Okay, so this is not what I had planned to record today with Google Glass, but it turned out to be spontaneous and fun. I ran into my friends Maria and Lindsay in downtown San Anselmo this morning at the bike shop. They had a table out and free coffee to educate folks about the Cycling benefit ride this September, Best Buddies Challenge. Lindsay and her daughter, Sidney, have done the ride for the past two years.
I ended up sharing Glass with everyone in the shop, and at Lindsay's suggestion, we made a little video for Facebook to promote their event and shop. Hope you enjoy it! Recorded with Google Glass beta version and edited in iMovie.
I also took still photos with Glass while riding my own bike... these are of my sons riding with me downtown this morning. Here are a few of those:
Enjoy the ride!
Enjoy these other videos I created using Google Glass:
It's been a fantastic two days of learning and fun with Google Glass.
Wednesday Night 6/26:
I returned on the last ferry from the city. I found a seat with a plug and charged Glass on the way back home. As I was exiting the ferry ramps, I snapped this shot. I am intrigued at the camera's ability to capture night images, and then enhance them with color. This was straight out of Glass, with no other retouching:
Larkspur Ferry Ramps at Night through Google Glass, June 2013
As I exited the ramp, I also got my first family asking me, "Is that the Google Glasses?" Yup... It sure was. This family was visiting from Florida, and the father and his two daughters both got to try Glass. Boy, were they blown away. How often do you meet a stranger in the night with Glass and they offer to let you try it out? It's very fun to share this new technology.
Thursday, June 27:
Photo taken by an 11 year old, first time using Glass.
I picked my sons up from tech camps in Marin and we headed to the creek with the dog before we had lunch on the street in San Anselmo. I taught my 11 year old twins to use Glass in Creek Park, and then they each had a chance to take photos and record videos with Glass. Within moments, both of them were using the basic features with ease. Here are some of their photos: Aidan took his first shot of his brother, pictured here in purple. He also took a pretty nice shot of me, the dog and Blake, with little effort. Due to the wide angle, it seems hard for kids to cut anyone out of the picture. Great!
I took a 10 second movie of our dog, on the bridge. It was easy to put her leash on with my hands free.
Mesa is the best. It's fun to see her on video.
When I was seated outside of the café for lunch, I had a couple comments, "Cool"... as people walked by and saw the Glass on my head. Marnie Delaney, owner of Doodlebug stopped by and wanted to give it a try. She took this photo of me with Glass. I edited directly in Google +, where Glass automatically backs up the images that you take when you are connected to wifi. All images, at this point in time, must be shared to Google+, but you may tweet an image with no text, or send an image to Facebook with no text. I am an iPhone user, and they do not have the app ready yet that will allow me to send better tweets and FB posts straight from Glass. I have to download the photos and tweet or FB them later if I want to add captions. This is a huge deal, and it has to be improved and ready before anyone will buy this device in the mainstream market. People love to share their photos... and they want to do it they way they like, so I look forward to the sharing apps being released. If you are working on one now, please contact me if you need a beta-tester! (not sure if Google will allow it, but I'm in!)
We took a great video of fish in the San Anselmo Creek yesterday afternoon. The glasses come with polarized clip on shades, and a pair of clear shades as well. To extend a video beyond 10 seconds you have to tap the headpiece twice to extend it indefinitely. I tried to edit this video unsuccessfully(I cut clips off the front and back, but it wouldn't save), so I did not post it. I hope to find a better way to edit clips and intend to compile an iMovie with many clips from Glass eventually.
Friday:
I drove to pick up my sons from camp and took a quick snap from the Glass as I crested the hilltop by the Civic Center on the 101. Here is the result:
Photo taken driving, hands-free with Google Glass.
I was excited to share Google Glass with my sons' computer programming camp. The kids were learning animation in SCRATCH and they were all really wowed by GLASS. Of about 20 kids that tried it, all were able to take a photo, record a video and could see the screen really well. They loved it. One student, who had his own prescription glasses had a harder time, but he could see the screen when he put Glass over his own glasses. (I have tried this too, and it is doable. It's obviously better to wear contacts if you have them at this point, but you can get it to work with glasses. They will have to work on this element for some people). One boy mentioned that he felt a little dizzy after trying them. One girl was very soft spoken, and had a hard time getting Glass to move from the start screen to the second screen where you can initiate a list of voice commands. (You can also swipe through them with the side bar that is the arm of Glass, but that is harder to teach kids to do in a short amount of time). The swiping and tapping of the side bar works really well, but it does take some practice to get comfortable with it. Here is one of my sons, who was in a moviemaking class, being recorded by another student. It's funny how kids are pros at these things from the instant they use them. I can definitely confirm today that kids love the photo and video recording aspects of Glass, and they think it is really, really cool.
