
Oil, 24 x 36 inch, A Swiss Postcard, © St Germain
The beginning of this vision, is not the painting
you see here. It started like a beautiful snowy
scene with a little town in the valley,
like a Swiss postcard.
Unfortunately it was not to be. Suddenly black soot fell
from the sky, dirtying up the snow. It became a bleak,
depressing sight, for the soot started rolling down
the hills, forming mud paths, changing this to
a God forsaken land.
Again, I started calling out. “Please, stop! Stop this!”
In trying to understand why this beautiful valley
turned into a muddy mess, I remembered that
in the book of Exodus Moses was instructed
to take black soot from a kiln,
and throw it to the sky. It caused the Egyptians
to break out in boils and sores,
which was the 6th plague.
That made it clear that black soot falling from
the sky is a sign of judgment,
causing an epidemic in the whole land.
This plague makes this vision easy to understand.
If we dirty-up something that is white as snow, or holy,
everything becomes contaminated,
not just one thing, but the whole valley
becomes dirty and messy!
Will this be the end of these visions?.
Am still hoping for it, as I flipped off the light switch
to go back to sleep.
SLEEP?
To paint this scene was interesting, to say the least.
I began with the Swiss postcard. The green valley with
on the sides the mountains going up turned
unintentionally into the shape of a dragon or spider. When
I realized what shape it had turned into,
I exaggerated it, for I felt it fits with the devil’s work,
to destroy anything beautiful.
In the first session I had painted the mountains white.
When I started putting black spots on it, the oil paint
started to smudge, and looked messy. Needed to wait
a few days, before I could continue.
First I cleaned up the parts
where the black and white – had “melted” together –
with paper towel. Then I continued
with painting the muddy paths.
Maybe you see on the bottom
my signature in green

Building a new deck last year for this old cabin took
some doing and go from old to new.
Hubs spend first much time in re-aligning the randomly
– scotch and crooked – placed pillars of the old deck and
adding some new ones because they were too damaged.
Another professional touch was later the spacing
of the steps of the stairs to the yard. It felt like floating
instead of climbing up and down
when steps are spaced too far apart. Important
especially for someone who is not tall, like I.
One Word Sunday: Open – Opened up

My first try of Escargot (snails)
Surprizingly, it did not taste bad:):)
Makro-Tex: On the Plate

This story is about “When you go back to white ….!”
Putting the diffuse glow filter on these Camellia
seen in the Huntington Library Garden in Pasadena
FOTD, Floral Fri Foto

Wordless Wednesday, PhotoAWeek-1
LITTLE CHAT
As you can see I changed back to my previous background. I used the Canard background,
for visitors easier to navigate.

Yet, I missed the single column for
my posts too much, and the sidebar was
too distracting. Now, pretty much
decided on my sequence:
my weekly post, and in between
the 2 weekly posts
is Thurs. Doors.

Wordless Wednesday
Sky Watch

Weekend Reflection, also in the Huntington Garden.
MONDAY – Our World * FOTD * Jo’s Walk * Weekly Smile *
TUESDAY – Travel Tue * Makro-Tex * PhotoAWeek *
WEDNESDAY – Wordless Wed * Der Natur Donnerstag *
THURSDAY – Sky Watch * Thankful Thurs.* Floral Fri Foto *
FRIDAY – Fri Bliss * Weekend Reflection *
SUNDAY – One Word Sun * Sun Best *
Would love to see the finished deck – hope you are enjoying it now!! Thanks for linking with #Allseasons
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The deck was for a customer -who was very happy:)
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A very visual and stunning week — sharing the creative process was for me, a non-artist, an interesting excursion. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Lorraine! Talking about the creative process is as much fun as the painting itself!
Thanks for your visit:)
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I like the pictures. When you mentioned your husband was building a deck for a customer, I envisioned a small flat surface near the ground. That is a huge deck.
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Yeah, the redwood deck is as long as the house (cabin) is wide, a 3-story cabin – at least 50 years old, because they had six kids. One of these “kids”‘ became friends with us, and had seen how hubby’s built his tinker room around four pillars (from reclaimed wood- can’t think of the right term), so he knew it was a cinch for him to build a deck.
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A cinch for him but a major undertaking.
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Lovely photos.
I have never eaten snails.
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Dear Kirsti, it’s not as bad as it sounds – kind of mix of chicken meant and something else:)
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We love our cabin deck in all seasons. Even with snow we bundle up on sunny day to get some free Vitamin D. – Margy
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You are a trooper, Margy! I like to be inside, when I look at snow:) I never think about vitamins:):(
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Nice to read about how the painting evolved.
My latest post:
https://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2021/09/brief-visit-to-kaikondrahalli.html
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Enjoyed your post so much, Shiju!
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Nice clicks!
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Interesting to read of the process behind your art. No way would I try escargot!!!
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Lisa, when you have tried it once, you think what is all the fuss about, it’s just … food:):)
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I loved how you described your painting as you were working on it, it also made me ponder of your analogy of the events in the Book of Exodus during Moses’ time. Thank you for sharing!
Escargot is a must-try indeed! I wonder if there is any difference to the Philippines’ local delicacy, “Ginataang Kuhol” (snails in coconut milk). It is actually delicious and a favorite dish ordered by foodies and tourists at local restaurants
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Oh yeah, you get something dirty, it is very hard to clean up.
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You should see my hands and clothes when I paint – I even get it on my coat, haha (am serious!)
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A lot of work building such a deck. My husband built a deck here 20 years ago. He used very thick boards and it is still in great condition, even if the snow falls from roof with power. Happy weekend.
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I had escargot years ago and thought it was actually pretty good. Thanks for linking up. I always appreciate your posts.
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The painting is very interesting. To me, it looks like a village is being carried away by a green river.
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