Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday



Monday


 

Actually it’s 12:30 at night for us, but the sun is already up here at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.  At 8:30 on a Monday morning the place is fairly busy.  The flight over was long, long enough to watch three films on the little screens they have on the back of the seat rests.  I never could sleep on airplanes, so right about now I could just lay down anywhere on the floor and fall asleep in a few minutes.


Richard Boyer

Sunday

Sunday,

Location:  30,000 feet above Wyoming. 

I’m on the way to Sweden with Victor and Lina. We set the alarm for 7:00, ate breakfast and headed out the door for check-in with Delta airlines.  I was expecting a zoo of people, but instead it went quite smoothly with their self check-in. 

Last night we all drove up to Park City for the Midsummer celebration.  A holiday that is wildly popular in the Scandinavian countries, stemming back to the days of the Vikings.  They saw it as a time to honor the longest day of the year and the fertility of the human race.  Yes many a child has his or her birthday in March.

We had the Maypole from last years festival; a large 4x4 pressure treated wood pole with a cross bar on it.  This is then covered in leafy twigs cut off of bushes and then adorn with flowers.  String is generally used to wrap the greenery around the pole.  

We were also late driving up there, putting the entire pole decorating ceremony on hold.  Somehow when we tied the large wooden cross to the top of the car, I thought wearing a white robe would have fit in better. It looked like we were heading  to a KKK rally.  I was waiting for the first cop to pull us over and start the questioning process. 

The women took over the decorating tradition as we arrived. Most of the guys grouped together with some stout beer in hand.  David Maribello, our electrician friend had just finished a job wiring up a brewery and of course had a rather large collection of their most potent products in the form of liter bottles.  This of course attracted more guys to join our group in conversation, as the women worked.   In this organization the majority is Swedish wives married to Americans.  We all had something in common, foreign wives.

Soon the dinner bell rang out and we lined up for the smorgasbord of food, starting with herring and potatoes.  Most of the guys gleefully fill their plates up with the fish, as the Swedish tradition is to wash it down with Aquavit, a potent 40 percent-spiced vodka.  With each shot the group broke into Swedish songs, most of which I would be shot for translating. Especially when they deal with the sexual arousal of women, or the stiffness of certain male parts.

When everyone is to the point of finding it difficult to balance, the games begin.  We split up into seven groups and were given names from each day of the week.  The completion was fierce, as Monday’s group was yelling out primeval grunts. 

The first task was to loop a string around your ear with a piece of candy tied to the end.  You then had to run up to an empty wine bottle and gingerly try to lower the piece, in this case, a Swedish fish into the neck of the bottle.  No hand could be used and it took a while.  A three-legged race followed with half of the contestants flailing on the ground. They saved the most dangerous until last.  “The boot tossing”.  This is where to victim gets into more or less a football squat stance and the boot is then tossed between the legs, arcing it over the back in an attempt to propel it forward.  The result usually ends up with the boot flying straight up in the air and landing on some unsuspecting contestant.  I deflected one away from Lina head.  It was a fun evening for everyone. 

At 11;00 we finally headed back down the valley, we had an early morning to deal with.

 

Richard Boyer

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thursday

I worked on this one today, just adding a few more highlights to the water and a few more bodies in the background. The crit has been put off until tomorrow. Most everyone is heading down to the Salt Lake Arts Festival. Every Spring they put on an event where they close off a few city blocks and set up artists booths with all kinds of crafts and art work for sale. Food and concerts are usually in the evenings and this evening "Cowboy Junkies" are playing.

So we all decided to pay the $10 entrance fee to see the art show and the concert !!!

It should be a fun night

God knows we need it after the death of the car, although we are still deliberating if we should spend the $2500 to fix it up ?

Richard Boyer

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wednesday


R.I.P.

I'm afraid the valves are all bent and most likely damage to the heads as well. The Man added that it would run around $ 2500. to fix it !

We all need a moment to bow our heads.

Richard Boyer

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tuesday, June 22

Didn't get much painting done today. Markus borrowed the car to go down to southern Utah, him and two other buddies packed the car to the limit with gear and headed south along I-15. They made it as far as Point of the Mountain and the car died. As they put it, "We gave it gas, but it just kept going slower, until finally it just stopped"

One of the kids, Kyle fortunately had a AAA card and they had the sick Volvo towed back to another friends house in Holiday. The car was still ten miles from our house and we were up at the cabin. All of this Karin got from a garbled phone message. They then ended up borrowing the family car from the parents where our car was dropped off at and continued on their way to Moab.

We called that family today and arranged to have it towed to a service station they knew about that had worked on their Volvo. The tow truck showed up and did a few quick tests.......it was the timing belt and yes the engine was probably shot. Might as well haul it off to the junk yard, it would cost more to fix than its worth.

