Computer crashes and wonky eyes

 So, it's been a lovely holiday season so far and we've got an open house planned for New Year's Day.  One nearly major problem last night turned out to be less traumatic than it could have been, thanks to my beloved GeekHusband, David.  We had a network crash, lost internet connection and then, when we got that up and running, it appears our primary network external hard drive lost everything.  I store all my artwork files - photos, communications, administrative records, etc. etc., as well as our family photo archive (thousands of photos going back a couple of generations at least).

Fortunately, I'd made a backup of the "Moesse" files last month when we went to England and we found another external archival hard drive (yeah, geekspouse has a few), had most of the family photos too.  And my Whitehall stuff is on another hard drive that didn't die at all.  So, with the exception of a few things, I think we are ok.  Still, it was scary enough in the time it took us to locate lost files that we decided to set up a Carbonite account for mirroring ALL of our stuff off site. The $59 a year is well worth the peace of mind.  In addition, you can be damn sure we'll be burning old school DVD's of all the pics and other data files to store offline too -- just in case a cyber attack crushes the internet someday...

On another subject, my eyes are going wonky again and I don't think I've had time to breathe let along be on the IPhone or use my eyes for fine detail work lately and yet, the eyes are losing focus again.  Agh!  In addition, I feel a huge amount of pressure because of sinus problems and wonder if that could be the cause of some of the eye problems?

Well, if that's the worst of my problems, I should / do consider myself lucky...

Farewell Elizabeth!

Long before it was a catchphrase in politics, Elizabeth Edwards gave meaning to the term "Military Families."  The daughter of a Naval Admiral, she moved with her family to U.S. naval bases around the globe.  And so it was, during the height of my political awakening that our paths crossed in the fall of 2004 when I was named part of a small group of women called "Military Moms with a Mission."  My eldest had already been through one tour in Iraq, my baby was graduating from Army basic training as the group was forming, and I had the attitude of a Mother bear (a full four years before "Mamma Grizzlies" became the fashion) watching out for her son's best interests.

I'd just received my B.S. in Journalism and had all those college resources at my disposal when the war started.  I arm myself with the facts of the Iraq War, Bush Administration Military and Foreign Policy, and from Senate and House testimony transcripts, the discussions in those bodies that explored the pros and cons of various actions by the administration.  After my "education," I lent my considerably informed and confident voice to the Kerry/Edwards campaign, knowing that the way forward for our country was by employing all of the tools of foreign policy -- military being only the last resort after such things as economic, diplomatic, educational and cultural tools are employed.

So, the DNC and the Kerry/Edwards campaign called upon Nita Martin, Pat Heineman, Lisa Leitz, Lara Bertsch and myself to tour the country on behalf of military mothers and spouses, publicly calling for a new commander in chief during wartime.  We were coached and spoiled by some great young folks, including Tara McGuinness, Mike Lake, Marshall Hevron, Melissa Wideman, and others who I know will save our world in years to come, each of them!  At times we were joined by fellow wives, especially the stellar Gwen Walz, wife of the great young Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz.  Our original group of five first met Elizabeth at a Senior Citizens Center in Ohio.  Before the public event, she whirred into a private anteroom where we were waiting and posed for a few photos, spoke with us about our loved ones, and then went off to host the planned town hall meeting, setting a positive tone but putting forth facts and information that countered what the Bush Administration was proposing.  She was a brilliant advocate for the Kerry Edwards campaign and a voice that was respected.  Her words carried the gravitas of one who would never choose political expediency over the truth.

After our brief encounter, we exchanged hugs with the savvy woman and hopped into our minivans in order to make Columbus by nightfall.  Or some such.  And our one week tour rolled on to its inevitable conclusion.


Or so we thought.  Over the weekend, we each got calls to see if we could fly up to West Virginia for a CSpan televised Town Hall with ... Elizabeth Edwards!  Doh!  It was scheduled for Tuesday and we were flown up Monday afternoon and those of us who needed it (me!) had our hair cut, colored and styled (on our own dime).  That evening we shared a private dinner with Elizabeth who showed us that her private self was identical to that which she portrayed in public.  Warm, genuine, without any veneer or bullshit.  Knowing we'd have this opportunity, I printed up enough copies of the digital photo we'd taken during our first meeting and like in high school yearbooks, all signed one another's photos.  Mine is dear to me, framed and on my desk.  Elizabeth included a copy of that image in her first book Saving Graces.


The town hall was preceeded by a few live televised interviews for cable shows, the first of which was CNN.  I was to sit next to the great lady and speak live via satellite to the anchors back in Atlanta.  We'd been up since 5 a.m. for hair and makeup and I was confident that I looked as attractive as I ever would for this nationally televised feed.  But I was still nervous and Elizabeth squeezed my hand and whispered I'd do fine.  The interview was so quick and thankfully, most of the Anchor's interest was focused on Elizabeth.  The interviewer asked me about our group's call for a change in leadership during wartime and I felt it important to establish our credentials as very intelligent, well-informed women.  That's as far as I got before getting cut off.  I never got to explain what we'd learned and discovered and felt important to share with the voting public and I was very disappointed.  Still, I think the message got across that we weren't ill-informed women just whining about our sons and husbands having to serve.  I was also called upon to represent our group during a live Fox and Friends Morning feed too and I'd been so nervous about this interview, expecting the worst, but it went very well.  My dad, recuperating from a stroke in a nursing home had seen it and that's all I cared about.  The other girls had been standing behind us during the interview and other national news crews interviewed Elizabeth and one of them as representative of our group as each network saw fit, based on our bios.    


After the excitement of these live national interviews, the town hall forum was a breeze.  We all sat in captains chairs onstage in front of an audience of probably 300 or so folks from the Westover, West Virginia area.  The one hour program went off beautifully, and of course, Elizabeth made brilliant points I'd never even given thought to before.  Including this strong one as to why we needed to extricate ourselves from Iraq as soon as possible and allow the country to self-govern.

"Nobody washes a rental car," she said simply and then related an incident where the U.S. government had contracted to construct some vital public works facility and it had taken more than 18 months and millions and it was still not completed.  They turned over management of this and an identical project to the Iraqis who completed the project in a few short months and  on the second effort, well under budget.


My strongest memory of the forum though, occurred near the end, when an aging veteran -- in uniform -- came and stood directly in front of us onstage.  He began talking, and kept talking.  And talking.  And talking to the point I started to worry we were losing the audience.  At that point, Elizabeth graciously got up from her chair, walked over to the man, gave him a gentle hug, and managed to escort him to his seat all while keeping the conversation going and flowing.


We were all sickened at the election results and then downright crushed when we learned of her cancer and sent her flowers as a group.  When she was publishing Saving Graces, she asked me to send her the original jpg file.  I didn't think anything more of it until getting a signed copy in the mail months later.  Our photo is included, along with a cutline, and her impression of each of us in the copy of the book itself.   


Pat, Nita and I met up with Elizabeth at the February 2007 DNC Winter Meeting.  Our first ever, we didn't no what to make of what seemed to me a trade show for the presidential candidates.  Each had a hospitality room and after the day's general sessions, would host specially designated attendees in their rooms.  We were not such specially designated attendees although one gentleman I serve with on a couple of vet/milfam advocacy boards is, so he went into the Edwards (he was still a candidate at that time) hospitality suite while we waited by the security area.  A moment later, who comes energetically bounding out but Elizabeth, all smiles and hugs.  None of us gave a hoot about status and were just so excited and happy to catch up with one another.  She escorted us through the security gate and seemed as genuinely happy to see us as we were to see her.  We expressed our concern about her health, but she brushed it aside and glowed, as we did, rekindling our connection after three long years.


