in San Diego and maybe in Los Angeles too, but in Orange county fireworks were sold. I remember vividly Daddy driving to Orange County a week or two before the fourth of July to buy fireworks for our party. The excitement my sister Wendy and I felt was palpable! With anticipated glee Wendy and I counted the days till we would be able to light our fireworks!

    It was like Christmas in July when he would come home with all the beautifully wrapped fireworks! Packages labeled with the names: Sparklers, Sky Rockets, Black Snakes, Fountains, Roman Candles. Wendy and I adored the sparklers! It was like shooting stars on a stick. In the night air you could write with them and they twinkled like little stars or fireflies. Being California girls born and raised we did not have fireflies. We did experience them when we traveled to see our grandparents in Pennsylvania.

    The morning of the fourth would always start with a swim in the ocean. Oh, how good the water felt! After breakfast Wendy and I and the other girls in the neighborhood would have a parade. I think it must have been one of my mother’s ideas. We dressed up like revolutionary war characters and would march up and down the streets once I started playing the flute. I played I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy and other patriotic songs. Wendy brought up the rear playing the drums.

    FIREFLY (60 x 48 Acrylic on Canvas)
    FIREFLY

    The evening festivities started about 5:00 or 6:00. So exciting! Wendy and I got to have our Black Snakes on the driveway! For those of you who are not familiar with these fireworks, after lighting a small tablet, the tablet starts smoking and an ash resembling a snake is created via an intumescent reaction. Then it was all we could do to wait for darkness to fall and light our sparklers.

    As much as I loved the 4th of July there was only one part that I dreaded, making it a some what bittersweet experience. Being hugged tightly by the grown-ups! By the 4th, I had had three weeks of ocean and sun.  Back in the 1950’s and 60’s they did not have sunscreen except for the hideous white paste, Mercurochrome. So by the 4th of July my back was red as a lobster! My front side would be all freckled and brown but my back would be on fire with sunburn. I would try to tell people please don’t hug me because I am sunburned but everyone was drinking and smoking and my little voice did not get heard. So I would wince when the company arrived and wince when they left! Otherwise, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, watermelon —Yummy. J

    Once it was dark the real fun began! Daddy would give us our long anticipated sparklers. After that Daddy would start with the big fireworks.

     OOOH AHHHH We would sigh —  SOOOO Beautiful!!!!

     After we finished our family fireworks show, the whole family walked up the street to the top of the hill to watch the spectacular fireworks from the nearby fairgrounds. It was really dark back then so you saw lots of stars. We had lots of bats in Del Mar and on one occasion a bat flew into my hair and I screamed!  We sat up on the vacant lot and waited till 9:00 pm when the fireworks started, oohing and ahing at the colors, all the colors of the rainbow brilliantly lighting up against the inky black background.

    Artists’ works are influenced by events and emotions of their lives. Perhaps my subconscious mind took the colors and hues of those remembered fireworks into the artwork that I am producing today.

    Happy painting and dreaming… Fireworks in the sky!

     “Saturday, in the park, think it was the fourth of July.” Chicago

    Chicago Performing Saturday in The Park

     

    RED PLANET (60 x 48 Acrylic on Canvas)
    RED PLANET

    I hope you all have a Safe Happy Fourth of July!

    Bye for Now,

    Francesca