Back Again

November 6, 2025

 We downsized and moved to a retirement community in July of 2024, and I was immediately invited to join the Art Corridor Committee.  There is a long corridor off the main lobby that has been outfitted with gallery quality hanging technology and beautiful lighting, in which local artists are invited to exhibit their works for a 2-3 month period.  The committee selects the artists, promotes the shows, and assists the artists in their installations.

 Well, due to the encouragement of a couple of our community members, I threw my name into the ring and was selected to be the artist for November and December of 2025.  My first solo art show is now hung!  It is called "Moments of Light" and the photo below accompanies the title of the show.

 I may be invited to give a talk to the community sometime in December, and, if that happens, I'll be sharing work from my sketchbooks and travel journals as well as talking about the stories behind some of the paintings.  

I have been a very intermittent artist, especially over the past 3 years, and feel a renewal of energy and an excitement that is most welcome!

 

 

What Does Love Require?

 It has been over five years since I posted on this blog site, not because nothing has been going on, but because so much has been going on.  There has been a huge explosion in ways to communicate through groups dedicated to artists, and sometimes it feels like keeping up with all that takes time away from the art itself. I haven't been sure that anyone really looks at blogs these days, but have come to realize that it doesn't matter.  I can write what is true for me and that's enough.

I have been immersed in some watercolor classes over the past couple of years and have taken a sketchbook class.  I think some of the fundamental skills have progressed during this time, but I haven't taken much of a leap into expression.

Of course art doesn't exist in a vacuum, the artist reflects what is going on in their subconscious attempt to make sense of the world around them--either to provide provocative images that stimulate thinking and increase understanding, or to catalogue daily life, or to bring serenity and beauty as respite for all the chaos.  They try to express what they feel about a situation, to bring their own point of view to their rendering of an object or a scene.

I have been engaged in a deep dive to learn about racism and how to be an anti-racist.  This is a slow and sometimes painful process as I learn about historical events that I wasn't aware of and try to make connections with people I haven't interacted with before.  I feel awkward and not in control.  I get that the need to feel in control of my own outcomes is a product of my whiteness, but I still have a hard time letting go of it.  And it pops up in unexpected ways.

Letting go of my need to be in charge (even of my own daily schedule) is an experiment in faith.  Rather than asking myself "What do I need to get done today?", I can ask myself "What loving actions can I take today?", "What is Love (Spirit, God, Creator) asking from me today?"  As the  Quaker query goes, "What does Love require?"

OK, so back to art...a year or two ago, I began a painting of the Nevada County Courthouse, a beautiful old stone building.  There were technical challenges doing watercolor on waterboard, as the paint lifts off super easily.  I noticed that there was something missing in the composition.  At the same time, I began asking myself, "What is it that draws me to this settler architecture? Painting these kinds of buildings glamorizes and memorializes a way of life that I don't want to lift up."  So I began researching Nisenan (the Native people who lived on this land and who still live in the area) artifacts and decided to superimpose a drawing of one of their beautiful baskets on the painting.  I thought maybe I'd contact their tribal leader about gifting it to them, which is pretty arrogant, but at least I have met her.

For awhile now I have been stuck on how to complete this piece.  And lo and behold... Every time I get sort of "woke" about something and am ready to take action, I find that this is old news for others, and that the action I want to take isn't the one that is needed by the people affected by it.  

It turns out that the Nisenan have for years now had an annual art project where Native and non-Native artists collaborate. Their website says: "This is not a simple journey, artists were asked to engage in deep listening to the stories and history shared with them by the Tribal Members, Tribal Council and Nisenan Elders. Together each artist collaborated individually with Tribal Members on their art pieces to create respectful and reflective works. Creating artworks that reflect the Nisenan people, Culture, and history is another way to preserve and bring visibility to the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan"

In other words, I haven't done the groundwork to complete this project, and working on it on my own does not respect the wishes of the Nisenan.  I had thought that my original intention was respectful, but I now see that Love requires me to build relationships, listen to the stories and history, and then see if a Native artist wants to be a guide or work with me to finish it up. If not, it has been good practice.

Equinox

This is a journal spread from last weekend's Glendi.

Today is the first day of Autumn, and the fall breezes have really picked up around here.  Over the weekend there were three hot days, a defiant stand by Summer to hang around longer this year.  I got to go to the Glendi and dance in the 98 degrees with old friends and new.

