17 November 2008 Bali

Hi All,
  Well the good news is I have been getting some surfing in. The surf hasn't been great but the water is warm and the surf is about 3 to 4 ft.. I found a 9 ft. triple stringer surfboard that I liked and rented it for $3 and hour or $5 for 2 hours, I will get another session in today.          It still rains here most every night with thunder and lightning with warm balmy evenings. It's fun to get in the pool at night with swim up bar with the bar stools in the pool.     Our trip is winding down and we leave tomorrow afternoon with a long flight home. In reflecting back on our trip we have done quite a bit. I think my favorite though was the 4 hr. bicycle trip down from the volcano through the villages and rice fields with all the children standing along the path wanting to give a high five. We manage to do this trip twice. I think my bum is still a little sore from the ride.    Just a quick word of advice, follow your dreams and pay off your credit cards so you can.                            Best, Mike
 

15 November 2008 Bali

Hi All,
  It looks like we are all well again with good appetite. We are back in Legion which is near Kuta. Yesterday we road again down the hill from the volcano again but with another tour. This time we went with a group of Aussies and a Russian.

It was fun to have all to people to shuck and jive with. The trip was 30 miles mostly down hill with a nice lunch afterwards. We had fun at lunch with our new friends It is a lot hotter and humid here in Kuta and it rains most every night. My bun (but) is a bit sore from the ride.

We have been concerned to all the death threats and the burning crosses and such against our so far beloved new president. I guess the republicans will stop at nothing.

It is morning here and we are up to see what trouble we can get into.  At times are thoughts are at home from all the troubles our country is in. I think this might be my last trip for a while until the economy improves.
 Leaving you on a good note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If you have a chance to go to Bali do not hesitate . There is no place on earth like Bali with there wonderful smiling people.
                                               Love,   Mike and Robyn 

Heading home this week.  Yesterday we went on the wonderful down hill bike run again and it was just as wonderful...this time we stopped into a cock fight. 

Driving down any road in Bali  you will see woven baskets with beautiful cocks in them.   Well at least the guys saw the area of cock fighting....I was happy waiting outside eating roasted corn on the cob and talking to an Lady from Australia who was returning from Nepal.

The weather has been hot and perfect. Last week Michael and I were down for the count with a bug or something.  It wasn't pretty and it took four days till our strength returned.  Ubud and Sanur were my favorite cities.....over Kuta which is more of a beachy town. 

This has been the cheapest trip I have ever been on.  With free breakfast with our room...we eat usually only one other meal for 2-4 dollars total  and a beer is only $1.20   But most people traveling here do go to more upper end places than we did.  So never fear, if money is what you want to spend.....you can find a way here. 

My suggestion to someone coming here would be to bring in your own alcohol from the duty free shop or wine.  Eat only Indonion food...everything else loses something in the translation.  Well you might find a good bangers and mash.....( an aussie favorite)  And remember these people do not eat cows for religious reasons) , do not raise cows so all milk type products here  are  imported from somewhere else and they really do not understand the use of them in cooking. 

But the wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits and whole world of spices is a wonderful adventure in itself to explore. I do not think I want to stop ever  wearing sarongs.  I have totally enjoyed the feel of them.  I wear my sarong skirt everyday here.  Sarongs and flip flops are  my new  style..( see I even have gotten weirder)

We have fallen into a routine if you take a shower, you wash your clothes at the same time.  I have pictures of Michael washing his clothes with his feet in the shower..( yes, he is dressed) ...such a class act we are.  The average time of drying the clothes on our deck is only 4 days....we did tell you about the humidity didn't we? ( forget hair dryers, curling irons or anything but something to tack your hair back, up  something.

