COVID Nightengale

 It's time for my yearly post! (Oh.. that is embarrassing.) It's been a strange year for us all. I simply haven't painted as much as usual - art is language and, under lock down, I guess I felt like I had no one to talk to. And I was really overwhelmed with trying to process that I am actually living in a time of global pandemic, let alone all of the other stuff going on, of which there is a whole lot! Aren't we all?  Anyway, early on I was looking at images of the first-line people and I really felt like I should paint about it. I painted this last spring but it's just as relevant now. For artists this has been such a weird time. I had an opening for a two person show just a few days before our state shut down in March. People were scared so it was a pretty quiet event, and then my work was locked up in a gallery for two months. Since then I have participated in a few things, but I was really heartened and excited to have a chance to try to enter a juried show because I am so ready for something. I have realized that I will be sorry if I continue to squander my time trying to decipher the news, so I am just going to live my life and make some art.  Thank you, thank you to the New Ulm Artscape Juried Art Show and to Dana Sikkila, the best juror in the world! ;-)

Ilana's Hat

Oh my, what can I say? It has been so long since I have visited my blog that I hardly remember how to use it. Suddenly it called me back! This painting is for a commission for our dear friends from Israel, Boaz and Ilana. We don't get to see them nearly often enough. Almost a year ago we were in Thailand with Boaz. We were expecting Ilana would to join us in a few days. I was chatting with Boaz and he was telling me how much he was missed her and how he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I said, " I hope you tell her that." and he told me that he does all the time! What? They've been married at least 50 years. I was so touched by that. He has been after me to do a portrait of her for quite a while, so I finally did. It will be in the Member's Show at the Carnegie Art Center for a while and then we'll ship it off to them.
PS. Ilana is an inspiration to me. Her slogan to live by is, "Don't postpone life."

The Traveling Chicken and her Peeps Come to Mankato, MN

I recently had the great honor of a visit from 'the Traveling Chicken".  As a host for the little chicken and her companions, I was invited to be a quest blogger on the official blog where I submitted this painting. This was a big deal, ya'll! After I signed up for the chicken, I waited a long time to be a part of this thing that has been going on since 2012! The chicken has been all over the world and finally came here. I came up with a little story, which you can read on The Traveling Chicken blog, if you are interested. In fact, looking back at the archives, there are many fun stories to read and lots of interpretations of the wee poulet and her companions. Check it out : http://travel-chicken.blogspot.nl/

Cheers

The last painting in the 31 day challenge - finally!  I have painted every day, although I didn't finish a painting every single day. Hopefully I learned some things along the way, and now I'm happy to go on to some other projects. But first,  I get a little reward ;-)

Grain Fed

The second to the last one! I bought a loaf of "take and bake" bread the other day, but I didn't read the direction that said to freeze the bread if you weren't going to bake it right away.  Four or five days later, I popped it in the oven and it smelled divine! It looked completely beautiful when it came out too. Nice and crusty - yum! But on the bottom, I noticed a big green area. So disappointing! Never one to waste, it ended up serving another purpose, and I learned a lesson. But I can't wait to go buy another one and bake it right away this time!

Pepper Pile-up

I got to use a lot of cadmium colors for this, and keep them pretty intense. Pretty fun! I love those happy little peppers.

Radish Bowl

Here's my story - I bought some radishes, not because I wanted a salad, but because I've never painted them. They had lovely green tops at the time. I stuck them in the veggie drawer and forgot about them, until the tops were dark and slimy, so I trimmed them up, and popped them in a bowl and then I painted what turned out to be a complicated maze. The colors in the produce section of your grocery store are so intense! A purple cabbage, for example, or those mini peppers.