That was the tow truck operators opinion. The car mechanic at the service shop wasn't quite sure either and said he could look at it tomorrow, but the outlook doesn't look promising !

God, do I hate cars !!!

Richard Boyer

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sunday

Sunday

Today is Fathers day, one of the most played down holidays there is. Lets face it Mothers Day has about the same power as Christmas, if you forget it, you might as well start packing your bags. You’re out in the proverbial doghouse for a week.

I was told by Lina to sleep in so she could bring me coffee in bed. At eight-thirty I decided to get up, both Victor and Lina were still snoring away, so I went out on the back porch to soak in the morning sun. Karin was just returning from a walk with the dog and it was then we figured there was no point in waiting any longer. We decided coffee was in order on the porch and let the kids continue to sleep.

We have an old sailboat up here at the cabin, something Karin and her friend Sussi got for free. Just being in the right place at the right time, they met a man who just wanted to get rid of an old boat and trailer. With a little paint and work we had the thing back up and running. Two years later its still being used and the only thing it could use now are some new sails.

The wind was blowing this morning so we decided to pull the plywood off the top and clean out all the dead leaves from winter storage. A couple of spider webs and paper wasp nests had to be carefully cleaned out, but soon it was ready to try out in the water.

We headed off to the East arm of Jordanelle Reservoir. The Sunday boaters were out in full force. It was father’s day on the water. Within minutes we had the mast on and were backing the boat down the ramp, getting the old sail on in a strong wind was not easy. And soon Karin was swearing from being clipped in the head from the boom. Strong gusts were playing havoc on the small boat. Victor and Karin decided to try it first, as we pushed them out into the water. The boom swung around again narrowly missing their heads. A few minutes later they were across the arm of the reservoir and working their way back across in the classic tack. By the time they came back to our side they had progressed forward about a hundred feet. The steady head wind made it hard to cover any distance, but added excitement as Victor leaned into a nice tilt, high up on the starboard side for a ride back across. Hollers were heard from Karin, as she told Victor to be more careful. He increased the tilt and flew across to the other side.

An hour later we caught sight of them again, the sail out all the way, as they rode the winds back to the launch site. It was Lina and my turn now.

Victor pushed us out as the boom swung around and clobbered me in the head. I cursed the stupid boom for being so damn low, fit for a munchkin. We found ourselves racing across in the same fashion, with some of the gusts picking the small craft up to tipping levels with us. Lina was soon asking if it was time to head back, but I wanted to try and get forward at least a little down the arm of the reservoir. My pay off was another whack to the head by the boom. I vowed to look at the Internet for new sails. Ours was so old and stretched out that the boom was dropping down at the end, making it next to impossible for me to stoop low enough so as to avoid being hit.

We made it back in one piece and are now relaxing with a gin and tonic back at the cabin. Chicken is on the menu for tonight.

Richard Boyer

Saturday


We planned to go up to the cabin today to escape the heat. The forecast called for afternoon temperatures in the 80’s

Karin woke up early, put on some coffee and powered up the Laptop. Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling were to be wed over in Stockholm and it was televised live over the Internet.

I stumbled out of bed a little after eight in the morning and went downstairs. In an excited voice she called me over to watch the commencement of the wedding vows. Cameras had been place all around inside “Storkyrkan”, a stone church built sometime in the 1200’s, so as to capture every angle and emotion of the young couple.

I glanced over to the kitchen table where the Salt Lake Tribune had been placed. The headlines were just another long-winded, eyewitness’s detailed account of the execution of convicted killer Rodney Gardner. I decided to bring the paper up to the cabin; maybe we could use it to start a fire in the stove.

“skynda she called out. All of Sweden had become glued to the television for this monumental event. Stockholm was basically shut down as the population poured out onto the streets around Gamla Stan, where the wedding ceremony was to take place. Estimates put the crowd at around half a million. The church was filled with royalty and dignitaries from Sweden and neighboring countries. It was the premier event to be at; especially for those fortunate enough to warrant an invitation.

Soon they were out the door and climbing onto a horse drawn carriage, ornately decorated in royal fashion for a promenade around the town. The route had carefully been planned out to offer the most exposure for the newlyweds to the general population. And the population was out to see them today! Security guards dressed in suits ran along side the carriage, as the rest of the police and military opened up a wide berth along the crowded streets for the procession. They finally made their way over to Djurgarden and the Wasa museum to board an elaborately, gold decorated boat for a trip back to the castle on Gamla Stan. The “Slottet”, as they would call it was where the evening banquet dinner was to be held. They pushed off without a motor; the driving force was a crew of fourteen rowers in full uniform.

