GRAND OPENING NIGHT for the L.A. OPERA SEASON......

Thursday, September 29, 2016

GRAND OPENING NIGHT for the L.A. OPERA SEASON......

….is just about the most glamorous, red carpet event in Los Angeles.

Nikka had a choice of three things to do for her birthday and picked this event! It was so much fun seeing everyone glammed up and intermission in the Founders Room gave us a chance to fully take it all in.

The one and only Placido Domingo starred as Macbeth and it was opera at it’s finest!

I think one of my favorite things to do is have dinner on the patio with Sandie Girl and just do our foodie best, relax and catch up.

Teaching brings me such great joy and a new student in the Huntington Botanical Gardens class asked, “Do you always have so much fun?” Of course the answer was a resounding YES!

I’m so proud of Jeannie. She had a major breakthrough and I loved her painting. Yes, lots of JOY!

Time for dinner and Bobbas at Din Tai Fung at Americana and then Nikka and I went birthday shopping for mom at Nordstrom. WOW, what a long day! Good thing we had the Bobbas!!!

Having the windows washed was on the list for getting ready for the Lissi Kaplan book signing in the studio. This corner window area in the office is rather tricky.

Jimmy put this bamboo covering up to hid our neighbors all too messy area. Thank you Jimmy for the perfect solution!

This must be birthday month. Even though Kc would rather keep it mum we had to get a cake and celebrate!

Congrats to Kayleen for her beautiful painting!

O.K., here’s the birthday girl with Sir Charles whose special day is coming up this Friday.

Kristine relieves Nikka with mom so Nikka can be in the office at least two days a week and also get a much needed day off.

Charles is always up for a good party!

Nikka is borderline TOO cute! She got these balloons at Party City!

And have you ever seen a more beautiful cake????

That’s correct. 104 years of living on our beautiful blue planet! Happy Birthday dear mom!!! We celebrate you.

May you have many, many years of joyful celebrations!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Happy Birthday Charles; September 30, 2016 at 11:38 PM

Introduction

There is no avoiding the pull of the internet, the blogs, the YouTube imaginings. It's as if we're all 'On the Road' with Jack Kerouac each in our own world of meanderings. When we tell someone to 'get a life' it might be a bit difficult when you're dragged into other people's 24/7.

I've come to realize two foundational principals, there are no accidents and everyone has a purpose. More and more I'm desiring everyone to come into a full realization of their purpose as we all find our way on this little jewel of a planet.

For me, as a professional 'Western style artist', I stumbled into Chinese Brush Painting after a trip in 1980 to Monet's home/garden. Seeing all of his collection of Japanese woodblock prints was an ahh haa moment for me and when I returned to the States I started painting in the Chinese manner and never looked back. The first year was extremely painful for me as I felt that I should be able to master the technique since I was a 'trained' artist. Not a chance ... that just gets in your way.

Now, after teaching close to 3,000 students and having my book 'The Ch'i of the Brush' published by Watson Guptill, I can say that every one of my students does better their first day than I did my first year! Why? Because I insist that they leave their critical parent outside and just enjoy the journey, respecting the work that they do. I never let anyone throw anything away because that just ingrains frustration and defeat.

We really only begin to learn when we stop and figure out how to 'save' a painting. It works every time.I am so proud of my students, their receptivity and eagerness to express themselves is a continuing blessing for me.So, back to finding your purpose. Perhaps it starts with realizing 'it's not about me'. It so easy to want our needs met and to filter everything thru this attitude. When we realize that we're here to be of benefit to every life that we touch the universe really provides the ways and means.

The best part is that it's really exciting to not have yourself on your mind all the time!I'm re-reading a wonderful book about authenticity and in my next meandering I'll tell you about it. In the meantime I'd love to hear about your journey and am here to answer any and all questions about Chinese Brush Painting.