The Bates MoTELLA Gallery

Roses and Delphineum (?)

Constance Bates — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:15:48 GMT

Roses and Delphineum (?)

Yard Art, Dianne's

Constance Bates — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:07:36 GMT

Yard Art, Dianne's

Hummingbird, up-close and personal, Dianne's

Constance Bates — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:04:59 GMT

Hummingbird, up-close and personal, Dianne's

Iceland Poppy, Dianne's

Constance Bates — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:02:08 GMT

Iceland Poppy, Dianne's

Hibiscus.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:11:58 GMT

Hibiscus.jpg

From the walk with my granddaughter, in a Moreno Valley CA suburb

Dianne's, flora 240.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:45:13 GMT

Dianne's, flora 240.JPG

I can't look at this without thinking of a jumping-up-and-down party (from Dianne's)

Dianne's, flora 237.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:39:15 GMT

Dianne's, flora 237.JPG

From Dianne's -- I think it's an Iceland Poppy.

Dianne, flora 261.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:25:40 GMT

Dianne, flora 261.JPG

Is this heavenly?? From Dianne's place. When I did a close-up, there were two perfectly circular holes on two separate petals. I used my photo program to blend the colors and cover them.

Dianne's, flora 257.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:18:42 GMT

Dianne's, flora 257.JPG

Dianne wanted me to get this clematis at its best (her fingers in the background).

Dianne's, flora 241.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:12:53 GMT

Dianne's, flora 241.JPG

Can't remember the name of this one, either -- from Dianne's yard. But aren't they lovely?

Bobby's rose, white against black.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:04:12 GMT

Bobby's rose, white against black.JPG

I have this titled "Bobby's rose, white against black" -- after looking at it. Honest, I don't know how I came by that. It may not be Bobby's, although her whites were lovely. If not, it's from my friend Dianne's house, or the landscaping in front of my dentist's office, Dr. Shrader in Riverside CA!

Bobby's rose, salmon.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:00:45 GMT

Bobby's rose, salmon.JPG

This gorgeous thing is from Bobby's yard, too. Exquisite, no?

Dianne flora 259.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:45:49 GMT

Dianne flora 259.JPG

Macro, inside the rose, from my friend Dianne's garden.

David w Bobby's lemon 2.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:42:57 GMT

David w Bobby's lemon 2.JPG

I brought back this gargantuan lemon, a Ponderosa, from one of Bobby's trees. My grandson David is showing how large it is compared to his eight-year-old head.

Dianne's, Po-kitty 167.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:39:10 GMT

Dianne's, Po-kitty 167.JPG

My friend Dianne is owned by this divine and deadly predator, "Po". (Her name is Hawaiian, multi-syllabic, with many vowels and a few Ps and Ks, but when she doesn't answer, she prefers not to answer to Po.) I had forgotten that when she eats in her pretty scratcher-house, she can not abide to eat without being petted, so she came back out.

Constance, Bobby, Toby.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:27:57 GMT

Constance, Bobby, Toby.JPG

Bobby and Toby, with me... I know we think we know her, but -- however kind you believe her to be, she is more kind. However thoughtful you imagine she is, she is more thoughtful. Smart too -- but would you believe she said "Shut up" to me, more than once? I would not have thought that, knowing her... Hm. Knowing me, maybe it isn't so unimaginable...

Toby, by the way, is the only "little" dog I'd have willingly dognapped.

Bobby with carnations & baby's breath.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:23:06 GMT

Bobby with carnations & baby's breath.JPG

I brought red & pink carnations and baby's breath to Bobby -- to represent two little girls at a tea party. They stayed on the table while I was there (she had put roses from her garden into "my" room!), and were still lovely when I left almost a week later.

Bobby's rose, macro.JPG

Constance Bates — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:18:38 GMT

Bobby's rose, macro.JPG

I finally went to meet Aunt Bobby face to face, you know -- this is a picture of a rose from her yard.

Bubbles beneath the ice.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:18:20 GMT

Bubbles beneath the ice.jpg

You know Thoreau's "Bubbles in the Ice" essay? Words made more-than-words, among the most incredible works I've ever read. This picture (Art Rage again) I've called "Bubbles Beneath the Ice".

