I don't want to stop.

I have come back almost every year to see if this barn is still around.  Yep!  Just like me.






Still Standing 
acrylic
24 x 30

As for me, I too, am still standing but, will not reveal my measurements. 

I decided to "fracture" it when I got back to my studio because it would make the process last longer.  I really like the process.

Sometimes it seems to take forever before I finish a painting.

The beach looks pretty much the same each day. It is my job to make it new again and to make sure I have fun.

 This is the first day's beginnings

It was so very hot on the second day that I began it indoors looking out the window.

 Oh dear, it began to look like the same one I did yesterday.

 Then, my daughter, playfully looked in on me and I had to laugh.  Why she is certainly having more fun than I.  Sooooo, I recklessly smeared paint over the canvas using some of the shapes I was seeing.  Ahhhh, I was now having a grand time.

A Day at the Beach, acrylic, 30 x 24

Much better.

I am always surprised.

Car Show, acrylic, 24 x 36

Whoopee!  I was in high gear that day.

Color and energy call my name.

A car show!   How perfect!  

I usually finish a few months later.

The Garden is finally finished.  I had great fun playing with the colors and little "round abouts".  This is what I call the shapes my brush makes.  Sometimes they look like "Cheetos", which are yummy.

I get taken to new places

 Gibbs Gardens, Ball Ground Georgia was so beautiful at every point. I couldn't go wrong.

 It was so peaceful painting in the Japanese gardens. I set up quietly in a remote place

This was as far as I got that day.  Not bad for  2 hours.  Back in my studio, I will bring it to another level.  Acrylics allow me to get into a lot of trouble and work my way out.

I am sometimes uncomfortable in the challenge.

First try

My church was having a Stations of the Cross exhibit and called for artists.  After the last time I did this, for another church, I swore I would NEVER do this again.  (My Dad had just died and there I was painting Jesus in the tomb...so sad and depressing.)   At first I said "NO!" but changed my mind when I thought ... this is MY church, okay,  but I needed something uplifting.  Debbie, who is in charge of this project said, "Get the 5th station where Simon helps Jesus carry the cross".  Well, okay.  When I went to the meeting , the stations were picked out of a hat.  I got #13. Oh well, I thought.  Meanwhile someone on the other side of the crowded room was begging for station #13.  At the end of the meeting on one answered her, so I spoke up and we traded.   To my surprise, I found I had Station #5 with Simon.

I bought my first canvas.

I began my research of icons of this station.  All were vertical and show kindly Simon carrying the cross.  I began a vertical following the traditions, but BOY! DID I STRUGGLE!  This was definitely not my field.  What did Jesus look like anyway?  What did the landscape look like? Colors?  Then I realized that I put the wire on upside down on the one I began. 

This was a sign...so...I bought my second canvas and started from scratch.

Then the magic began.

That night, I had  dream.  The completed painting was right in front of me.  The colors were magnificent and upon a closer look, it was a mosaic.  I said, "Wow!"  the dream was so clear , now would I be brave enough to follow?

I did.

New beginnings

Enter Simon, acrylic, 22 x 28

PS  I never could have thought of this on my own.





I THINK I am done.

Low Tide #8, acrylic, 30 x 24

If I keep looking long enough I will find a problem and have to fix it. Soooo, I am going to close my eyes.

This is going to take a while.

Oh boy! This does look different.  I have been playing with number eight. In each vertical rectangle is the #8. In February, we are going to be celebrating our 8th anniversary at the Tannery where I have my studio.

I pick it up with hopes of finding something new.

I figure, I have nothing to lose so I grid it off.

I go to beautiful places

In 2010, I traveled to coastal SC to visit and of course I brought my paints. When I began, the tide was high and then the water disappeared.  Nature made it better.  I found this to be is an "okay" painting and I tucked it away in my unfinished pile until lately.



I have too much fun!

Paper Dolls at the Beach, 2011

Guess which bathing suit is mine.





Somethings are more important.

While on family vacation, it has been tradition that I paint every morning.

It is hard to get someone to pose in their bathing suit so I decided to just paint the suits.  Soon after I set up and began, the grandchildren arrived and they wanted to paint too.  I had brought some place mats .....I can always work on mine later.

It may take me a while to finish

A Sense of Symphony, acrylic, 24 x 36

Tennessee calls me every year.  I  tell her ..." Don't worry, I'm coming". This painting was begun in May 2010 near Monteagle.  I keep my unfinished paintings in a big pile behind my easel and pull them out one by one.  This was in my pile almost a year...time flies faster than me.

Sometimes I get high

I enjoy painting while looking down on a scene. How lucky I am to be able to do this.

I don't expect to finish it right away.

This was begun in March of 2008 and I just finished it.  There was no hurry.  Did you notice  that the pretty pink dress is no longer there?  The pink did not work no matter how much I wanted it  (unless I changed many more colors). This may have taken me to 2015.

Expect the unexpected

While busy painting, this darling girl in pink came out to watch.  Now, how could I ignore her and the bench would be so empty without her.

I go to new places.

My good friend, Diana Dice and I wanted to show our favorite Wyoming artist, Amy Ringholz "the South" and selected Hartsville, SC.  During Reno Fest, we painted the town.

I am always surprised.

I can't believe I did such a marvelously ridiculous painting. 

Thanks goes to the members of the Kudzu Art Zone for inspiring me.

In art, anything is possible.