We had turned the drip system down right before that, and, in spite of the mini heat wave, we've turned it down yet again.  I've done some yard clean-up, repaired some bad spots in the drip system, and am looking forward to the days when I can see into the tree branches to do some pruning.

Our lives have been busy with the remodel of a rental property which we will be selling to our younger son and his wife.  There is a deadline as they have had to give notice where they are living now, and the pressure is on!  The remodel is two hours away from our home, so we've been sort of camping out there for the duration.  Luckily there is running water and electricity. 

I've tried to resume an art practice, partly because it helps me put order into my day, and partly because there's at least a virtual community to interact with.  I'm taking Roz Stendahl's "By Design" class, learning about layout and composition.  In addition to trying to understand and apply the concepts, I'm challenged by intermittent internet access and the whole process of getting photographs from my phone, into the computer, and then onto whatever site I'm posting on.  Then there's the time commitment to being in the virtual community, looking at other people's posts, reading their comments about their process, reading other people's comments, and making my own (hopefully thoughtful) comments.  Since time for making art is so limited, I'm seeking balance.

Renewing the Commitment

Recently I completed Roz Stendahl's online class, "Drawing Practice: Drawing Live Subjects in Public", in which she takes the participants step-by-step through an intense series of lessons all aimed at developing a regular drawing practice and getting over any self-consciousness or fear of drawing in public.  The class won't be offered again for awhile, but look for it when it returns....I highly recommend it.

Now, in the throes of class withdrawal, I'm determined to keep up the practice.  There are so many ways to sabotage oneself, including the amount of time one can spend reading and responding to other people's blogs and  social media posts.  Not to mention the time it takes to post and write one's own stuff.

Be that as it may, I'm going to rededicate myself to posting on this blog at least once a week, probably normally on Mondays, so here we go...

Towards the end of the Drawing Practice class, I took a road trip by myself and made a little trip journal.  I can tell you that having a drawing practice is a wonderful excuse to stop whenever and wherever you want to sketch things.  I had a list before I started of places that I wanted to try out, most of which worked, but some of which didn't.  One museum wasn't open, for example, and another was sort of bleh.  So, just move on and find something else.  Preparation AND flexibility have to balance with one another.  Here are some images from my trip journal and working sketchbook (the one where you take notes about what you did, what's working well, and what you'd like to improve.)

The trip journal, about 9x10 fully open, with pocket in the back for memorabilia.

Scenes from Las Vegas in trip journal: Conservatory at the Bellagio, Paris street from noodle house.

Sketches from the California Animal Living Museum in Bakersfield.

Cloudy day on the Santa Monica Pier

Photography about Frida Kahlo at Fresno Art Museum

Friends in a Meeting

Bad Days and Good

I was working on a piece today and absolutely ruined it.  So many hours of work gone, it was like losing a file that you forgot to save on the computer.  I won't show the piece here, since I don't have any photos of before, when it might have been salvageable.  I'm going to view this as a learning opportunity.

I chose to make a mandala for a friend of mine, and first spent a fair amount of time selecting images that reflect her personality and interests.  Then I drew two concentric circles on the paper, which is a 10"x10" piece of watercolor (Arches cold-press #140) paper.  She likes nature a lot and is particularly interested in plants that have a spiral or fibonacci pattern.  She also lives in a city with a big bridge, plays the harp, and has spent a lot of time in Latin America.

So I started with the drawings and then water colored the center circle.  So far so good...a blooming succulent in the center circle, surrounded by sand.  The color came out great, and so did the shading.

The next circle had blue morpho butterflies alternating with a ferny sort of plant.  The drawing was fine, but I got into trouble with the color on the butterflies (couldn't quite get that electric blue), and then I had such dark values there, it was hard to work around them. 

The bridge was in the top part of the square, and there was a tree silhouette in the lower left corner, with the harp in the lower right corner.

Each element would have been fine, but there were two major flaws in the whole composition.  Almost all the values ranged from medium to dark, so the overall effect was dark.  The second problem was that the second circle was too busy and that the medium value of the background wasn't enough contrast with the background in the first circle.

It was a lot to keep in mind.  Each level was intricate enough that it took a long time to complete, and I didn't get a sense of how the circles would interact with each other until I got almost to the end.  Most of the craft was ok, except the delineation between one circle and the next.  So I decided to outline each circle in pen.  My hand is just not steady enough, so I ended up with wider and wider bands to compensate.  Each time I tried to rescue the painting, it just got worse.

The biggest lesson is that, although the piece itself is not what I'd like (and I absolutely cannot give it to my friend), I can take the lessons learned, show up tomorrow to a different piece of paper, and create something beautiful and interesting!

