My dear Blog-followers,
It is with deep sorrow that I tell you that the dearest man in my life who regularly occupied the chair so lovingly painted in this work has departed for a higher plane. His life on earth came to an end November 19, 2009. He was 73 years and 7months of age. I can only now write about him or his passing. The words "died", "death", and other reality-based words still won't come easily. I am changing the name of the painting from "Back in a Minute" to "The Empty Chair".

If I painted my heart, however, I would not entitle the work "The Empty Heart." Howard filled my heart during his life and continues to occupy it now. During his life he was the very best admirer of my artistic endeavors. He shared my interest in art fully. In fact, our meeting in 1961 was in a figure-drawing class at Abilene Christian University where he was the model. The rest as they say is history. He was not a visual artist himself, but he was an artist at living. He was an athletic, enthusiastic, cheerful, and loving person. (He was also very good at schlepping my artwork and art gear wherever I needed it.) He was spiritual and giving and encouraged my faith daily. I thank God for him.

Getting back into the groove of art production has been a gradual, ongoing process; and I suspect that it will take many more months to heal. I never want to lose him, but I do want to heal from the pain of the loss. Those of you who are praying people, help me here.

God bless you all,
Margaret

      Life can throw us some lemons. The old cliche is "that's when you make lemonade." We artists would think, "Just paint them!" Well, I've been in that boat now for the last five months. In early March I broke my arm. What an awakening that was. It was the first time I realized that bones hurt when they broke. Just as I was getting around that bend cancer invaded our household, and I became a caregiver, and not an unwilling one I might add. All of this takes a toll on the routine of heading to the studio for a gentle morning of painting or a late afternoon of plein air work. I would like to share with all of you how I handled that in hopes that others might be helped or inspired in their own lemonade shop.
     The first thing I did was bring home a mini-studio and set it up in my dining room.  Dining rooms are wonderful. That is where I do all my computer work, sew, file, store things, read cookbooks,  answer the land line, pack my ebay sales,  and on and on. Now it is where I do my art work, too. To be fair I must tell you this dining room is three quarters of our former two-car garage and is loaded with storage. And as an artist I must also tell you that it is really beautiful, not garage-y at all. And we love it for its real purpose:  large holiday dinners when the whole family gathers.
      I also re-discovered my gated and walled courtyard as subject matter. Since we were going to be home so much more this summer I planted more annuals that require watering and tending.  The bluejays love us for keeping their bath filled with clean water, something we never had time for before. This worked two ways for us. First I found new outdoor painting subjects to be explored without leaving home. Secondly, there is something about eating breakfast and reading the paper in the open air that gets those endorphins going (or as we like to joke, gets our dolphins swimming). 
      And here is a third way I have capitalized on a certain lack of focus on the painting process itself. I have let my left brain take over in order to tend to some areas that really needed attention. For example, I updated my records in my "Artist's Butler" (by Lynnsoft) program that I use. I listed more on ebay and surprise, surprise I sold more. I also began  to work on rewriting my artist's statement and have begun work on a new brochure. I have read art blogs, looked at the work of many of the FASO artists, and joined a free site called "Plein Air Artists".  In general I have explored the more cerebral side of an artist's life.
     Honestly, though, all of my compensatory activities have not been art related. I have reconnected with old friends and acquaintances via Facebook, read many novels, worked on genealogy records, and discovered I like to crochet in a most unorthodox and creative way.      The beauty of all of this is that I have been home with my husband when he needs me. I would have it no other way. Sweet lemonade.
     

    

It happens to all of us I think.  Summer trips are over, fall trips are over, now it's time to really get some of those ideas that have been percolating down in some concrete form. The heat here in West Texas has subsided. We have had a beautiful fall, a long one for not all of our trees (we do have some!) have lost their leaves and their colors are beautiful and rich. Here in Texas we talk about fall long after some of you do battle with the snow shovel. God bless you, I remember those days! So, it's back to work.

I turned out several still life paintings while enduring the last of the summer heat. One is included in this post. It has been very satisfying working in a more academic, thoughtful way. The fundamentals are reinforced. The trick is to keep those fundamentals in the forefront of thinking while maintaining the loose freshness I so enjoy. It really helps to have an artist neighbor at Studio Thirteen where I have my space here in Abilene wander in and ask questions and make comments.