So... I haven't gotten to try this on my bike yet, but I feel like I have spent the last two days learning how to use this and that I could now, officially embark on the mt. bike trails. Stay tuned!
Enjoy these other videos I created using Google Glass:
The weather was just perfect for Marin Open Studios this weekend. I participated this year and had my art out in the backyard/driveway and painted on an easel on Mother's Day. It was lovely. I had 20 visitors on Mother's Day, and they were truly a terrific bunch.
For more information on the 285 artist studios that are open this weekend, please visit marinarts.org and download the Tour Guide and Maps. It is open next weekend as well, May 14 & 15. Most of the artists also have a "preview piece" in the Gallery at 906 Fourth Street in Downtown San Rafael, right next to Crepevine. Best way to visit Open Studios is to stop at Marin Arts Gallery, pick up a Tour Guide (or download one online) and then look at one piece by each of the artists, and plan which studios you wish to visit with the Tour Guide in hand.
BJ Snyder purchased the first piece of art this Saturday- "View of White's Hill from Pine Mt."- a plein air piece I created in 2007, just before I received the Wendy Gruber award. This piece has significance to me as well, in that I painted it under the pine trees at the top of Pine Mt. Fire Road, with my border collies, Quest and Mesa. Quest passed away in 2008, and the pine trees were cut down by MMWD in 2010. Two great losses, but a lovely day and painting to commemorate their glory days.
Colleen Proppé working on "Riding through Tree Shadows", Deer Park, Fairfax
I was happy to work on this painting my second day of Open Studios. It's coming along. I love the dappled light from the trees as you exit the fire road from Deer Park hiking/biking trails. This painting seeks to capture that joy.
Lollipops, Tiny Cow Painting and Flowers... Great floral arrangement by Kate Peper, friend and artist. Thank you, Kate!
My family shipped this large painting from Connecticut. I painted it there last summer, and I wanted it present at my Open Studios. I really love this painting. I hope it goes to a good home soon.
I've been working with the San Anselmo Art Commission to plan a Holiday Art Walk for the town. We started planning this in September, as a way to fill in the empty storefronts, and it has evolved into a different kind of event. Since we were unable to secure any empty storefronts at the time, we approached the San Anselmo Merchants to see if they would include a single piece of art in their front window as part of their Holiday displays. It has gone very well. At least 15 businesses will participate this year, and the hope is that we can continue the enthusiasm for next year and grow the event with further planning. I will have one little plein air piece of Mt. Tam at Delectables Home and Garden. I also have 3 tiny pieces in the Marin Arts Council, "Small Wonders" show that is just up in downtown 4th St. Gallery, San Rafael. Happy Holiday Shopping!
Draper's Greenhouse, Draper Family Farms, San Anselmo, CA 2010
I've been super slow at getting back to my unfinished paintings, and even slower at starting new paintings lately. Daylight savings is making me more tired than usual. I forced myself to work on this tonight, and it's coming along.
It's hard to believe that I have been unable to drive for an entire month, since my last post. It has been REALLY hard, and I've had to go through this kind of disability three times now in the last 2 years...(initial injury, ACL surgery, now meniscus surgery) but it never gets easier, really. There is something about not being able to leave your house, go for a hike, see the beauty of Marin that will drive you nuts if you are stuck with out this joy. Today, I managed to steal 20 minutes to drive my dog to Sorich Park. I sat at the picnic table there, after limping to the table from my car, and I couldn't believe how nice it was to see Mt. Tam once again, from a point I was able to get myself to, by myself. Freedom! Pheew... that was hard. Now, learning to bend my knee again, and not look like an idiot; that's step two. Physical therapy starts Friday. Here is the little quick stetch I did today on my iPad, from the table, while my dog looked longingly at me, happy to be out, but wondering, "Why aren't we going on our regular hike, Mom?" Poor dog. She is so loyal. I hope she was just happy to get out with me again.