Showing up is a big part of the work!

Life HappensI

I was on a roll with my art work in November: regular schedule, lots of work happening, feeling good about what was coming out.  Then the volunteer program that I volunteer with hit a major bump in the road and I came out of "retirement".  I'm still a volunteer, but took up a more active role in the administration which has involved a fair amount of trouble shooting.  Things are more stable now, but I expect to be busy for a while.

I'm making time for art though, and just finished a course through Craftsy called Dynamic Detail in Pen, Ink and Watercolor, instructed by Steven Reddy.  Well, I say I've finished because I've watched the videos and am 80% of the way through the projects.  It's an interesting process that Steven teaches, using an old masters' technique called grisaille.  You put the values in using gray tones and then you add the color.

I've done the first stages on a couple of pieces:

 

You finish up by re-inking the contour lines in the foreground and then adding some hatching and a little white gel pen outlining.  So now I have that part to do.

What does it all have to do with healing?  It was very freeing, first there was no worry about perspective, correctness, or whether or not the product looked like the subject.  Secondly, many stages of the process were meditative and I spent time out of time just focusing and breathing.  Finally, as with all art work, the inner artist shows up and makes choices about what to draw, what to emphasize, how to organize, what colors to use, etc.  So it leads towards having a personal style and finding one's voice.

Day 19 Ugly Ducklings

I had a teacher recently who advised that sometimes a piece will go through an ugly stage.  It's important not to prejudge whether it will come out alright in the end, and can also be important not to give in to the temptation of "fixing" it while the paint or glue is still wet.  It's hard for me to back away and come back later when things are dry, especially as working with wet watercolor can give you some amazing effects.  But I'm learning to do it, and also to try and see a piece through rather than giving up on it.  Sometimes that means setting it aside for awhile and waiting to see whether something comes to me that will help.

Just as each work can go through an ugly or ugly duckling stage, I think we artists also move through stages like that.  When we are trying to master a new technique, it can feel awkward and out of our control.  We might not like what comes out of our hands.  I like Julia Cameron's idea that we just need to show up and do the work.  Our higher power will take care of the quality if we take care of the quantity. 

When I was in 5th grade I started violin lessons. My poor parents had to listen to the practice, but encouraged me to keep at it.  After years of practice, I can now play in public and enjoy myself. 

It's the same with any kind of art...we have to learn our scales and start with pieces that are just outside our comfort level.  Just when we get comfortable, we need to stretch again.  And we need to invite our inner critic to go for a hike while we do it.

Here's one that I'm working on.  It's in an ugly duckling stage, partly because I'm working on a gessoed canvas watercolor board.  I've never worked on this surface before, and the paint is not behaving very well at all in my opinion.  It settles in strange puddles and lifts off when you don't want it to.  However, I think this is worth going on with.  Next steps are to finish the grapes and put in the branches. Worst case, I can add some silvery-white stamping towards the end that will hide some of the trouble spots.  And I'll make some notes to myself about what worked and what didn't.

Day 18-- Warm Ups and Play

I've been experimenting with centering and warming up before embarking on whatever art project I've chosen for the day, and am wondering what other artists are finding useful.  Please share with us the kinds of things that put you in the mood and get you into the flow.

If I have plenty of time, I like to start my morning with centering and reflection.  It can be meditation (either with a prompt or just following the breath), inspirational reading, journaling, a few yoga stretches, or a combination.  Even if a person only has a short time to draw, it's nice to spend a couple of minutes disengaging from busy-ness, clearing the mind, and inviting the inner critic to go away for awhile.  For me, soothing music or looking into a candle can help.

Today's warm up and sketch:

Pepper from the Garden

Blind contour sketch

Line drawing and beginning of first wash

Charging color into the first wash

Adding the shadows to the sketch and notes to the page

I've been to a few workshops and demos lately, and all the artists have talked about warm ups, play, or setting the stage.  Here are a few of their ideas:

1) blind contour sketches:  take some simple, everyday object, and put it in front of you.  Take a couple of minutes to just look at it and notice its angles and shapes.  Decide on a starting point along the outside somewhere, take your pencil or pen and draw the object without looking at the paper.  Try and imagine that you are feeling the object as you sketch.  Draw interior spaces by moving the drawing tip into the space and back to the outside edge again without lifting the drawing tip and still without looking.  Continue until you have drawn all the way around the object.  You may decide to draw it again as a "real" sketch where you can look at the paper.  You can then decide whether it will remain as a line drawing or whether you'll give it shading or color.