I can't believe she is gone, but I choose not to grieve her passing.  I do mourn for her lovely children, that they will be deprived of her in their lives as they grow up.  But I hope they can always keep her memory close, incorporate her influence, her values and her wisdom.  I just discovered this lovely Native American poem that I will now share which may help them and others missing this great, great woman.


"Don't stand by my grave and weep, for I am not there. I do not sleep. 
I am a thousand winds that blow.  I'm the diamond's glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.  I am the gentle autumn's rain.
Don't stand by my grave and cry.  I am not there.  I did not die."

I prayed today that I would have a productive day. I didn't realize

what it meant.

It was 4 a.m. and a call came in from "Private Caller" so of course I didn't answer, but I never went back to sleep.  So after glancing through Stephen Quiller's Water Media Painting book,  I sunk back into the pillows and tried my hand at meditating after finally finishing and being extraordinarily moved by Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love.  After a battle with "Monkey Mind," I gave up in exasperation, but sent up one request to the vast universe before I did.

"Let me have a productive day" I urged, thinking of the laundry list of things I had on my plate on this seemingly regular Friday morning such as finish Whitehall consulting work for one client,  meet my fellow painters at Jerry's to purchase some needed supplies and drop off materials for the swag bags going to the first 20 customers at next week's PAW Fundraiser.  Oh, and complete the commission painting for my eye doctor.  His staff got me to do an eight canvas eye to present him as a gift and it's due next Friday.  It's nearly done and only needs finishing touches.  And looks fab, if I may say so myself.  So, when I sent up that request, I had this kinda stuff in mind.

Not having to call my ex-husband, a jail, a college Dean and others:  A loved one has gotten into a serious jam and I'm not sure what it will mean down the road, but it could be a long, hard journey for this person.  He's been doing beautifully since I made a stance earlier this year, and comments from those who work with him say he's a really wonderful person.  I hope this slip up was a minor blip on the radar, but am fearful it could be more. 


I hope and pray that my loved one clings to something positive and moves past this to find and fulfill his potential.  Keep us in your prayers.  I gotta go.  There's work to be done...

"Nearly a month since my last confession"

Or, if you are not Catholic, my last blog posting.  Mea Culpa but you'll understand when I tell you it's been crazy busy.  Here's what's been going on:


Hung the Paige Simmons Salon and Gallery show November 2.  Here's what it looks like in the gorgeous renovated former Tennessee Art League building.  Can you say beautiful light? 

Hung the Smyrna show with assistance from my brother on November 18 but was really rushed and too busy to take pictures of the paintings hanging so in today's blog post are a few photos of the paintings hanging there. 

The very next day, we boarded a 6 a.m. flight to the UK and made it safely to London at 10:45 p.m. local time.  For the next 11 days, we drove, and shot photos, and visited family and friends, and ate, drank, danced and really enjoyed ourselves. 

We returned home safely two nights ago and now, bags unpacked, laundry washed, bills paid, I can put down a few words. 

 I can't wait to paint that which I photographed.  I did paint one day in the hotel room when David was spending quality time alone with his dad, but the lighting was poor, the room was cold, and it was just a study of something I'll do in acrylics later on, I think. 

We had a wonderful, if freezing time, and have mixed feelings about being back.  I'm glad, for my studio, friends and family here, but am already profoundly missing all those friends and family we love across the pond.  

A sweet remake and more eye problems

I don't know if it's reading and surfing the IPhone when I can't sleep (which is unfortunately often these days), or because of the increased painting and focusing on detail work I've been doing, but I need to get back to doing my eye exercises more as I can tell they are starting to become "wonky" once again.  It's a really subtle thing, kind of like when your eyes want to stare off in one direction without your control. 

On another note, I had a bit of a smackdown the other day when I brought my remaining paintings to the second hair salon in my hometown here.  I found some of my best unframed watercolors and matted and framed them, left them off for the owner's consideration, but she returned them all, asking where the fun bright other paintings (acrylic on canvas) I'd done that were displayed on my notecards, etc.  I explained about having another show in Nashville, and, tail between my legs, left her salon with my bin of framed watercolors and a pleasant but firm request not to return unless I had some of those fab, fun, bright paintings to hang.  I can understand her rejection and in an odd way, took it as a complement that my other stuff IS desired there and that she was paying attention! 

As Rumi said:  "Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things the forerunners of pleasure."

So I went home and reworked a canvas that I'm ashamed to say I rushed through and hung at the Mad Platter show in May.  It's shown above, after most tweakage was completed.  I did a few things after, but not much.

Hanging art and poll watching

Make for an exhausting day! 

Happily, I breezed into Nashville with no traffic and got started hanging my art at Paige Simmon's Salon in Nashville promptly at 9:30.  With great optimism, I brought nearly all of my inventory, including the 48 x 72 triptych that I wasn't sure we'd find a space for.  Thankfully, seasoned artist and hanging veteran Lynne Pilkerton met me there and immediately restored order and sanity to my day by grouping paintings and finding just the right spot for nearly all of them.  And I mean all! 

In the end, we found a perfect spot for the triptych and hung it -- which can be a real bitch -- with very little difficulty, again, thanks to Lynne's quick thinking.  We also found room for my other largest paintings, and the smaller ones too.  In the end, I left with fewer than five of the 46 paintings I'd started with!   I've posted a few photos of the site and apologize for the poor quality images.  My flash battery was dead and these are with the great local light only.  It really is an exquisite space and hopefully, in some small way, my paintings are making it even more appealing. 

We didn't finish until 2 p.m. and though I'd not eaten anything all day, I had to report to a polling place at three to serve as a poll watcher.  Grabbed a quick bite and reported to the election site just in time and made it through the next four hours, at first bored to tears, then grabbing a pen and paper and sketching all sorts of people that were in line, then handbags, shoes and what-have-you, and finally, after mind-numbingly watching the poll captain try to call the election headquarters and wait on hold for so many minutes, grabbed my Iphone, got the voter verification lookup website, and must've looked up 100 voters registration info by poll closing time.  I felt good that I could help and the poll captain was amazed at the great new technology. It was probably against the rules and I suggested to him that we need to start a campaign now to get the Major Cell Phone companies to donate smartphones to all polling places across america for free for that day.  Anyone with me? 

Crazy Busy! Two installations tomorrow and more!

Out of the blue about six weeks ago, my sister-in-law (she of the golden voice, brilliant lyrics, and luscious music, grammy-nominated Gretchen Peters) mentioned me to her hair and makeup girl, Paige Simmons, who has her salon in the old Tennessee Art League building on Poston near Centennial Park in Nashville.  Its a lovely old Craftsman style home that's been converted.  It has wonderful light, and great style since Paige and her mother did all the furniture, etc.

Anyhoo...  Paige does hair and makeup for a lot of Nashville's big names (well, for instance, Gretchen!) and she shows and sells art there too of several artists, including Kirk Seufert and others whose names I was too excited to capture because ... I'll be hanging my stuff there as well, come Tuesday.  Was there Saturday scoping the place out and another major singer walked in to have her hair done.  I was cool about it and the two fellow artists with me didn't even recognize her at all!  But Kirk's work is just gorgeous and I'm honored to have mine showing along with his at the same space.

