I got in trouble on Rockaway.

Janae and I headed out to paint today.

I wanted to find new spots on Rockaway, I need a place that has good sunset views.

(the beach faces away from the sunset)

So we went to Arverne, where i was last week, but we went north to the patch of wildlife reserve.

It was so hot.

I didn't really like the spot, it's not well-maintained and the kind of place you have to watch out for syringes.

Janae didn't paint much, and she decided to go to the store and get water, since it was so hot and we ran out. She met another woman named Janae and had a fun encounter!

8x10 oil

Probably don't go here.

I don't recommend it. You can get this same view in other places.

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I had to be at the boathouse for guests I invited from the hotline.

I was getting on the train when my phone rang.

It was my friend Palma, who grew up on Rockaway and still lives there.

I said Hi Palma! and she launched into NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!

I almost died laughing....... knew this meant I messed up on Rockaway (I didn't, not really)... so I said oh what did I do wrong?

Palma said don't go there alone. I said I wasn't alone, and also it was fine. (It really was fine.  I know to be careful of syringes, no shady people were around, and I felt ok.) Then I had to go because I was on the train.  But now Palma wants to show me better spots, and I'll take her up on it.

Plover Daycare

Janae came over tonight for an overnite plein air adventure!

I hosted this time, and we decided to go down to Rockaway for painting the beach and sunset views.

The baby plovers are out!

They are so ridiculously adorable!

The adult plovers really watch their little ones, in a very organized way.

It's awesome to see.

The male plovers stand sentry guard on the beach facing the water while the females watch the chicks run in and out of the water.

6x8 oil

Plovers everywhere!

Surfing Instead

Our whitewater rafting trip got cancelled last-minute.

The river conditions weren't right.

So, I'm not going away this weekend after all.

It's a mixture of disappointment and relief.

Aimee, Anthia, and I were supposed to go and we all had Friday off work.

Aimee didn't want to waste the day, she wanted to do something, learn something new, so she suggested a surfing lesson.

I have never been surfing before... so why not?

I like to try new things!

Also it was still cheaper than what I would have paid for the car rental.

Aimee and i went down to the surf beach, Beach 69 at Arverne  (Rockaway) and Anthia joined us later.

I am NOT a surfer.

I'm glad for the experience but I didn't enjoy it enough to want more, like I do with whitewater kayaking.

Also, I came away from it with a bruised rib, which will take a while to heal.

Getting out far enough was incredibly difficult.

I don't know, I like boogie boards but I'll leave the surfing to others.

I also planned on painting but the weather turned so I didn't.

I got a new beach tent.

Summer Camp & Paint!

Whoa, I went away again this weekend... this summer has been a LOT of small trips, and I have... THREE more coming up.... including next weekend for whitewater rafting!

It's fun but also a bit overwhelming, I'm not used to going away so much!

Aimee, Anthia and I went up to Harriman for a chill relaxing camping weekend.

I brought my hammock.

Our campsite was...flooded with children.

Many small children.

So many of them.

They were cute, and it's really good for them to be out in the woods, but they were... so noisy the way kids are, CONSTANTLY.

Everywhere I went... those same children showed up. Every-fucking-where.

Like they had velcro-radar or something.

If I went to the bathroom.... they were there.

If I went to the campsite... they were there.

If I went to the dock.... they were there too.

If I went to the pavilion... you get the idea.

We could NOT get a break from those kids.

There was no such thing as "quiet" all weekend.

They didn't do anything wrong (except the one who watched Anthia in her tent while she was changing) and they are good kids but they were just so constantly LOUD.  

It really grated on my nerves and now that I'm home I'm feeling the need to pull back and get some quiet.

Painting 1, 6x8 oil

(Yes the children ended up in the pavilion where I was painting.)

Painting 2, 

I had to escape down the camp road. No children there. It was blessedly quiet.

Anthia did see a bear over there, but I decided to not worry about it. I did not see the bear but maybe he saw me and just left me alone....

6x8 oil

The quiet did me a lot of good and what I needed....a break.

We went swimming (the children were there) and while drying off, I did another painting.

6x8 oil

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Fun assorted camping pics!

We always eat really well when camping.

Kitty Isis says hi

She does this a lot while I'm working when she wants something.

It's very effective.

After-Work Beach Painting

It is that time of year to paint on the beach after work... so that's what I did!

This week is intense at work, lots happening, and today is the only day I'll be able to paint.

8x10 oil

A Willow & a Fail

I went over to Janae in Brooklyn for a plein air overnite adventure!

We met up at Brooklyn Botanic, where I did 2 paintings.

The first is of this fantastic willow.

One day I'll have to do a painting standing under the canopy... it's on my list!

8x10 oil

We then made our way over to the Cherry Esplanade.

I wanted to capture the bright green stripe in the grass.... I consider this painting to be a fail.

That's ok. I don't know if I was tired or too distracted but I really missed it with this one.

So, in order to salvage some fun out of it, I put in the robins.... who were everywhere.

8x10 oil