2) splashing paint or ink:  take 3 pieces of paper or pages in your sketchbook and splash paint and/or ink on them.  You can experiment to see how the media flow together, how the colors blend, and what happens when you use more or less water.  You can fold the paper (or use a double spread of your sketchbook) to make a "rorschach" design.  Don't worry if you get something muddy or "ugly".  You might want to add pastel or colored pencil or to see what happens if you apply plastic wrap or splatter paint, ink, water, alcohol, or salt (probably not all on the same paper) on the still damp paint.  I like to write the date and the colors/materials that I used on the back of the paper.  These papers might become the background of a future collage or painting. 

3) cutting:  take a few minutes to just relax and cut out pictures from magazines, calendars, and advertisements for your picture file.  These might be for inspiration or might be something you'll use in a collage.

4) miniatures: on 4x6 paper, create a miniature exploring color, shape, and value.  Don't spend too much time on it...it's just for play.  Later, you might develop it into something.

Day 17

Over the first weekend of November, I took a workshop with Nancy Collins who is a painter known for her brilliant colors and vivid images.  Nancy was in my area and I've admired her work.  I have to say she knows her colors!  She knows everything that each color will do, what it will blend with, and what it does when it sits next to another color.  Not only that, she knows the difference in the brand of paint for each color and is quite specific about which ones she uses.

Here's the series of photos from the workshop.  I continued working at home and finished the painting last week.

 

Step 1. (the picture is rotated from the final view):  Draw the basic outline of a grape branch, pretty bulky towards the edge of the page.  Using liquid latex, paint the back sides of grape leaves and stamp them down onto the paper pressing firmly.  Build up clusters of large, medium, and small leaves.  Use a frisket (Pebeo) to mask the main branch.  Let dry for several hours.

Step 2.  Paint the background, using a rich mix of color and water.  Starting from light to dark, let colors bleed together, keeping the entire paper wet and allowing to dry evenly.

Step 3.  Remove the resist and paint the leaves.

Step 4.  Paint the branches.

There are some interesting tips and tricks throughout the process, which I'm not including as they are probably Nancy's proprietary information.  I highly recommend her workshop.  She's also working on a book which may be out this next year. Check out her website which has several tutorial videos. www.nancycollinsart.com/

 

DAY 16

I've been participating in Art Every Day Month, and this is the 3rd year that I've done it.  What I love is that you make sure to do at least a little something every day.  So I've been doing the art, but not the photos or the posting.

 The first thing that happened is that on November 1 I had an open house/art exhibit in my home.  I send out invitations to all my friends, to people in a couple of groups that I belong to, and to my neighbors.  I took down all the art in the living room, removed the clutter, and began hanging as many of my pieces as I could display.  I borrowed a couple of large display stands from a friend and displayed the rest of the pieces there.  We have an open studio tour twice a year in the area where I live, so I had learned a lot from visiting other artists.

With labels, business cards, a cash box, and cards made from prints of some of my work as well as some food and wine to serve, we were set to go.  My husband served as cashier and I was free to talk with everyone.  We were open from 2:30-5:30 on a Sunday afternoon, a perfect amount of time.

Did I mention that this was my first show?  Oh, I've put a couple of things out in local places, but this was a big deal for me.  The impetus was some very positive feedback that I had recently received from friends and I just decided to take the leap and go for it.  I was a little nervous, but it was so much fun!  Everyone was overwhelmingly supportive.  I did sell a couple of things, but the main point for me was to get over my shyness and to get some feedback.  Now I have some prints to order and some new projects underway, will put two pieces out in local shows, and have contacts for two organizations who may be interested in hosting a showing in the next year.

There are great internet resources that will help emerging artist learn how to photograph, mat, frame, hang, and price their work, and I encourage everyone to check them out!

The Times We Live In

I spent the last week swinging from despair to pride to grief to hope...I'm sure many of you had those same feelings as we followed the news about the Charleston shootings, the capture of the perpetrator, the debates about the Confederate flag, the statements of our President, the Supreme Court decisions, and now the funerals.

As a way to deal with my own sadness and confusion, I attended an interfaith service and then settled down to find out what I could about the shooting victims, their church, and their communities.  As I read about and drew each one, I learned that they were vibrant, active, joyful people whose absence leaves huge holes in the hearts of those left behind.