The other installation is another upscale hair salon in Smyrna where I live called the Hair Doctor.  It was a spur of the moment thing months ago when I offered to hang some of my work in their lovely but bare-walled space.  Well, it's approaching Christmas time and I have a lot of paintings, so I know I can spruce up their walls, hopefully sell some as gifts, and earn some cash for our upcoming trip to the U.K. 

Then there are a pair of group shows I'm participating in starting Friday.  Centennial Arts Center Gallery is having its annual holiday show running from Friday through Dec. 14, with the opening Friday night.  Hubby David's even coming with me and a bunch of us are going out after for dinner at a great Italian place that is Lucilla approved (so it must be great)...

The last is at Springhouse Gallery in Smyrna.  It's a one night gala fundraiser show being held Nov. 19 but we submit Friday night or Saturday and I'm not sure I'll have energy/work to submit... We'll see.

For now, I'm just painting away!  The three paintings posted here were started recently and aren't finished, but close... the Nashville Skyline one is like the other Nashville Skyline I, did but the star of this show, no pun intended, is the night sky rather than the lights of the buildings...

Reelfoot Lake, TN

I painted this as a commission work and am really pleased with it.  It's a 16 x 20 acrylic on stretched canvas and took me quite a few days to complete.  The reflections in the water were difficult to work out but I think they're quite accurate. I love cranes and added one, flying in the background. Now I'll have to dig up photos of our vacation last fall to Port St. Joe.  There were oodles of shots of Cranes in the water there.

Next up, though, a commission work for an eye doctor's office.  The staff are buying it as a gift for their boss for Christmas. 

Tangent: Wholesome foods and more

Wearing my other hat for a while today (international trade consultant), I came across the U.S. company Wholesome Sweeteners Incorporated based in Texas.  They are God's gift to high fructose corn syrup, artificial chemical sweeteners, and other crap that's not good for us. 

While researching that company, I came across their links page which is just chock full of links to all things healthy, wholesome, nutritious, and gourmand, too! 

I'm keeping this short so I can go make art.  Enjoy.

Painting on the porch in the rain

There's something about porches, don't you think?  When you are able to let go of the critical "I should be elsewhere" mindset and just hang on a porch doing whatever.  If you're like me, you find it liberating and reinvigorating.  To me it's the ultimate "Hominid's revenge" where we who stand on two feet and have opposible thumbs and think and plan and scheme, can come in close contact with the great outdoors without ... you know ... really being out there!  Where mother nature can rain down in all her splendor but we stay dry.  Where mosquitos and other bugs of all kinds swarm around hoping to feast on our fleshy skin and red blood.

God bless Lucilla!  That's all I can say... Despite her cosmopolitan ways she had the foresight to add on a splendid and expansive porch to her Sylvan Park home, complete with screening, high-end ceiling fans and a bug-proof flooring barrier too.  So outside on the porch we of the Collaborative Artists Network (Nashville) who were in town painted. Judi has commenced her journey back to Geneve, Switzerland where we are hoping she'll establish a CAN Chapter.  Margot is in the xenophobic state of Arizona babysitting children this week and recuperating from what sounds like a huge cold and laryngitis.  Lynne was recuperating closer to home after two exhausting weeks of setting up and arranging her show at the Gas Lamp in Nashville.

And so it was that Barbara, Lucilla and I found ourselves enjoying the splendor of her porch, some great food she prepared (but wasn't supposed to), and one another's company.  We didn't so much paint as talk and learn and plan for the future of our group and more.  In the end, I set about playing.  One of my paintings took on a "Georgia O'Keefe-ish" style, according to Lucilla and Lynne who showed up late to grace us with her presence.  They claim it was because I had today's afternoon gynecological appointment on my mind.  I put dots to represent cave dwellings on the hillside, but it definitely needs more work before I post it here.

I'm exhausted now, having gone to the doctor (just an annual checkup and all is well, in case you're wondering) and gotten stuck in commuter traffic.  My BFF from New Jersey claims we could never live there, given the amount of commuter traffic they endure daily. Even though it took me a full hour to get home from downtown, Nashville's nowhere among the worst cities for traffic. Well, the microwave's buzzing and my chicken chili's done. The dog's pouting and hoping for a walk too, so signing off.

Arts and the left-brain: high school edition

I think I've mentioned to y'all that I never had any substantial arts education before college beyond flunking out of piano lessons in pre-school and the plastic, generic recorder in fourth grade at St. Henry's School. Seriously, there was none until my college music appreciation class which I got absolutely nothing out of since I'm still musically illiterate. I did okay academically and in fact began my collegiate studies with the intention of majoring in engineering. Thankfully, I changed my major to Mass Communications and while focused on journalism, did put in a hefty number of hours in visual communications. 

I got to thinking about the value of arts education when I recently found studies that show that four years of art and or music in high school equate to higher performance on SAT's as this chart shows.

In addition, students who take four years of some form of arts are far less likely to drop out of school. Seems to me Tennessee and federal lawmakers need to take heed of this when factoring in funding for the arts.

Need more than just a couple of charts?

The findings are consistant according to this 1999 article by AP writer Carl Hartman.  But a 1998 in-depth Harvard statistical study roundly disputes this broader claim and identified strong correlations in only three areas: 
     Listening to Music and Spatial-Temporal Reasoning
     Learning to Play Music and Spatial Reasoning
     Classroom Drama and Verbal Skills

The Harvard study makes one assertion that I think all educators and parents and policy makers should completely stand by, though: 

"Let's stop requiring more of the arts than of other subjects. The arts are the only school subjects that 

have been challenged to demonstrate transfer as a justification for their usefulness. If we required 

physical education to demonstrate transfer to science, the results might be no better, and 

probably would be worse. So, it is notable that the arts can demonstrate any transfer at all."

I'm not telling you what to do but I plan to write my legislators - state and federal - and make sure they keep funding for arts education off the budget chopping block.  Personally and ideally, I see investing more heavily in the arts (globally) equating to lower costs for defense.  Hmmm.  Another good future blog study methinks! 

Tune in in the next few days for "Arts and the left-brain: corporate success edition."

Of Weddings and Music

This past weekend, my brother Barry Walsh, a fabulous keyboard player in his own right (who has a wonderful instrumental CD that's great inspiration BTW), married his love of many years, Gretchen Peters.  That the two have always made incredible, beautiful music together is a given within Nashville and the Folk and Country Music Communities.  Gretchen has an amazing voice, crafts songs of such intelligence and power, and as importantly, Barry doesn't just play along.  He listens, adds his interpretation, and accents each song perfectly.  I'm what you might call musically illiterate but even I get that when watching them.

And it's not just on the auditory level that these two relate.  They are wonderfully matched in so many ways ... both very smart and intellectually curious, quirky, and fun, and it is so great to see them together and obviously, this happy together. It's been a bit of a journey for them but I can proudly say I knew from the very first that this day would come.

