My wonderful old friends, Larry and LaLonnie Larson from Montana, and their granddaughter, Emily, surprised me yesterday.

He's a pipeline pilot and flies his Piper Super Cruiser every couple of weeks on a three to four day run, watching out for possible troubles along a pipeline route. In 1988 on my Barnstorming USA aerial hitchhike through all of the 48 contiguous states, Larry took me from Billings, Montana to Pasco, Washington at an average altitude of 50 feet. Man, was that some fun flying!!! And I stayed with their family and got to stay in their wonderful guest cabin, next to their home in Molt, Montana. It reminded me of Walden Pond, only without the pond.



Here are two pictures I took at their home and airfield in Molt, Montana in 1988...



And here's their cute granddaughter, Emily, yesterday, trying out my new porch Tourist Trap posing place.

Larsons, please come back again, soon! You guys are so much fun!

charlie's own composition, age 17, in utah on usa road trip, july 2009

my field trip slide show ~3 mins

No, not decals. No stencils. Yes, I followed my patterns on the other side.

come paint with us on Thanksgiving Day in the Delta Meadows State Park!

Another Locke Meetup from Martha Esch: Delta Meadows Hike 'n Sketch on Thanksgiving Day from 10 a.m. to Noon.
The hike: We'll do "The Gunkholer Hike," a very easy, level hike, about a mile round trip. We hike together as a group and make three stops along Railroad Slough at scenic views to do quick ten-minute quick color sketches. Bring lightweight, field paint kits and an old towel or lightweight fold-up camping chair to sit on - think "less is more." You're welcome to bring any mediums and canvas or paper sizes. Postcard size papers or canvas boards and watercolors or small acrylic kits are the most portable and easiest for hiking, in my opinion. I have several extra basic field watercolor kits to share if anyone would like to try one. After our group hike, you're welcome to go back to any of the painting spots on your own or with a buddy and give them more time and effort.

Then, after the hike, we'll eat, if you're up for joining me for Thanksgiving dinner at Tony's Bar & Restaurant a mile down the river in Walnut Grove. They put an awesome and fun turkey feast last year, open to all. I think they're doing it again. If not, I know a great truck stop restaurant in Lodi that never closes.

IMPORTANT: the Meetup map may not be accurate: just find Locke's Main Street and follow to the end. 1258 Levee Street at intersection of Main Street in Locke, CA, 20' away from the Chinese restaurant. Google maps has Levee Street shown to be 1/8th of a mile further south.

Rain, heavy fog or high winds will cancel. Hope you can make it. Call me if you have any questions. Thanks! Martha (916) 776-1000

Mary and I ran away from home today

Here are our hobo paint kits and 10-minute paintings of views we stopped at along Railroad Slough while waiting for a train to go by with an empty boxcar. None ever showed up, so we came back home.

The World's Greatest Orthodontist ~ Dr. Daniel Haberman

Mary, two years ago at age 13, during phase 1 "The Expander Treatment." This gap was done on purpose, to make room for the braces to push the other teeth around...

Mary at age 14, during phase 2 ~ first day wearing braces...

Mary at age 15 on "Braces-Off Day"...

1 hour later ~ What a Beautiful Smile!...

Dr. Haberman,the World's Greatest (and nicest, too) Orthodontist, taking Mary's braces off...

Her first look at her new smile...

"Abracadabra, voila!"...


If you live in the south Sacramento, CA region, we highly recommend you get your braces done by Dr. Haberman, too! His office is in the Greenhaven-Pocket area, just off I-5 and his e-mail address is greehhavenbraces@gmail dot com.

Meadows Hike 'n Sketch

Guided Painting Tours into the Meadows State Park, behind Locke. Come join me! Today, Sonya, Alex and I had a blast! I'll be hosting another one soon.

Funny Youtube video of Charlie, my multi-talented son

one of my Delta Meadows watercolor 30-minute sketches

and a second one i did of my son floating in his upside-down cargo carrier boat:
I'm hosting a Hike 'n Sketch this Sunday from 10 'til noon into the Delta Meadows behind Locke. Come join me!

The (almost) finished products...

Crisp October Weekend at Wilbur Hot Springs

1988 and now

This was in the Black Hills of South Dakota in August 2000. It's one of my favorite old photos I took of my daughter at age 6 during one of our three USA coast-to-coast car trips my son, daughter and i have taken so far.

Amphibious car in front of our shop:

Video: Locke Boathouse Jam L-R: Charlie, Raphael, George, Noah

just off my easel

our music jam last night in my studio was FUN!

and here's a quick video of it:



and a little longer video:


Open Music & Art Jams on most Thursday nights in Locke 7 - 9 p.m. Call ahead to make sure it's on. (916)776-1000.

3 years ago since maynard's passing ... still so sad he's gone...

Locke makes a great backdrop for wedding photos ...

My Wilbur Hot Springs August 2009 art workshop participants

L-R:Cynthia, Dan, Elizabeth, Ana (model), Nancy; below: Angela, Martha (me)

charlie, my talented son, at age 17

Cute kids on my front porch

a boat without a name is bad luck, so... i named it...


for my own little mary...



now it's a landmark on google earth!
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=p&utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk-gm&utm_term=delta%20map

Two biker dudes with the watercolor sketches I painted of their respective bikes:

Jim Reeves' article about the Delta, Locke, (and my shop, "The Tourist Trap" )

How NOT to park parallell in Locke, California

My car is the red victim.

Hey, look, we're famous! Mary and I made it in the Sacramento Bee Pear Fair video...

i'm doing the watercolor of the cowboy and mary is the closest cheerleader to the camera (about halfway through). steve and autumn, thanks for sending me the link.

my kids are braver than me.

charlie, 17, (has arms up), and mary, 15, sitting on railing, just before she jumped off the walnut grove bridge last week.

me, in my swimsuit with my kids - two weeks ago

How I spent Memorial Day

pics from my May 2009 Wilbur Art Workshop

Turn your head sideways to view this...

I just stumbled upon one of my son, Charlie's drawings he created two years ago at age 15. He calls it, "Vertical Village." Here it is:

In my painting studio

>My painting of our model, Yumi.