We both thought, just what would we have to do to be invited for that dinner.

Richard Boyer

Friday, June 18, 2010

Friday

The crit went well last night, nothing broken, nothing spilled !

We toasted poor old Ronnie Lee Gardner in his last moments. I live in the state that loves to sensationalize executions. Every day the paper comes out with heart wrenching stories about his life and the life of those effected by his deeds. I agree he should be locked up for life, but the money that is waisted on the appeals process over the death penalty is ridiculous.

At least one of the shooters can feel better knowing that one of the bullets was rubber !!!

I worked on the scouts some more, adding a few more and changing a few around. Its still not done. With the uniforms I hope it doesn't become too drab. That may call for some more colorful flags in the piece.


This piece I added a few things to and will send it off to Santa Fe next week. Now its time to hit the pool with Lina, the temperatures are climbing up to the 80's today and expected to go higher over the weekend.

We plan on heading up to the cabin at 7000 feet the temps will be much better

Richard Boyer

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thursday


I put the scouts in the painting today and worked on the grasses. This is from a boy scout camping trip we did years ago to the San Rafael Swell. I'll see how the crit gang likes it tonight, after a few bottles of wine!

Southam Gallery has been selling a little more now, maybe it has something to do with the weather warming up. But any ways they sold a few smaller pieces and have some leads on larger paintings as well. I think realistically it must be because of the news coming out about the economy picking up. Every day you read something new about the numbers improving in this sector or that. Most of the time an economic down turn wouldn't affect the buyers of fine art. They mainly constitute CEO's, doctors and lawyers, its not like they are loosing their job. It's more a Psychological frame of mind.

So lets keep those good numbers coming out

Richard Boyer


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tuesday

I just blocked in this 18x24. Its from the scouts marching back to the car after a long hike in southern Utah. The road is what intrigued me, the way it serpentines through the grasses.

Didn't have too much time to work on it, since Lina is signed up for a four day acting program at the local high school. That means me playing taxi driver and shuttling her to and from. She needs to be there at 9:00 and picked up again at 12:00. That's usually when I want the least interruptions. But, stardom comes first and the show must go on !!!

Well I have two more days to work on it before the crit session, so I'll know more tomorrow if this will be anything or just something for the garbage can.

The Howard/Mandville Gallery told me they had a spot for me in the fall for a show, so it looks like I'll have an outlet for all those pieces from Amsterdam. Its a two man show, so they said 15 pieces should be fine. I just have to make sure the weather cooperates, so I can get some paintings over there finished off. Northern Europe can sometimes have rain for the entire summer.

I sent two of the San Juan River paintings off to some of the people that were on the trip. So looks like they may be sold.

Richard Boyer

Monday, June 14, 2010

Monday, June 14


I worked on the harbor piece some more. Mainly I was trying to bring the sky and water together. The water was to blue before, so I added in some of the orange and purple colors from the clouds. It could still use another day on it, to just tweak it here and there.

Two weeks remain until we leave for Sweden, so I need to get stuff in the studio sent off to the galleries and also to get a piece done for the Oil painters of America Western show in Jackson. The event is not that big of a deal compared to their national show. The grand prize is only $4000. In their national I think it was over $20,000.

But it still worth a shot !

Lets see, if it's in Jackson that must mean something Western or with wildlife !

Richard Boyer

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday

It’s June and we should be walking around in 80-90 degree weather, basking in the sun, but noooo. Here we are putting on ski coats! The next couple of days it’s calling for cold rain, no wonder everything seems to be growing like its on steroids.

We had the crit last night and started off with some nice bottles of wine. It has become tradition now to not come empty handed, but rather with your choice of red wine. We are still trying to get it across to some of the crit members to go to the wine store and pick out something above the ten dollar range. Usually there you can find a good one rated at least 90 for around $12-14. This makes it more fun to open up a few and do some taste testing before the actual critiquing begins.

I brought along the Grand Canyon piece. Seems like a few things needed to be addressed, but all in all it’s done now. I lightened up some of the back cliff area and added a few darks to the foreground. Next week I can bring it down to Southam Gallery

I also added a canoe to one of the San Juan paintings. Last week I sent off JEPG images from all the river trip paintings I did and the only one with a canoe in it sold. And as usual several other people wanted the same piece. Ron Bailey from the May Gallery always preaches, if the painting sells, take it off the wall, or else you’ll have three others coming in wanting that very same piece!

So I added a canoe to the small 11x14 piece here.

Richard Boyer

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wednesday


Yesterday we had Lina's fourth grade graduation. A large collection of screaming kids with noise makers will always be the right recipe for a end of year celebration.

