Quote of the Day

Just for laughs I put the picture of my grandaughter in...How can you NOT smile at this.  It's soooo funny!  Enjoy your week-end. Today I am going into  Chicago to see the new  Modern Wing at the ARt Institute and will bring the camera along for my next post.

"Things are not difficult to make; what is difficult is putting ourselves in the state of mind to make them." 
~ Constantin Brancusi 
(1879-1957) 

Releasing Emotions in my Art

I am an intense person.  This I know.

I painted this after my mother had passed away.  I was with her a lot while she was on her journey to the other side and we shared a lot.

We talked about visions she would have of people who would walk into her room...people only she could see.  Some of these people she knew who had passed away and others she did not know. 

The writing around the painting are conversations we had.

While in Hospice mom would see this tall man walking a dog.  I told the nurses about it and the nurses were familiar with this.  They said that a lot of  people there would see the dog...and if the dog was white it meant that they were ready to pass onto the other side....So I asked mom what color was the dog?  She said a sandy color...which meant she wasn't ready yet.  And she wasn't because she left the Hospice center later to return. My mother was supposed to die 3-4 times before she actually did.  She had a remarkable strong spirit.  I used red on the blanket to signify her passion..She's boldly looking at the viewer and facing her challenge...the turquoise ring she always wore for luck...and she's holding on.

Doing this piece  helped me release the intensity of the experience for me. 

This is a piece that will remain in my basement, but at the time was something I needed to do.

What do you do with something like this...??????  

Art Therapy...Brute I think it's called....

Thank heaven I haven't had a need to do another piece for a release!!!!

Does anyone else have any similar experiences?

I'm hoping for a walking cast this Thursday..then I can start painting again!

P.s.

The dove was spirit...being released by gods hand which is bigger than us....A stronger presence..My mother also loved the song that went something like "God sends his pure sweet love on the wings of a snow white dove".

A VIEW FROM A ROOM

The view from my room whiling laying in bed and trying to stay off my foot. 

The dresser is totally wrong...the left is  off...but after I was almost done with the drawers on the left, I decided I didn't want to erase and start over...so, it is what it is.

"I have wanted to do Art all my life. I have an incredibly busy life. I am hoping for solace. Art provides that to me. " 
Ali Y., Vancouver, BC 

Here is yet another quote I can relate to!

My first post after surgery.  To all my friends who sent cards and flowers and goodies....thank you very much!!!

Staying in bed for a week and a half...two by the time I get my cast on...can get pretty tough in itself!  Thursday I go to get a permanent cast on and then I still have to be off the foot for a month and a half...but at least I can use crutches to get to the computer as long as I keep the foot up.  I am going through art withdrawls so today I plan to do a sketch while sitting in bed and use it as a post tomorrow.  I MUST do something!!!

One nice thing about laying around it gives you time to think about things.  So I am playing with the idea of (thinking of the mural) putting a large space on her tummy where you can see the universe...as though she is a part of the cosmos. I've decided that I do not like the flowers.  Sheri found some sayings in a catalogue that I really liked and think I will work them into her hair and behind her by her feet.

"Courage, strength and hope possess my soul...I will stand firmly and without fear". by Goethe

and

"To the illuminated mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light" by Emerson

Having my good friend here who is also very creative (is a writer/author) inspires my thoughts.

Well, best go...now that I am recovering I hope to be able to get closer to normal and do more posts, etc.  I am NOT a numbers person...but I have gotten pretty good at Saduko.  

The picture I posted is a picture from a famous church I think..St. Catherines ? but not sure if I'm remembering it correctly...I'm not good at remembering names...but anyway as we were walking to the top of the church bell tower from the outside on these tiny steps we passed several connected towers that were blocked off..this one was but I thought it interesting..so this is my shot of what I thought was an artistic view....

I finally figured out how to upload on a Mac.  So now I have pictures.

The pictures have stories..but to make it short..the one with the building (Duomo-not sure if I spelled that right)..but we went out to eat in Lucca, Italy.  We came back to the apartment, got our bikes and a bottle of wine with our cameras and sat in the town square drinking wine and smoking.  I felt like a kid.  I don't smoke.  So it was more exciting to be something I shouldn't have!  Jim took this awesome picture of the Duomo (church) and to me it's a poem.   The other picture is Sheri and I being like kids again!
The other is a  sculpture in Carrera, Italy.  I probably spelled that wrong too.  It's where the marble comes from.  We ran into this gentleman which was a character that had a big studio doing sculptures.  He was working on some sculptures for an artist in NYC!

