Grandchildren’s Room and Francesca’s painting in the hallway
This evening my older daughter and her family will arrive from Spain for a visit. I am so excited to see the whole family! The grandchildren’s room is ready and I look forward to the patter of little feet running up to their room to see what outfits Mimi has on the wall for them. The Pink Grandchildren’s Room
Pixies and Fairies Painted by the Author/Artist when she was seven years old
Two paintings that I created years ago when I was a child myself are framed and hanging on the wall . My mother had kept these paintings and had them framed for my oldest daughter’s first birthday.
For those of you, like me, who have grandchildren who live miles away, you know the feeling of feast or famine with the family.
I have been gardening in the children’s garden seeing that it needs attention! There is a jungle gym for the children to play on as well as many little gardens for them to dig and plant in.
A song came to mind that I heard years ago that matched my mood and excitement of the day. Michael Franti – Say Hey For years I searched for it on the internet and suddenly discovered it again.
Enjoy July whatever fun events or happenings you might have planned. I will look forward to being back in touch mid-August!
Bye for Now,
Francesca
Elephants at The Circus Painted by Francesca When She was Seven Years Old
Del Mar was a sleepy little beach town when I was growing up, coined Gasoline Alley by some. There were at one time thirteen gas stations in our little town when Highway 101 was the main thoroughfare to the City of San Diego. The County Fair was a big deal for folks when it came to town! Within a few days of the County Fair closing the Races would start. WOW! Movie Stars all up and down the beach! Summer Days in Del Mar
Lucy and Desi Had a House on The Beach!
I remember summer mornings swimming in the ocean, warm, sleepy afternoons painting and playing with our Barbie and Madame Alexander Dolls and plastic horses with my sister and friends. Our step-grandpa was John Lloyd Wright and we lived right next door to him. We called him Grandbot.Grandbot invented five toys. The most famous one was Lincoln Logs. He also invented a toy called Wright Blocks. They were sooo much fun to play with!!! Wendy and I loved making horse corrals and pastures on the grass for our plastic horses to run! The most fun part of our play for me was setting up the elaborate houses and pastures and placing our plastic horses in them, dressing and undressing the dolls in different outfits!
We also loved playing Indians (Playing Indians) and I loved playing Queen and Geisha girl. I would get bored of those two games quickly because once I was dressed up there was nothing for me to do except sit on the throne and be waited on. I remember one time my sister and our friends bowed down in front of me and said Salami Salami Baloney Baloney! We all fell into gales of laughter! My mother would help me get all dressed up to be a Geisha in a kimono with an obi. But once I was dressed up all I could do was sit, the outfit was so binding! After all that I would ask my mother to please help me get out of the outfit!
As a child I would become bored with some of the games. Looking back on it I am so happy to be an adult! Sometimes with all the stresses of adult life we may look back on childhood as an idyllic time of endless freedom and happiness.But in actuality many of us have more freedoms as adults. I guess what I am saying is even with all the seriousness, grief or traumas that we go through, when immersed in happy work, exercise, helping others we can free the passion of life!
Happy summertime! On that note I am going to go take a swim in the ocean!
Happy Swimming or whatever you love to do for exercise in the summertime.
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 outlawedon 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 littlegirl Francie.She just loves watching you onTV!
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 feelingso perfectly content, daydreaming of how it would feelto ride bareback into theocean 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!
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!
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 beginsin 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
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
I come from a long line of writers on both sides of my family. While some research implies talent in families is passed down through the gene pool, equally important are environment, training and opportunities. The environment in which I was nurtured encouraged creativity and artistic expression. In our family we are all artists. My sister is a scientist as well as an artist. Check out my first blog post We Are All Artists.
In my family tree there are writers, actors, architects, designers, gardeners, musicians, and painters.
I was reading an article in Surfer Magazine today about the surfing gene and how families of professional surfers evolve. The author of the article was interviewing families of famous surfers. One statement they all seemed to stand behind is the fact that their children had been exposed to the best surfing from the time they were born. And practically before they could walk they were taken out into the water with their famous surfing parents.