 Today or tomorrow we are going to try to get to the wild animal park before we leave.  So, if California hasn't burned down or the big one rolled it into the ocean...we will head for home Wednesday...knowing that we felt in our hearts the soul of this rapidly changing country and it's beautiful, gentle, colorful  people  before it loses it's innocence.  It has been like stepping back into time.  hugs to all Robyn and Michael
 

11 November 2008 Bali

Hi All,

In paradise we have come to stumbling block!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We have both  been  sicker than dogs and I mean really sick dogs. We have cancelled everything until we feel better. I counted last night Robyn went to the restroom 30 times. I won't say any more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel better today and ate for the first time in 2 days. Robyn is some better but can't get out of bed except for a few minutes. We are not down for the count just trying to get a second wind. We will rise from the ashes to continue this wonderful adventure            Love from Mike and Robyn

8 November 2008

Hi Folks.....I just found out that Australia just put out a warning to not visit Bali for awhile....I do not know what the USA has done.  We still haven't run into any Americans since we have been here. ( They mostly hang at the Four Seasons and other big compounds) 

In secret, last night the Bali's government executed several men who were convicted of bombings here 3 and 6 years ago aimed towards Americans protesting the war in Iraq...then ended up blowing up some night clubs and killing a lot of Aussies .. just a couple of US citizens.  There were protests and some sort of action by sympathizer's today when the bodies were released.  None of this is by us. 

We have left Saner and gone back to Ubud.  We will be here for 4 days before we go on to Kuta where the bombings occurred.    Our travels have been light and wonderful with no drama what so ever.  The people of Bali are 100 percent wonderful.   We fell in love with the beach path in Sanur and walked it each night to have drinks at a bar that the stools were swings.....to trying each of the great little laid back cafes which served wonderful $2 meals....Our favorite being chucks of tuna and veggies in a very spicy sauce wrapped in banana leaves and grilled on an open fire. 

Last night Mr. Michael was my hero...after we got back to our room trying hard to beat an oncoming  lightening storm....I lost my glasses and he went out and found them in the sand where we stopped to swing on the beach in a big hammock.....( He didn't even get a little electrocuted ....my hero) The best part of our Saner experience was the day trip to the island of Lombok ( sp...I am old, can't remember) 

We went snorkeling there and Mr. M and I have been in many exotic places, but I have never seen the coral more untouched and brightly painted and the fish as colorful and numbered.  It was a treasure.  I can have only imagined how fabulous it would have been if the sun had been out.  I liked it even better than the Great Barrier Reef...Of course it was only 30 minutes to get there verses the 2-3 hours it took to get to the reef.....( I wasn't even sea sick....) 

We did the other tourists things there too, which we would have gladly skipped to get back to the snorkeling.   There were three surf breaks out there.....One called Skip Wreak  ...which was what it said.  There were a couple of large old vessels that lodged on the reef in a storm.  Still no good surf has been found for Michael...but the  island boasts the coldest beer found so far.....Now we are back to our Hotel by the rice paddies and we are going to try to book to take the downhill bike ride again from the volcano. for tomorrow  if the weather holds. 

We have had great weather every day........this trip has been a true treasure.  Robyn and Michael

5 November 2008 Bali We have moved from the art center to another beach community called Sanur.  We are in our third week of not seeing another American.  Yesterday we were excited to find that our room had a TV with CNN only to then find it went out.  The hotel allowed us to have the pool bar to ourselves and their big screen TV to watch as the poles closed and the new President was elected.  Several  people here when we would say we are Americans would go thumbs up and say Obama.....some others actually told us that they liked G W B because he was fighting the muslims.

We walked to beach late night and swung on a hammock  with the cool breeze and the moon thru the palms.  It was nice.  We have gotten so lazy it is unbelievable.....FYI   if anyone wishes to travel with Mr. Michael.....( do not give him a book....)  You will hear nothing from him till it is finished. !!!! 

Sanur is one of the places where they have little ma pa like restaurants directly on the sand of the beach...so we are going from one to the other eating our wonderful $3.00  meals watching the colors of the sky change over the ocean. 

There is no surfable surf here only tumbling waves over a coral reef  far out there.  We are staying at a nice hotel for our 30 dollars a night but we hang out at the bars and beaches of the 400 a night hotels.