I had knee surgery on Friday, went to see Pilobolus at Marin Center on Saturday night, watched the SF Giants beat the Braves today with my family, and finally made it to the easel on Sunday afternoon. The need to paint is great right now, as we have an upcoming, "Art on the Farm" annual show, and I need distraction from my healing knee. This is an image I have wanted to tackle for some time- Bo Draper's Greenhouse in San Anselmo, a third generation, Marin Organic, family farm that is run as a co-operative farm. You can pick your own veggies here, once you become a member. They also have bees and honey. Just down the road from Sorich Park, this is a beautiful, hidden piece of Marin that is much loved by the residents of San Anselmo. Elementary students have been taking field trips to Draper's for years.
This painting is just the start- flushing out the bones... the shapes and colors that will add dimension to the final image.
"Preview" show at Marin Coffee Roasters, San Anselmo. Photo: K. Kingson
I helped hang this show in San Anselmo yesterday. Tim Mock, owner of Marin Coffee Roasters, has always been truly supportive of me, and other San Anselmo artists who have wanted to share their art here. When Brian Stubblefield and Ed Walls owned the Coffee Roasters, I began painting bicycles in Marin County, and this very shop hosted my first paintings I created in 2005. The first was a painting of the original Roasters shop with the backyard garden, and later, several paintings of the Serpentine Trail at Camp Tamarancho; a popular single-track trail that is know by most mountain bikers in the Bay Area. The town loved the old shop so much, that when the new shop opened in its current location, across the street, they raised money from town members to purchase my painting for Bryan Stubblefield to share in the new shop. It still hangs in the shop today, along with a plaque we had made for those who helped purchase the painting.
The current owner, Tim, agreed to let our group hang a "mini" preview show of 12 paintings to promote our upcoming Art on the Farm fundraiser show, October 24th, at Pt. Reyes Winery; a benefit for Marin Organic Interest Free Loan Fund to Farmers. San Anselmo show is a very small sampling of the 100 or so, Bay Area artists that participate in "Art on the Farm". This show includes a dozen paintings, flanked by our October show posters. More info here, on the group blog.
"Ride to the Roasters", original oil painting by Colleen Proppé
I took my other son on my C25K jog/walk today. Today was Week 2, Day 2 of my c25k running program. I was so eager to get outside because today was the first sun we've seen in weeks, and apparently we are due for another weekend and week of rain next week. It was glorious to see the sun today, and I feel so lucky to have been able to get out in it.
I am quickly learning that what is fun for me is also fun for my kids. My son loved running when it was time to run, and walking when it was time to walk (via the iPod Touch/iPhone app that was prompting us). Not only did he love this part of the outing, but he loved and protected our little sculpture we made in our "Land Art" practice series.
In my previous two posts, I have talked about designing a class to run through the San Anselmo Recreation Center in the Spring called "Land Art". Based on the concepts of artists such as Andrew Goldsworthy and Richard Shilling(www.landartforkids.com). My son loved this little "sun sculpture" we made so much that he told the other people on the trail not to harm it! Too cute.
It was fun to see my paintings in "The Bicycle Works" yesterday, and hear some of the comments by the visitors. This photo shows a few of my paintings up high, with some great black and white paintings by John Hersey. I stopped by at about 5pm and there was a healthy crowd, both indoors and out back, enjoying food donated by Sol Food of San Rafael, and discussing the possibilities of this neighborhood cycling hub. The favorite thought was coffee... all the neighbors want coffee with their bikes. If you'd like to visit the new shop, or see my paintings through August, you can find it here:
"La Coppa Coffee Bikes", Downtown Mill Valley, California. 16" x 20".
• View Session 2 • View the start of this painting, in the workshop, with Christin Coy This painting is the 9th in a series of paintings, "Cycling Through Landscapes", that will be available for purchase in September, at the Mill Valley Depot Cafe & Bookstore. A percentage of the sales from paintings sold in September will go to The Bicycle Works, a new, co-op style, community bike shop, opening this Sunday, in San Anselmo, California. To read about this new shop, check out today's article in the Marin IJ. Some of the paintings from my new series will be on loan to the shop for the next few weeks. We hung part of the series up this evening at The Bicycle Works. Click photo to enlarge... Pictured in the photo, above-left, is Spokey Godfrey, Director. Come out tomorrow for the shop's Grand Opening Celebration, with food by Sol Food of San Rafael, and film "The Triplets of Belleville", provided by Tom Boss of "Film Night in the Park". The paintings give the shop a little color, in contrast to the black and white of the bikes on the stands. My painting from last year's, Mill Valley Paint Out, with bikes in the bike rack... next to a Breezer commute bike, by local cycling legend, Joe Breeze. Breezer Bikes plans to give a portion of sales from it's bikes at "The Bicycle Works" back to support the new shop and it's mission.