And this was a wedding noone that was there will ever forget, if only for the perfection of it.  The night before, a whole slew of us were bused out to Green's Grocery in Leiper's Fork.  It's a lovely intimate venue that harkens back to the 30s and 40s in its simplicity. There, Barry played for Gretchen (and the lucky audience) a song he wrote for her and she answered with her song about him "The Way You Move Me." As if that wasn't enough, others played, including the dynamic Marshall Chapman, Gretchen's fellow "Wine, Women & Song" partners Matraca Berg and Suzy Bogguss, Rodney Crowell and Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  Supporting them all night was Christine Bougie, a wonderful steel guitar player from Toronto.  I love that instrument anyway and her style was just wonderful.  We went home happy, full and sure they couldn't ever top that night.

But they did.

Planned beautifully, the ceremony took place right after the 6 p.m. bells rang at Assumption Church in Nashville where we all stood in the churchyard below.  Unplanned but uncannily perfect was the appearance of an old invalid who rode by on his scooter, surveyed the goings-on, waved and went on his way.  My brother Barry waved back as fellow siblings nudged one another just knowing it was the ghost of our father who loved to play pranks on us while riding his own scooter before he passed away four years ago.  I'm sure it was him, giving Barry & Gretchen his blessing. To top off the emotion of them saying their vows, Rodney Crowell performed an acoustic version of a lovely song he written about life and family entitled "I know Love is All I Need."  I'm told video taken from behind me of his performance shows one of my arms holding the video camera up and the other hand coming to my eyes with a tissue.  Frequently.  It was moving.

Then there was the first dance.  Gretchen has written with Bryan Adams for many years and formed a tight bond of friendship.  He made a promise to her, arranged his schedule, and was able to come in for it.  And he sang their first song.  It's funny, my hubby and I married to one of his songs (Everything I do), my sister got engaged to that same song, and now, our brother was having Bryan peform their first dance (Heaven), live!  After this, there were more performances by those who'd been there the night before and other great musicians.  Our family got jammin' when Rodney launched into Elvira accompanied by Jeff Hanna and a flock of singers joined in.  We stayed up there on the dance floor and joined hands to sing along with "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," and I swear, at that moment, I didn't think anything could top this weekend.

But then there were the sky lanterns.  Two dozen of these wonderful things were lit by the wedding guests and sent skyward over the Nashville night sky.  Reading through tweets she follows the next day, Gretchen saw some neighbor observed the presence of several UFO's above Germantown.  I enjoyed seeing the lanterns fly off but even more loved the warm glow that lit peoples faces as they were lighting the lanterns.   Ahhhh.  Just beautiful.  Every last minute of it. 

So with all excitement, I've done no painting at all lately.  Just haven't had it in me.  But I am itching to get back to it.  So stay tuned!

Labor Day = Vacation Time

At least this year in our house. We'd planned a road trip to my sister Patty's weekend place near Berkeley Springs, W.V. with our dog but life happened and we ended up going further up north as well.  We started Thursday with an all-day drive to New Jersey to visit my BFF who was recently diagnosed with a fast growing skin condition/ cancer.  Though I'd seen her not long ago, hearing the "C" word in relation to my BFF is a game changer.  We also planned to very reluctantly relinquish our rights to Baxter, my son's beautiful and soulful part Lab part who-knows-what-big brindle type dog with the most soulful eyes on four feet.

The drive up was on its way to being fun until some construction/traffic-from-hell in Pennsylvania added 2-1/2 hours to our already 14 hour drive.  The dogs were wonderful though and it broke our hear to say goodbye -- for now at least -- to Baxter.  Instead of the usual trip to NY, we stayed close to Bindy's for some great quality time on her deck. The seashore picture above was painted there on a crisp late-Summer morning on the deck, based on a photo of her lovely daughter Jordy.  A surprise birthday reunion dinner party with some very old friends (fellow members of the Cold Ass Ski Club -- a story for another day) topped off the brief visit before we headed to the wilderness of West Virginia Sunday morning.   I did feel reassured leaving Bindy, though, confident she is in capable hands and will come out of this relatively unscathed.

The 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid wasn't eager to cooperate and what should have taken us 4-1/2 hours took more than 8 and meant riding backroads for safety reasons.  A safety switch on the car would shut the engine down once it heated up to a certain temp.  We discovered the backroads were both safer and made the car less prone to shutting down, and by the last 2 hours of the trip, the car didn't stall once, even when we went back on the highway.  Still, it was an incredibly stressful ride and we were ready for the cool beers handed us when we got there.  And the beautiful nieces my brother Kev and his wife Les brought along to join us for the day.  Great food, glorious vistas from their deck looking outward at the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the purest river in West Virginia meant a wonderful, soul-healing visit.  We forgot all about the car and David fished, I kayaked and swam, Smokey sniffed and paraded around like she owned the mountains, and I broke out my watercolors for an early morning painting session as the fog eased its veil from over the mountains.

Wow! Two weeks since my last post!

Didya ever find a time in life when things just mush together so tightly you don't have time to breathe?  That's been the case the past two weeks for me to wit:

My consulting business (international credit reporting - and if it sounds dry, it totally is, but at least it pays the bills mosta the time) had a huge month last month, like double the regular business volume it normally has - good in some ways, really lousy for my sense of balance though. 

During all that mayhem and scrambling to meet deadlines and demands of customers on four continents, hubby's shift at work changed from early morning to mid-afternoon start after many years on that early schedule, we had to figure out how to change eating habits, awake times, and what have you. 

On top of that, there was the replacement (finally!) of the full air conditioning unit - $8600 and change but we'll see a $1500 income tax break, and are getting an additional $250 state rebate on top of that.  It meant a couple of days with workers in and out, but lots of filing papers (for the financing), and moving stuff out of the attic so they could work in there.  In the end, it's a good thing though, so we can deal with it.  Plus, we have a 10 year full warranty on this puppy so we're happy.  Parkers Heating and Cooling in Smyrna did the project after we ran 3 contractors through bid process.  (Being a former designer in Prudential's Eastern Home Office Planning & Purchasing Department taught me those ropes & I applied the system like our little home was a multi-million dollar corporate complex!).  BTW, Parker's did an exceptional job and were very, very professional about the process and in working with us.

Then, you gotta figure, when mortgage interest rates are so low and you are already looking to make a major home renovation purchase, you might as well refinance right?  Especially when you have a sister in the business (VP of BB&T's Mortgage Banking Division in Maryland in case you need one).  So, of course we had to refinance.  Meaning, dig up all sortsa records, request more, and coordinate the hell out of things to get it all to the underwriter within 30 days of the Air Conditioning bid so we could get it all done & coolness restored.  Alot of money changed hands last month, at least on paper. I'm sure our transactions alone contributed to at least a .25 point increase in GDP!  Yay America!

So ... home finance and repair work done, ... check! 
Adjustment to new schedule underway, ... check!
Business invoices sent out at eom, ... check!

 Nothing left to do after that but take a Labor Day Vacation, right?

Read all about that in the blog entry to follow.

The Golden Triangle

Coming from a background as a photographer, I recognize so many principles that relate to both photographic and painterly images.  Lightstalking Magazine, for professional photographers, has some great content that applies to those using a brush as well, such as this one, on The Golden Triangle in composition.

Busy day, heading out to paint with the C.A.N. girls today and then errands before heading up north for the holiday weekend.  I sure hope Earl doesn't mess with our plans too much.  I'm looking forward to plein air painting from my sis' cabin in the mountains.

Miss Hazel on National Public Radio!

I am not sure if this made it nationally or was just a local feature, but it sure does make me proud to know Hazel King has been recognized!