I wish I were a better artist, but this is my best tribute.  I hope that they are never forgotten and that our country moves forward in an honest exploration of racism and equality.  I have renewed my own commitment to work for "liberty and justice for all".

 Watercolor, sharpie pen, and prismacolor pencil in Strathmore mixed-media sketchbook.

Rolling Right Along

I completed the Every Day in May sketches, but had difficulties figuring out how to upload images from my cell phone camera, so couldn't figure out how to post them.  Now that our delightful familiy wedding is over,  I've found the bandwidth to figure it out, have got it down and am moving on.

Our local watercolor group had a critique session last week with master artist Manette Fairchild. It was a very positive and friendly experience, and the take-aways that I took were: 1) don't be afraid to be bold and creative, even while you're learning to develop your technique; 2) strengthen the values contrasts; 3) make sure there is only one center of interest and that it's not in the center; 4) if you don't like the composition of your painting, you can always try cropping it--play around with a mat and see how it looks being framed in different places. Here are 3 versions of an unfinished painting...before I go on, I wanted to see which version I wanted to work on. Actually, they are all the same painting, just cropped in different places. Feedback welcomed!!




Another important thing about this painting is that I (almost) completely let go of my self-judgement around doing it.  Even though I was holding all the advice about composition in the back of my mind, knowing that I could always crop later was very freeing.  I was able to approach the whole thing as a fun exercise, allow my curiosity to run free, and, even when things weren't working, enjoy the process of figuring out whether there was a way to solve the problems that arose.

I'm glad to be back into a creative rhythm again and intend to keep rolling right along!

Road Trip!

We recently returned from a 17-day road trip to Colorado and Utah.  I've tried to post a video from the trip journal that I FINALLY finished, but it must be too large.  I do have a couple of shots that I can put up.  The first is of me and Katrina Lund who is the Community Artist for the year at Arches National Park just outside of Moab, Utah.  The second one is from the last day of our trip, at Mono Lake, California.  Both of these were serendipitous sketching occasions in that we went to both locations after changing our planned itinerary.  Interesting how things can work out.  We were fortunate to see so much natural beauty on this trip!

I very much enjoyed figuring out how to fit sketching into my travel routine, especially as it involved traveling with my husband, visiting friends, and being very active.  Basically, I would draw a little on site, take a photograph, and finish the drawing and add the color and text later. I did a fair amount of writing in coffee shops!

One of the things I wanted to figure out was what I would need in terms of materials.  I learned that I would prefer to have carried a smaller sketchbook that was specifically dedicated to the trip.  I will probably take a moleskine next time, not that I think it's the best paper, but I do like the hard cover and it's a good trade-off. I really liked the Mountain Smith lumbar pack that I had bought, and I put it to use in each of its three configurations: as a pack, a shoulder bag, and a bag with handles.  I carried two aqua brushes, two brush pens, a fountain pen, a white sharpie, a brown sharpie, a Winsor and Newton travel paint set that I had used up the pans from and replaced them with tube paints, a mechanical pencil, a glue stick, and a kneaded eraser.  Oh plus a tiny, tiny gouache set (which I didn't actually use.)

Ending Sketchbook Skool Session 1

Today is the end of session 1 "Beginnings" of sketchbook skool.  I wondered if I'd have the mental bandwidth to continue with a second session, because the amount of material contained in the first one was huge.  But I decided to go on to the next session, "Seeing."  One can always go back and review; I think there is a lifetime of material here.  It has helped me learn new techniques, review important concepts, gain confidence, and use sketching and art-making as a meditation.  Besides that it was so much fun!

Here's a sketch (pre-color) of my hairdresser's station.  I hope to post a finished version on Monday.

Slow Sketching

This week's sketchbook skool lesson is about slow sketching, really taking time to look at and record detail.  Tommy Kane can spend 5-plus hours on a sketch, which is more time than most of us want to put into daily sketches for a visual journal.  However, the idea of noting detail, sitting in one place until it's done, not giving up, and finishing the thing you started is very powerful.  Learning to pay attention and to work with mistakes.  I imagine if we all spent more time looking and listening instead of talking and doing, we'd learn a lot.  I know I would!

These sketches are done in a Strathmore watercolor journal, with uniball vision pen, and watercolor.

Sketchbook Skool Week 6

Wow.  Where has the time gone?  Sketching, that's where.  Week 6 of Sketchbook Skool has now begun and it has been an amazing ride with six different instructors and their different ways of handling their sketchbooks and lots of information to share.  I've loved watching their videos, looking at their websites, and peeking into their sketchbooks as well as doing the assignments.  I was thinking about signing up for the next level class, but my brain may need to rest for awhile and just take in what has been offered.