As indicated above I did some traveling in the early fall. My artist friend, Elaine Koehler, and I participated in a women's retreat at Glorieta Conference Center in Glorieta, New Mexico. That is a beautiful facility, and the grounds are spectacular. We stayed over a couple of days and painted our hearts out. The aspens and cottonwoods were in full glory!

Have a great day painting, and let's keep Christmas simple and meaningful. For the first time in many years I'm knitting some gifts. Now that's a throwback to the seventies! A blessed Christmas to you all.

I've been having real fun creating ACEOs (Art Cards Editions and Originals). There is a set size for them, 2 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches, and people collect them like baseball cards. I may be a little late to this party, but who cares! Maybe it will last a long time! They are created from all sorts of materials such as traditional watercolor materials, canvas and oil or acrylic paint, or even tiny collage materials. Since I primarily work in oils that is what I have been using. At first I gessoed 4-ply mat board and painted on that. That worked fine and was very light to mail after selling on Ebay. Then I decided to  use my regular oil setup of canvas glued to masonite or birch plywood. Those are really, well, I guess "cute" or "precious" is the good old southern term. They have the advantage of being nice for display with a small table-top easel. I always paint the edges and the back so they can be displayed without a frame.It is customary to sign and date on the back side.

These sell on eBay rather well. There are thousands of listings all the time. That's a little discouraging at first glance, but take a look at the "ending soonest" listings. Amazing how many have sold, granted most for a price that's hardly going to keep you out of the bread line. The challenge is to create interesting, real works of art without spending enough time to create a major painting. The painting I'm displaying with this entry is an ACEO that recently sold.

A great day to everyone and happy painting, sculpting, throwing, weaving or whatever you do to let out that creative drive!

    It's been a few days since my first post. Going to have to work on this being a regular feature. So easy to put things off, and then the day has gone by. And that's kind of what this post is about: Tip #2 for
those of us who work up to the last minute, putting off for five
minutes, then ten the fifteen minute ritual of cleaning those brushes.
Because I can't seem to break the habit of cutting the clean-up phase
of a painting session close to the wire, I came up with a partial
remedy. Here it is: (And it only applies to those of you who subscribe
to a newspaper.) Save those orange or blue plastic bags your newspaper comes in when it is thrown on the front walk. Then when you have done a cursory cleaning with mineral spirits, you know - swish, swish, wipe, wipe - drop them into one of the saved bags, squeeze out the air, and tie a knot in the open end.
   This really works for me since I have my studio in a location away from my home. I have been known to leave them for up to 36 hours, and they have still been flexible and ready for their thorough cleaning with soap and  water. Ivory bar soap works fine, but I really like the liquid brush soap called Pink Soap Brush Cleaner. I buy it at my local Michael's, always with a 40% off coupon. Back to the plastic bags: This works especially well when painting on location. The bags save the brushes till back at headquarters or at home and also save your tote bag, your clothes, and possibly your car upholstery.
    And be advised: I do realize that many fellow artists do not live in residential neighborhoods such as mine in little old Abilene and have
newspapers tossed on their walkways each morning. However, perhaps this will get you thinking and you'll come up with another viable solution to the problem of no time left for brush washing. Post your own tip along these lines in Visitor Comments.
    Happy painting everyone!
     

Yes, home again, home again! The last week in July I had several wonderful days painting at sites along the Turquoise Trail in New Mexico. The weather was interesting - more rain than I have ever seen in NM. I was told it was the monsoon season which I did not know occurred in NM. Live and learn! Even though my long-time painting friend, Elaine Koehler, and I had good shelter under the canopy of her sport van, it didn't always help. One day while painting under it we were informed by a local resident that we really didn't want to be in that arroyo when it was raining. He had seen a five foot wall of water swoop down from the mountain, giving only about 5 seconds to seek higher ground. Reluctantly, but grateful for the warning, we packed up and headed for another safer site.

Another day on the Sandia Crest road in a nice picnic area we had wonderful paintings going when thunder and lightening began. Again we packed up and left! All in all, we felt more like storm chasers than painters! However, plein air people are a hardy determined bunch, and the PAPNM mounted a show of about a hundred works that will hang at the Sumner and Dene Gallery in Albuquerque for the month of August. Check it out if you're in the area. In a few days I will post some of my new works which came out of that week.  I will also be sharing some tips for getting out there and enjoying the great outdoors with brush and canvas.  Tip #1: Continually work on lightening your load. It makes running from a storm so much easier!