Got to get some white and Life affirming experience...

A week ago Thursday I finished one of many layers of a portrait commission I am working on and most of it is still soaking wet!  I went online and ordered some Utrecht white which I hope will arrive soon.  I hope this is not a trend.  I can't handle waiting all this time to get to each layer.  I don't even use any kind of medium, just mineral spirits.  As always, I am working on a number of paintings at the same time but this drying time has got to speed up.  I am way behind in uploading work so I will get to that soon.  There is no rest for workaholics!

Tonight my back is hurting which is nothing new.  I used to have horrible back pain due to a ruptured disc but I worked hard to build myself up and I don't have that excrutiating pain down my legs anymore.  I went back to skating and that was the end of severe back pain, but I do get sore.  I decided I needed to do something that is life affirming so I asked my husband if stuffing five fudge brownies in my mouth would be a life affirming experience.  He said it might be a fat affirming experience for me and a killer experience for him since he can't handle wheat.

Oh well!  They sure look good in the pan but I think I will save them for tomorrow's get together at my in-laws.



Mindy is back in her office!  I was glad to see my drawing again on the wall opposite her desk.  The show is getting good reviews so I think it will last.  Look for "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project on Tuesday nights at 9:30 pm.



If you didn't see me on The Hour of Joy, check out episode 5 called Stardom on her site.  www.thehourofjoy.com



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What is with the white and Pass the Buck....

Not much in the way of news right now.  I am just content to work on my current portait commission and start some new works.  I don't know what the manufacturers are doing right now to white oil paint but I have a top brand that takes forever to dry.  Oil paint has always had a slow drying time but this new stuff is ridiculous.  I don't work wet-in-wet.  I combine a number of low-level impasto layers together and I am not used to waiting so long to get to the next layer.  I am glad the patron that hired me for the portrait commission is not in a hurry.  I can't blow on it.  Acrylics aren't for me, but right now they are looking pretty good. They dry at the speed of light compared to oils.

Our dog is well into her hundreds in dog years and our dog care activities are getting rather laborious.  It is difficult to get her outside.  I was coaxing her out with treats but now she isn't responding to that so I have to pull her which I hate to do. The other day I asked my husband to get her out and he passed the buck to our son.  I heard him say, ask her if she wants to go out and put her out even if she says no. What a smart alec!

That dog hasn't talked in years!  expressionism paintings

Working away on a Commission and Where is my onion?

 I am working away on my latest commission which brings me to the sad fact that I don't have my commission works online.  One in the long list of many things I need to do.  I am so busy with current work that it is hard to get up the energy to get caught up on things that should be done.  Oh well, I am glad that the first layer of the commission is done and the patron is very happy with the likeness of her father.  Now for all the other layers.

 Tonight as I was thinking about the evening meal I realized I only had a very small piece of onion to cook with the pork chops.  Earlier today My husband asked me if I needed anything since he was going to the store.  I went into the computer room and asked him where was the onion that I should have asked him for.  He replied that I didn't ask for one.  I said you would think after a million years of marriage you would be able to read my mind.  His reply was you would think after a million years of evolution I would be able to climb a tree but we both know that isn't going to happen.  I don't think I am going to get my onion unless I go to the store. Of course, I don't really expect my husband to read my mind but you would think after a million years of marriage...

 If you didn't see me on The Hour of Joy, be sure to check it out on her website.  http://www.thehourofjoy.com/
nature paintings



 Also, be sure to check out my Limited Time specials on Fine Art America!

See me on The Hour of Joy and We are not worthy...

Yesterday was my appearance on The Hour of Joy program on FoxTV27 out of Roanoke, VA.  It was a great show and I'm proud I and my paintings were on it.  If you didn't get a chance to see it, you can watch it on Joy's website  http://www.thehourofjoy.com/.  Joy Sutton is a terrific talk show host who wants to be the next Oprah!

I guess living with The Bird Man has influenced my artwork more than I thought it did.  I do credit his knowledge of The Blue Ridge Mountains and The New River Valley for a lot of great painting ideas, but I never thought I would be including birds in my work.  Right now I am about to finish a painting that includes an Osprey.  I wouldn't know one bird from another if I hadn't married Clyde who is a well known naturalist in Southwest Virginia.  One time I mentioned on Facebook that I had learned a lot from Clyde, and the late, former writer for The Roanoke Times, Seth Williamson added we have all learned a lot from Clyde.  We are not worthy, we are not worthy, we are not worthy...

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Glad to sell another original and Where did it go...

Sold another original to a great patron in California!  This one was hard to let go.  "Blue Ridge Jewels" is true to it's title.  The colors are like jewels which is one of many reasons I love living in Southwest Virginia.  There is nothing like the vistas in this area and on The Blue Ridge Parkway which is the source for many of my paintings.  The patron that bought the painting said she has been looking at my paintings for "many moons" and will be buying more for her new home in Half Moon Bay California.  She and her husband are people after my own heart.  They are teachers.  Anyone that thinks teachers have a cushy job has never taught.  He or she would change their mind after one day in the classroom. I am grateful to all my teachers and I will never forget the many great comments I received from my students when I taught at Radford University.

The other day my husband and I became even more aware of how computers have changed our lives and our language.  I accidentally put something important in the trash.  I didn't know I could get it back out and was relieved when I did.  It made me wonder.  When the trash is emptied, where does it go?  I asked my husband and he said with a confused expression that he takes it to Seventeenth St. where he has been taking it for years. He thought I was talking about the recyclables.  Maybe I should take a break from my work and go phishing.  Just joking, of course, but I do love to fish!

Be sure to look for me on The Hour of Joy this Sunday at 11:00am on Fox27 out of Roanoke.

Also, look for my best-selling print, "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project.

Check out my Limited Time Promotions on Fine Art America.  I always have some up.