A Sad Day

I'm feeling so many emotions today that make it hard to write.... yet I need to.  I don't have a painting to go with it... except maybe these two....

The house he grew up in was the same one I grew up in... and today the new owners tore it down.

He was an only so it was easy for him to keep it and raise us there.  But there were three of us, his children and only one still lived there.  Only one could have saved it, but she chose not to try.  And she blames the other two of us for selling it.  Today I'm not liking her very much but I'm sure I will get past it.  

Merry Christmas

Wow, where did the time go?  Are the rest of you ready for Christmas?  I'm not but it will be here anyway won't it.  So why am I not ready?  I have no idea, I can only account for a few days wasted and those weren't a waste; time spent with my Tuesday Painters group is never a waste and here are three sketches I did with them recently.

I also spent some time with my brother's family in Mt. Pleasant where his daughter got her Masters In Public Administration.  Very proud of her determination to get this done. 

And, the annual Gingerbread House with my grandson.  He knows I'm not the best baker so he has preferred that we buy the kit.  However, now that he's done some baking he thinks maybe with his help I'll be able to do it okay next year.

Merry Christmas and a Joy Filled 2020 to all of you!

So much to be grateful for

There is much to be grateful for in my life, I hope that is true in your's as well.

More Dailies, A Class and A Wedding

I'm continuing with the November Dailies Challenge, here are a couple more 

A couple coffee mugs and a collage

I've also been taking an abstract workshop on line, Jodi Ohl's Absolutely Abstract.  It's been a challenge.  With representational work one knows what the focus is, it's what you wanted to paint.  With abstract which I thought of as non-representational until Jodi had us find a favorite vacation photo and use it as the basis for a painting.  Some of what we're doing is non-representational but one still has to design the piece.  I'm still working on the vacation piece, a photo I took in France on our anniversary.  Here is one of the non-representational pieces I did.

And the wedding.... I got to visit my cousins and some of their kids and grandkids in Virginia. It was a beautiful wedding, my cousin Gail's grandson's, and great fun to visit.  I stayed with Gail as did her older brother, Ralph and her oldest son, Rick.  We are all interested in family history and family stories so there was a lot of sharing.  The wedding was beautiful, in the chapel at Langley Air Force Base and we got a quick tour of the base.  

So far the month is going beautifully and now I'm looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving with friends.

More Tuesdays and November Dailies

Yesterday Tuesday Painters were at Hemlock Crossing... a favorite foul weather spot because there are great views from indoors and it is open all year.  This is what I did....

And I'm participating in an Art Everyday Month, November Challenge.  The only day I don't have to show is the 2nd; it was an anniversary card and I gave it away before I got it scanned.

The first day was a sketch bag that will live in my car.  The one I was using finally gave out.

 This one was some leftover paper from the anniversary card...

 And more paper from the anniversary card...

On my morning walk the leaves on the ground looked like angel wings so I picked one up and used it for this little one...

 And while sorting I came across this divider.  I had done a little daily on it in October and put it aside. The flower picture was in the same pile so I added it to the page.

And now I'm off to Virginia for a wedding.

Sketches, A Doll and Other Stuff

The Tuesday Painters group has been at a friend’s cottage overlooking Lake Michigan.  We’ve gone two weeks in a row and may go again this week…. If she’ll have us.  The cottage was her sister’s, another friend who lost her battle with cancer a few years back.  Four sisters had cottages on the ridge,  When Elaine died the other sisters fixed up her cottage and use it as a rental or for friends.  

There are great views of the lake, the beach and the pier from there and in this between season it’s an ideal place to paint and sketch.  It’s too cold to be outside and though the cottage has no heat we are protected from the elements and we dress warm.  We are taking advantage of it while we can; it will be closed up once winter comes.  

Last week I showed you the start of my Catrina for the Day of the Dead exhibit coming to the Gallery Uptown in November.  Here she is… finished and ready to be delivered.

And I got a few more of the small boiled paper pieces done.  These are fun little pieces to do and I still haven't decided what to do with them.

They make nice little gift tags but could also look nice as a little framed piece, or on a note card.  Does anyone have any other thoughts?

Day of the Dead & Some Boiled Paper

The Gallery Uptown exhibit theme for November is Day of the Dead.  I'm working on two pieces, this is one of them... in process...

 and a close up of her head...

The stuffing part is done, now it's time to add her arms and the trimmings.

Awhile back I did some boiled paper and while it was fun, I wasn't sure what I would do with it.  As I kept looking at them sitting on my table images began to appear.  I finally decided to play with them a bit.  Here are a few of those....

They're small 3 x 6 or 4 x 6 and I may use them as gift tags... or sell them as gift tags if I do this with all of the boiled paper I've done recently.