I ran across a couple of juried exhibits that I was considering entering and so perused the prospectus to become familiar with the requirements. In it, the requirement of when the work had to have been completed was listed as "the last two years". No big deal, right? (Personally, I look in my log to see when I completed a painting and go from there.) But upon further reading, that time frame was explained as "must have been completed in 2019 or 2020". I was a bit nonplussed at that point, after all it is only February of 2020, which hardly constitutes a two year time frame in my opinion - but there it was in black and white. So it made me consider that perhaps I had misinterpreted what I thought I understood as "completed in that last (whatever) years" in the past. The next time I entered an exhibit, I asked if I was understanding the prospectus rules correctly. Apparently, I had been doing the correct thing all these years (for that venue at least), but must admit feeling a right fool by the response. But hey, if asking a question makes you a fool; a fool I shall be. Back to my brushes.  


"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water."  - Franklin A. Jones 

Agreed.  It's been too long, but I've been busy with "life" things.  It is with renewed hope that I will soon be back to a normal schedule.  As you can see, I have updated my webpage.  Hooray!  I have set it up like a color coded file cabinet, so hopefully I will be better organized.  We shall see.  I only have the gallery page left to do...but my brushes have been neglected far too long and they are calling me.  Another item I have added to my list is The Sketchbook Project, which my niece and I are tackling together so that we can encourage each other to finish our books.  I already have the narrative ready to go, just have to put it in the sketchbook I received yesterday.  If you don't know about this project, just push on the link and it will give you all the information.  It looked like fun - why not?  Who doesn't need more fun in their life?  Back to my brushes.  

"For real company and friendship, there is nothing outside of the animal kingdom that is comparable to a river." - Henry Van Dyke

I'm pleased to share that I will be exhibiting a painting in the upcoming Mid Southern Watercolorists 50th Annual Juried Exhibition.  Quite a milestone for the organization and I am so happy to be included.  Also, I will have a painting exhibited in the Fabriano in Watercolour 2020 exhibition in Fabriano, Italy to be held in May 2020.  Shaping up to be a fun year!  Back to my brushes.  

"Thanksgiving has wings, and goes where it must go." - Victor Hugo

How happy I am to be able to share my Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma heritage with my friends and family.  I put my tree up today and I especially enjoy placing the ornaments from my tribe on the tree. Especially poignant were the ones with notes from Chief Gregory Pyle who recently passed.  Thank you Chief Gary Batton for continuing this tradition.  Back to my brushes.  

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"Clay can be dirt in the wrong hands, but clay can be art in the right hands." - Lupita Nyong'o

I'm honored to share that my painting The Patterns of Home has been purchased by the Department of Arkansas Heritage for the Arkansas Arts Council's Small Works on Paper permanent collection.  This painting is in the Arkansas Arts Council's 2019 Small Works on Paper touring exhibit which is currently displayed at the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana campus until the end of November.  I rarely paint landscapes, so I am enchanted that this piece, so indicative of our area, has been chosen for inclusion in the permanent collection.   Back to my brushes.  

"Treat a work of art like a prince.  Let it speak to you first." - Arthur Schopenhauer

I'm pleased to share that my painting The Tools of Line and Color has been chosen for the 2020 exchange exhibition Visions Adjoin.  For the first time in nearly fifty years, the National Watercolor Society and the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour will host a joint exhibition of 60 paintings (30 juried from each society's Signature or Elected Members) to be displayed at the NWS Gallery, San Pedro, California and the Helson Gallery, Halton Hills, Ontario.  "The objective of this exhibition/exchange opportunity is to share the common bond of a passion for watercolor, that both societies promote. The cultural influences each country explores independently as well as similarities that the medium of watercolor offers will connect our two countries in this international display."  I am so delighted to be a part of this exhibit, my thanks to the judges.  Back to my brushes.  

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."  - Oliver Wendell Holmes 

My Uncle passed last week and I have spent some time recalling memories of our time together over the years.  He was an educated man, graduating from the University of Oklahoma.  He served in the USAF until his retirement.  These are but two of his accomplishments but not what comes to my mind when I think of him.  Instead I recall his humor, his laugh, his forthrightness and his perseverance.  I recall he introduced me to fishing and gave me my first tackle box.  (I'm afraid it was destined for paint tubes instead).  But the vision that comes to my mind is much stronger than the others because it is the routine that becomes most precious in our memory.  And so my thoughts go to the changing of day to night, wakefulness to rest.  He has finished his meal and retreated to his chair to read and partake of his pipe. The lamp is on beside him, an incandescent glow over his right shoulder as he chooses one of the pipes from the round stand on the table.  He lights his pipe and the smell permeates the room.  A hint of woods and something sweet...cherry maybe?  The smoke hovers in the air around him like a gossamer cloud.  He reads.  The print from the paper reflects off his glasses and the world is revealed.  Forever in my memory, godspeed Uncle Al.  Back to my brushes.  

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"What better occupation, really, than to spend the evening at the fireside with a book, with the wind beating on the windows and the lamp burning bright." - Gustave Flaubert

I am pleased to share that my painting titled Entwined has received the award for Still/Life Floral category at the ANA Celebration of Art Exhibition.  My thanks to the judge Dean Mitchell.  If you are in the area be sure and visit the Town Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas to see all the wonderful work in this exhibit.  Back to my brushes.

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"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."  - Vincent Van Gogh

So a quick post today to recommend the book I just finished.  It had it all, mystery, detective work, art, history, travel...everything.  The book is The Vanishing Velazquez by Laura Cumming, published in 2016.  If you are interested in the same things I am, you will enjoy it.  Yes, intrigue equals happiness and assumptions will always get you into trouble.  Back to my brushes.  

"Art is a harmony parallel with nature." - Paul Cezanne 

This deep dive into a subject has been a real revelation to me.  I came to a point last year where I thought I was done with it, but did a rather abrupt about face when I considered a different vantage point, and so began a journey of discovery.  If you have read my blog you know I love a museum crawl.  I love "the timeline" and I always discover something new even if greeting an old friend.  But how was it relevant personally?  I thought this consideration could be...interesting.  Let's be clear, I'm not talking about deconstructing a painting.  I can do that with the best of them.  No, I'm talking about essentials.  So this journey started last year and I just  completed the fourth painting.  As I start the fifth I find I a truer sense of understanding and have experienced tangible personal growth as a result.  The most important thing I discovered was that I can tackle anything with but one subject.  So, to the ether, I send thanks to those who have held my hand.  Back to my brushes.  

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings." - Wassily Kandinsky