Considering Balance

Click Here to Bid

I am home from my latest workshop and on the road to recovery. : ) A little more wine should do it. I say that but actually this one was superbly organized. If you're looking for a good workshop experience check out Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio. Every student had their very own shadow box, plenty of lights and tons of room. Every day a whole slew of food was laid out along with coffee and tea. We even had a camera and  projector so everyone had a good view of the demos. Here's a view of about half the classroom:

And below are a couple of my foreign (Canadian) students. It was tough getting past the language barrier, what with them saying MAUVE so weird (among other things), but we worked through it.

And here's a family photo - me and my kids. Aren't they cute?!

Disco Cherry

Click Here to Bid

I found this cute little hippo at a thrift store near the coast. He's actually a toothpick holder - got a big hole in his back. But I thought he was perfect paired with this single cherry. They're on a date - doin' a little disco dancing while the hippo contemplates his next move.

Angelic Slices

Click Here to Bid

I found this ceramic angel at the thrift store recently. I had to start over twice to get the proportion right, but once I did it was a blast to paint!

Nutcracker Balls

I apologize in advance if the title of this piece offends anyone. I couldn't possibly have been expected to resist.

It has taken me almost 3 months to get around to this, but one of things that happened right after the fire, when suddenly my blog was changed under my feet by blogger, was my blogroll (my list of links to other artists) was erased and lost forever. When I revamped my blog I made a short list of artists off the top of my head and stopped there. I've been meaning to ask - could you please email me with a link if I had you listed before? It may take me a while to piece it back together again. Please don't think I took you off to be mean, or if I take a while to add you back for the same reason.

Holiday Spirit

Click Here to Bid

I found these little (snow?) people at the thrift store last week. I was trying and trying to arrange them with this gold ornament sitting on the ground, to no avail. It was (yawn) so boring. I decided they were going to have to do some work for me and hold it up between them. And you know? they didn't even complain afterwards.

Treasure Hunter

Click Here to Bid

I don't do a whole lot of paintings that are predominantly dark, but when I do I usually have trouble photographing them without glare. Especially here in Eugene and today since it rained all day. Not that I'm complaining. I will try again tomorrow and repost the photo. Meanwhile, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!!

Shipless

Click Here to Bid

You'll never believe my luck! Someone wrote to me after my last post and said they had an entire set of these ship-guys (just like what I had) and is looking to get rid of them!! Thank you, Lilly!

Where's My Ship?

Click Here to Bid

Don't you hate it when you wake up in the morning and your dang ship is missing? I can identify with this captain. I found him at a thrift store near my folks a couple months ago. There was a whole set, all wood, all different, and after painting this one I asked my mom to buy the rest and ship them to me. Unfortunately, they got to my house right before the fire. I did paint this guy twice - I'll post the other one tomorrow.

Pushover

Click Here to Bid

This lovely wooden duck (gone now) was given to me by my buddy Don, in California. I enjoyed painting it. And speaking of gifts, I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have sent art supplies, gift cards, books, music, emails, etc. We are so incredibly grateful for the support. I can't say it enough. And many thanks to all of you who've sent funny face pics already. We've been running around tying up loose ends, and will be until we leave, so I won't be able to paint again until the 6th of October. But I can't WAIT to get started on my new project. I have so many wonderful images to work from. Please keep sending them.

Yesterday we went to visit the old "house". I posted some photos on the building my studio blog - the last chapter of that one. I dug through the ashes and found a few still life objects - none useable except maybe one cup. I also found my little travel turp can, shown below. It was sad but we are glad to have seen it. It proved good closure for us. Now on with the adventure!