This is an online class offered by co-founders Danny Gregory and Koosje Koene.  Each week you get a new instructor who provides demo videos and one or more assignments.  The students post their work to a website and can comment on their own and each others' attempts.  It's a lovely, supportive environment.

Although each instructor has his or her own style, techniques, approach, and favorite things to draw, they say several things in common:

• draw every day
• try drawing new things and new materials, stretch
• there is no right way
• have fun
• look carefully
• be nice to yourself
• mistakes are part of the journey, embrace them and learn from them
• you will improve with practice

Week 1:  Danny Gregory
Week 2:  Koosje Koene
Week 3:  Prashant Miranda
Week 4:  Jane LaFazio
Week 5:  Roz Stendahl
Week 6:  Tommy Kane

Roz Stendahl had us drawing animals, first ones that don't move and then live animals.  We did gesture drawing, contour drawing, and learned a lot about values.

Koosje Koene had us go outside and draw on location, getting over the anxiety about drawing in public.  We also experimented with colored pencil drawing.

Prashant Miranda had us focus on skies, washes, and silhouettes against the background.

A theme for Jane LaFazio was vegetables, and we used interesting layouts to learn about composition.

This totally simplifies what the weeks have been like, but it's been an exhilarating experience!

Week One of Sketchbook Skool

It's been so long since I've posted that I've nearly forgotten how to do it.  I've had terrible technology problems recently, and can't post photos at present.  But the scanner works.  Having just started week one of Sketchbook Skool, I have been sketching every day.  We'll see if I can upload the scans here.  I had forgotten how much fun it is to do this, but my how time-consuming.  I think I'll start setting a timer to see what I can get done in 20 minutes.

These are done in a small moleskine, using extra-fine point sharpie for the contour drawing, watercolor, tombo pens, acrylic ink (on one of them), and colored pencil.  What a lot of fun this is!

2014 is the year!

Finally!! The watercolor and mixed media work are coming along.  Over the past year I feel so fortunate to have experienced a combination of skill development and lucky accidents, allowing me to be confident and to relax and explore in my painting.  Of course, like anything else, it is frequent practice that brings the most opportunity to learn from what does and doesn't work.

Intention for 2014:  This is the year that I will have a body of work ready to mount in a show.  There is nearly enough work now, but I need to get moving with final touches, matting, and framing.  I've just ordered business cards and am looking into how to make prints and postcards of my work.

I'm also learning how to photograph my art and how to manage uploading from my phone camera to the editing software and the computer.  It's a slow process and makes me avoid posting, but determination will overcome!

Two recent paintings that I'm feeling really good about are below.  Both are watercolor on Arches #140 paper and both use the concept of negative space painting.  One of the most well-known artists who uses negative space painting is Linda Kemp, and there are several instructional you-tube videos featuring her work.  She has also authored the book: Painting Outside the Lines which is a tremendous resource.

Winter Woods 11"x14.5" (17"x21" framed)

Autumn Leaves
18"x24" (24"x30" framed)
Watercolor on 140# Arches Paper

Back in the Saddle

I sure didn't keep my promise to myself in November...art went by the wayside as I used my creativity to play a little music, make holiday food, and coordinate activities for Alternatives to Violence Project.

Also, I took myself on a 3-day painting retreat in December to our cabin in Cazadero, where I have 3 new things in progress...a negative space painting of fall leaves, an architectural/landscape painting of a Sonoma County scene, and an ocean scape that all I've done is put the resist on.  I left all my supplies there thinking that I'd get back there soon, but when I did go back there was a power failure and it was too dark to paint.  I still thought I'd get there, but then the holidays happened and then we went to the year-end retreat at Quaker Center.

I have great gratitude to my friend Marion who steered me to a painting and mixed media class that started yesterday and may get me back into the saddle.  I've organized the painting supplies that I have at home and did the first exercise of color washes.  Also did a quick painting in my journal.  Right now I'm finding it too complicated to photograph anything for posting, so will have to skip that step.  One step at a time : )

I don't know when the last time is that I painted, maybe months ago when I took a workshop.  My time is taken up with good volunteer work, and lots of it, so I'm not complaining, but it takes a bit of effort to shake loose and get the creativity flowing.  I'm hoping that Art Every Day Month will help me get some previously started works up and running again and to get some new things started.  Happy November!