The last one was a young girl playing the flute just in back of the Louve in Paris.  It was like magic!

I guess I'm recalling some fun times since I'm going under the knife soon.  I'd best leave this post alone and get some things done!

Well the days are closing in on me.  I wanted to do a new post but my other computer crashed due to no memory left...it was only 7 years old.  I bought an I-Mac and am constantly needing to learn how to do the things that had become second nature to me on a PC.  But I keep telling myself that it's good for the brain to learn something new and I definetly am not afraid of challenges. The only problem is Thursday evening is my last day before I'm down for the count, so I won't be able to do what I want with this post. I'm still in the crawling to learn stage!  Uploading a photo is proving to be a challenge- so ,no visuals.

See you all when I literally "Get back on my feet!"

Another Old Painting back on the drawing board!

Yes, I am still working on my mural. But I felt the need to unload some old things I never was happy with Taos Roses. I started painting these roses as it was sentimental. My mother was still alive and we had made a trip to our cabin in Colorado. We then drove to Taos, New Mexico and stayed at the Fechin Inn. Yes, the artist Nikolai Fechin and these roses were on a wall in front. My mother LOVED the Fechin Inn!

The composition is awkward I admit. I am thinking about
putting a rose bud just opening at the bottom. You can see where I put one in slightly with colored chalk to get an idea of how it might look.

The drawing is a 30 minuet sketch from our drawing session. Yes, I know...it's out of proportion in a lot of different areas. At the time I'm drawing I try and connect the dots and make sure the arm is falling where the chin has stopped, etc, etc, and the over all weight of things...I get so caught up in detail I over look the drawing as a whole and this is what happens. I know I need some help. I need more time to draw. I'm a slow drawer. I have to have time to walk away for awhile and see a fresh perspective and see my flaws in the drawing. You don't get that opportunity when your drawing from a live model.

Bill, I have a lot of courage to post this especially after looking at yours and Lisa's awesome work! But I have no pride. I am still on a journey and I don't care if it takes me another 20 years to get there. I will eventually get there.

I have saved a newspaper clipping from Memphis that talked of a woman in her 80's that had her first show. I have saved that as inspiration in that if I'm in my 80's and reach my goal I'll die a happy woman!

I'm Back from Little Cayman!

Well, I was actually able to dive. Our good friend rigged up a sock with padding to put in my fin and it worked perfect! The diving was nice. The highlight was a swim through that came out at 104 feet.
My son Rob got certified and had a blast! It was a little too cool for me and I wore a jacket half the time. It was nice being in the sun again. This island was so small that we flew in on a twin engine plane on an airstrip that was as big as a single road. The airport was as small as my guest room and it was the Fire Dept./Post Office and Air Port terminal!
The only thing you could do on this island was dive and drink.
The deteriorated conch shell reminded me of the bones of cattle out in the desert that Georgia O'Keefe painted...so this was my interpretation Caribbean style.

Here are some works by my friend Gerri Govert...she works in all mediums but mostly I think pastels.

I love the strokes in the picture of the gentleman with the beard.

Another page added to the Journal of my journey.

I've lengthened the legs and feet on my mural as they were out of proportion. Tonight when my friend Gerri comes by to pick me up for our Life Drawing session I'll get her feed back as she is more accomplished than I at this. I'll post some of her work. She is an awesome artist! I have to thank her for steering me to these Life Drawing Sessions. I REALLY love them!!!

We are getting ready for a show at the Cornerstone Gallery in Whiting. It'll run from April to May.

This Saturday we are leaving for Little Cayman to go scuba diving for a week with our good friends in Richmond, Va. and our son in Memphis who will finish his certification on the island. This will be my last hurray before my surgery. After that there will be no more posts for quite awhile as it's two weeks in bed, then two months not putting my foot down, then therapy for 6 weeks. So I figure it'll be while. If I'm lucky???? I'd love to get an Apple lap top to use in bed while down for the count. Then I could surf and post!! Oh Santa Clause...where are you??? But with the E-Crunch we'll have to see. Dream, dream, dream.

The picture is me in Roaton Honduras taken by my side kick Sheri last year. We both went through the advanced certification course and we were doing underwater photography. Now just to own a camera to get all those awesome sights!!! Let's dream of a robust economy , maybe all those positive thoughts will help.

I'm going slowly thinking about what to add, where to add...Now I'm playing with flowers, putting them in lightly until I know for sure it's working.

Went to my Life Drawing session last night. I felt like I was doing a little better, but still need to work on it.

