His Most Serene Majesty

This is a portrait of His Most Serene Majesty. Such laggard people he owns, you'd think they'd be quicker with the can opener.

Sneak peak at tomorrow's opening

Today I hung a show that opens tomorrow at the American Women's Club in Scheveningen. There are 27 paintings, 26 of which were painted outdoors in the last year and a half here in the dunes near the North Sea. I'm looking forward to friends, conversation, wine, and home-baked appetizers by a friend who is starting her own baking business. (We traded my art for her art.) So come all, the show is from 2 to 5.

T, laughing

A portrait from the IAC

I'm taking a portrait class at the International Art Club of the Hague. This portrait was done a couple of weeks ago... the drawing is from a live model, and the stand is for about 20 or so minutes. The class if full of very talented artists, and I'm improving - practice, practice, practice.

Stylin' dad

We really do look alike, especially when we swap glasses and hats.

Pop-tart

On a recent visit to the states, I stopped by my sis's house. There, I was again impressed by the creativity of my niece. She concieved and designed this Halloween costume of a pop-tart. She chose the materials and assembled it all on her own initiative. The colored sprinkles are popscicle sticks. This brilliant costume gets an A+ from her proud uncle.

Vignobles Jean-Francois Carrille, Chateau Cardinal Villemaurine

Jean-Francois Carrille runs a small vineyard in St. Emilion. When we stopped by, he was very busy directing the grape harvest, yet he happily found the time to give us a tour of the fields, the cellar, and the fermentation area. The cellar is centuries old, part of a cave/quarry from which the town of St. Emilion was built. Jean-Francois's wines are excellent. He's proud of his work and the region, but humble when it comes to himself. We really liked him... he is one of those people that you wish you could get to know over the years, preferably over many glasses of wine. If you are ever in St. Emilion, stop by this winery. You can buy wines going back to the 1960s, lovingly maintained in his cellar.

Kelli has two ears too!

I am teaching my friend Kelli how to be an oil painter. In Holland, sometimes this can often end in disappointment. We set up to go painting outdoors in the dunes. After weeks of unseasonally warm and sunny weather, it suddenly started raining. We were all set to go paint, but winter has now arrived. Today: indoor painting from a still life.

Dinosaur tracks in Portugal

One of the coolest things about Portugal is the lack of regulation. For example, here we are on the beach, and we have complete access to this set of fossilized dinasaur tracks on the beach in Salema. here's some text I lifted from the geological investigation:

The prints on the shelf of Lower Cretaceous rock are those of a herbivorous biped also known as an Ornithopod. This was a three-toed (tridactyl) creature, and it is the rounded shape of these toes, with no claw marks, that implies it only ate vegetation.