  WARNING>>> if you never traveled much before...do not go to Bali first.....it will make other places look unfriendly, expensive and disappointing.   We have not even opened up our paints and our biggest adventures is going from one meal to the other.  Luckily the meals are healthy and low in calories...except all those drinks and desserts ( but they don't count...wink)    Finding internet has been harder in this town but after a long walk in one direction we returned to find one close to our hotel in the other direction...oh well...It is an adventure...Robyn and Michael
 

1Nov2008 Bali I wish my eyes were a movie camera yesterday.  I experienced the most intense day of my traveling life.  It started out as just a drive into the rural areas of Bali away from the tourist areas to start a down hill bike trip from the top of the volcano back down to the town we were staying in. 

The sights as we held on for dear life on the broken roads was like stepping back into time to a simpler kinder world.  Not having TV every small child ran out to the road to wave, yell Hello, and try to get us to high five them. 

All the cottage industries of people carving, vegetable and fruit stands...yelled out to us,  Hello...The ladies who were carrying their baskets of supplies on there head said Hello ...all with such beautiful smiles.  The rice Field worker that waved to say...Hello.  The school children who just wanted to speak to us so they could use the English they are taught in school.  " Hello, have a nice day...how are you? 

On the path we stopped to view the lake by the volcano where the lovely ladies dressed in their sarongs were putting out their incense and flower offerings to the Hindu God.  Each one was a classic ballet of grace and purity. 

We saw ritual baths by the road, trees grow in the roads, people drying their rice in big sheets in the road, old men talking by the road, big cone shaped  baskets that held cock roosters,  all the hens and chicks crisscrossing the road. Dogs were checking things out.  Life was happening on the roads.  

We saw three weddings being prepared as we traveled and then our guide told us that there was a cremation ahead and we were going to it.  So we asked permission from the elders of the village and we allowed to see them placing the bones in the oxen type large cloth animals under a canopy putting in all the ritualistic treasures they wanted to bless their relative with. 

It was a happy time of people freeing the souls of their loved ones to the oneness  of being with their god again.  The pageantry and gowns of the woman and the beautiful healthy big eyes children in tow. 

We visited farms that made spices and heard about the most expensive coffee in the world....The berries are eaten by a raccoon type animal  in the wild, who the berries just go through.  The farmers find the 'poop' and treat it and roast it and grind it and there it is.....I bought the ginger tea myself...wink...another farmer took us into his Fields to give a taste of co co that chocolate is made from, passion fruit and so many others. 

This place with it's around the year growing cycles remains we of what the Garden of Eden would look like fruit, coconuts everywhere.  The waterfalls that come off the mountains, the streams and bridges and the smell of gardenias, incenses and ozone in the air. 

The guild took showed us how the people cooked, where they slept and how every home had a temple inside the home...a big one and there were so many temples everywhere of every size.  each with their daily offerings of flowers, rice, incense and sometimes coins and cookies.  We road at least 25 miles mostly down hill.....Michael and I fell into bed and slept the next 11 hours.  I want to do it again......hugs Robyn and Michael

Hi All,
  Michael the Mag. reporting from Bali. Well this HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCES OF ALL MY TRAVELS. The day before we went white water rafting down some tropical river. The scenery was breath taking.

Yesterday we were dropped off with a guide and chase car and Robyn and me at the top of the volcano with bicycles and rode 25 miles through the villages on trails and small roads. The children would be lined up along the way to give us a high five. and every would run to the street to say hi.

People of Bali's faces would instinctual light up when they saw us. The people here are extremely poor but not in spirit. Bicycling we saw water buffalo plowing the rice fields. We stopped at a cremation where we were the only outsiders.

They dug up the decomposed bodies and in celebration will burn the bodies. Everyone was in costume with hundreds of people celebrating. The Hindu faith is so beautiful and I plan to explore it more when I get home

The rice fields are everywhere in the mountains where we are at present. The people of Bali eat rice 3 meals a day. I am surprised at how safe we feel here. We see women from Europe and Asia traveling without chaperons and women traveling with children alone. But no Americans here.

