I've painted my friend, Linda Blaine. She is one of my friends from high school. Her niece posted a photo of her (online) as a young girl.  She looks so "Alice-in-Wonderland" to me. I couldn't help but paint it.

I seem to be dipping and bouncing through the summer.  So many people and things are gone, and yet--during the "bounce" I'm having a wonderful time. Having a purpose seems to be the thing I get hung up on.

Drawing and painting seems to be taking up more and more of my time and I'm loving that.  I think laziness is the only thing standing in my way.

John Cleese said "we don't know WHERE we get our ideas from.  What we DO know is that we do NOT get them from our laptops.''  Ta Ta.

An "AHA" moment!

The most vivid "AHA" moment I can remember was on vacation (for me) at a conference (for my husband) on South Padre Island.  One of the members of the conference was to "run" for office and needed a campaign slogan.  Since I was a "creative" it was decided that I could easily come up with a slogan, thereby settling high expectations and a total creative block on me--for something I really didn't want to do in the first place.

There was no time constraint since the election was months away, but I really wanted this off my plate so I could enjoy the beach and the ocean--thereby setting my own insufferable and resentful attitude toward the task.  The candidate's name was Campbell.  I took a notebook and sat out by the pool waiting for inspiration to strike . . . and . . . it did. Campbell's Super became the campaign slogan.

A new technique!

I'm trying a new technique.  Using an original drawing or a copy on ANY kind of paper . . . mounting it on foam core, and covering it with transparent gesso and modeling paste . . . giving it an overall watercolor wash.  THEN using pastels, finishing the drawing/painting.  I really like it.

To the left is a close up detail of the painting.

Mario and the POURED watercolor . . .

Mario (at left) is a 4-value "poured" watercolor over-painted with acrylic. It's NOT finished (as usual) but I like the technique. It's so easy it feels like cheating. Mario was a model at a 3-hour drawing session I go to in Louisville on Saturdays.

I've enrolled in an acrylic 2-day workshop in Billings Montana (!) to study with Don Tiller. I LOVE his landscapes and want to get a handle on how he does them. His paintings are so happy.

Art is making ME very happy. Otherwise, I'm busy planning for my old age (as if it's not already here).

It seems that NOW I have time to notice small things, whereas I couldn't when I was so busy working.

STAYING IN SANITY . . .

ART is heating up. At left is my latest watercolor drawn from an old photo I found in an antique store. I drew it last year, but just got around to painting it. She was lovely in the photograph and I hope I've done her some justice.

I have a drawing group twice a month in Louisville that saves my sanity just when I think I'm going to go off the deep end. Thank goodness!

Pastels

I took a pastel painting class in Winchester on Saturday with my friend and this is the result. I'm pleased with it.

A Very Merry Minuet

This is me and my brother sitting on our beautiful older cousin Dorothy. Lots of water under the dam since. This was probably taken in the very late 40s.

Can't seem to shake sadness. A good friend in Arkansas is very ill, a good friend here has died, and I don't feel very well myself. That reminds me of some words to the Merry Minuet . . .

Italians hate Yugoslavs

South Africans hate the Dutch

And I don't like anybody very much