February 6, 2009 Project: Flyer to promote Wedding Floral Design Client: Local Flora Single page design that will be displayed in Hotel and Wedding binders in SF and Marin County. The client wanted something that showed off her unique and organic, local flower designs. I chose to use this close-up image of a bouquet from her photos. The photo itself was really well shot, clear and it draws the viewer into the intimate intricacies of the flowers; a goal most weddings hope to share. I included images of veils from a wedding I photographed in Nicasio.
My show at Local Flora, in San Anselmo, has been extended an additional 2 weeks until Tuesday, January 27th. After this date, watercolor paintings by fellow artist, Kate Peper, will be exhibited in the gallery. I hope you have enjoyed the show, and if you haven't seen it yet, that you will drop by in the next 2 weeks to enjoy my art surrounded by flowers and rustic gifts. It is Marin's version of SF's "Bouquet's to Art", in a way! It has been a pleasure to work with owner, Silke Vom Bauer, and I recommend this venue for other local Marin artists looking for a lovely setting to show their work.
To enter the Local Flora website, click the image, below.
I had a really nice reception at Local Flora yesterday, from 3-6pm. The weather was fantastic and we pulled the food outside to enjoy the sunset. Thank you Kate Peper, Danielle, Mom and Dad, BJ, Annelise, Laura, and Silke. Please go visit the show, now through January 10th. For more information, see my previous post, or visit the Local Flora website at www.marinflora.com. To view photos from the reception, please click here.
This is the pricelist for my current show at Local Flora Gallery in San Anselmo. Click on the above photo to enlarge. You may also download this same pricelist as a pdf file for my current show. For more information about the show, please visit www.marinflora.com
Sunday, November 2, 2008 "3 Belles, 1 Iris", Pt. Reyes, CA. 16" x 20", o/c. At Local Flora; $485.
I just hung a show of my paintings at Local Flora Gallery in San Anselmo. This is a unique Flower Shop which is a member of Marin Organic, and adjacent to United Market on Redhill Road, just before the Hub. This show will run through the holidays and I have discounted paintings 40-20% lower than usual. 40% of the purchase price goes back to the Local Flora Shop, and I donate an additional percentage of my plein air paintings painted on Marin Organic farms back to the Marin Organic Interest-Free loan fund for farmers. There will be a reception on Saturday, November 15th, so be sure to drop by and say hello and check out the shop. Photos to come later this week...
November 2, 2008 - January 10, 2009 Wine & Cheese Reception; Saturday, November 15th, 3-6pm Local Flora Flowers, Plants & Art Gallery Adjacent to United Market 100 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA
I have been shopping for frames for my paintings this week, and gathering lots of amazing reference imagery and inspiration for my next "Art on the Farm" paintings. Our show is coming up on October 19th, and I am full of ideas of things to paint, but running out of time. This Saturday, I attended a wonderful event and talk about Bees at Draper Farm in San Anselmo, CA. Mia Draper gave an incredibly educational slide show talk to a group through Marin Organic. It was a fundraising event, including a honey tasting of more than 15 types of honey, and a tour of their CSA farm. I took a series of photos in their greenhouse of "Bo" Draper, the 1st generation farmer, caring for seedlings, and a young boy walking through the greenhouse. I am determined to paint this one. I really love it because it speaks to me about the value of sustainability, the dedication involved by farmers, and the education necessary to teach current generations.
To view more photos from this event, click here...
Saturday, June 14, 2008 My first painting of the San Anselmo Seminary building, the only stone church in California(I have heard...), sold at a very special auction last night. I couldn't be more proud of my community today. It was a wonderful moment, to see everyone coming together to help a family in need. As promised, I will have prints available of this image very soon. Here is an exerpt from the auction results, from our school principal:
"I am sitting here just amazed with pride at this incredible community!! This was a night to go down in the history books, parents! Tonight, with only 4 of the last (busiest!) days of school to get ready, you INCREDIBLE parents pulled off a demonstration of “all for one” compassion that is noble beyond compare. Tonight, with some hamburgers, hot dogs, and a WHOLE lot of heart, you raised…… $13,216 to support Lynn Hyncks and her family. Tonight, you showed all our children and students what it means to care, what it means to share, what it means to help those in need.