The other night I did hear American English at the bar. Everyone here asked about the economy and the elections. We stay another 2 days and then we are off to the coast again and hopefully some surfing. By for now      Michael the Mag.
 

Hi All,
  This place that is called Bali is incredible. If the world was all Hindu which is the religion of Bali there would be no wars. They are such a gentle kind people. Yesterday we went into a traditional family home and went to a school and dropped off a bunch of coloring books for the children         Bye for now!!!!! the other half of Michael and Robyn       Mike

28 October 2008 Bali Hi Dear Ones   Well Michael has not been able to surf yet...bummer for him but the swells haven't been great.  We will be moving to another side of the island in a few days which looks like it will have bigger swells. 

I wish you could see where we are staying now.  It is so beautiful.  Carved wooden doors open to a huge bed with a white bug netting around it.  It is like being a fairy princess.  We overlook the pool and then onto several terraced rice paddies.  Breakfast comes with this room and tea is served on our deck.  ( a tree house type feeling......)  The price per day....$30. 

I have gone native.  I have bought three sarongs....I may never wear reg clothes again.  Last night we closed down the Reggae bar after dancing for hours and then jumping in the pool. 

We have seen some fab  Balinese dancers at different temples and had dinner served to us on the sand by the water's edge at night. 

Been snorkeling, glass bottom boating  and went to the volcano  lake. 

This is the cultural/art center town that we are in now called Ubud.  It is much nicer than the beach town we were in called Kuta ( and cleaner and the people are not in your face as much to sell you stuff.)  We going to take a Batik class and a cooking class and go white water rafting and down hill biking from the top of the volcano from this town before we go on.( that is if we do not wear ourselves out dancing...wink) 

Still no paint thinner in sight but we do seem to keep busy.....thus no new  paintings..  Keep the notes back coming.....I want to know my world is still out there ...should we return...wink.  Michael had to rent a sarong at the temples to not offend the Gods.......he looks cute in a skirt....nice knees..  We are both getting pretty mellowed out.....it is hot but the pool is great and the room is air conditioned.  Hugs to all....  Robyn and Michael

25 October 2008 Bali Hi Folks

Robyn and I are in Kuta ( a surfing, beachy community in Bali)  We are here for a total of 30 days in Bali and we are on the first leg of our trip.  It was a very long , long, long, long two plane flights here. 

We are staying at a hotel that looks like an old temple grounds that was converted for 30 dollars a night plus breakfast.  Very jungle like with a wonderful pool that one can swim up to the bar for a cold one.( and Michael is doing that a lot...)  

Robyn is getting a massage today by the pool for $9.00 and we have been sleeping a lot to get our bodies back on track. ( Michael wanted the word normal here but we all know we are not normal...)  

Hot and humid during the days....thank goodness for air conditioning and the beautiful pool and rain at night and evenings we spend on our Balise deck overlooking the rooftops and gardens and seeing the rain. 

The ocean water is 84 degrees and Michael has not done any surfing yet..( lots of wave looking and board price asking.  everything is negotiable here...except Robyn...wink.) ....eating we have done a lot of  from a food festival at the beach to very healthy and wonderful stir fry dishes from $2.5 to $ 3.5.

Going snorkeling tomorrow and to a beach bar-be-queue fish dinner thing tonight.  We are just winging it as far as where we are going. ( but not too far from the pool and the bar...)  Biggest daily decision is were we are going to  eat again.

Beers are cheap, cold and good, the people are wonderful with a sweet gentle spirit and dancing eyes. and people are crawling out of the woodwork to sell us something...everywhere. 

Lots of Aussies and English...we have seen no Americans  yet...This is the prime beachy tacky tourist place, we are moving on to the cultural art center of the island in two days to find ourselves. We aren't looking that hard.....wink...hugs to all, Robyn and the Michael the Mag
 

20 October 2008 Bali Michael leaves for Bali tomorrow for another road trip. We hope to get periodic reports. so say tuned.

2 August 2008Travis and Julia Goin were blessed with a son, Taylor Reese, today. 7lbs 6 oz 19 in. Mother and son are doing fine, as is the father. They returned home on Wednesday.

