Figuratively Speaking - Serena in Gold Shawl

12"x16" oil Price $480

I am tall.  When I was young and healthy and relatively cute, some people would say to me, "you should be a model."  No one ever said, "You should be a jockey.  You should be a gymnast.  or You should be a airline stewardess."  I am so glad I didn't attempt to be a model.  I am sure I would not be where I am today if I had and I really like where I am at today.  No one ever told me I should be a doctor or lawyer or dentist or airplane pilot either.  Honestly, all I ever really wanted to be was an artist.  I wish I had been mature enough and believed in myself enough to have pushed to go to art school and to have been driven enough to succeed.  Problem is, I wasn't.  So if I had gone, I probably would have blown it.  I needed to go through all the trials and made all those stupid mistakes to have learned how to appreciate the opportunities I was given.  I definitely learned from the school of hard knocks.  I wasted a lot of wonderful opportunities and got derailed by my bad choices, but somehow it all worked out. I learned to work hard and be frugal as a young adult by living on "The Farm," an alternative farming community. Later I became a teacher so that, as a single mom, I could see my kids during the day.  Being a teacher was certainly an opportunity to fly by the seat of my pants, but I did learn to be disciplined and efficient.  I learned to identify the objective and find different ways of communicating it.  I ended up being a fairly decent teacher and I learned to love much about the job. Honestly my chance to be an artist came when I married a very stable, honest, man with integrity who played by the rules and had a good  and stable job (pretty much the opposite of me).  It also really helped my parenting.  So when anyone asks me how long it takes to do a painting, I can answer them honestly and say it took a lifetime.  Go Figure!

Lefferts Pond

12"x16" acrylic Price $400

I do very few acrylic paintings; this is one of them.  It was such a beautiful day, and although the colors weren't at peak, it was still unbelievably glorious.

Bird Feeders

12"x16" oil

For the last four months I have been staring out at the bird feeders in my back yard.  Most of that time there was snow covering much of it, but finally the snow has melted the pond has thawed and may migrating and hibernating creatures have returned and there is a hint of green.  This is not exactly the details of my scene, but I was more interested in the patterns that were here than in capturing the details. 

12"x16" oil

It has been 4 months since I was able to paint or do much of anything.  I am still in recuperation from double knee replacement with some rare complications, but the need to get out to my studio has become pretty over-powering...which is a good thing!  This is the neighbors yard.  Spring in Vermont is mostly patches of snow and ice, lots of mud, and occasional snow shower but we also have sugaring season which makes it all worthwhile.  Sugaring (the process of sugar maple sap running) requires temperatures above freezing in the day and below freezing at night.  Every once in a while, we have absolutely gorgeous days like yesterday and today.  With temps in the 60's and loads of sunshine and blue skies.  The elation that all creatures feel on those days is tangible and everyone is out frolicking at least for a couple of days.