Weekends!

I just love weekends! It's a time when I get to spend the days enjoying my family. Now, I've been off work for a couple weeks so I haven't had that typical 'can't wait for the weekend' feeling. But I still love them. Today we're heading off to church and then will have a short visit with my sister-in-law at her new apartment. Later I'll get to spend a little time with my granddaughter. I have really missed her the past several weeks! In the past few days I have continued to feel creativity flowing. This piece I had posted on facebook and called it complete. Once I saw the picture online though I realized it wasn't finished at all! So this is the newly completed piece. Im pretty happy with it, and it seems to make people smile and that makes me happy! Have a great Sunday!

Back to it!

So I realize that it's been a really, really long time since I've posted anything. I'm sorry for that! I started working full time and the job just exhausted me. I had no time to create anything. Add to that my son and grandson moved into where my studio was and all my studio stuff got crammed into a spare room. I couldn't get to anything in order to paint.

That happened in October. Fast forward to March. I'm still working the full time job only I've been off work for a couple weeks. Being the clutz I am, I sprained my ankle. Apparently I sprained it pretty good too. The doctor called it a serious injury. I've spent the last two weeks sitting around trying to stay off my feet to rest the ankle. I'm going stir crazy! I finally dug my way into the spare room and pulled out a few things. Here's my first creation since before Christmas.

Because I'm still in pain and my foot is still swollen, I'e been given 2 more weeks off work. I get to wear a lovely boot and do physiotherapy too! What that means is that there will be a lot more creating going on. I'm even considering teaching a few classes!

And I promise, even when I go back to work, I wont neglect my blog - or you!

Weather affects everything!

So it turns out I was up (almost) all night. On about 2 hours of sleep I exhibited at the show yesterday. It was a dreary rainy day. The hall was cramped and so warm and muggy. I thought I really might melt. After a few hours though the a/c kicked in and some even complained it was too cold. Things worked out with regard to the space we had to work with. It was nice to be there with all the other women exhibitors and talk about our businesses. Unfortunately the weather kept the shoppers indoors and at home. I really do enjoy the social aspect of the shows though.

Anyway, I thought I would share one of my new paintings with you. Thanks so much for visiting today.

Up all night?

Well good evening my friends. I know it's been a little while since I last updated my blog. Unfortunately when I get busy preparing for shows, the blog tends to be one of those things that suffers. I'm glad you've stuck around though! Thank you!

Tomorrow is what promises to be an awesome show. It's called the Ultimate Home Party. As you can tell by the name, most of the businesses are home party plan businesses. There will also be many artists and other businesses there as well. Even a jeweler will be there to buy unwanted gold! we've had lots of publicity so I'm hoping for a good turn out.

I've connected with a group of ladies here in London and we call our group Women Helping Women. It's an amazing bunch of ladies. Most have a business of some sort and we network and support each other. But the main focus of the group is to support women in our community. This show I'm doing tomorrow is all to benefit 2 really important Women's organizations in London. This is the reason I joined this group! I love that we're helping out women who are in need.

It's almost 1am here now and I am just finished painting. Well, I could keep going but then I'd be up all night and I wouldn't be much good at the show tomorrow! So instead, I'll head to bed and hope I can sleep. Hope you can come out and see me. 10am to 3pm at Aeolian Hall in the East Village. Bring your girlfriends, your money and your old gold! See you there!

I love to paint

I truly do. But sometimes, ok often I doubt my abilities. I have trouble coming up with ideas. Or when I have an idea I just can't seem to translate it the way I want to onto a canvas. This is what causes my artist block. Really It's just that I am afraid to try some things.

Last week I threw caution to the wind and put a 16x20" canvas on the easel and started painting. It was scary! I knew what I wanted to create, what colors I wanted to use, how I wanted it to look. The hard part was actually achieving those things. I got to a certain point and needed it to dry before continuing. So I put it aside and *gasp* I put another big canvas on the easel! Started painting and painting and painting and I didn't want to stop. One thing was that I was afraid I'd lose my nerve and not go back to them. But I did. And I got to a point with the first one that I wasn't sure if it was quite finished. I left for the weekend to visit my father and obsessed about it the entire weekend.

Monday evening after returning from work, my husband says "oh yeah, I forgot to tell you..." He loved the painting! He happened to be near my studio and saw it on the easel. Let me tell you! He has never offered an opinion on any of my pieces before! And for him to volunteer this, and the fact that he liked it! I was so thrilled.

Anyway. I found a quote today and it made so much sense I thought I'd share it.

Uh oh!

Here it is 5 days into September and I have totally forgotten about the 29 faces in September challenge that I joined! Boy do I have some catching up to do!

In addition to that, I am in full-on paint mode! I am prepping for the busy show season (winter/Christmas) and I just joined another challenge of 30 paintings in 30 days. So I'm to complete 1 painting a day for the next 30 days. Maybe I can roll that into the 29 faces challenge.

I don't know much, except I better get to work!

Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy your day!

What a weekend!

This past weekend will go down as one of the most enjoyable. You may know I had an art show on Saturday. I was really nervous to display my art with some exceptional professional artists. For the most part, they were all friendly and welcoming. There were one or two who treated me as though we were rival gangs or something, but overall it was a great experience. Sales weren't that great, but I did get lots of exposure. There was a pretty good crowd there. We had great weather. Couldn't have asked for better! There was also live music. If you know me, you know I love live music. Almost any kind of music. After a few hours my grandson (7) joined us and that added to the fun of the day. The event was held in a local park. We were in a field that had swings and splash pads surrounding us, along with lots of green space for the kids to run around. It was really great to just enjoy the fresh air, the people and the music! I even got a little bit of a sunburn!



Saturday night I was exhausted after all that. Zonked out on the couch about 9, woke up at 10 and went to bed. My eyes didn't open again until 830 Sunday morning!

On Sunday I decided to tackle something I've always wanted to do. Canning. I have a garden this year for the first time ever and have tons of tomatoes. So I found a recipe that sounded good, shopped for a few items I needed for it and then started chopping and blanching etc. This was an adventure for me. But the salsa turned out great. Only ended up with 4 jars and a bit. I was anxious to try it out so we had nachos for dinner last night. Salsa was good, but a little chunkier than I like it. It was a lesson for sure.

Sunday evening after the Salsa was all canned we went to a neighborhood Jazz Festival. It was really great. Lots of bands set up down the street. Several playing at the same time, but spaced out so they didn't drown out each other. When one band was finished, you could just walk half a block or so and enjoy another one. In one case all we had to do was turn our chairs around. Again, live music, fresh air outdoors... I was happy!

But come Monday I was exhausted! I just felt completely spent. I'm recovered today and have to get back to painting. I have another show in a few weeks and would love to be able to display more pieces. Also want to come up with an upright display instead of using a table top.

Well, that's about all for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!