I started working on a 24x36 boat painting. So today I blocked in mainly the sky and the base color for the water. Tomorrow I can bring some of the reflections down into the foreground and play up the highlights from the sun. I'll keep the boats all back light to create drama.

I cut up a bunch of linen several days ago, that I will be taking over to Europe. We leave the 27th of June.

From a large roll of linen I place down a piece of cardboard that is cut out to a 12x16 shape, trace around it with a pencil and cut it out leaving 3/4 of an inch all the way around so I have something to staple on to the side of the stretcher bar when I finally come back in August. This way I can take over thirty or so canvases nice and flat in my suitcase. I'll do the same for 11x14 and a few 14x18's. I also toned the linen with a wash yesterday so it will dry in time. This gives me something other than a glaring white canvas to paint on.


Richard Boyer

Monday, June 7, 2010

Monday, June 7th

Yesterday Karin and I decided to do a mountain bike ride. She wanted to leave first thing in the morning after waking up. I on the other hand couldn’t even open my eyes without that first cup of coffee.

Some people will go to the gym early in the morning before eating anything; my wife falls into that category. She usually rolls her eyes when I say that I need to eat a real breakfast before exerting myself to the limits. French toast came to mind yesterday and so after an hour or two we were finished and ready to hit the steep slopes.

As we cycled up the hill to the entrance of City Creek Canyon, the heat from the sun was blistering on our backs. There at the entrance there is a path that goes off to the right and follows the creek for about a hundred feet, from there it basically switch backs itself up the side of the canyon wall to the top. Something, that even in the lowest of gear, you find yourself coming to a complete stop from exhaustion. Maybe if my thigh muscles were twenty years younger, it might have been a different story. I seemed to be always behind Karin. Somehow women always seem to have more stamina when it comes to endurance, as I tried my best to follow.

We spent much of the time walking the bikes up the steep incline. Karin was swearing at the heat. It was my fault for eating such a large breakfast!

At the top it levels off for a while and you get to catch your breath as you ride through fields of wildflowers. The trail then continues up again, although not quite as steep along the side of the hill. There you could look down into Salt Lake Valley

We came to a junction and decided to continue on up and along the Bonneville Shoreline trail until we reached Dry Creek, from there you can fly down the hill back to civilization. That’s where she turns to me and say’s “Why don’t you go first you like to go faster anyways!” In my mind I knew what she meant. When it comes to downhill most guys tend to leave common sense behind, as they put the bike into the highest gear and begin building up speeds approaching Mach One.

This would explain all the bruises our oldest child has when he returns from a mountain bike ride. Never the less I made it down with no injuries. Karin just called it “Reckless”


Today I just worked a little on the larger Grand Canyon painting, adding some light to the right wall edge and fixing up the rock field below it. It was too red before. I also added a log to the left sand bank.

Richard Boyer

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Thursday


So I added the sand bar and worked on the water. The crit session is tonight so I'll see what they all think about it. We had Victors 8th grade Graduation today, followed by lunch at the local brew pub. Yeah I know, but its one of Victor's favorite ! They do killer Buffalo burgers.

Richard Boyer

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Wednesday

I broke out the larger Grand Canyon painting today and started up on it again. Seems like a long time ago that I did anything with this one. The river trip took up a week and then I had another weeks worth of paintings from the trip to finish up.

Still have not decided if I want the long sand bar in front. I'll work more on the water tomorrow and see how it all comes together.

Richard Boyer

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Tuesday, June 1st

I'm back in the studio working away and watching the rain come down. We had a nice relaxing Memorial weekend, well maybe not yesterday. My wife determined that we should all go on a family hike.

Black mountain was the destination.

So off we went at 11:30 in the morning after a rather large breakfast. We drove up Terrace Hills Drive and parked the car at the end. There the trail winds its way up close to the ridge line. From there you have your choice of doing the level path of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail or continuing on up farther to follow the ups and downs along the crest of the ridge until you reach the final steep climb to the summit.

I should make a point for those of you not from Utah. The Bonneville Shore line trail is not along a shore by any means. They got the name from an old fresh water lake that covered the west back eons ago in geological time. Now a days the trail runs a thousand feet above the valley floor, offering spectacular views of the city below.

Lina was with us and we ended up taking a few breaks to look at the flowers and rocks. The wild flowers were out in abundance, covering the hill side and as usual I forgot the camera!

We had lunch on top and looked out over the views in every direction. Five hours later we were back at the car with tired leg muscles.


I worked on one last painting from the river trip. We were just coming up to our first campsite and had this great view of the rocks bathed in sunlight.

Richard Boyer