Napa Highway 29 painted view of autumnal colors and vineyards

Napa Highway 29 postcard painted view of autumnal colors and vineyards

Koi pond in the courtyard of the Marriott hotel

 

 

"Interestingly, Koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches. When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long. In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world."

- Vince Poscente

Daimonji Gozan Okuribi, Daimonji Bonfires, August / 2014

I never imagined I would be able to witness or document this once in a year or lifetime event.  As a part of the events of Obon,  the recognition and awareness of the return of the ancestor souls, this memorable evening was framed by rainstorms before and after and heavy mists that lifted before the lighting of the fires at 8:00 P.M. lasting for over thirty minutes.  

I painted the upper view and my daughter painted the middle and lower Kanji characters in yellow for "Dai" or BIG! 

"... The Daimonji Gozan Okuribi (Daimonji Bonfire) is an event held every year, rain or shine, on the evening of August 16th, when gigantic Chinese characters and other motifs are depicted by fires lit to illuminate the surroundings for patrolling on the slopes of the mountains surrounding the Kyoto Basin. It is a famous for evoking the image of a Kyoto summer.

Although there are several interpretations as to the origins of this event, it is generally regarded as a fire set alight at the gate for seeing off the souls of ancestors after commemorating the welcoming of their souls.
The character of "dai" (meaning "large") on Mt. Daimonji, and those of "myo" and "ho"which make up the word "Myo-ho" (wondrous teaching of Buddha) on Matsugasaki Nishiyama and Higashiyama mountains are famous..."

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/festival/gozanokuribi.html

greenhouse painting

greenhouse painting, a photo by douglaswittnebel on Flickr.

On the long flight back from Chennai, India to San Francisco, I had the luxury of time to relax and dream and paint this version of a green house and landscape, perhaps an unconscious yearning to return back to California and beautiful scenes and family...

painted on ipad with procreate app and stylus brush

Chicago impression in the rain

An early morning view of Chicago in the rain, a painted view from sketchbook app on digital tablet...the city of Chicago has wonderful variety of buildings and settings... and here is a link to my sketches from last year and visit to the city

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougwittnebel/sets/72157619885469193/