Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado – Watercolor on a 1/2 sheet of Arches 140# coldpress.
The Husband continues to tell me that he wants to move out west. West where? New Jersey?
But no, he’s talking West, West. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California West. I say I’m not ready to move out West and what if no one out there likes me? Like Marisa Tomei said to Joe Pesci in “My Cousin Vinny” “oh yeah, you blend?”
I probably won’t blend.
The Husband laughs and tells me he will come back to NYC and visit occasionally. He’d probably like this small house we saw in Rocky Mountain National Park. It seems nice and quiet for him. I need a little more action. Luckily, I check my spam folder occasionally. For some reason besides sites to learn how to lose belly fat, increase the size of my man part and how to get low interest loans, I get a lot of dating sites.
There’s:
- eHarmony (run by Mormons, so I don’t think I’d get any dates here)
- Match.com
- Zoosk “find new flirts”. I don’t even like the word Zoosk so I probably wouldn’t like anyone who’s on it.
- Senior People Meet Dating (I’m already insulted)
- Jdate – for Jews to meet Jews. I doubt they’d want to meet a lapsed Catholic
The last date I had was before some of the newer analysts in my office were born. I don’t want to date. Then I would have to be nice and pretend to care about someone I doubt I’d like. I’m very happy with The Husband and plus now he has TWO Titanium hips. Now THAT’S a catch.
Since neither he nor I can retire yet the whole point is moot. But it’s fun to talk about it.
The painting above was done from a reference photo we took while in Colorado in April. It was very cold and there was quite a bit of snow. But it really was beautiful and we saw tons of elk. Ok…maybe with a little time I could be convinced to move with the Husband. SOMEDAY. We’ll see. I sketched the scene and then used a lot of masking fluid to save the white of the paper. I then did the sky and the base snow. As I painted I thought that I really wanted to save the whites and keep the feeling of cold and snow. After painting the house I added a bit of green for the pine trees and then decided to stop. Less is more.
Carol King: drawing, painting, complaining 
43 comments
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May 26, 2013 at 8:51 pm
Jim
So why not Florida? I ask you. EVERY New Yorker retires to Florida, and we stay. remember what you asked me in 1978 when I moved to Florida- “where do people vacation when they move to Florida?” The answer is… FLORIDA! Actually, we vacation in New York after spending 50 weeks in Florida saying “you can’t get good Jewish / Italian food in Florida.” THEN, and only then, do we eat. REALLY eat.
So come to Florida already!
There’s too much “out” in “out West.”
May 27, 2013 at 2:08 pm
Carol King
Ah, the beach! I could be convinced. But Florida in the summer? We’ll talk.
May 26, 2013 at 9:31 pm
Mary Schwalm
I’ll come visit you (and/or the HUSBAND) in Colorado! Colorado is lovely, my favorite part, no mosquitos!! Mosquitos suck.
May 27, 2013 at 2:09 pm
Carol King
No mosquitos? I still have the bites on me from those horrid black flies in the Galapagos. I would consider a place with no mosquitoes. They love me! I hate them.
May 26, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Padmaja
That is a brilliant painting you have done and it is making me to long for a visit to my brother, well that’s where he lives! Colarado is a beautiful place but I don’t like the weather, too cold for me.my vote is for California, I feel like I am at home there:-)
May 27, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Carol King
I do love both Colorado and California. If I could only win the lottery then I could have lots of places to visit and live. Thank you for your comments on the painting Padmaja.
May 26, 2013 at 11:06 pm
artscottnet
I got coffee on my screen when I read the ‘two titanium hips’! This is a beautiful piece; I love all the white, looks so burrr cold (hoping that was your intent)
May 27, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Carol King
Thanks so much for your visit and comment. It was cold when I was there. The day before it was in the 70’s. Go figure!
May 26, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Kathryn
Very beautiful! For me it has a kind of lyrical, storybook quality.
Also want to pass along this AP news story, Google to add Galapagos to Street View: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268789/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=PxWgSP2O
Should be pretty cool!
