Don't Miss Out on January Specials!! I just updated my website and archived a lot of the sold paintings and added a few new ones. I listed four recent paintings at $50. off regular website prices. It might be time for you to become an art collector. Check them out but remember, they are only on sale until the end of January. Maui Memories Maui Memories Thanks for Your Support... Thank you, thank you for your love and support. I had a great Holiday Art Sale. I was worried that we might not have many show up due to covid concerns but a special thanks to everyone who stopped by that day to say hello and purchase artwork. Also, special thanks to my friends who participated in the awesome advertising videos. Haha Calendars Calendars (We did hold most of the sale in the garage with the doors up and heaters on so we could socially distance.) There were also quite a few who did not feel comfortable coming in person but messaged and bought online. One of the highlights of the holiday sale was our fund raiser for a friend in need. We sold cookies and silent auctioned off a painting and donated all the funds. Some of you were so kind that you just donated money and didn't even take the cookies. We were able to help out someone who needed a little extra love this holiday season and that is because of your generosity.

The tulips are blooming, the trees are back in bud and the weather is finally warming up. It has been a record winter with rain and snow topping 300% of normal in some places in the state. School is winding down and my favorite time of year is now here. I look so forward to summer all year. I love teaching but I am so happy when school ends and I am free to travel, wander and paint. I am headed to Italy for ten days in June and will pack my sketchbook and paints and try to capture some of the local sites. After that, I am off to Midway, Utah for their plein air event and then Driggs, Idaho for more outdoor painting.

I have a favorite T-shirt that says, "Take the Long Way Home." I also think this is the title to a beautiful Bob Seger song from years ago. I think it speaks to me because I love to take the long way home. My husband always calls me an air molecule floating from place to place. He knows that I love to be on the road, searching out new destinations and seeing all the local sites. There is just something special about wandering aimlessly about and finding visual treasures to photograph or paint. I love it most when time is not an issue and no one is waiting impatiently for me to "hurry home or hurry up." Recently we returned from a trip to Hawaii where we cruised around most of the islands. There was plenty of time to explore, shop, taste all the local deliciousness (snow shacks galore and shrimp trucks on every corner,) and pull out my paints and document the trip (my way.) Many times I return home and revisit the travel paintings and re-paint them in my studio. Sometimes the small sketch paintings capture the "feel" of the place better than the studio pieces. Regardless, they always take me back to that place and the sights, sounds and smells all come rushing back.

By this time each year, I am sick of winter. I know, I know, so many of you LOVE winter and winter sports and all that but I love the sunshine and am waiting impatiently for it to come out of hibernation and warm me up. I have tried to enjoy the weather this winter. I broke out my paints and did some plein air painting. The snow is beautiful. I get it. But I like it more when I am looking out the window, curled up with a good book and hot cocoa and not out shaking so hard my teeth are literally rattling around in my head. I think I get seasonally depressed and the ongoing, gray themed days just don't help. The groundhog said it would be an early spring but I am beginning to think, he is wrong....again. My art room is cold. I mean really cold...about 62 degrees some days and I bundle up like I am going to the North Pole and I have even invested in a space heater. The students come stand in my corner and try to warm themselves from time to time because they are cold too. I am dreaming now about a few flowers breaking thru the snow, bright blue skies and sunshine. Please let it happen sooner, rather than later.

I have to admit that I am sad summer is ending. I loved painting outdoors this summer and traveling  to new places and being inspired by beautiful, new landscapes. I painted in the Midway plein air event and then at the end of July, I traveled to Driggs, Idaho for their plein air competition. I have only recently started to participate in plein air events.... I think Driggs was my third actual event and I have fallen in love with them. Although they are kind of nerve wracking because you don't know what you will see that you might want to paint, or how many frames you will need, or if you have all your supplies with you, there is something so engaging about doing it. You meet new people who love art as much as you do. You see awesome new places that you wouldn't see unless you are out searching for a great site, and you have to work to complete your paintings in a limited amount of time while you battle the elements, bugs, etc. My favorite thing about plein air painting is the light and how everything looks so much more alive when you are out in nature with a first hand view. A camera can capture beautiful images but it is just not the same as being out there looking at it in real life and trying to capture that feeling on a canvas or a piece of paper. If you haven't ever tried plein air painting, grab your supplies, water, sunscreen, bug spray and give it a go. I personally can't wait for next summer so I can do it all over again

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The paint out morning was beautiful. I got my canvas stamped, selected what I thought was a prize position and started painting. Pretty soon, the wind came up and it began to blow and rain a little. A few bugs made their way onto my canvas as well as cotton from the surrounding trees. I ran out of time, thought hard about giving up, ran out of painting water and finished this painting with my watered down Dr. Pepper. My persistence or stupidity paid off. I won a ribbon and prize money. But the best thing of all was I got to meet Al Rounds and Glen Edwards (they were the judges for the contest). I even got a critique of my artwork by Al Rounds. He is the nicest guy, offered great advice and I got to meet two amazing painters. I guess it was worth all the troubles.

I had the most amazing time painting Plein Air in Midway this past week. The weather was beautiful and Midway has so many things to paint. I got four done but had about a fifteen more that I wished I could have done. Can't wait for next year. Thanks to all the Midway Art patrons who supported the auction and art show.