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To live and enjoy every day to its fullest, use my gifts to help others, I travel to wherever passion finds me.

What Will She Paint?

So many friends I met here...!

Friday, July 16, 2010

BRADBURY DAM - ON OUR WAY TO SOLVANG


This is the Bradbury Dam  on elevation of 232 m. We passed the dam on our way to Solvang. It is also a fishing site. It's located near Santa Barbara, and serves as a dam for Lake Cachua.


So huge, that hubby thought for a moment that we were driving near the coast.  This lake is also used for fishing. There are wilderness areas around
A beautiful area. No wonder Santa Barbara which is close, is called the American Riviera. I respectfully disagree though.
The French and Italian Riviera have a very different "feel", and the light and air (painting wise) are very different.
Maybe they also associate it also with the life style of the Riviera. Santa Barbara is known as the (student) party city. It is also known for having the biggest movie studio of the silent film area. From there the movie industry moved to Hollywood.


This cloud was weird. It was so big (you see only part of it in this pic), and it seemed to move with us. We saw it for the longest time..
.

Beautiful views - do you see the cloud hiding the mountains? It's the same cloud from above!
This could be a Sepia Scene with some adjustments!


The longer I live in California, the more I begin to enjoy earthly browns, like chocolate, sepia, raw sienna, burnt sienna, van Dyke brown...


Dried weeds have its own beauty 


But nothing can match a little unassuming wildflower. We almost stepped on it!
Since I was soo busy showing you the sites, I put Solvang on hold again!

17 comments:

CorvusCorax12 said...

gorgeousness countryside

rainfield61 said...

Yes, I am loving those brown colours too.

And the list continue: dark walnut, burn beech and so on.

Rudee said...

Wow. How pretty!

Stephanie V said...

The wee purple flower is all the more precious in that desert of brown shades. Isn't it wonderful what you can see when you can take off our regular 'filters'?

maryt/theteach said...

jeanette, I saw that you asked about sepia effects for your photos. I host the Sepia Scenes meme. In Photoshop, click Image - Adjustment - Variations and click a little yellow and a little red. Then you can click on Hue-Saturration to get the sepia color you like. These are drop down menues at the top of the page. Good luck! :)

California Girl said...

I'm with you. Nothing matches color in the brown dryness of summer in Southern Cal. I always missed the refreshing greens of March & April when they began to fade.

Unknown said...

Oh I love the mountains. I miss the SL valley mountains or the Wasatch Front! But the mountains here in the desert of St. George are such a different beauty that I can't describe! But the Pacific Coast...wow what an incredible beauty too! Loved visiting and seeing you wonderful pictures! hugs and smiles across the miles!

Jeannette StG said...

Twain,
It's really true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I never thought I could see beauty in brownish colors!


Rainfield,
Oooh, your eyes are trained to see the different shades of color! I should have known, since your love is to be in nature! And finally I learn to love brown (used to be my least favorite color)

Rudee,
It is pretty, isn't it? You must be so relieved that you have your dress!!:)

Stephanie,
How true! I also think it has to do with the meaning of colors. When one grows up a "green country" like I did, brown means that it's dying. So my brain finally changed the meaning of brown:)

Marty,
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain! The Adjustment feature I use a lot, so I know I can find variations, etc. Have a great weekend:)

California Girl,
Exactly! that's I went crazy taking pics of the hill sides in the beginning of the year:) Because we never know what's going to happening brown -yellow -or even black from fires the rest of the year...

Linda H.
I can tell you appreciate the differences in all these places! California has stunning landscapes:) A great weekend to you, Linda!

S said...

Oh how I do love those mountains and that cloud! Is it not just one of Nature's miracles, that such a beautiful flower can grow in what seems to me a dry area? I do hope that you show us a painting of this place :)

Reader Wil said...

Thank you for the wonderful tour! Your header is brilliant, Jeannette.

Irene said...

I'm personally fonder of the Northern California mountains. They are not so barren and brown. I always felt lost and lonely in the Southern California mountains. As if a disaster had happened there.

Clytie said...

Thank you for taking me along on this trip. I too learned to love the varying shades of earth (brown) when living in California for a while. So much beauty is missed by so many who fail to see it. I'm so glad you do.

Jeannette StG said...

Sreddy,
Hey friend, good to hear from you!At some time I'll probably get struck by a sudden wind of inspiration:)
Are you painting right now?

Reader Wil,
You're welcome, Wil:)
What you don't know, when you see the header that there was so much water coming down with so much force at Bridal Veil Fall that it sounded like explosions!

Irene,
I can see that - there is such a feeling of vastness and space in the mountains, and when it's all dried up grass and plants, some of it looks dismal.


Clytie,
You see so many details, so I can return the compliment!
My guess is that painting helped me see beauty where many don't, but when they see it on my painting they recognize it!

Eki said...

Beautiful scenery! And your commentary makes me even enjoy it more.

BTW, to answer your question on my blog: Yes, banana leaf is still used as a food wrap. A lot of people like it because -unlike plastic or paper- it adds flavor to the food. It's environmentally friendly too. :D

Anonymous said...

The lake/resevoir looks almost exactly like one in Morocco.
Yes, to the subtleties of BROWN!

Jeannette StG said...

Eki,
Thank you!Amazing what kind of memories a five year old still has. Never thought about it that it is environmentally friendly:) Have a great week!

Jeannette StG said...

Ewix,
Me thinks you know about the subtleties of browns form experience, because you lived in Morocco!