August 2008 Mike will soon be a grandfather for the 5th time! His daughter Julia and son-in-law Travis are expecting a boy baby very soon now ( name still to be decided). A convergence of family members will happen this weekend, 1 August.

July 2008 A Real Job Happens Mike has been ask to model for portrait class and he has accepted. He will even get paid for his effort! Now we understand that this is only a start in his modeling career but hope is high.

May 2008 Surf Trip to Mexico

Two weeks were spent with cousin Jerry. Research for new material with total emersion in the culture of Mexico was the goal. By the way ask him about the incident in the pharmacy.

Yes life is harsh for the working artist

10-8-2007 Spain Wow what a party town.  The action was none stop!   Interesting place...new career o....you stand in an open parking space on the street and charge the driver to park on the public street.  We spent the last three days with the wonderful five year old twins and Anna Michael's daughter.  Loved the Tapas and Flamenco guitar playing and dancing.  This is a very impressive town and I am sure it is on someone's list of things to do before you die.  We leave today to drive back to Lisbon to get the Plane out tomorrow.......The trip has been adventure filled and exhausting.....come soon and then we will be able to paint all the passion and power that these countries have showed us......Michael and Robyn

10-3-2007 Spain Okay we left Spain to go back to Portugal which we have a map and tour guide for....life got too confusing trying figure it all out.  We headed to the middle of Portugal this time and all its walled cities and medieval castles. cool...........yesterday it was exploring on foot in the rain the little shops and museums, and cafes in the walled city where we are staying.( It it like a Disney  ride......we read later in the guide book that they did not recommend driving in them.....We had to pull our  mirrors in to get by several corners and a couple of times other people had to guide us on  sharp turns. .  Ya all would be very proud of Michael's ability to drive the very narrow streets between the buildings while I am telling him we are going the wrong way......To save our sanity........Today we have found a guided tour ( something that is hard to find in English at this time of the year) to more walled cities and vineyards.......They have monoliths here like Stone Hinge.........very old area............There is very few English and no Americans but us here.  According to the locals...Americans stopped coming after 9/11...................We have meet two Americans on the whole trip and a lot the menus are not set up in English..........Michael is going antsy not being able to watch anything but BBC .   We saw House in Portuguese last night  super strange................I keep ordering strange  dishes that I do the  cooking at the table on heated stones or mini grills  Their idea of barbecue is different then mine.  Tomorrow we head again for Seville Spain.  Were we meet up with  Michael's daughter and grand twins.  We have asked Anna to bring a tour book and I found a map of Spain....So we should have a fighting chance to find a hotel that we can afford and that will take kids.............We are off again.......love  Robyn and Michael    Hoping to get a painting off this morning.......

10-1-2007 Spain The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.......nope!!!!!!!   Rain everywhere and lots of it.......our room was  flooding this morning ... Yesterday was the feast of St Frances.........it sounded like we were being invaded. by fireworks.  We were wondering if George Bush had attacked Spain.  Today we continue our quest for a tourist office and a book of things to see.  Spain television is all dubbed into Spanish unlike Portugal's TV which has subtitles so we could watch it....bummer.........so we read a lot at night.     Michael has renamed me wrong way Corrigan Trimm because he is unhappy with my navigational skills..............He says I lost the keys to our room.    I do not think so........We do hope to actually paint again soon but at least we take a lot of pictures for future paintings.  Having a great time lost in Spain..............or as for Michael lost in transition.( many years ago).......Mike and Robyn