It's actually snowing here this morning! Big fluffy flakes. I tried to take a picture for all those out west and down south who have constant sunshine!@$%^

You can't see those fluffy things falling in the pictures. The view is from my studio. The brown looking picture is the corner of my shade walk through garden that is totally asleep in the ground. Oh so you can feel good about your weather....this morning it was like 18 degrees!!!!!! You have to love it or you'll go insane like me!!!

I'm still working on the mural...trying to make decisions.

I went to a Life Drawing class with a friend who is a well accomplished artist (Gerrie Govert) at the Art Barn. I had not drawn in YEARS from a live model. Usually it's from photo's as it's cheaper! It felt so good to be drawing from life again, but made me realize how rusty and off I've become, which is good because now I can work on it. Get back in the saddle as they say. I have always loved drawing from life because it's a form of meditation for me.


The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.
Lucian Freud

Quotes

"A picture is an artificial work - something apart from nature, which requires as much wiliness as the perpetration of a crime." ~ Edward Degas "Construction. That is the real basis of the picture, its scaffolding, its skeleton, its physical body." ~ Paul Klee

Yes, it has been awhile since I was able to just paint. It felt wonderful. I know I'm moving slow on this piece but I'm not sure exactly how to execute this. i don't know where I'm going until I get there. I am going to change directions as I've already done several times. I took colored chalk pencil and played with the bottom. First starting out trying to put plants and vines as I knew them in my head. I kept wiping them off. It just was not working. I did this SEVERAL times. Our inspiration comes at odd times. Like when I was walking into the guest bathroom, I looked at a rug I bought from Anthropology a shop in Chicago I just LOVE. Well, I LOVE this rug. It had exotic birds and a plant that was done just with design with different colored branches and different flowers growing on it. I thought" well, if I love this rug, and that vine isn't real, why can't I make my own plant based on design as well". So I did. Now I have to put the foliage on it. That color more than likely is not going to stay.

Her hair looks thick, but I have to keep telling myself that this is my painting and I like the idea of design, not executing this piece to look real life. It's make believe from my head. My other world.
I am thinking I will make that sun smaller. It is too over-powering. It has too much importance, but that's easily changeable.

Quote

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.
Pablo Picasso

The picture was taken a couple years ago while at our cabin in Colorado. We drove to Taos and on the way took this picture because it reminded me of the Georgia O'Keefe painting "clouds". You understood why she was inspired.

This mural is becoming more of a challenge than others I have done. Right now I'm working with bigger negative space than before. I'm also challenged with getting the paint spread evenly.

There was a comment that she looked too famished with her ribs showing..I'm not worried because I will be painting over the body again. I like to feel the structure before worrying about that.

I was getting an overdose of purple and orange so started to add some blue violets to the back ground..changed my mind on the bottom a couple times, so I am where I need to sit back for awhile and THINK about this. Her hair needs to be much darker, and I need to start putting in other elements as plants, bird, rabbit. My daughter stated that she did NOT like this painting because it looked sacrilegious which bothered me so I'm hoping that adding the animals, etc, it'll come across as more about the nature aspect of it. This was never to be a religious painting.
So now everyone knows how I go about it. Like moving furniture...

May not be able post for awhile as I have to watch my granddaughter for a week and also I am on stand-by as my father is in the hospital and I may need to fly down to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. So if there are no posts...you know why.

With Ron being in Minnesota today I was able to paint non-stop other than stopping to shop for some paint. I always get blown away by the prices of some colors. $30.00 for one SMALL tube of paint. Amazing considering I have a whole wall sized canvas to paint on!!!

Received word today that the MRI showed a fracture and torn ligament, but when I see the doctor on the 19th in Chicago I'll get the low down. So I guess this means no scuba diving!!! I guess I'll be the co-pilot on the boat and hand everyone their towels as then ascend from that beautiful blue water. The reconstructive surgery will be AFTER the trip.

I will post every day I paint...but really you can't tell much difference..but I'll post it anyway. The hair has to change... I need to start focusing on the earth and the other elements I want to put in now. You know...every painting takes on it's own life, regardless of my vision...you know what the painting reminds me at this point??? A southwestern, south of the border tattoo or car decal. What about you? I plan to change that as I go along!!!!

Well, I painted a little more but need to hit the sack as I have to get up early and drive to St. Louis.
Give it time...it'll come around....I hope! It's a lot of canvas to cover.
It's not really that crooked...it's the way I took the picture..