My niece Rebecca has a childhood friend whose family is full of famous baseball players. It seems to make sense that we are born into families where we can excel in the family business.
I love to write because it is so creative. The same energy I experience when putting paint to canvas is present when I write. In the beginning everything was written longhand. Imagine my delight when I learned to use computers. Now writing is effortless and even more of a joy.
A couple of years ago I went to the mountains by myself for a long weekend with my standard poodle Amie. When I got home I sat down with my laptop and just wrote and wrote. I felt like I was with my best friend. If there really are angels like my granddaughter Anushka says, andwhich I tend to agree with, maybe they are right there with us while we write (Check out my blog about my granddaughters). I believe we are never alone. The idea that our spiritual guides, angels, God are always with us continually is such a comforting thought.
Think of all the authors who have said, I don’t know where a story is going to take me when I sit down to the computer – the story unfolds, the characters tell me who they are and at times the story starts writing itself. In this way my art takes the same form. I’ll start a painting in one way yet it totally changes before it is done.
I am at times beginning to feel swept away with my friends or friend as I sit here and type away. Many times I can’t type fast enough for the thoughts that flood into my heart and mind. Writing is like painting because it is fluid and alive. I love this quote of Maya Angelou’s . . .
A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
I have three granddaughters, two who live in Spain. As a result I have been a Cyberspace Granny since they were born. SKYPE is so great because it gives one the opportunity to relate to the grandchildren even though one might be thousands of miles apart.
Adam and Eve Expelled from Paradise
The younger one in Spain is still a baby and I sing to her and play peek-a-boo. My oldest grandchild is her big sister and she is now five and a half. Anushka and I play on the computer. I also read her stories some of which Nana, my mother, has given her so that she has one book in Europe and the same book in the states when she comes here to visit. What my mother did not even think of and has worked out so great is that I can read to her over Skype and she can look at the pictures in her copy of the book. One of these books that we have two copies of is Barbar Comes to America. Barbar is a long story and we talk about what is happening on every page in the pictures. That usually takes several Skype sessions.
Anushka used to get the giggles and move me from room to room in her home in Spain, even onto the balcony that overlooks the horse pasture.
Now this is your home Mimi, and then she would burst out laughing.
It was really funny because little Mimi was in the computer. Sometimes she would take blocks and put them on each side of the computer to show my house and then she would put a towel over the screen.
Anushka, I can’t see!
Anushka would then throw up the towel and laugh hysterically. We have sometimes played for hours cooking and store, plastic horses, little dolls. Anushka used to say,
OK Mimi, I am the princess and you are my husband and I have 3 husbands. Not all at the same time!
I would respond.
Oh yes, Mimi, at the same time! I get tired of one and then I have another prince.
And then Anushka makes her mouth in the shape of an O and then smiles, then laughs hysterically.
On my recent trip to Spain last month, after seeing the Chagall traveling exhibit in Madrid, Anushka and I both bought books depicting Chagall’s art.
After viewing the Chagall exhibit we went to lunch. We also bought in the museum store sketchbook paper and colored pencils. At lunch Anushka and I drew and looked at our books and compared the paintings. Anushka would show me a painting that she loved in her book and then I would do the same. We then talked about Chagall’s use of colors and depictions of scenes and emotions from his life including many brides and grooms. Anushka loved all the wedding paintings. As I mentioned in my last blog post she also loved all the animals in the sky.
Abraham and the Three Angels
After I was home in California I Skyped with the family one day and asked Anushka if she wanted to go get her book with the paintings of Chagall. With a large grin on her face she said,
I’ll be right back, OK Mimi?!
OK Anushka let’s do like we did in Spain, why don’t you show me a painting that you like in your book and then I will show you a painting that I like in my book.
Our books are different and do not have all the same paintings. Anushka’s is a large soft back so easy for a child to turn the pages and not too heavy.
Ok Mimi, I show you, and Anushka proceeded to take her time to look thoughtfully through the book.
Oh this one Mimi, I think this one is very beautiful!
It’s a painting depicting three angels. Then I showed Anushka the one that is on this page. It was also in the exhibit.
