Stella Blue View

What is a Stella Blue View? I cannot wait to share here today! But, before the details, here is more info about this blog. This is a place where, each week, I share my paintings, inspiration, gallery openings, plus an occasional dose of art history. Whether this is your first or millionth visit here, hiya, hello and a warm welcome! I choose a theme to guide my paintings each year. To read about this year’s painting theme, check the description in this link here. To subscribe and get a weekly dose of color for yourself, subscribe here. Ready for more about Stella Blue View? Yay! Read on!

Star View Back Story

Yes, Stella, is another word for star. And, yes, once again my mother was right, I should have studied Latin. Had I studied Latin, I would know this. Oh well. Thank goodness we can easily look these things up these days, eh?

But first the back story on this. Last week we were lucky to stay in Nags Head North Carolina with a bunch of people in a house called Stella Blue. We had no idea this house would be a veritable shrine to the Grateful Dead. Nor did I know that Stella Blue is one of many beloved songs by the Dead.

And, speaking of luck, I had no idea whether or not we would be able to leave Raleigh and the comfort of home to spend time at this place having had a recent encounter with a Davinci Surgical Robot. But, thank goodness for good pain meds and a calm and resolute spouse, we made the trek.

Mission Numero Uno

My mission was to rest and recover! And, what better place to do that than at the beach amidst a bunch of super creative and thoughtful people, one of whom, happened to be a huge Grateful Dead fan. So, while David and his pals and their spouses and kids kayaked, swam, and ventured outdoors. I walked and walked, looked and looked and drew and painted.

In the evenings around the dinner table we were schooled about Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead and George, this fan’s other love, native plants, riparian buffers, and more. In fact, his business includes the name of one of my now favorite Dead songs named “Ripple.” Check it out!

At Days’ End

As the sun set, we would wander up to Stella Blue House’s roof top deck with fantastic views of the sound and the ocean. The colors were different with each sunset at dusk. I had plenty to ponder and paint. My traveling paint kit was light this time: gouache paints only. And, I only brought the three primaries (red, yellow, blue) and two whites (one mixing white and the other, full-powered white).

“Stella Blue View” is one of my favorites from the week and it’s name references both a Grateful Dead song (of course!) and the name of the beach house. Here it is! It’s 4×8 inches and it’s already found it’s forever home but I wanted to share it with you this week. And, I have an excited announcement: you can enter a drawing for a beautiful limited edition print of this painting. The print, (measuring 7 1/2 inches by 3 3/4 inches) is on archival paper and ink. It’s signed and dated too.

Giving It Away

If you would like a chance to win a limited edition print of this colorful painting, you’re in luck! Send me your email address and your snail mail address here. I will print and pull one of the entries from a hat, next Tuesday, August 8 at 12 noon EST. Please remember to include your email and snail mail address here.

Message in a Song

If there’s one thing I love about the lyrics and message in both “Stella Blue” and “Ripple,” it’s that life is fleeting. We each have only so many sunsets to experience and might as well live to the fullest, eh? Have you got a favorite song, poem, book or experience that shares this same sentiment, gentle reader? If so, I would love it if you shared it in the comments below. Thank you, as always, for looking and reading here today!