9-29-2007- Portugal Hi Gang    Well yesterday we spent a lot of time trying to find street names so we could find our hotel in a new city.  It takes a lot of time to find where to stay each time we move on.  Finally Michael just parked the car and we decided to look for it on foot instead of the small winding streets., we had driven on for what seemed like hours  totally lost ( as always) and then like magic we got out of the car and there was the hotel. in front of us.    The down side is I decided to wash my hair and I tried to use my dryer and I blew out the electrical power we think for the whole hotel......I am admitting nothing........we are afraid to go back to the hotel this morning.  I expect our luggage to be on the curb..........(wink).    We met a couple of painters here.........they were fun to talk to....but there is a real  shortage of good oil painters here. We are planning to go paint an old Roman bridge this afternoon if the weather holds.  It has been fun traveling with several wet oil painting .(not) ......Tomorrow we are heading to Spain....with no maps or books......is that not courage? or stupidity?  We hope the food is better in Spain we are tired of Salted fish and white bread...Michael will have to go cold turkey from the Portugal's pastries.( He eats them several times a day).......love Michael and Robyn

9-28-2007- Portugal Well this country is interesting.  We stayed in the mountain a couple of days and loved it.  We got to paint in a beautiful spa town that looked like Lake Arrowhead.  In fact most of Portugal looks like part of California and the weather is the same too.  We have now noticed that our car was slightly side swiped too and and one of the fenders is coming apart at the seam.  I think we are going to have to buy this thing...scary......We had a balcony and a decent room the last two nights with wonderful breakfasts included.......Now we are back to the cement beaches.  We are going to leave Portugal and go into Spain...we have been warned about the tourist crime.......ohhh well  We will be meeting Anna Mike's daughter soon in Seville.  We saw a castle and Roman ruins this morning from outside the gates because they were not open and then had enough of salty fish so we did Chinese for lunch and walked the vegetable and fish market......on to another town and getting lost a hundred times....we are reading a lot and finding English tourist who have taken petty on us and point us in the right direction....my time is up....love Mr. M and Robyn

9-25-2007- Portugal

9-21-2007- Portugal Hi all...here we are in Lisbon......the weather is nice and balmy....Had problems finding a place to stay because of the national football playoffs...the room we got is unbelievably small......not where we wanted to be.....and the bath is down the hall....but it beats a park bench..........lost our travel book in airport and our flight connection was sooooo close that we made it only because we ran our hearts out and they held the plane.  We actually got our luggage....unbelievable!!!  We are living on Salmon because it is the only food we have figured out from the menus....no Americans around.  Sintra yesterday...tomorrow we get a car and we hit the coast (Algarve)  We haven't killed each other off yet........but the trip has just started  Lisbon is beautiful with all the palaces and castles....but we want out to get to the coast    Michael and Robyn

Art-A-Fair http://www.art-a-fair.com/June 29 - September 2, 2007 is coming in the historic art community of Laguna Beach across from Pageant of the Masters. I have complimentary tickets for opening night. If your interested give me a call or send an email. It promises to be a gala event with wine and hor'dourves. 

April 28th/29th Little Italy Show In downtown San Diego. What a crowd! 100,000 people. Glad I had my rodies (Rick and Robyn) there to help me set up. My best show ever!

April 07 The first two week in April were spent on a surfing trip to Mexico. We found a little known remote spot close to San Blas. Cousin Jerry and I and I battled over Pres Bush. I will convince him, someday, of the Republican wrongness. But I guess it will take a few more beers and a couple of shots! We also partook the wonderful hospitality of Ken and Gloria while in Mazatlan (read Michael the Magnificent has a magnificent hangover).

March 07 Painting trip to Moro Bay CA. The weather was magnificent! Scott Kuhnly and I out did ourselves. The canvas' flowed like wine. Montaña de Oro and Sooner Cove were AWWWWsume! Warm days cool nights made the camp out like a pleasure trip.