Women and Strength

I started a new piece yesterday. It's 6 feet by 3'6". Don't panic..it won't look like this. I feel my way through things...so what I do is darken all the slight curves and then I'll go in and soften and do away with a lot of that. My model was in a bathing suit...but I am going to have her hair flowing across her to cover her essential parts. The picture should look quite a bit different than this..I call this roughing in. I like getting darker than I should and then lightening things up.

The idea is that women gain their strength from the earth..The elements...her feet will have roots coming from her toes..her feet being planted in the ground...I'm playing with the idea of greenery growing from the ground and maybe I'm not sure growing up one leg...or maybe a rabbit leaning up looking at her which would give a feeling of the gentleness.
I'm not sure how large I want that sun or moon to be...I like keeping my options open. The picture will be way much darker at the bottom, getting lighter towards the sun or moon...whichever I decide. It's a large canvas I hung on the wall...It takes a lot of paint and time to cover the areas.

Just listening to Simon and Garfunkle and chilling out in the studio and painting.

We had 2feet of snow the other day and believe it or not we're suppose to be up to 40 degrees today which means we'll probably have some flooding!#$^&*(

Hope you have a good week-end.

I think I need to learn how to place these pictures on my posts so I have more control over where they are other than left, middle, right.

I think I can not call myself an artist. I mess around too much constantly searching for something?!#$^&*()

Anyway, I'm posting my reference on the duck, and tried working on it more..however I'm still struggling. Yes, someone needs to just steels the thing and hide from me. It's hard to admit defeat!'

Also I had some extra blue paint on my palette so just used that to block out the background on "Joy"...just to see if I liked it better. I do...but need to lose some of that blue now, and I'll have to think about the background..maybe scumble some paint in the back, and I feel like those silly bricks are still popping through too much.

But, I AM TRYING!!!

JOY

I have the overwhelming urge to paint out that background. I like painting people, but I don't like everything else like backgrounds. I like Klimts work because he focused on people and mood or atmosphere of emotion, and he also played with just design. For me his work was like combining portrait work with design and color..the design was done differently than the portraits. Unless someone posts something ...I think I am going to put Makenzie on a floating board and paint out the background. I'd like this piece to look more contemporary than just cutsie which I don't want...and I don't like the existing background anyway!

Quotes I love...........

I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious. ~ Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) Whether I'm painting or not, I have this overwhelming interest in humanity. Even if I'm not working, I'm still analyzing people. ~ Alice Neel (1900-1984) Quotes found at ArtQuotes.com

I hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl...not being a football enthusiast I must say it was exciting to see Arizona lose respectfully since everyone thought it was going to be a blowout. I only watched the last quarter since I was working on trying to finish some paintings that were needing my attention. Between painting and running down to check out all the latest commercials I gave my foot a real workout!
I haven't been able to paint as much as I'd like to this week as I went to the Univ. of Chicago to see a specialist about my feet. 25 years ago I had bunion surgery by a doctor from hell. Doc said I was in bad shape and surgery using a bone from a cadaver (or mine which I said no thank you) might give me some hope. Nine months rehabilitation as all the bones in my feet have moved and lost functioning and muscles have shifted...so as you see I have been consumed...also the fall I had after this New Years seems to have given me torn muscle or something , and am having an MRI this week. One thing is if I have to be laid up in bed I can still draw which I suspect I'll be dong a lot of! Just say I prayer that it's not what the doc thinks on the sprain because we had planned to go on a dive trip to the Little Caymens with our son who just got certified. I love diving and it will be hard if I have to just sit on the boat...surgery will be after the trip.

I have a disease of not letting things go. Got sucked into trying to make that duck work. I am a fighter in that "I JUST KNOW I CAN MAKE IT WORK' ...and "I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A DUCK"...I think the reference I am using is not helping me at all either.

I started trying to finish "JOY" of my granddaughter. Remember the background when I originally did it was not a focus of mine and I just threw in color...then it was brought to my attention that it actually was a focus in the painting...The flowers are actually Phlox..They consist of a grouping of tiny flowers formed in a round shape. I am not a flower person even though I love flowers. I have sold a couple but just not my forte'. So I painted out the other blobs and started new blobs...and yes, I know I need to keep refining them, but I have to be careful because I don't want the flowers to pop...I don't want the back ground to be too busy. I want the focus and brighter colors on her only... I am bothered a bit by the blue bricks..what do you think? maybe I should get lighter and grayer?? Just don't want them to be a focus...I wanted the back ground to be grayish so the warm colors in her popped...comments!!! I'm looking at it now and think that line of the bricks needs to be staighter even though the photo looks like that!? I'm looking at this photo and thinking "maybe I should make this more contemporary and paint out the back ground or darken it so you can barley see the background and have her suspended on just a board floating...as if her joy is what sustains her and put the splashes of color back in!!! I am thinking I could be very tempted with that idea..

