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| OHCC LIVING | MARCH 2021 |23 Art room Art, of course, is a form of creativity. And so is language. Judy Harris and Lainy Vinikow welcome the creative artistry of Cindi DeWeese, celebrating both her use of the visual format and her manner of verbiage! Enjoy her writing below! I love living in Ocean Hills… I saw this area when it was first built. I was ready to move in that day, but I was about 25 years shy of the age limit. After that my husband and I moved a few times locally and ended up building our dream home in 2000. He built it, I designed it, and we loved it. It was on a hillside off gopher canyon, in Vista. We had a few acres, avocado trees, and wonderful views, including the whole valley and gorgeous sunrises AND sunsets. We were spoiled, happy campers. Sadly though, shortly after we built our home, Keith was diagnosed with early onset Lewy body dementia at the young age of 52. We stayed as long as we could in our home, but after 15 years of his illness, Keith needed more care than I could provide at home by myself, and the work that needed to be done on the two acres of land was constantly calling my name. So we needed to move… the only place I even considered was Ocean Hills. I moved here 5 1/2 years ago. The first year and half, I spent most of every day with him, at a close by care facility. I was so glad to have chosen OHCC; it was perfect. I felt comfortable and safe, and not so alone. I had wonderful neighbors and after a while, little by little, I started getting involved with some activities like garden club, line dancing, watercolor, and other art groups. I hadn't painted much in my life. In fact when my kids were little, I'd try to draw a cat and they would just giggle! When I became an empty nester and the gigglers were out on their own, I wanted to try painting again. So in my 40s I began with tole painting (tole has patterns), then moved on to painting those patterns on paper, instead of wood, with watered down acrylics, and of course the logical next step was watercolor. YIPPEE! I jumped in with both feet and started with watercolor classes at local colleges. What fun. Now years later I need an extra room in the house for all the supplies — I just HAD to have! Watercolor has added so much to my life. I met some folks years ago on an online watercolor forum. When it shut down, an art friend and I opened another one and we had folks from all over the world participating: London, Spain, South America, the US and Canada. After a few years, I organized a get- together in Florida and we all met in person for the first time. Our families and friends thought we were crazy to spend 10 days with folks we had never "REALLY" met. They were wrong. We had a blast! We rented eight, three-bedroom condos on the beach. We painted during the day and swam in the gulf in the late afternoon. We giggled and partied in the evening, and became very good, real life friends. We have gone there again, and a few other places over the years as a group. We have supported and encouraged each other, not only in painting, but through life's ups and downs. We still all talk every two weeks and are hoping to meet again in Texas as soon as things open up. Watercolor has brought so many wonderful things into my life. I'm still learning and many paintings still end up in the trash, but I'm so glad I took that first giant step and didn't listen to the gigglers. "Miss Green eyes" "Shall I go in, a bit farther?" "a gentleman," I gave this a try from the British TV show called, "portrait artist of the week." There was a new subject each week, for artists, all over the world, to paint, in all different mediums.

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