The amazingly talented Michel Ropion

I have been to India a handful of times. Each time, a fond memory lingers. There is simply an immense scale to the country. There are dizzying smells, from rich masala curry spices to fragrant floral incenses. There is a mass of people so grand, it touches the horizon. There are colorful saris hanging to dry along the edges of the Ganges River. There are deafening honking sounds on bustling street corners filled with rickshaws and British-era black Ambassador cars. That myriad of life has inspired the bazaar-like colors in my home; in my art and my photography, even in the jewelry I wear. 

One thing is very evident in my home - the stunningly beautiful paintings of my father, Michel Ropion.

If you ever venture out into the vast foothills of the Himalayas, you will quickly understand why the region caught the eye of my parents many many years ago. They have returned to northern India every year for the last 25+ years. It is there that my father paints his incredible canvasses. His paintings show the magnificence of the mountains surrounding him. He paints portraits of young and old with beauty in their souls; he paints Tibetan temples with their sacred auras in regal ochres and burnt ambers. He wraps his paintings of flowers in an enchanting timeless beauty.

Michel Ropion's medium is acrylic; he uses it as though it was liquid magic at the end of his fingertips. From Arches 300gm paper, to canvas boards, to giant 4'x5' canvas frames, he treats magenta pinks, chartreuse greens, and royal teals with pure majestic vibrance. 

I will do a new trio of blog posts -  this time of my father's art. With the first of three, I invite you to see his flower series, his mind-blowing colors, his irrefutable talent.

As you can see, there is magic in the air when you look at these paintings. 
I find them exquisite. 

I hope you do to. Feel free to inquire about them. Just like I love them on my walls; you might too!

It is so clear to me that my father's art is so delightfully ~ good for the soul ~ 

Enjoy as always, Adeline

Yosemite on my mind

I wrap up this 3-part blog with the front-end of a delightful escapade. I felt inspired a few weeks ago to start the series with the end of that long get-away weekend. The series kicked off with the remote ghost town of Bodie - the post in the middle was very much ghostlike as well, as there truly is nothing on earth like the Tufa Towers of Mono Lake. But the front end of that early summer weekend was definitely not ghostlike. It was stepping into the folds of a national treasure.  It was a return to nature. It was incredible. What a perfect beginning!

Yosemite National Park stands tall and majestic. It is such a beautiful place. One comes upon this World Heritage Site fairly quickly after traveling just under 4 hours from the San Francisco Bay Area. From the flatlands heading east to the high mountain tops beyond, it is not long before one drops into a deep valley floor edged by wilderness, sheer granite cliffs; picturesque vistas, endless waterfalls, groves and groves of giant sequoia trees, and enchanting rivulets and meadows at every turn. 

The Ahwahnee Hotel was the perfect base camp for the morning. The charming grand dame of hotels dates back to 1927; it was built to host early European and American tourists to the area. It went on to host US Presidents, foreign Queens and Shahs, as well as famous writers and actors.

I will let your imagination wonder - for myself, I was warmed by the sunshine, enchanted by my company, relishing every vista, every breath, devouring the grandeur of this national gem.

I close the series with the spirit of the valley tucked close in my heart.

Step away from your routine - Be good to yourself - Spend time outdoors - Cherish whom you're with.

All of that is so good for the soul - no doubt.

 ~ Adeline

Mono Lake Detour

There is a quiet stillness about Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierras. It is vast. It is ancient. It is over one million years old - one of the oldest lakes in North America. Its southern shoreline is a sight to behold - a bizarre sight - a surreal sight of weird, yet remarkable limestone rock formations called Tufas Towers. 

The road along the Tioga Pass from Yosemite to the lake is beautiful - breathtaking - with its graceful twists and turns, its snow dusted rims. You come across the last ridge into the town of Lee Vining on the western side of the lake. I waited until twilight to go to the shore. I knew the light would be softer. The tourists, would mostly have left. It was tranquil, just a few of us. It was eerie. It looked fragile. It looked elegant in a way I could not quite pinpoint. I felt as though I had left planet Earth for a moment, and caught myself looking around to get my bearings.

Scroll down for a little history, and to be mesmerized like I was. Uploading my photographs once I returned home made me do a double take - there is no place like home, but there is definitely no place like Mono Lake.

A little history… just a little… Mono Lake has no outlet. For centuries, freshwater streams and underwater springs have fed into it, and still do today. With surface evaporation came dense deposits of salts and minerals. These deposits stayed behind to intermix and accumulate into twisted ghostlike sediment towers. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater - some as high as 30ft. When water diversions from the lake to Los Angeles began in the early forties, the level of the lake lowered, and exposed the towers. For different ecological and environmental reasons, a hard battle was fought and won in court to partially restore the lake level. Since 1981, the formations themselves are also protected under the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve.

This is part two of my three-part East Sierra long weekend. Part one was Bodie ghost town. Next up is Yosemite National Park, where I started my awe inspiring long weekend. But first, if you ever go to Yosemite, make sure to take a detour and go further east. Mono Lake is a majestic body of water. The Tufa towers that grace the shoreline are magical. Oddly, they are calming. You walk away back to your vehicle, and you look back, just to be sure you really saw what you just saw. This is no mirage. This is Mono Lake, and yet again, this kind of detour is good for the soul.

Adeline