I did clear a wall and got out my 73" x 6 yards roll of canvas and plan to cut a very large piece and hang it on the wall and start on the painting that's been in my head. I'll just treat this like I'm working on a mural. It'll be interesting to see where this goes as everytime I see the picture in my head it always comes out with it's own personality.

I've come to the realization that I've come as far as I can with this. My talent limited. It is what it is. Yesterday was not a good day for me. I fell into a dark hole and in that dark hole I found something. Like one of the quotes says that with each painting is a discovery...I discovered that as much as I'd like to be whimsy or cute....I cannot. My paintings reflect who I really am. I am a serious individual and it shows in my work. I am always wanting what I don't have. A cute, quirky, personality that shows in paintings....well, I'm not and it shows. So out of every struggle something good comes if we look for it.
I'm moving on...and I can't paint ducks!

Quotes

"Different motives inevitably require different methods of expression." ~Pablo Picasso 1881-1973 "Painting is self-discovery. You arrive at the image through the act of painting." ~Adolph Gottlieb 1903-1974

This is what I did this morning. I probably won't get too much painting done this week-end, but wanted to post what I did work on. Is the duck getting any better? Thanks again for the comments...keep them coming!!! I appreciate it.
I'm throwing both of these pictures up because...when I cropped them I adjusted the "Auto color correction" because the original looked too dark, and the color corrected one seems a little too bright...so the real colors are somewhere in between. I actually like the brighter colors myself...
I tried blending some edges on the duck, but not sure it's working yet..maybe I should throw some blue on his body somewhere...????? maybe green???!#^*()

I know this is crazy. You probably can't notice a difference but there is. It's so funny because after downloading this picture I have already changed some areas..the shape of the mouth( jaw), etc. When ever I stand back and look I see things I didn't see before. I just get too close and involved to see the big picture I guess. I nit pick forever. Maybe it's my way of getting lost.
Yes, I'm still working on it. positively don't like the way the ducks body looks and the water behind the dog needs adjusting...and I'm sure there will be more. This picture isn't suppose to be serious..not suppose to be realistic..but not sure if I'm achieving that either.

With my post card for 18 Artists done and off to the printer this morning I have been able to move on. I saved the organization a couple hundred dollars doing it and in the process gained some knowledge that can help me personally down the road.

This I'm still FEELING my way through. I added some blue chalk to get an idea of what I want to do. darker/lighter, etc. The duck needs some help..but I told you I'd post what ever..for me it's a slow process. I guess it's intuitive painting.

The other dog painting isn't done. The wine glass is crooked and a little weak, so will alternate between that and this.

I have my large roll of canvas out and plan to start my vision of a life size painting of a woman standing with her arms stretched to the sun and her feet planted in the earth with roots and the wind blowing her hair around her body as to cover her. The idea of this painting will be that women receive their strength from the earth..sun, wind and earth. That will take me a long time to do so will work on these and other little pieces. This has been a vision of mine for a couple years now. My good friend modeled for me in Richmond, so I have what I need to get started.

Nine degrees below zero, and a foot and a half of snow, my foot in a bootie from a fall I had after New Years and It's a good recipe for staying in and getting things done. I finished the post card after doing several changes on it and started painting again after some good words of advice "Dawn stop messing around and start painting!" Which I did!
I have several projects that need to finish so after my sister in law in Boulder suggested that my dog at the table needed a glass of wine I did just that yesterday. So I'll post it and you can be the judge if it's done. For me they are never done..
My husband flew to Savannah, Georgia this morning for a NATERA meeting so I'll be able to work tonight as long as my foot doesn't yell "Need Ice", "Need Ice".
I started working on the camo dog today. I decided he needed a companion so thought I'd add his best friend duck hiding in the grass. I'll post a picture but remember IT ISN'T DONE! The duck was blocked in and I worked on the dogs legs...but I still plan to put grass in front of the both of them and I need to paint the water in, etc, etc..I used a new medium and that's why his legs are shiny...I should have left the medium alone! I wished I could see other artists work in progress...just to see the process. It's not easy having people see all the things that look bad in the beginning and then to know it still might not work out. Not every piece does. It's problem solving and not everything can be solved!

My Latest Project!

