Figuratively Speaking - Joy

We are empty nesters....have been for ages.  Almost every holiday we spend it with family, but this year is different.  This weekend we celebrated with my son's family and had a spectacular time with a bonfire, a spiral walk, and we decorated a night tree as well as exchanging gifts and eating great food.  Next weekend is my granddaughter's birthday so we will be with more family and friends.  I am saying this so you won't feel sorry for me when I say it will just be the two of us on Christmas day.  I have been thinking a lot about traditions and how important they are, but also how they need to be flexible so that we don't get disappointed when they are thwarted.  I don't think it is ever too late to start new traditions...times change and I want to change with them.  So, I have been trying to come up with the perfect tradition for Carl and I that can be adapted to those Christmas days when family is here or we are alone.  This year it looks like we are going to be housebound because a big storm is expected, so our new tradition has to be something we can do at home or if we are traveling elsewhere.  I am not there yet, but I am narrowing in on the perfect idea that will mark this Christmas as the one where we started a great new tradition.  I am taking suggestions, so please jump in and comment on my blog, or send me an email.  I hope your Christmas is everything you hope it will be.  I can't think of anything pithy to say to end this...so, Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking - Happy Holidays

Whew!  It has been a bit intense for me lately!  I have been absent because I had shoulder replacement surgery which all went well, it just has a long recuperation and it is, after all, my dominate hand.  So, since painting was difficult, I decided to redo my website and blog and all the social media stuff.  What a headache to go with my shoulder ache!  I have published my website, and please check it out.  I have also renamed and reconfigured my blog so I am really hoping you all receive this!  Please let me know if you do.  My Facebook business page is the hardest to figure out.  I think that will take a while but I am determined to really get this all together and be active with it once I do.  So now that I am attempting to post this, I can call it a day and get some shut eye.  I need that because tomorrow is a big day for me.  I am going to the doc's and hope he says I can drive!  I really hope he says that because I am going to drive there to find out.  Go Figure!

Figuratively Speaking-Christmas Cookies

Swirly Cupcake  4"x4" oil  $60

My mom made the most wonderful Christmas cookies.  It was an annual ritual we shared with homes all over the world.  She would make all our favorites and decorate them with beautiful designs.  She was an artist as well as a cook.  There is an art to making a good cookie just like there is to making good bread.  With the abundance of cookies available to us, you would think there would be boat loads of great cookies, but alas I feel like the skill of making great cookies is being lost even in the face of much higher sugar consumption in the population.  I have kind of given up on sweets so my contribution to Christmas cookie making is my Booster Balls (does this bring to mind an NPR skit on an old Saturday Night Live?).  They are made from whatever I have that I can throw in, but this batch was made mostly with pecans, coconut, walnuts, almond butter, cocoa, and dried mangos.  I don't cook them, but mix it all together in my food processor and then roll them into balls.  They kind of look like meatballs, but they taste better and are better for you.  I put them on a pretty plate. tomake up for their lack of aesthetic appeal.

My mom learned to cook when she was growing up in a household of 13 children.  She was about in the middle of the lineup, so while the older kids were helping bring in money and being more grown-up, my mom was staying at home and helping to take care of her younger sibs and cooking and cleaning.  She got pretty good at it.  Her mom died when she was 12 so she had a lot of responsibility, and as a result and the fact that she was dyslexic and left handed, she didn't get a good education.  But, she was brilliant and a survivor, so she carved out a nice life for herself, had 5 kids of her own, 16 grandkids, and as of today, 12 great grandkids. I miss her and I miss her wonderful cookies, but succeeding generations need to improve upon what their parents taught them, and I am choosing to eat healthy while still appreciating (from a distance) the art of fine cookie baking.

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe?

Day 7 slate - Easter Bunny

11"x14" acrylic on Vermont Slate

My friend Heather Shay and I painted slate the day before she took off for Costa Rica and then on to Guatemala.  I won't see her again until June because she lives an adventuresome life of the explorer. We had a great time.  I was feeling whimsical so I did the Easter Bunny skiing and she did Santa on skiis.  I am having fun...can you tell?

Poinsetta

11"x14" acrylic

I had so much fun painting this.  It was for a "Sip N' Dip" painting session I facilitated.  Basically people come to the art center and pay a fee to get to do a painting in one evening.  I have done many of these and they are always a treat.  It allows me to just enjoy the painting process and help others to feel it too.  I always focus on a couple of lessons to help them understand the decisions an artist needs to make.  In this case it was choosing analogous colors and complimentary colors using a design that was both objective and abstract.  I try to give the participants a lot of choices to make along the way.The coolest part of the session is at the end when we line up all the paintings and see how creative and different they all are even though they were based on a design. It also gives me a chance to paint in acrylic which is not my first medium of choice.

Forgotten

8"x8" oil

I sometimes feel like I am always in school...never becoming the expert...the professional...but always the student stumbling through the exercises, trying to learn new things.  This applies in most aspects of my life.  Maybe it isn't so bad and maybe my brain will benefit from it in the long run.  Anyway, this painting reflects experiments in many things including using a palette knife and in creating the effect of snow.  The values show up better in person, and so do the colors of the snow.  It is still winter where I live and we are hoping to stretch out the ski season until we are all just too exhausted to put on so many layers.  I have been wanting to paint this little cart since Christmas.  It is located outside Greenbrier Gift Shop in Killington, VT.....a really fun place to spend some time.
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Christmas Sparkle

6x6 acrylic

I am working on a series of commissions which are pushing me to the edge!  So, this was a fun relief from the work that requires much focus and attention.  This was inspired by a photo taken by Susan Walleck.  I took some artistic liberties with it and because I let myself go and just play with it, it was a lot of fun to do.  Now....back to the commissions.

The Delivery Guy

9"x9" acrylic

I have been away from painting for a few weeks and am feeling it!  I decided to warm up with a fun little piece.  This is based on a DPW challenge to paint a guy on a bicycle.  I  decided to have some fun with it!  There is a poem to go with it, but I think it is a little early to post it, so I will wait till later to do that.  What do you do to get back into the swing of things after being away?  I went to an early exercise class today as well because traveling and visiting family is a lot of fun, and it requires a lot of energy, but not my usual exercise.  I need that too!

I'm Going to Have Blue Christmas (without you) 6"x6" acrylic

This was for a DPW challenge to use Magnesium Blue (which I don't have) to do a value study of a celebrity.  I had many more frustrating moments with this than I had anticipated.  I wanted to get the fuzziness of his beard, the soft furriness of the hat and coat trim, the fleshiness of his face, the twinkle in his eye and the grandfatherliness of his personality and not have it look creepy because it is all blue!  What do you think?  The whole time I was painting, the song "I'll Have a Blue Christmas" by Elvis, was playing in my head.  See an early version of this song at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ODrPL9-kEs

$100 and $10 shipping