March 1 - john has re-visited a painting called "After The Play" that he has never been satisfied with, and modified it. Here is what it looks like now:

March 2 - john just started a new painting, which will be called "Bergen, Norway". It will be a 24" x 30" oil. Here is an intial start in acrylics. One can paint oil over acrylics, but not the other way around.

Already there is an error. The flag of Norway is Red, White, and Blue. The flag john has here is the flag of Sweden. Oops.

Note the everchanging vanishing point for each building, since the buildings are going down a hill. This perhaps is one of the more complicated forms of perspective.

March 19 - a boyhood friend who john hadn't seen in about thirty years came by today. Eldon and Judy live in Greenwood, South Carolina now. The last time john saw Eldon, they lived in Wichita, Kansas. john flew to Wichita in a Cessna 172. john almost flew backwards the entire way, and it would have been much faster to drive from Overland Park to Wichita. When john tried to land, he almost couldn't. He finally had to slam the plane onto the tarmac in order to get down. Eldon explained that there is a standing joke in Wichita that it is easy to fly in Wichita, but you just can't land there. john nearly kissed the tarmac he was so happy to be on the ground again. Before that trip, john hadn't seen Eldon in another ten years or so. In other words, except for one time, john hadn't seen Eldon in over 40 years!

For john to say that it was great to see Eldon would be a major understatement!

They talked about being very poor while they were growing up, but not knowing just how poor they were. john remembers Eldon eating his one meal of the day: a sandwich consisting of two pieces of white bread with one piece of lunch meat in between. Eldon would eat the sandwich very slowly. As a result, john is a slow eater to this day because of that. Both john and Eldon have bootstrapped themselves into where they are today.

They talked about john and joyce coming to Greenwood sometime soon. They could make a trip out of the visit by also going to Builtmore Estates and to Charolotte, SC. Eldon and Judy are building a new house in Greenwood, which they would love for john and joyce to see.

It is also quite ironical that john has started the deer painting at this time. john took the original photo of the fawn in 1965 in Yosemite National Park on his way home from Alaska. Later, Eldon asked to borrow the photo of the deer and made a painting of it. john has remembered Eldon's painting as being one of the best paintings he has ever seen! If john's attempt is even half as good as the one Eldon did ... .

Eldon's visit with john flew by (no pun intended). john hated to see Eldon leave, but Eldon and Judy had to get out of the area before a heavy snow storm hit the area (which it did).

March 21 - It is a good thing Eldon and Judy left when they did. Kansas City received 10 inches of snow yesterday (actually it was more like 12 inches in Overland Park). Last night, john and joyce drove home from visiting joyce's sister in Prairie Village. The roads were very slick! March does this every year in Overland Park. This will be the last major winter activity before spring.

john has painted (oils) on "Fawn At Yosemite" some more. Here is what it looks like now:

March 27 - john has been re-visiting "High Mountain Trail". He felt that it was too "plastic". john's art teacher said that often happens when someone paints from imagination rather than from real life or a photo. Here is what "High Mountain Trail" looks like right now. It isn't finished, but shows the direction john has decided to take it.

john just had a giant insight, which is terribly obvious to everyone else. Painting from one's imagination take about three times the effort to achieve. When john paints from real life or a photo, he can immediately see the changes in value and hue without any trouble.