Thank you. Thank you to those who came and ate a hamburger, hot dog, or veggie patty (over 400 of you). Thank you to our excellent musicians who volunteered to came and serenade us. Thank you moms and dads who donated SO many silent and live auction items, some worth thousands of dollars! Thank you for buying those silent and live auction items and raising so much for these children."
You have made Fathers Day, for these children, so very much better. Thank you, you wonderful Wade Thomas school family!"
Today our community is coming together to help a local, San Anselmo woman, and mother of 3 young girls that attend Wade Thomas School in San Anselmo. Lynn Hincks partner, Matt Reagan, passed away unexpectedly last week. To top it all off, Lynn is currently in Stage 3 of cancer, and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments this summer. Our Wade Thomas Community has launched a tremendous effort to help this family, including: BBQ Dinner at Wade Thomas School With Live Music and Auction TONIGHT, FRIDAY, JUNE 13, from 6-8pm.
I am donating a painting of San Anselmo to the Live Auction. The Bug at Montgomery Chapel, San Anselmo, CA
If you are interested in bidding on this painting, please come and do so, as it might go for a lot less than it's actual price($1,200.) ALL are welcome to join in tonight and have a meal and enjoy some music outside on the Wade Thomas Campus. Please come and have dinner to support Lynn Hincks and the girls.
When I was seated outside of the café for lunch, I had a couple comments, "Cool"... as people walked by and saw the Glass on my head. Marnie Delaney, owner of Doodlebug stopped by and wanted to give it a try. She took this photo of me with Glass. I edited directly in Google +, where Glass automatically backs up the images that you take when you are connected to wifi. All images, at this point in time, must be shared to Google+, but you may tweet an image with no text, or send an image to Facebook with no text. I am an iPhone user, and they do not have the app ready yet that will allow me to send better tweets and FB posts straight from Glass. I have to download the photos and tweet or FB them later if I want to add captions. This is a huge deal, and it has to be improved and ready before anyone will buy this device in the mainstream market. People love to share their photos... and they want to do it they way they like, so I look forward to the sharing apps being released. If you are working on one now, please contact me if you need a beta-tester! (not sure if Google will allow it, but I'm in!)
I was excited to share Google Glass with my sons' computer programming camp. The kids were learning animation in SCRATCH and they were all really wowed by GLASS. Of about 20 kids that tried it, all were able to take a photo, record a video and could see the screen really well. They loved it. One student, who had his own prescription glasses had a harder time, but he could see the screen when he put Glass over his own glasses. (I have tried this too, and it is doable. It's obviously better to wear contacts if you have them at this point, but you can get it to work with glasses. They will have to work on this element for some people). One boy mentioned that he felt a little dizzy after trying them. One girl was very soft spoken, and had a hard time getting Glass to move from the start screen to the second screen where you can initiate a list of voice commands. (You can also swipe through them with the side bar that is the arm of Glass, but that is harder to teach kids to do in a short amount of time). The swiping and tapping of the side bar works really well, but it does take some practice to get comfortable with it. Here is one of my sons, who was in a moviemaking class, being recorded by another student. It's funny how kids are pros at these things from the instant they use them. I can definitely confirm today that kids love the photo and video recording aspects of Glass, and they think it is really, really cool.
"La Coppa Coffee Bikes", Downtown Mill Valley, California. 16" x 20". 
We hung part of the series up this evening at The Bicycle Works. Click photo to enlarge... Pictured in the photo, above-left, is Spokey Godfrey, Director. Come out tomorrow for the shop's Grand Opening Celebration, with food by Sol Food of San Rafael, and film "The Triplets of Belleville", provided by Tom Boss of "Film Night in the Park". The paintings give the shop a little color, in contrast to the black and white of the bikes on the stands.
My painting from last year's, Mill Valley Paint Out, with bikes in the bike rack... next to a Breezer commute bike, by local cycling legend, Joe Breeze. Breezer Bikes plans to give a portion of sales from it's bikes at "The Bicycle Works" back to support the new shop and it's mission.
Project: Flyer to promote Wedding Floral Design
This is the pricelist for my current show at Local Flora Gallery in San Anselmo. Click on the above photo to enlarge. You may also download this same pricelist as a pdf file for my current show. For more information about the show, please visit www.marinflora.com
"3 Belles, 1 Iris", Pt. Reyes, CA. 16" x 20", o/c. At Local Flora; $485.
The Bug at Montgomery Chapel, San Anselmo, CA