WPLN's feature on Hazel King

Tom Jones' Workshop: Fantabulous!

Based on a Tom Jones painting and workshop

Never having been to a workshop before, I didn't know what to expect.  I thought it would be a great learning experience but had no idea just how great it would be!

Tom Jones is a fabulous nature landscape artist who represents and is representative of some of the finest producers of art supplies in the art world - Arches paper, Rembrandt paints, and Jerrys Artarama.  So when I heard he was coming to our local Jerry's to put on this workshop, of course, I signed up and put down the names of my fellow C.A.N.* girls.  The only one who was unable to join us was Barbara, but since we've got miles to go to catch up to her caliber of painting, we figured it was only right.

Tom was a great and inspiring teacher.  He had a gentle, matter of fact style that didn't pull punches but showed me (on more than one occasion) how to fix some major goofs in my work.  The painting he chose to have us do was challenging and really pushed us out of our comfort zones, but I watched with relief and joy as Lynne, Lucilla and Margot moved from frustration to anxiety to pleasure at learning the new process.  Safe to say we all got a lot out of it.  My painting (I brought it home and doctored it up slightly after all the gaffs), is above.

We also got to meet Tom's lovely wife Bonnie, a strong watercolor artist herself, and she showed us some batik paintings she has done recently that are beyond exquisite.  We are hoping to encourage either Jerry's or our Centennial Arts Center to enlist her to teach a batik class in the future.  And of course, we want Tom back.  Again and again.

I learned so much in the class I came home, spent and exhausted but dying to try more.  But I'm willing to share a few of my strongest impressions here:  Arches 300# paper kicks a$$ when it comes to durability, workability, presentation quality, etc.  You know when you are working on it that it is just.well.golden!  And at $10 and change, it wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be for a full sheet since you can split it into smaller sheets.  Lush.

Several lessons I got from the workshop:

1. Tom taught us to lighten the palette.  By that I mean don't use a huge number of different colors, but few and mix between them to maintain unity in the painting.  
2. When laying in a stand of trees, you want to do just that -- lay in the color in a freeform block and don't worry about trunks and branches until you've got the basic shape.  Then go in and lay in a few here and there.  
3. Let the watercolors do the job, don't you do it by brushing.  Just shape it, smooth it, etc. within 15 seconds if you can.  
4. The detail work, which means the difference between a good and great painting, is accomplished in the last 15 minutes of any painting, no matter if you work on it for 30 minutes, five days, two years, whatever.  It is absolutely that last 15 minutes that makes the painting.  
5. Use tissue instead of paper towels to blot and blend and smooth areas out, and if you need to go back to white paper, a stiff toothbrush and tissue and water are your best friends.  
6. If you, like me, go way overboard with the paint and need to take off even more, a spray bottle with a strong stream is your even better friend.  Spray and let the water and paint run off the paper and start over. 

There were loads more things to learn and I filled a couple of pages of notes, but you'll just have to take a class yourself! 

I loved the rockwork!  It is much like painting large flower petals.  Lay color at one edge, use a clean (water only) brush and sweep that color across the remainder of the area to be covered, ensuring one edge has strong definition.  Tom noted that I had too many rocks and it made the painting look too busy.  He suggested I merge a couple here and there into larger boulders and I may well do that later, but honestly, I'm kinda proud of the rockwork, I kept them as they were this time to show my hubby and show off on my blog.

On the waterfall, I am ashamed to say I cheated.  It was a mess to begin with but he used a new product offered at Jerry's called "Aqua Cover" that did a great job on leveling off the water, creating a better spill area below and such.  But with 20 students and limited time, he could only do so much, and I wanted to wow my husband when he got home later last night so, after resting when I got home, I got out my (dare I say it) acrylic white paint to complete the fix. I rationalize that now I can effectively call it a mixed media work and honestly, it looks pretty good, I think. The Aqua Cover is a great, amazing product though and would have done the job but I didn't purchase it and figured the acrylic application was next best thing.  So sue me for cheating! 

Final note on the painting: Tom's painting did not include, but I did, a tree stump sticking through the edge of the waterfall and another area where water spills over a giant rock.  I am kinda proud of that improvisation and the overall work, even if the rocks are too busy.  I will be making a few minor changes to this work sometime when I get a chance, and thankfully, because of the great paper, I can.  But I wanted to get the near-finished painting up here with the workshop review while it was all fresh in my mind. 

Tom, if you ever grace my blog with a visit to read this, know that I got a tremendous out of you workshop and really appreciate your painting style, teaching style and the generous, genuine and decent person you appear to be.  Keep up the great work and hopefully, we Nashvillians'll catch another of your workshops before too long.   Bonnie, we'll be working on yours too, OK?

Workshop today with CAN group taught by Tom Jones

Very excited! Lucilla, Lynnne, Margot and I, founding members of our "Collaborative Artists Network" are honing our skills today when, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. we'll be hard at work on watercolor landscapes in a workshop taught by Tom Jones.  I've seen his videos at Jerry's Artarama's video lesson download site and he looks wonderful!  Can't wait.  Will report back later.

A link to recent Watercolor studies, and Hazel King's Birthday today

Since painting with the Collaborative Artists Network, I've done some enjoyable watercolor studies.  They are visible in this album posted at my facebook site "Moesse the Eclectic Artist."  If you've not "liked" Moesse but have a facebook page, I'd appreciate it if you would do so.  You know, share the love.

Heading into Nashville to the Centennial Park Art Center today to celebrate Hazel King's 92nd Birthday.  Can you believe it?  What a gem.

Update - 4:02 PM:   Have returned from a really enjoyable pot luck birthday party for Hazel and will post more later, but have to correct the record.  She's 91 this year.  Still drives, lives alone, and inspires so many still through her art education.  A real treasure.

A grand day with fellow painters yesterday

Barbara with a painting from more than 20 years ago!

The Collaborative Artists Network (C.A.N.) is getting geared up!  We painted at Barbara Rembert's studio in her home yesterday inspired by some glorious instrumental music, great, great food, and the artistic and creative energy that flowed like a bubbling stream.  Barbara has a tremendous learning library of books to borrow, and we were treated to a private show of her collection of works.  She has some brilliant work over the years, and happily, we got the up close and personal tour, including explanations behind some of the loveliest of paintings.  Her methods are so varied, and yet all convey so beautifully what message or meaning she is trying to illustrate.  Pure wonderment!

Another surprise treat was a painting Margot pulled out that she had done back more than three decades ago!  And to our joy and amazement, it was done using the same strokes, colors, and style she uses today.

We didn't talk much about our organization today, preferring just to paint, but the idea behind it is to organize as a non-profit, obtain grands or other funding to provide a safe, comfortable place to paint, the resources to do so, the opportunity to teach others less fortunate, and to sell our works to self-fund our endeavor moving forward. It will surely be a long road, but with we five, I think we C.A.N., no pun intended.  We recognize women typically give up so much to raise children, care for family, or meet other challenges that typically come from lacking that second X Gene, particularly economic ones.  And each of us has faced tremendous emotional, physical, or monetary challenges, or a combination of all three, to get to this point in our lives, and we feel it is time to put our experience to good use, identify a forum, and ultimately, give back.  Down the road, I hope to write more about our organization's progress.

Uh oh! Eye problem returned!