May 27, 2013 at 8:21 pm
Carol King
Kathryn, thanks for the info on the Galapagos Google Street View. We can look at all the places we visited. Thanks for your visit and comment.
May 27, 2013 at 12:00 am
AKLizzy
West is good!!! We can offer shrimping and salmon charters, lots of hugs and snow in May 🙂
Beautiful painting!!
May 27, 2013 at 8:21 pm
Carol King
Hi Sweetie. Well, when you’re talking AK, of course West is good. IN THE SUMMER. xoxox
May 27, 2013 at 12:21 am
Jana Bouc
Come to California! I already like you! (though I have a feeling you might not be too fond of California…Complaining is not encouraged though tree-hugging and having a nice day is. Lovely vibrant painting…snow is easier to paint than fog I think.
Jana
May 27, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Carol King
Hi Jana, I love California. Both north and south. And I can hug trees like nobody’s business. Thanks for your comment on my painting and your visit.
May 27, 2013 at 12:23 am
Jana Bouc
P.S. Your comments about the dating sites cracked me up. Why websites have to be given “baby talk nonsense” names I’ll never understand. Get over it already and try real words!!!
May 27, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Carol King
Maybe their marketing people think it will attract singles to their site? Who knows.
May 27, 2013 at 1:19 am
kk2n777
PLEASE DON”T MOVE!!! I can’t bear the thought of you leaving NYC! 😦
May 27, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Carol King
Not to worry KK. We have to get you back to the O of MB before I go anywhere. xoxo
May 27, 2013 at 9:15 am
christine
wonderful – and a thoughtful post as to how the husband’s a keeper (so over dating) – reminded me of this song – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhVXsBn1pOw
May 27, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Carol King
Thanks Christine. And yes, I did find the proverbial needle in a haystack with Matt.
May 27, 2013 at 9:17 am
Cathyann Burgess
yup…that looks like Wintergreen. Nice painting. But tell the husband, from Jersey he could visit NYC, but once he got a taste of the wide open spaces, he would probably never go back to NYC.
You leave me lmao as usual. good post.
May 27, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Carol King
So many of my friends who have moved tell me the same thing. Hmmm, maybe I should believe them? Nice to see you and thank you for your comment.
May 27, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Deb
How funny, Carol. I take it your hubby doesn’t want to move into any of the big city areas out west. I lived in Phoenix for many number of years, and between November to May half the population is New York snowbirds. So you’d feel right at home, unless he’s turning into a country bumpkin. Now that will take some getting use to…I speak from experience when I moved to the country out east.
Spam like that comes from what ever words they pick up on your blog. Mine gets an unusual mix of stuff too.
Love your painting. I bet that’s just the area your hubby wants to go to…I guess you’ll miss him…kidding ya.
Have a nice Memorial Day!
xxx
May 27, 2013 at 8:26 pm
Carol King
Hey Deb, I think because of his job he would like to be out of a big city. Maybe we can compromise. I need to be around people. Time will tell. Thanks for your visit and comment.
May 27, 2013 at 4:47 pm
lesliepaints
My parents moved west (Arizona). It was the husband in that pair who wanted to do so. They moved at a time when there were no homes built up the side of the mountains around Tucson and it was heavenly. But hot, hot, hot too much of the year for me. My two sisters moved out there with their families and one stayed. She loves the sun and desert. Oh well…. Yes. I missed the trees, me who complains about mowing lawn and shoveling snow, but there’s nothing better than the changing of seasons and can’t beat the cost of living, here.
Your painting is gorgeous!!!!! Is that frisket swishing and frisket splatter? I love the energy. The shadow under the roof of the cabin and the way you painted swishes of green, etc. I’m blown away!!!!! Excellent!!!! I’m also very into the composition in this one. WOW!
May 27, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Carol King
If we moved to AZ it would have to be the northern part of the state. I don’t think I could take the heat in the summer. And while I like the desert I do like the changing of the seasons and the trees. Like I told Jana, I am a big ol’ tree hugger.
Thanks for your comment on my painting. Yes, I used fristket and kept my washes to a maximum of three.