We were showing each other our favorite paintings and describing them and telling each other why we liked them and then all of a sudden Anushka said, I don’t like this painting at all!
OK Anushka, why don’t we show each other paintings we don’t like and talk about why we don’t like them.
Illustration for the Book Marc Chagall. Cirque, Paris, 1967
Chagall was so in love with his first wife and then she died. Anushka’s book had a picture that to her depicted the woman dead.
The woman is dead in this picture.
So then we discussed how that made Anushka feel, very sad.
At times life is really sad and great art can depict the sad parts of life. My Mimi, Anushka’s great-great-grandmother, used to say:
If you look at a great piece of art and look in one corner it may look very ugly but if you look at the whole painting it is so beautiful. The ugly part together with the beautiful part is the essence of making a particular painting great.
Mimi was also teaching me about life. Life has its sad and ugly parts but all together those parts can help us learn and grow.
So after revisiting the angel painting that was Anushka’s favorite, she said,
The Angels take care of us but we can’t see them.
About that time her mother came into the room.
Anushka we are going to take a walk now.
We say our goodbyes and blow kisses at the computer screen. I hug myself telling Anushka and her family I am hugging and kissing them.
Hugs and kisses and love till the next time we Skype and have another art adventure.
The world is a much smaller place than it used to be thanks to modern technology.
This past weekend I was in the San Francisco Bay area. Sunday was the 75th birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge. Check out the picture on the right and this video of the fireworks taken this last Sunday May 29, 2012.
Last week on PBS Evening News a reporter gave some history on the building of the bridge. There was controversy surrounding the idea of building the bridge. There was even controversy on who were the true engineering architects of the bridge! On Sunday May 29th this was all set straight — after 75 years!
“One aspect of the 75th birthday celebration that wasn’t in the plans was the rekindling of an old controversy. Who should get the credit for building and designing this spectacular bridge? The first design, from 1922, showed a bulky unattractive bridge, part cantilever, part suspension. It was the work of Chicago bridge builder Joseph Strauss, who had decided his legacy would be a span to rival the Brooklyn and George Washington bridges in New York.
But Strauss wasn’t a civil engineer. He was a builder of drawbridges, a promoter and organizer. And he organized a decades-long campaign to get the Golden Gate Bridge approved and built by him. Before construction began, Strauss’ clunky design was scrapped, though he remained as chief engineer. In its place was a sleeker structure made possible by University of Illinois engineer Charles Ellis and Leon Moisseiff, who had designed the Manhattan Bridge.” (PBS New Hour Interview)
I will never forget the first time I was with my family driving over the Golden Gate Bridge as a little girl. Imagine a child’s dismay – the bridge was not gold, it was red! The fact that it was red instead of gold disturbed me for many years. Today I am just taken by its majestic beauty.
Birthday Girl Lorraine and Sister CorrineRoses in Lorraine’s Garden
My father used to rouse the family in a song of California Here I Come. During vacations with my husband, Pete, and our daughters years ago; I led the song, much to the horror of my children! To this day I roll down the windows and belt out the song as I drive over the bridge. I have the opportunity to see the Golden Gate Bridge often and to drive across. The experience always takes my breath away. If I am not driving, I am snapping pictures. Shrouded in clouds, in rain or on the occasional clear day the view is always magnificent!
The Author, Cousin Jeremy and Lorraine
This weekend I went to Point Reyes station and Inverness for my cousin’s birthday. Lorraine lives with her family on eight acres surrounded by verdant gardens and nature. Friends and family came with delicious food. A friend raised and roasted a pig for the event. Oysters were abundant, found locally, raw and cooked on the barbecue.
Google weather fore-casted a cold rainy day but to the delight of the birthday girl and the rest of us there was sun to penetrate warmth on our backs and shoulders.
Here’s to celebrating life with family and friends!
Bye for now,
Francesca
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A song came to mind that I heard years ago that matched my mood and excitement of the day. Michael Franti – Say Hey For years I searched for it on the internet and suddenly discovered it again.