I've been lax in doing the eye exercises and on top of that recently got a new IPhone 4, beckoning me to click, read, and explore until the wee hours of the morning sometimes, and yesterday, I noticed the eye problem has returned.  Bummer since I returned to the eye specialist a few weeks ago and told her everything was fine and dandy.  Well, I guess it's just a two step process:

1. reduce the Iphone viewing
2. get back to exercising the muscles. 

Of course, right now I'm piled under with work, want to paint more, and have other needs for my eyes too.  Will update you next week on my progress.  Hopefully it'll be as easy as 1,2.

Wish me luck!

The perfect Sunday morning, the perfect Watercolor Inspiration Book

For Practicing:  dual pallets AND a set of cheap old pan paints too!

The day started hot and humid as it has this summer (a verdant August is unheard of here in Middle Tennessee, but it's true this year ...) so I grabbed the happy tails duo and we headed to the park for a pre-sweltering distance walk.  Once home, I thankfully grabbed my coffee, and laid out my stuff to paint with Pandora playing random tunes in the background to inspire me.  I didn't need it however, because I found the perfect inspiration in The Tao of Watercolor:  A revolutionary approach to the practice of painting by Jeanne Carbonetti.

One of the several library books I checked out yesterday, this one beckoned me. The thing I've learned over the past year is that you have to give up control in watercolor more than any other medium.  You have to relinquish planning and organization, for the most part, in order to achieve the most breathtaking works.  Carbonetti's book illustrates this beautifully as she explains washes that go far beyond the flat, graduated, etc. and gives you room to breathe, play, and explore.    I would elaborate but want to get back to my work now the paint layer's dry.  You'll have to check it out yourself.  One final note, though, I noticed she has several other books entwining eastern philosophy and painting.

A book about Citiscapes

As a child, my mother wisely taught me that books were a joy and I’d relish trips to the local library as one would a visit to a candy store. I’d come home, happily meet naptime as an opportunity climb into bed to transform into a “princess,” locks resting on plumped up pillows and books spread around like treasures.

The library holds much the same joy for me, and, yes, I still enjoy an excuse for a nap for that very reason. Today, I reluctantly returned a real gem of an old book entitled Painting Citiscapes by Ralph Fabri. It was published in 1973 and after enjoying the borrowed book, I decided it was worth breaking into my scant resources to buy it from a used bookseller on Amazon. It not only goes into real detail about painting citiscapes (and building details, etc) but includes project demonstrations of citiscapes in oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel. .

Off topic somewhat, I only glanced through all the other art books I checked out because I became engrossed in the great biography Chasing the Flame about the great late presumptive UN Secretary General Sergio Vieira de Mello - whose life was tragically cut short by an early attack in Iraq - by Samantha Power).

I'm signing off now, eager to head to the library to see what new treasures await.  And eager for nap time. 

School's starting & great art supply sales abound

I've been getting a pile of sale flyers in my inbox lately, and my debit card is burning a hole in my pocket.  I rationalize that at least the purchase of art supplies isn't like some conspicuous spending that would be really gauche in this day and age.  I mean, after all, we're buying this as the raw materials to create product for sale (hopefully), thus fueling the economy, right? A stretch, yeah, I know.  Still, here's the lowdown on good sales going on right now on art supplies through major retailers I know of, either mail order or local to Nashville (and scores of other cities nationwide).

Dick Blick:  Right now they've got Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board, Golden Heavy Body Acrylics, Prismacolor Pencils,   Alphacolor Soft Pastels and Unisom Gator Foam Pastel Surfaces, Winsor & Newton Oils, and Charcoal pencils on sale at discounts of 13-54% off.

Cheap Joe's:  Use promo code CJ45 to get 4.95 shipping through 8/22, click this link to save up to 60% on select items in their fall sale event on items including Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Golden Artists Acrylics (and I think I'll be picking up this great deal on Golden Open Acrylics, to test them out. 

For those local to Nashville, Jerry's Artarama Nashville has restocked it's canvas offerings and has a deal on Winsor & Newton, The Edge, and Creative Mark Canvas. A boatload of other items are on sale, too, and the . These other sale items include Matisse Dervan Acrylics (LOVE THOSE AUSSIE COLORS!) Lukas Oils, Daler Rowney Oils and Gesso, Soho Urban Acrylics and Oils, Silver and Pro Stroke Brushes, Painter's Edge Pallet Knives, Strathmore 300 Series Bristol and Watercolor Pads and Canson Pads as well. Foamboard is at fantastic prices too for both the large size and smaller sizes from 8 x 10 all the way up to 32 x 40 and some portfolios and ArtPort cases are on sale too.  This link from Jerry's national lists even more stuff on sale.

A little off track, but for Nashvillians, but through Jerry's, I learned of an event to be held at Hickory Hollow Mall tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. entitled "Exposed!"  Not much info to be discovered on this but I suspect it relates to the newly opened art gallery in the mall.  The flyer notes Gallery opening at 6 p.m. with performances starting at 7, featuring new and seasoned talent, a guest DJ and a guest performance.

Back to shopping and definitely not to be outdone,  Plaza Artist Materials is having a fall sale too.  They list
Paints, and related materials, brushes, canvas, drawing supplies, paper, and furniture on sale with savings of up to 70%.  Like Jerry's, being able to go to the store and talk to their well-trained and knowledgeable staff is very helpful and they, too offer web-based sales.  With 12 stores, located DC, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia, there might be one near you.

Even Michaels, the Arts & Crafts retailer, is getting into things with value canvas multi-packs, Strathmore 400 series pads, Liquitex Basics Paints and storage accessories on sale now. 

In case I've missed anything, feel free to add in the comment section below.  It doesn't require blood or promise of money or any other committment, so feel free to post a comment.  To those who have/ do, thanks!    

Added 9:33 AM CST per comment of earlier and more info:  

Mea Culpa, Utrecht Art Supplies  has a great sale going on there now too, and double down by deducting 20% off the total too! (Plus free shipping on $100 orders or greater).

And Mea Culpa to  ASWeXpress too!  A 3 day deal which ends Aug. 21 (enter code B8W4) for 15% off your total plus free shipping on orders of over $99,  Golden Artist Acrylics at up to 40% off til Sept. 30, and finally, select brushes, including Silver Brush, Winsor & Newton, Raphael, Robert Simmons and Isabey up to 67% off until 11:59 P.M. EST TONIGHT.   So, if you get in and purchase by midnight tonight you get a great brush deal, 15% off all, free shipping if you get with friends and bundle an order, and are, uhm, pardon the pun, Golden too!

Happy buying, happy creating, just be happy

Added 12:58 PM CST per comment of earlier and more info: 
Clarification on the Utrecht deals:  Ends tonight at midnight: Save 20% Off Your entire purchase!* (Use Keycode BTS20E)... Need one more thing to round out your studio? Save 40% Off any one non-sale item!** (use Keycode BTS40). But a weekend deal offers  Free Ground Shipping and extends the 20% off with limits as per an offer I received in today:  Utrecht is fully stocked for Back to School and the more you buy, the more you'll save! Take 10% Off Your entire purchase, no minimum purchase required!* (Use Keycode WKND10E)... Spend $100 or more and Save 20% Off Your entire purchase plus Free Ground Shipping!** (use Keycode WKND20E). Click here for details.
 