This has been my project lately instead of painting. Hours and hours on the computer and a learning process as well. They only thing I could not do and maybe someone out there will know is how to re-size the card to a sumo 11x6 card. The image shows I had to tape it as I could not re-size it. So, computer experts let me know!!! I did this in Print shop 22. I have Adobe 6.0 but thought it would be easier in Print shop. I'm thinking I'll send it to Modern Post cards and let them deal with it.?!#@*

Quote

"The common denominator of artistic expression is the ordering of a vision into a consistent complete form. The difference between a mere expression - however intense and revealing - and an artistic image of that expression lies in the structure of the form." Georgy Kepes 1906-2001 from THE ARTIST'S DESIGN: Probing the Hidden Order by Marie MacDonnell Roberts

A New Year a New Begining!

Now that the holidays are over we can all get back into the grind of things! It was a good time as I had my very good friends come for the New Year and we all ate and drank way too much. When ever we are together we laugh and have so much fun. I hated to see them board that plane!

My best friends are my best clients. They fell in love with my experimental fish so off to Richmond it went. Thank you for believing in me!

I'm yearning to paint again but I have to put a post card together for 18 Artists that needs to be ready to go to the printer the first of February!!!

I love new beginnings and I guess I need to sit down and prioritize so I can scratch off the things I want to get accomplished.

--polish off my web sites
--finish my unfinished paintings
--draw for the sake of drawing more often
--keep experimenting
--take some courses in Chicago to get pumped up
--Do more gallery hopping
--Go to the cabin in Colorado for painting and check out Georgia O'Keefes old ranch.

18 Artists will be having a show April 3rd through May 1st at the Cornerstone Gallery in Whiting, Indiana. I have to admit I have not even been there yet. I'm not sure if I've even been to Whiting, Indiana before! I plan to enter my abstract leaves that my trip to Italy inspired.

I am excited that we just juried in Lyn Olson into our group. He is an amazing pioneer of cement sculpture and just an amazing, interesting person. He's done sculptures at public sites around the country and has written books on his works.

Enough rambling....good luck putting your list of new beginnings together and sticking to it! It's like working out at the gym after new years...at first the gym is full of ambitious people who after the 3rd month totally disappear into smoke!

An Attempt at Painting!

During the holidays my time is not mine, which I am not complaining because the joy I receive from being around my granddaughter cannot compare to ANYTHING! The love of a child is PURE!

So with that I haven't been able to paint very much except to start and leave a painting in limbo not sure where I want to go with it or if it's even worth progressing. It takes me time to look and think weather I can correct mistakes. I usually ALWAYS draw the image on so I know I'll be satisfied with the drawing but this time I just slapped on some paint and corrected (or tried) as I was going along. Sometimes I don't see my mistakes until a couple weeks later and I'll look at it and go "OH MY GOSH...WHAT WAS I THINKING ABOUT!" When I paint I want to be completely alone so I can concentrate...no phones, no bodies,nothing!!! Painting is a form of meditation for me.

With all that being said I post this humble beginning( or maybe it never) of a painting.

I wish everyone a holiday filled with Peace and Grace and with the understanding that there are always the most wonderful things surrounding us if only we take the time to open our eyes and see them!

Now that I've posted this I can see that the dogs body needs to be longer, etc, etc....I think this is going to just be a "pitch it" piece. This is what happens when you can't concentrate on what you're doing!! But it gave me something to post about.

Quotes

"When spiritual, metaphysical, material, or immaterial events come into my life, I can only fix them by way of painting."
~ Max Beckmann
1884-1950

"The mystical will always be with us . . . A whole mass of things that cannot be rationalized - new born thoughts that are still not properly formed."
~ Edvard Munch
1863-1944

Home Sweet Home!

It's nice to be away ...but then it's always good to be in your own bed and use your own shower!
It was wonderful to see my sons again and spend some time with them. They always make me proud.

On the drive from Memphis to North Carolina we stopped in Ashville and toured the Biltmore. It was just grand! A castle still privately owned on 125 acres. When I lived in Phoenix we use to go to the Biltmore for their wonderful brunches with piano player and lavish spread of food. The Biltmore's must have had homes throughout the country.

Arriving home I was met with a thousand chores and bumps in the road of life which has kept me from the computer other than paying bills!

I am walking around with knots not being able to escape into my studio and purge some creative juices so today I plan to knock out part of a list and get myself back in my space once again!

I love odd, whimsical ornaments so thought I'd post a few of my favorites. I am always intrigued by faces!