Birth of Inspiration.jpg

Constance Bates — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:08:09 GMT

Birth of Inspiration.jpg

This was done with ArtRage -- tube and palette knife.

IMGP0286.JPG

Constance Bates — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:45:03 GMT

IMGP0286.JPG

Maggie loves to herd cabbage moths! She doesn't try to snap at them; just runs like the Border Collie in her and dashes this way and that to make them go where she wants.

IMGP0280.JPG

Constance Bates — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:48:38 GMT

IMGP0280.JPG

Maggie thinks she hears or sees something, so... pauses... breathlessly... before charging off, ears flapping!

My friend's back yard

Constance Bates — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:30:04 GMT

My friend's back yard

Southern California drought-tolerant faves include the purple stuff (agapanthus) and daisy-types.

my place & Dianne's 097.JPG

Constance Bates — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:26:21 GMT

my place & Dianne's 097.JPG

clematis from Dianne

Constance Bates — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:17:13 GMT

clematis from Dianne

I believe this is clematis -- anyway, one of my friend Dianne's favorites from her yard.

my place & Dianne's 060.JPG

Constance Bates — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:10:54 GMT

my place & Dianne's 060.JPG

colorful cactus, our place

Constance Bates — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:00:43 GMT

colorful cactus, our place

Gift of corms.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:34:47 GMT

Gift of corms.jpg

My grand-daughter and I saw these beauties from a distance and admired the color. I was taking pictures from the sidewalk when the property owner approached and said, "Those are $250." I thought he meant they were collector flowers -- I voiced my surprise, but (hey, it's California) found it believable. He laughed -- he was teasing that he would charge me $250 for taking the photos. As we talked, however, I got several more photos, information about the plants, and the gentleman dug up three corms to show me -- and GAVE them to me! I've planted them here at home, and we'll see how they do in the high desert!

Geranium, Martha WA.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:31:02 GMT

Geranium, Martha WA.jpg

I believe these are Martha Washington geraniums. Delicious color, no?

Can't remember the name of these stalks!

Constance Bates — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:28:42 GMT

Can't remember the name of these stalks!

From our walk in Moreno Valley -- I can't remember the name of these stalks of perky flowers!

Into the Eye.jpg

Constance Bates — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:26:45 GMT

Into the Eye.jpg

Art Rage -- Did you see The Perfect Storm? You know it's inevitable -- the "over-reaching" of the flawed hero, the unstoppable nature of -- well, nature...

Rats! Lost in the Maze.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:00:16 GMT

Rats! Lost in the Maze.jpg

I call this "Rats! Lost in the Maze" -- more Paint and lines and filling in the lines with paint!

gems on velvet.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:59:13 GMT

gems on velvet.jpg

"Gems on Velvet" -- Paint program again. I'm wondering if I put this into Art Rage what fun I could have with it...!

Constance.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:57:48 GMT

Constance.jpg

Paint program -- scribbled my name, drew lines, colored them in.

blackand red.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:54:46 GMT

blackand red.jpg

Paint, using the rectangles etc...

Sunflower.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:53:51 GMT

Sunflower.jpg

What is it that's so therapeutic about coloring flowers? Must stem (ha!) from something in childhood... cb

Ranunculus I think.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:52:50 GMT

Ranunculus I think.jpg

Paint program -- I love these ruffly flowers -- I think it's Ranunculus.

Echinacea.jpg

Constance Bates — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:50:11 GMT

Echinacea.jpg

Paint program. Also called the Coneflower... "pencil" and "bucket o' paint".

Georgie Posing April 2008.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:16:43 GMT

Georgie Posing April 2008.jpg

My Georgie -- 2 years old. He's Border Collie and German Shepherd, soft and squeezable, bright and attentive, quick and obedient (after we finally got him to stop herding me and quit bringing lizards into the house).

