In June we spent three days in Novato where Maureen and Zim practiced working with cattle at a Chris Ellsworth clinic. As usual, I took lots of photos and used one of them for this painting. I wanted to show something typical of the action, dust and all. I find that painting cattle and horses is a bit challenging, but I keep trying.
For a couple of weeks I didn't feel like painting much. I had knee replacement surgery on July 5, and the recovery has been painful. After a couple of weeks, I felt up to going out for a while, so we went to the barn and then out to lunch. We chose to go to Mosley's Cafe, a tiny place on the estuary in Alameda. It's in the Grand Marina area, out at the end of a little pier where a ship of the Alameda County Sheriff and a couple of Coast Guard cutters are moored, besides countless private boats all around. I snapped a photo with my phone from our table and used it to paint this scene. It reminds me of the beautiful day there and how nice it was to be outdoors and free after my surgery.
