It’s been some time since I posted any artwork, and that’s not entirely because I haven’t done any. The pandemic caused a significant life change for our family — my husband went from commuting twice as far as me to working full-time from home. Unfortunately our 1200 square foot home did not have a private space to accomodate such a set-up.

Over a period of months, I contacted about ten contractors, heard back from two, and got a bid from one. The timeline and price made moving the better option, which we did in March 2022. Of course, the transition wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Around the same time I started a new job and then graduated with my MBA. However, I did complete two larger-sized paintings for our new home.

The first painting is inspired by the Holston River in Tennessee and is in our living room. I wanted the painting to directly relate to our new surroundings just off the Holston River. I find the water so peaceful, and I hope I was able to provide that sense of peace in my painting. The view is an exact view that I see most days when I go for a walk. 

The second painting I did was larger and intended for our master bedroom. In fact, this is the largest painting I have created, except for a set design for a theatrical performance in Virginia. My husband requested a floral painting. I decided with the scale of the wall, a simple landscape or still life would not do. I wanted to create a scene that made you feel insignificant and like you were within the field of wildflowers. 

I’d love to know if you think I succeeded with either of these paintings. And of course, if you like what you see and want me to create something similar to your personal specifications, please comment or reach out.

I’m a star (in my own mind)… but seriously though. Recently I had the pleasure of getting to talk about a subject I know everything about for two hours — myself! And one I know a lot about — art and museums! I was recommended to participate by a mutual friend who must have known that I had the stamina to maintain enthusiasm for this amount of time and the ability to talk on end about pretty much anything. This reminds me of when I was a child and used to get moved around the classroom in the hopes that I would not talk to my neighbor. Much to my teacher’s chagrin, I was found to be able to speak to just about anyone. Well for those of you interested in learning more about the podcast or listening to my episode, please visit The Ramblin’ Man. Ramblin’ Man is run by local designer and marketer Jody Collins. To learn more about him I encourage you to visit his website at jodycollins.com.

A Mini Saga and a few thoughts on the creative process. So I am currently taking classes to earn my MBA, and we are using an amazing book entitled A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. I highly recommend it if you ever do any marketing (either as a creative or industry business person). One of our assignments was to write a 50 word mini saga. I realized my process for creating the saga was very similar to my process for creating a painting.

I began by channeling an emotion. Sometimes I do this by walking around or finding a location that speaks to me, sometimes I do this by looking through images that speak to me, and sometimes I try to make sense of a situation through free association with words, feelings, phrases, or descriptors. For this particular task I sat outside in the night and looked up at all the stars and began creating a story in my mind with whatever words and phrases came to me. Then I gave the story a bit of time to rest before spinning it into the following mini saga:

The Aviatrix by Stacy Palado

She was outgoing, a tomboy, catching frogs near the water. That was gone now – the accident changed her. She stopped talking and wet the bed.

Eventually she learned to walk again, though she would never run. But she would fly – soaring through the skies like a modern-day Amelia Earhart.

I just finished reading this really great book, “The Sea House” by Elizabeth Gifford. I picked it up because it reminded me of this beautiful cartoon I watched some time ago with my daughter.

If you haven’t watched the Academy Award nominated “Song of the Sea” I highly recommend it. It is a visually stunning cartoon based on the Irish legend of the Selkies.

Needless to say with all this talk of Selkies I decided to try some selkie sketches of my own. Here is my first one.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at encaustic painting for awhile and recently purchased a wonderful book on the topic to help with technique and inspiration. My husband and I spent the good part of a weekend putting together two small pieces. What fun! We need practice, but here is the result of my first attempt.

Just in time for Mother’s Day. A feminist reclaiming of Manet’s  Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) 1862, Mère fertile sur l’herbe (or Fertile Mother on the Grass) celebrates the beauty of motherhood. $250 unframed, $300 framed. Would make a beautiful gift for that special mother-to-be. Happy mother’s day to all the mommies and mommies to be out there.

I’m reading a new book called “Art Before Breakfast” made just for busy people to help them infuse their lives with more art. Busy, that’s me, art, yes please! It says I just need five minutes a day…okay I can probably find time for that.

It is very easy to read with practical exercises for pretty much anyone. It is definitely accessible to the novice, but still extremely helpful to the seasoned, but busy, or lapsed artist. I’ll post a couple “breakfast sketches” I did over the past couple days.

So my new project (inspired by a book from the public library) is hand-made cards. I started out making two for father’s day. One for my dad and one for my husband. It’s a bit like scrapbooking.

I will add pictures later as I don’t want to ruin the surprise for them. I will say things are a bit more difficult when trying this out with kids at the same time. So my first one definitely had a childlike feel to it. While the second one, was a bit more refined (as in I was less interrupted…err… inspired by my kids).