Not a painting......yet!

I love these scenes where families or friends go

out to eat and enjoy each other's company in

a warm and attractive setting. I'm alway taking

photos in restaurants. So far no one has protested,

but of course I am very discreet. Also, I never try

to do likenesses of people I haven't met.

A #1 Assistant!

This is my excellent assistant Julie.

She makes it possible for me to do what

I do by backing me up in the many, many

things that are required to keep an art

studio going. This is my tribute to

her cheerful spirit and superb high-

quality help. I truly could not do what

I do without her.

The last step

Here is what we artists must do after

the piece is completed. Photograph it

for our records and for using in our

promotion materials.

Some of us may be qualified to do a

professional job of it, but here you see

that I am having it done by a professional

instead of doing it myself.

It can be shot indoors with special

color-keyed lights, or in this case, using

the natural spectrum of daylight.

I must say that as a painter, I have

long felt that when I had completed a

work, I was DONE! But there are more

things that one has to consider before one

is truly DONE! This is one of them, and

getting it sold is the next!

My sister's beautiful handmade jewelry

My sister designed and created this beautiful

pendant. I think the name of the stone is

(believe it or not) 'Prudent Man'. I think her

design motif is absolutely perfect for the

amazing leaf-like markings in the stone, yes?

Check out more of her work on her Etsy site.

Go to the right column on this blog and it is

the second link (Sandra's Creations).

As you see, I am not the only artist in this

family...and there are more of us as well.

But those stories will have to wait for another

day.

OK, so this isn't the Prudent Man stone my

sister tells me. It is called Pilbara Jasper!

Looking up has benefits

I am always on the lookout for things of visual interest.

That is my strong suit as the saying goes.

This was a rooftop in a wonderfully maintained historic

town near me. It is SO much more interesting than

the asbestos roofing and aluminum siding of my

neighborhood. Ah progress. Such as it is.

My local art group

Twenty-six years ago I founded this group, The Art

League of Germantown (www.alog.org).

I am thrilled that it has continued to thrive. We now

have 79 members and as you see from the photo here,

we have great attendance at our meetings. This

beautiful room is the art gallery at the

BlackRock Center for the Arts

(www.blackrockcenter.org)

At this recent meeting we had what we call

"Show and Tell". We do it regularly and it is a

wonderful way to keep each other up to date on

what we are doing. It provides us with a sort of

accountability and motivation to continue to

produce new work. It is always a great pleasure

to see the new pieces members are working on.

This group remains a very large part of my life. I

started it because I was new in the community all those

years ago and wanted to have other artists in the area

to share with. I also had the intention to help artists as

I care so deeply about us all and I want us to do well

and stick to our dreams.

Please look at the website for our group which is the

first one in this post. Then you can visit the site of

our wonderful art center that opened here 6 years

ago. Our group and the center are partners in many

wonderful and productive ways. How great is that!

Sister Artists

My sister and I are both artists. She creates beautiful

jewelry in gold and silver and all sorts of stones both

precious and semi-precious. We were together last

week as she was headed south for some time out from

her intense workshop and show schedule. She and

her husband wanted some warm weather time!

So here we are working on something I could share

with her. She asked me about color wheel information

as she has started doing some colored pencil drawings

for the pure enjoyment of it. It was fun to be together

and be photographed from above by her husband,

obviously a higher power!

Paint from a palette or table top?

I have a new blog where you can find painting tips

about various things I have discovered over the years.

It is http://teachertipsfromthejoyofartstudio.blogspot.com

It is really not meant to be a "how to paint" blog, but one

where you can find things to refine what you are doing,

or at least shorten the path and have it go more easily!

Winter Sun

On a recent winter's morning, I was coming up the

stairs and there in front of me was this scene. The

sun could not have played across her pretty face

any better than this if I had set up lighting myself.