Spent the past six hours putting together a proposal

For a research / writing project.  It has nothing to do with art, really, other than writing about the concept of taking an old industrial space and renovating it to make it more comfortable and efficient, for use as studios, lofts, and such. But that's just one aspect of the project.

I would love to get this project for several reasons, one of which is, of course, economic.  If it pans out, you'll be the first to know (sort of) and I'll elaborate in some detail. 

Wish me luck! 

A stupendous day painting with "the girls."

As you may recall, Lynne, Lucilla, Margot and I have been meeting weekly at one another's homes although today was Barbara Rembert's first day joining us.  It definitely won't be her last as we're piling in on her next week. But back to today - it was held at Margot's lovely place in Green Hills, and I was treated to some of her fine homemade Gazpacho (she's promised to share the recipe with me and if I get any comments to my post, I may just be nice enough and share it here later, too.)  And since Barbara had a birthday recently, Lynne surprised her with a little cake in her honor. 

It was a wonderful day of watercolor painting and I worked on a pair of waterfalls from the same photo that would never have occurred to me to break them up into two separate paintings, but with Barbara there, coaching me on, I saw the composition would be that much better for doing it.  I decided on those paintings since Barbara showed us all a pair of beautiful watercolors she had done on paper that she had gessoed over to protect the integrity of the paper and make it easier to lift off paint later.  Mine were poor stepchildren compared to her gorgeous works, but it was good practice all the same.  I did a sweet little birch forest painting too, but the hubby is working to upgrade my Iphone right now so sharing a photo of my effort will have to wait.

The big news from today's session was that we have decided on a name for our group and intend to codify it, first with website, then see about some funding sources, and more.  Pretty exciting when you think it all started just a few weeks ago.  Wish us luck!

Non-art Book Recommendation

Running with the Tao by Greg Webb.  I've read segments of this truly inspirational book and await delivery at this time.  

Editorial Review from Amazon:  Compelling commentary on health and spirituality. The author takes two lines from each stanza of the Tao te Ching and creates a stream of moving meditations as he runs around a magic path circling two pristine lakes outside beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. "By prioritizing how present I'm becoming instead of how far or how fast I may be traveling, I've ended up going farther and faster than I ever dreamed possible."

Disclaimer:  Though there's no monetary conflict of interest in my recommendation, I went to High School with this talented guy.  His blog is truly inspiring.  I can't wait to get my copy of the full book and suspect it'll be one of my go-to Christmas gifts for those who have (almost) everything. 

Words on Art

Had little time to paint and explore this past weekend but thought I'd spiff up someone's day by including links to a few cool blogs and sites devoted to art that I've been visiting of late. 

First off, my Twitter Account follows a good number of art-related subjects, ranging from certain museums to magazines and other artists too.  Feel free to join me in following these entries.  AbsoluteArts is a blog in which various artists contribute.  Kinda good to hear several voices in one place.  Another good one is Artopia, which is a good critics-eye-view of things going on in the art world on a global scale.  Closer to home, that is, Nashville, I'd refer readers to the David Maddox's Perambulating the Bounds.  He does a great job culling together Nashville's Art Scene in a one-stop blog that covers the gamut of the music and visual in and around Nashville.   

The last link I'm including doesn't really refer to words, but rather a way cool idea to get artists from all over involved in a collaborative project:  The Sketchbook Project.  Such a cool concept, I urge all visitors to get involved.  I have, selecting the theme "And then there was none" for my own contribution.  I've received my sketchbook but haven't yet laid any marks in it, preferring to plan it out somewhat.  Nah, the honest answer is, like all other precious empty journals and books I've purchased or been given over the years, the blank slate is so symbolically precious to me that I hate to muddy it until I know what I'm putting in is just spot on perfect.  I need to get over that soon, since the due date for this project is Jan. 15. 

Perhaps this weekend coming up, as I make up for lost painting time too. 

Survived hosting duties and Cool Gig on the Radar

My visiting brother is in Nashville for the morning; the dinner last night was great; and I am relaxing in the cool of my white-trash, window-unit air-conditioned upstairs office.  The dogs, resigned to going yet another day without a trek to the park, are sprawled across our king-sized bed downstairs.  No painting in my future today, unfortunately.

But back to the dinner:  thanks to my visiting brother Brian, we served a great meal including barbequed chicken, teriyaki beef and veggies, a really kickass Quinoa Pilaf (if I may say so myself), and raw veggies and crackers and dips (including my first attempt at Lucilla's Poor Man's Caviar), followed by a fruit platter and a childhood family favorite:  chocolate cookie & cream ice box cake that put a huge grin on my cousin Katie's smiling face. It was a wonderful evening and I could feel the stress of the past 24 hours evaporate as I licked the last remnants of chocolate and creme off my dessert fork.

The afternoon's "career-making" meeting went amazingly well.  I was pulled into a project with a screenwriting friend and, long story short, have been asked to tell the amazing true story of an urban pioneer.   I liked him immediately upon meeting him, fell for all his charms and tried to keep up with his quick wit and ricocheting manner of storytelling.   The setting drew me in the minute I crossed the threshold, and while 104 degree temperatures do not usually encourage trudging through raw industrial spaces, I was so hooked the sweat dripping down into my eyes was but a minor inconvenience and I could've explored for hours.  Still, I was very glad to get back into the heavenly high-spaced air conditioned office our subject has and hear more of his stories.

My task now is to come up with a proposal for my work, including renumeration, expected time involved and estimated total budget for a final project.  I know it will mean a lengthy and time consuming process, but my semi-retired brother says he's willing to pick up some of my consulting business slack and help me along this journey, which, if all goes well, will include a wonderful studio in which to paint and perhaps show, there, as well, since there's no way in hell I'm giving that up.

Painting, gracious southern style at Lynne's

I was in one of those moods.  The dogs knew it and stayed out of my way.  With out-of-town family arriving that night and a long-lost cousin joining us for dinner the next, and sandwiched in between a possible career-making meeting, I was dreading the next 48 hours.  So much to do!  Still, I wasn't about to give up my sanity-restoring opportunity to paint with my friends. 

And so it was -- like facing the waves, taking in the fresh sea air and breathing deeply with the cool blue surf's waves kissing one's bare toes helping to forget the here and now. As agreed, our painting foursome met Tuesday for our third "private" painting session and as this journal's title hints, we were hosted by our resident Southern Belle, Lynne. With one of those melodic gentle voices with a honey-sweet drawl and ever-present smile, to know Lynne is to be in the presence of sunshine and honey, and all things sweet and pleasant.  Really. 

I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never been to her home before and she is very modest, but as I drove through the gracious old-South charm of Belle Meade, the palatial homes, verdant and sprawling country club and well-kept lawns set the tone. And pulling into her place, I wasn't disappointed...  Lynne's home is a lovely breezy affair with a huge deck (alas, it was way too warm to paint out there) and maze-like interior that winds its way through wall after wall of Lynne-produced whimsical and serious art.  A huge bookcase in the dining room belies the secrets to her success and her genius: years of practice and study.  I regret I didn't take more photos, but, with an abbreviated day on my part, we didn't waste too long looking around before settling in to the important task of painting at her dining room table, the deck's sunlight pleasantly spilling into the room and occasional barking by her little dog bringing us occasionally back to the here and now. 

Margot worked on a lovely stone structure she'd photographed while on her trip to Turkey a short while back.  Lynne, amid hosting duties, worked on a beautiful landscape as Lucilla and I tooled around painting flowers. 

