Elect Joe

  Bringing new thoughts in my sketchbook into the sight of my eyes is often fun and a refreshing change from the tedious palette and brushwork I do everyday.    This is one of my fun sketches that I've done with the feel of our election process.



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What Has Worked;

Good Clear Air Today

I am back to work with regards to my oil painting. My elbow is doing much better although I can still feel a strain on it after exercising or painting for an hour. No matter, it feels well enough to put up with for now. I am beginning another Japanese Buddhist painting, one with a lot of movement of people. I'm hoping to take my time and give it the attention it deserves because after all, it will remain in this world long after I leave it. What good weather for photographing the outdoors. Although we need the rain, I can't complain about being uncomfortable in the outdoors today. With the clear sunlight, it's just perfect to photograph items and get some good pure colors to register well. This type of weather is why I like living here. Nothing like seeing the mountains as clearly as you can today, it seems like you can make out each and every leave on trees miles away on a mountainside in the clear air that we have today. I will be heading out now for a walk...
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Paint'n Belmont

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I've been work'n on the outdoor painting scenes this summer, yesterday I finished a nice small one of the local spot called "The Belmont Market" and it went well. It took about eight hours of actual painting time. But it's looking good and it only get's better the more I see it. I started out this summer with drawings then I put my brush to the canvas starting with "Spudnuts". The place is known for it's potato flour donuts which I too am an avid fan on any given morning when their flavors come wafting out of this spot. How couldn't I end up starting this summer's work of Belmont without it being first. The previous and first owner of Gibson's Groceries is now very ill. His son happened to see my painting of his local store inside Parks and Rec Dept in the City Hall Annex. His son happened to give me a call and this coming Monday I will be headed out once again to paint it. I'm looking forward to it. I've pai...
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"1984" All Over The World

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Today is our last school day for this year of 07-08 and I'm looking forward to seeing all the students off for the summer and then going to a teacher unwinding party at the High School. One thing that seems to have been done lately is to put cameras into the High School as a way of cutting down the trouble they have in curbing the problem of violence and just "bad behavior".. It's been in place for a couple of years I it's done that, but in thinking about it, would you want yourself to be on camera at all points when you were out in public spaces? Would you feel ok about it? What if those cameras were being manned by a group of people who wanted to keep citizens from gathering in groups of three or more and exchanging ideas? I know, it's not that way right now, but what if society changed so that it was, their cameras and computers which watched those cameras for suspecious signs could be in place by the time they took power, then what would you d...
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Recovery Weekend

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Sponsorship Gathering I was at a sponsorship retreat related to my Recovery "family" of brothers from this area. It was terrific. I was able to listen and concentrate on how various speakers could relate to my life and I found a lot to identify with and I learned truth from others who live with this disease of addiction but who don't use drugs. We all stayed in the same dorm rooms and ate all meals together, we lived and shared our time with each other in a very real way. I learned more about the people I see in my daily life during my week at meetings than every before. It was good for me to enjoy those who are new to our brand of Recovery from addiction. I heard various ways to the same ends of being in touch with a spiritual force that can guide us to not use and improve our relations with ourselves, our families and the whole of society we live with on a day to day basis. We laughed at humorous anecdotes from our brothers and we cried at the memory...
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The Town of Shenandoah Virginia

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We rode up the Shenandoah valley hugging the eastern side northward from Afton and Waynesboro, when we came upon an old railroad stopover town that was pretty much deserted. The town is just south of Luray and it's called "Shenandoah". The town was a layover town on the railroad line that went up and down the valley and the engineers and many workers of the trains would stop in here for there nighttime rest spot. Since the trains no longer spend time on an overnight layover here the small town has died out. It's deserted and lay barren but some trains do hang out on the tracks which still run between it's "First St." and the river nearby. It's got a nice feel to it, it's got a wide not so long lay of the land, and it's gott'n a grant that improved the streets and facades of it's remaining buildings. It just doesn't have any people save a few holdouts. We ran into one man who had simply bought ...
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