The doll is part of a collection that my mother started

years ago and that I have added to now and then

(but only infrequently) and the chair was a doll

chair that I had as a child. I just loved the beauty

of this scene and grabbed my camera before the

January sun moved on its way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday I was shopping at my local favorite

store and here are two wonderful upbeat people

who helped me. The headpieces cracked me up!

Now they are smiling at you wishing you a Happy

Thanksgiving along with me!

The magic of help!

These wonderful smiling gals are my two studio

assistants. Kathy, on the left, comes 2 afternoons

a week and is invaluable to my work and promotion

projects. Rene is a senior in high school and she

comes after school once a week and helps me

by keeping the studio clean and orderly.

I am thankful for them both! You notice how

work gets done around here....it's magic for sure!

Summer lilypond photos

Three for price of one click to my blog! I have

always loved water ponds. I have a friend who

has done an awesome job of making one from scratch.

Dug it all out, then laid the heavy plastic and filled it

with beautiful fish and plants. This pond is at the

park that is across the lake from me. I have to

drive about 5 miles around 'Robin Hood's barn'

as my Dad used to say, to get to its entrance!

Anyway, click on these to see the wonders up

close! Oh my gosh! I just looked at the first photo

and for the first time I saw the frog on the pad!

Now that is like getting dessert after a meal that

was already delicious! Enjoy! Maybe you'll find

something else I didn't see!

Over the top!

I'm running out of superlatives for the skies I've

been seeing around here. How's this one for ya?

Sorry about the wires, but I didn't want to crop

any of it out.

More inspiration

I love the unposed shots of people doing what is

pleasurable, such as going out to eat in a place

with lots of atmosphere. This is the Olney Ale

House which has been there for many years.

You may see a version of this shot appear in

paint eventually!

ART started this friendship!

This photo is a memento of a passage of life.

Here the two of us have just finished a farewell

dinner. My dear friend of over 20 years, Lori Puente,

is moving across the country in just a matter of a week

or two.

We first met at a festival in the town we both lived

in then. I was demonstrating my art, and she wanted

art lessons. She took them and in those initial days

of contact, we became fast friends. Now she has

grown children and she and her husband are going

west where he has a new job and they will have many

new challenges to meet. I have total certainty that

all of them will be met with her amazing ablility. It

just will be hard to know I can't pop in the car and

drive over to see her.

Cloud perfection!

I am a cloud lover and one day last week was just

amazing around here. The atmosphere was quite

clear and so these fabulous formations were really

visible in all their tonal variations.

I was trying to drive and see all this sky spectacle

at the same time....not such a good practice for sure!

I pulled over a few times and just took photos to my

heart's content.

WOW

And again I give you glorious mother nature on

a major cloud day. This was a week or so ago, and

then again today it was just crazy gorgeous in the

sky. We've had so much rain that the visibility to

clearly see the clouds edges has been great. I may

post some of the pics I took today leaning out of my

car window.

One funny thing is that as I waited at a light today,

a guy was next to me on his motorcycle. I stuck

my camera out the window to capture yet another

cloud formation. He posed for me! But that wasn't

the shot I got. Too bad, and then the light changed

and he rode off, leaving me in the dust!!!

Click on this image to see it bigger!

The front of the Frederick Cellars Winery

Before too much time passes since my June show

at this great place, I am posting this photo of the

front of the winery. This building was constructed

in 1904 as an ice house!

Inspiration!

Driving in the truly beautiful summer

countryside here in Maryland is inspiration

for my work. Lately I have been doing

more driving out and about and there

have been some truly gorgeous vistas.

Fortunately it is not far from my over-built

town to get out into the county. Here is

what I saw on my way to another winery

that could be a possible place for my work.

Commission arrives at its home!

So here it is, up close and on the wall as well! The

proud owner smiles beneath and I am so very

happy that it all turned out so well. Work that

is done long-distance can be really challenging!

Especially abstract pieces that take on a life of

their own. I look forward to hearing your comments

about how you think it looks in place at last!