At lunch time, Lynne laid out a truly gracious Southern style luncheon complete with shrimp salad, tiny champagne grapes, cheese crackers, and more.  All on fine china with a dainty rose centerpiece (which I couldn't resist painting it was so lovely).  As we dined an painted, it struck me how cherished these women are to me.  True sisters.  An idea that was affixed permanently in each of our minds when, early on in the day, Lucilla presented each of us with a lovely ceramic "painting" of green leaves on a bone background.  She explained that they had been a gift to her years ago and she had no use for them now and wanted us each to have one.  I was so touched and it now hangs in a special place of honor in our front room. 

It is hard to believe I have known these women for such a short time and yet feel so deeply for them, and cherish them so much!  I can't explain it, but perhaps working together on our art, we feel safe enough to share our vulnerabilities.  They sure know about my dramas!  And as we learn more about one another, I think we each feel more protective of one another.  Like family, wanting the best for our loved ones. 

All I know is I feel truly blessed to know these dear, sweet souls and think that as much as I grow in my painting ability in their presence, I grow as a person too.  We have plans to strengthen our alliance in a more formal way.  I hope we can bring our plans to fruition and will do what I can to ensure it happens! 

After the darkness, light

After venturing into the dark territory of the oil spill, BP's greed and such, I had to find something of beauty to process.  So I dipped into my photos of the morning fog from the other day and came up with this lovely work.  It wasn't hard to do this, especially with my own Crape Myrtle Trees blossoming right outside my studio windows!  Who could resist, I ask you?

Grumpy

BP Can Go Eff Itself! 

The news headlines about the Gulf Oil Disaster have been weighing me down for weeks and I didn't realize how much it had dominated the news until I sorted through the stack of newspapers I use for protecting surfaces in my art.  There were so many heart-wrenching headlines and I got more and more pissed off, so I tore them all out and figured I'd process them somehow.  At the same time, I had some remnant acrylic paint that kind of looked like the earth from up in space - green forest, blue water, and such.  I had been mulling it over with the intention of using it in some abstract or another. One thing led to another and ... Voila!  I think I feel better! 

Foggy Morn

It was one of those magical moments when everything comes together just right.  The dogs and I were in need of a good long walk after being cooped up in house for days because of the intense heat.  There was a thick layer of fog that lent our small universe an air of mystery on this day. The 35 mm digital camera was beckoning to be used for more than just photos of my artwork, and I accepted its challenge, capturing the Creator's grand design as the dogs curiously sniffed and padded along in the dewy fields.  

Home to roost

On a personal note, the situation with my loved one is getting precarious and I am very worried, though trying to trust in God on this.  As I search through my own actions  as to how things have taken this ugly, dark turn despite my trying to set a positive and good example, I recognize seeds sewn decades ago that I ignored and worse, denied but should have prevented.  Hence, the title to this entry.  It is so damn hard to get out of the way and not rush to fix this!  All I can do is hope for the best outcome for my loved one. 

I will have a good long cry and seek solace in some mournful music today.  The gorgeous Sand & Water album by Beth Nielsen Chapman beckons.  Keep us in your prayers and thoughts, okay?

Another wonderful day painting with "the Grey Ladies"

I think that's a kinda catchy name for our little foursome of painters who're either retired or over 50 or both and I'll gladly introduce you to the other girls if I get their permission.

Today, we painted at Lucilla's home in a quaint old neighborhood in West Nashville.  Described as a "little jewelry box" by Lynne, even the gardens are adorable here.  And as I walked into the house, Lucilla explained that when she bought there some eight years ago, the home had a lawn but no shrubs or flowers or anything.  Today, lovely paths wind their way to the front and throughout the lovely shady backyard, with fragrant flowers harkening back to a simpler era before microwaves and home computers. 

I brought my watercolors and a pad and played while Margot gave Lucilla an acrylic lesson on painting skies.  Margot's famous for hers but I have to say, the one Lucilla laid down was a close second.  Lynne joined us an hour or so later (note to world:  her parents warned me when I met them that there's "regular people time" and there's "Lynne time."  She thought our painting date was tomorrow.  Nevertheless, she came through with a pair of sugar baby melons to accompany Lucilla's fabulous vegetarian spread consisting of "Poor Man's Caviar," Capanota,an Italian Rice Salad, wonderful cheeses, and more. Warning:  the links I've included are for recipes I found on the web for these type of dishes, but Lucilla shared with me the real heirloom recipes and are far better than these, from what I can tell.

Speaking of Lucilla, I won't give all the details about this lovely woman unless and until I get her permission.  Suffice it to say I love her dearly.  Aside from her constant habit of denigrating herself, I'd say she is close to flawless in character and I am so happy to have her in my life.  She is brilliant in ways that matter (to me at least), well-traveled, cultured, and willing to take risks and push envelopes and say what she feels.  A gem of a person for whom the little "jewelry box" of a home is perfect.

I would fear that these painting dates could become perverted by friendship, food and fun as have my Germantown Bridge dates, but we all marvelled at how much we painted and accomplished on our respective canvasses and papers by the end of it.

Next week, we're headed to Lynne's home.  Lucilla or Margot dryly warned her we'd be there at 5 a.m. to make sure she was ready for us.  Lynne sweetly smiled and said that'd be perfect, we can all wear our jammies!

Commissioned memorial painting

A client fell in love with my 36 x 48 "Druid Tree" painting that was up at the Mad Platter Show in May/June.  It has returned to it's place as centerpiece of our home's cathedral-ceiling'd living room, hanging over the fireplace once again.  She thought of that painting when a dear friend of hers died and she commissioned a smaller version - different in format, as it's taller and more slender, but the colors and everything else were to remain the same. 

I completed the piece this past weekend and am struck again by the simple beauty of the design.  I don't know if the ethereal shimmer comes through, but in person, it seems to take on a spirit-like existence of its own, reflecting differently wherever you move. 

My client hasn't picked up the painting yet but I'm looking forward to her reaction.

What's the difference between a Flat and Bright brush? Anyone?

I just opened a sale flyer e-mail from Artist's Supply Warehouse and was introduced to a new line of brushes by Liquitex - apparently their first ever brush line.  The offer intrigued me, of course, and the prices seem not too bad.  I'm in need of a couple of brushes so thought I'd investigate.

But I have to admit to some confusion and pose the question... what is the difference between Flats and Brights?  I came across the description below from Connie Nelson's site at this page and thought I'd share with others interested.  Thanks Connie! 

BRIGHT:  "They are shaped flat on the end and slightly rounder in the middle. Bright brushes are ideal for painting landscapes, flowers, etc. When pressed sideways, they create broad and bold brush strokes. Or, you can hold it up and use the sharp edge to create thinner lines. Or simply drag them across the surface to create a even sweeping layer."


FLAT:  "This type of oil painting brush looks very similar to bright brushes, but the difference is that the hairs are   longer. This allows for you to hold slightly more paint with each brush stroke than bright brushes. Otherwise, there is not much significant difference when it comes to brush strokes. They are good for landscapes and still life."

One thing I noticed with Flat Brushes is that if you get just enough paint on it, the bristles can divide and produce some perfect multiple lines or waves in one stroke.  Nice for laying on texture, or defining grasses, lines in architecture, woodgrain or what have you.  It's got to be just right, however, so test it on newspaper first.