9-29-2006 - Italy

We have had such a wonderful time learning about Italy and her people.  The Isle of Ishcia was very interesting .  We hired an Italian taxi to show us the island......he took us to a secluded restaurant over the ocean ( sea of Naples actually) and the owners bought us glasses of champagne..........the food was lovely and we had the whole place to ourselves.  It was like being one of the rich and famous.  At night we sat under the moon and stars back at our hotel on the top roof terrace and drank to the view of Mt Verious and the lights of Naples across the bay...........today we take the bus to the Napoli Airport and then onto London to see Michaels beautiful little twin granddaughters and his daughter Anna.  We will be sight seeing a staying with family friends there.  This is ending way too soon but we have great memories and both of us are excited to get home and paint pictures from our photos...........ciao   Robyna and Michello

9-25-2006- Italy

Hi Ya all.........we have moved back to Sorrento and our little pension over the ocean.  Painted all day in-between the rain and eating ( eating is our favorite pastime)  Tomorrow we are off on a day trip to see Greek Temples and Caverns...the next day is the island of Ishea where we will do the spa thing and have volcanic mud baths.....I kid you not---we walk at least 10 miles uphill and down daily......if it wasn't for the pasta, wine and gelato...we would be skinny as rails. 

9-23-2006- Italy

The weather is warm and beautiful.  In Italy you only do things in between meals.  The main activity is eating.  The food is unbelievable.......We have been working hard, playing hard, and sleeping hard..........We have walked 500 miles uphill since we have been here.  The bus rides down the coast are worth the price for the shear terror of looking down the steep cliffs to the ocean  below  on the narrow roads that two buses cant pass without stopping and yelling at each other.  We have conquered Positano and now returning back to Sorrento to paint the harbor scenes we missed due to rain.  Then we will be off to see another island we cant spell right now.  oh well.......We find that sign language has been okay to get around......bye for now    Robino and Michello  Sorry no pictures...we are not that computerized.....

9-21-2006- Italy

Hi Folks...We slaved all day in front of the easels.  Michael and I separated to paint a hundred feet from each other.  Michael was going at it.  I knew he needed to stop when he started painting all the paintings pure orange.  The man was hot...the man was a quart low and needed a beer.  I on the other hand, painting in the shade, got hit on by Domino....a dark Italian type......

9-20-2006- Italy

We moved to this little village by the sea  and are taking day trips down the Amalfi Coast by boat and bus. Our room overlooks the sea with a darling balcony.   Okay it is officially the rainy season here but it hasn't stopped us.  Since we both have naturally curly hair....with all the rain we both have heads of curls.   We are now into daily painting.  Michael ONLY took 28 canvases and will run out.  I took eight and will have a hard time filling them all. Michael loves Italy sooo much when he gets back home he says he s going to change his name to Michello Gulewicheano.......I am sure it will still be Michello the magnifico.....wink........we are having a great time it is like a Disneyland for grown ups.......not that we are grown up......Robyn and Michael

9-11-2006- Italy Well Michael is off to that cradle of artist endeavors, Italy, on a painting expedition. He claims it is NOT a vacation (he did take paint and canvas). I have asked him for daily updates via email. I had some hope that he could accomplish this because he recently discovered that the enter key was not on his monitor screen but on his keyboard! While the advanced concepts of cut and paste are still beyond his skill set. I tried some lessons in web based email but I believe that they were fruitless due to the fact that there was a lack of knowledge of personal email address, IDs and passwords. But hope spring eternal. His traveling companion may be able to send some word. I guess there is still some hope in the form of carrier pigeons.

5-4-2006 The Art Walk in Little Italy San Diego was a tremendous success! It's a true joy to share with all the that came through a love for art and community.

It was noted that one of the standards in our painting community has numerous commissions in Churches in the area and a proposal  was put forth to develop a tour with the local well know artist as our guide and commentator.

4-25-2006  Michael is accepted in Laguna Beach's famous 10-week Art Affair Show.  There are only eight (8) new artists accepted in this show which has been in existence for over 35 years.  Michael sends an open invitation to see his brilliant new work!

Currently planning a painting trip to Italy and Portugal for the fall.

4-16 thru 4/20, 2006 - Painting trip to Morro Bay.  Painted with the famous Scott Kuhnly .  Woke up in the morning and the sun was brilliant, the sky was clear and the temperature was perfect for artistic endeavors.  The grass was electric green filled with spring wild flowers!  In the evenings, we sat around the campfire critiquing the days work and exchanging ideas.  Scorecard:  artist 10 creations; hangovers zero!

February planning painting trip to Portugal in the fall.