Agave

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:37:33 GMT

Agave

Agave: Think tequila. There are a number of slightly difference agave, but in my experience they hold these things in common: Takes them a loooonnnnnnggggg time to grow; they are silver-gray-green rather than pure green; they are hard to dig up (the shovel bounces away from the fibrous plant and its roots); and those black tips are devilish. I have a great scar on my arm from brushing past one while working in the yard -- 21 years ago!

Kitty smells a rose

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:30:15 GMT

Kitty smells a rose

I took this from the sidewalk across the street at about a million X zoom -- and never saw the cat until I brought up the photo on the computer! Roses grow beautifully there, too, and many years (under inexperienced owners) will bloom year-round. I understand that doesn't produce the bounty that more experienced rose-growers achieve... but it always made me feel just LUCKY to live where I lived.

Sea Lavender

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:18:41 GMT

Sea Lavender

We called this Sea Lavender -- I'm not sure if that's properly what it is. From a distance it looks like a bush of large fluffy balls, but there are actually thousands of teensy blossoms. These are popular in the Moreno Valley suburbs.

Geraniums.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:04:15 GMT

Geraniums.jpg

As a little girl, sunflowers stole my attention (they were taller than me, and grew in such lonely, unlikely places alongside the road)... ruffled-edge marigolds grew in orderly rows in cinder blocks in front of our house... and geraniums were everywhere, the lower-middle-class floral bush. Go to Olvera Street in LA, and they're growing in baked lifeless clay at the site of one of the earliest adobe homes. In The Olden Days, I think all geraniums were coral/salmon, like these, but with thick stems, fewer blooms, and more foliage -- peach-fur leaves! It seemed like the thick leggy geranium stems broke every time a kid accidentally fell into them -- but stick them into the hard dry soil, throw a cup of water their way, and they TOOK! The la-dee-dah geraniums of today have a glossier foliage, jolly frilly blooms, but they want more attention and are not so eager to grow under every neglectful hand.

Iceplant

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:44:57 GMT

Iceplant

For two weeks out of the year, this iceplant blankets slopes and trails from baskets. It is so brilliant it's nearly neon. Then it doesn't flower until the following year, and remains a lusterless low ground cover -- the bane of every child's baseball foul, and a snail paradise.

Gazania, photo-fixed.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:21:46 GMT

Gazania, photo-fixed.jpg

Moreno Valley fields used to be filled with Gazanias! Brilliant blooms would unfold in the sun and the whole area become brilliant. There are still a lot of them -- just not so many fields (gave way to overpriced housing). Gazanias are practically unkillable -- drought resistant, choke out weeds -- just need to be dead-headed.

Most likely pix.jpg

Constance Bates — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:53:52 GMT

Most likely pix.jpg

From my high school yearbook, 1968 -- I was "Most Likely to..." -- Guess!

Cactus in the sunlight

Constance Bates — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:29:01 GMT

Cactus in the sunlight

Middle of No Darn Where, but with satellite.jpg

Constance Bates — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:47:27 GMT

Middle of No Darn Where, but with satellite.jpg

Storm rolls across desert.jpg

Constance Bates — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:06:23 GMT

Storm rolls across desert.jpg

Our first rainy season here, we were agog: stood out on the porch like hillbillies (yeah, AND?) -- watched the darkest dark roll in mid-day, countless lightning strikes at once, brilliant and flashy (ha!) and bouncing about. Very eerie -- then after a rain, color where you didn't realize anything was even growing! Greenish hills, spots of brilliant color where some half-dead thing sprouted a flower... the ocotillo waving its kerchiefs (not around our place, I must admit, but I always think of them after a rain)... on Art Rage

San Onofre -- just me

Constance Bates — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:51:25 GMT

San Onofre -- just me

Koi.jpg

Constance Bates — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:12:41 GMT

Koi.jpg

Trails and Contrails

Constance Bates — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:04:17 GMT

Trails and Contrails

Phaser Set to Stun

Constance Bates — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:02:40 GMT

Phaser Set to Stun

Link Latte Contest

Constance Bates — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:53:51 GMT

Link Latte Contest

Loading Dock

Constance Bates — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:51:29 GMT

Loading Dock