Dupuytren's Contracture

As you can see by my hand photos I’ve been away from

painting and making art for a little bit of time. Some

of you who follow my blog know that I have Dupuytren's

Contracture . I’m in an experimental program at UCLA

to find a resolution for the problem. So – one of my

finger joints was injected with something that is suppose

to dissolve the something in my finger joint that is

causing the contracture. Here you can see the result

of the injection –swelling of the hand and fingers. My

fingers are curled under or inward on my hand

because of the contractures. There was not a whole

lot of pain with the injection or when they stretch

and pop the contracture the next day. I’ve read other

accounts on the internet speaking about the pain but

in my case and in the case of others in the study with

me at UCLA there doesn’t seem to be to be as much

as I expected. It has been a few days now and I’m

thrilled with the result. The one joint that was

injected has opened up quite a bit – not a full

extension – but I can use that hand a lot better than

I could before. The experimental program runs

through November and I have four more injections

and physical therapy over that time so hopefully I

will get a lot of the hand repaired. The other hand

and thumbs gets left to future hopes.

Climbing On The Rock

That’s my son-in-law climbing on the rock face

in the photo below. If you’ve followed my blog

you have seen photos of some of our

short outdoor trips

My son-in-law is owner of Real Cheap Sports in

Ventura CA. Real Cheap Sports opened in 1981

in Ventura, California as Patagonia's original

outlet store, just one block from Patagonia's

headquarters. Operating independently since

August 1998, Real Cheap Sports offer great deals

on Patagonia products as well as other

quality brands of outdoor merchandise

– from clothing to climbing gear, camping

equipment, water sports, etc.

For a list of their President's Weekend Sale specials visit:
http://realcheapsports.com/pages/specials.html

Early Morning Photos of the Beach

This is a photo from by studio at about 5:00 am
the other morning. The moon was shining over
the ocean and back-lit the rain clouds. As the
lighting changed dramatically through the
morning I did a series of photos. This is
another good reason why I use a mobile
home at the beach as my studio.

By the time I left for UCLA the lighting had changed
over the ocean and Sunset surfing point.



Later in the morning this rainbow appeared over
the Sunset point about a mile-and-a-half away.

Holiday Travels

I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks because of

the holidays and traveling. Below are a few photos from
the trip. We went out to Joshua Tree National Park and
did some rock climbing. (My son-in-law owns an
outdoor/climbing store) On the way out we stopped
at my sweetheart's sister's and had the great opportunity
to photograph a bald eagle. It was not the best of shots
but the big bird wouldn't allow us to get too close.

Bald Eagle in at tree. When it took flight it was beautiful.

Son-in-law free climbing to set the line.

My sweetheart climbing

Sunset at the studio

Friends tease me about having a mobile home
as a studio. But these photos shows why I
have this place. The photos were taken within
an hour of each other last night. I didn't paint
yesterday (normally outside) because of the
rain. And today is a new day -
hopefully no tornado's

Rain Days

It's been raining for the last couple of days. And
since I paint outside it has been hard to get
anything done - actually I've got nothing done
in terms of making art. And the holiday season
is cutting into my painting time. The next
thing will be I will finally break down and go
out Christmas shopping. As my sweetheart is
also an artist and like odd things I plan on
getting her a blow torch.

Sunset Last Night - Rainbow This Morning

These are photographs from my studio last night and
this morning. The time last night was 5:02 and the
rainbow this morning showed up at 7:03. I was at
my computer which faces this view and suddenly
looked up from the monitor and saw the rainbow.
another tough day in paradise.

Malibu Fire Caused Sunset Photos

This is the sunset shooting through the front window
of my studio. That is why there is a double shot of
the sun in the photo. The sun still had about an hour
before it set but the smoke from the Malibu fire has
blacked out a lot of the light.

This shot is taken from my studio of the lifeguard
tower across the highway on the beach. Again, the
smoke from the Malibu fire has caused the lighting

This is what the fire looked like from my studio.
The fire is about five miles from me and I am
in little danger because of the direction of the
wind. Over the years the Malibu - Topanga fires have
only gotten within about a mile-and-a-half.
That is close enough for me.

Shark with Beach Ball

While on my recent trip to Gloucester, Ma I came across
this shark with the beach ball. What's the point?
Good point.

Gloucester Mass. Lighthouse

The photo above (of the Gloucester lighthouse) is from my
recent trip to Gloucester, Mass. to visit my daughter
and grandchildren. (That's why there have not been
any posting lately). I will be back to it in the
next couple of days.