May 27, 2013 at 11:58 pm
J M Naszady
Your painting takes me back to Rocky Mountain National Park where we spent two winters and one summer in the 1980s. The first winter was spent in a tiny cabin. My husband moved from Long Island to Colorado and then Arizona as a young man. We met near the Grand Canyon, were married in Flagstaff Arizona, and then spent a couple of years in Colorado before moving permanently to California, my native state. He will never be a Californian. But then he always did like to be different. It’s hard to get by here these days, even with the ideal climate. If you move to CA, bring your money with you. You will need it.
If you end up in Arizona, I would vote for Flagstaff. Snow in the winter and thunderstorms in the summer. A lively climate and stunning environment.
May 28, 2013 at 9:57 am
Carol King
I’ve visited Flagstaff once and loved it. So very different from Phoenix and Scottsdale and the rest. We’ll see, I have a feeling we won’t have enough money for CA. Thanks for your comment and advice.
May 28, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Beth Parker
LOVE the painting! Nice looseness that I never figured out how to do.
When I was growing up, I lived in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. They are very wholesome, healthy places to live. Everybody is so dang athletic, too. Always out biking or hiking or skiing. It will be easy for you to make friends and blend… just enough. Don’t blend too much. I like you just the way you are!
May 28, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Beth Parker
Oh, I forgot. Lived in California for 10 years, too. I’ll save that one for another time. 🙂
May 29, 2013 at 8:57 am
Carol King
California must have been during your hippie days!
May 29, 2013 at 8:57 am
Carol King
Utah, Colorado and Wyoming all sound like beautiful places…..to visit. 🙂 thanks for your comment.
May 28, 2013 at 4:44 pm
joantav
Great job on the painting!!! I think cabins like this are fine as subjects for paintings, and short vacations. They are the reason for the phrase “cabin fever.” lol I’ll go west to visit…but I would never be happy without being by the beach.
May 29, 2013 at 8:56 am
Carol King
I’m with you. I love the mountains, but also need the beach. Thanks for your comment Joan.
May 28, 2013 at 6:03 pm
Barry Coombs
As I look at your lovely watercolour painting, I can’t help but wonder who’s going to shovel that driveway.
May 29, 2013 at 8:58 am
Carol King
I hope they have machines for that. Or some young kids who can come by and shovel. 🙂
May 29, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Irina
Though I am not a big fan of snow, the painting looks so good, so truthful and live, with cool colors and windy situation (at least I feel it windy).
I hope your husband is OK now after surgery.
My spam box offers me to inherit millions of dollars in Nigeria, not match.com but sounds palatable, too.
June 1, 2013 at 9:22 pm
Carol King
Hi Irina, I think I’ve gotten that Nigerian spam too. Thanks for your comments. It was indeed snowy and windy. I prefer the sun and the sand.
May 29, 2013 at 8:19 pm
napabelle
Hey!! I would like you!!!Come on to CA!! 🙂
You snow scene is really well done! It chilled me right up! I came in from the hot sun, and wow, your pictured worked better than AC! I’ve tried snow scenes, they are though to do!! Bravo!
June 1, 2013 at 9:23 pm
Carol King
Isabelle, I love CA! But I hear you have to be very rich to live there. But who knows. We can check it out. Glad to hear you like the painting. It does make you go brrrrrrrr, doesn’t it?
May 31, 2013 at 7:54 pm
Lauren
Btw, I heard a report on CNN that Tennessee is the best place to retire in the US. Eat your heart out, Arizona and Florida! …and don’t feel bad about the senior dating spam…that’s not as my burial plot mail…
June 1, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Carol King
Maybe we will have to check out Tennessee. Thanks! I get burial plot mail too. I wonder how old they think we are?
June 2, 2013 at 7:14 pm
cathy
Darn computer lost my last comment. hmm,move out west or start dating? I guess i’d start packing.Oh and those hips are far to desirable to leave! Your previous window tree painting is fantastic and the Colorado painting is postcard ready. Hey maybe that’s what you could do , blow up the painting and hang it for hubby to see;that may satisfy his need.