We experienced "The Original Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit" in Dallas recently.  We met up with family and had a terrific time.  My level of comfort was pretty high since masking and social distancing was required.  Plus, there was a bag search and metal detector at the beginning.  I do prefer seeing the original paintings, but this was fun and a different way to experience the images.  It's been a long time since I went ANYWHERE!  The company was great.  We had some great meals:  Ten50 BBQ (highly recommend), and also at Las Palmas on Routh Street where we ate outside because the weather was absolutely perfect.  Good times.  Back to my brushes.  


"I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream."  - Vincent Van Gogh

I'm pleased to share the my painting was selected as a finalist by special awards juror, Mary Whyte in Splash 23: The Best of Watercolor!  It is scheduled to be published in the special issue set to hit newsstands mid-2022. My thanks to the special award juror, Mary Whyte, and Golden Peak Media. You can find out more by visiting the Artists Network.  Back to my brushes.

Also, if you are looking for a good book to read, let me recommend a few.   Art & Fear by David Bayles, and Ted Orland is one I may have suggested before. It is a quick read and if you are an artist you will definitely recognize yourself as the pages turn.  I find it entertaining and funny every time I read it. The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis was very enjoyable.  Sort of a back and forth time travel setting.  I was working on a painting of Grand Central Station when I read it, so it was a nice tie-in.   Finally, I recommend for your children Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter.  Rather touching actually and I thought it was well illustrated.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  Back to my brushes.  


"So you plant your own garden and embellish your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring flowers to you." - Jorge Luis Borges

I'm pleased to share that my painting for the #2020Horizon competition was chosen for their permanent collection and will be exhibited in Fabriano, Italy at the International Watercolor Museum as a testimony of the 2020 world watercolor community linked by Art during the Covid pandemic.  I am honored to have this painting included.  Back to my brushes.  

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"If I had my way, I'd make health catching instead of disease" - R. G. Ingersoll
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I'm pleased to share that my painting Off The Rails was accepted for the National Watercolor Society's 101st International Open Exhibition.  Hooray! This exhibit will be held online from October 1 through December 11, 2021. Make a note in your calendar to see the exhibit on these dates at the NWS website.  

In other news, by the end of April we were fully vaccinated at our house! So few are vaccinated in our area though that it continues to limit our activities and we still mask up.  I'm pretty much used to that now and it really helps during the spring allergy/asthma nightmare.  Back to my brushes.  

"Perhaps the safest prediction we can make about the future is that it will surprise us." - George Leonard

I'm pleased to share that my painting The Tools of Color and Line has been selected to receive the Watercolor USA Honor Society Daniel Smith Merchandise Award in this year's Watercolor USA.  My thanks to the judges Alicia Farris and John Fitzgibbon for this honor.  Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, there will not be an opening reception this year.  If you are in the area you will be able to see the show in person following stated guidelines.  (Thank you to the Springfield Art Museum for continuing to keep the staff and patrons safe!)   The Museum is planning to do an online exhibit similar to last year.  If you can't visit in person, be sure and check out the online exhibit instead.  Back to my brushes.  

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"How can you know what you're capable of if you don't embrace the unknown?"  - Esmeralda Santiago

I am pleased to share that my entry into the American Women Artists:  Lifting the Sky National Online Juried Show was accepted.  Hooray!  You can access this show through the AWA website or google it.  It is online now so check it out.  Also, I am pleased to share that my entry in the American Women Artists: 2021 Spring Online Juried Show was accepted.  This online exhibit will be available for viewing for one year, and should be online soon.  

Also, I am pleased to share that my entry in the Watercolor USA 2021 exhibition was accepted.  The exhibition opens to the public on June 5, 2021 and closes on August 29th, 2021.  If you are in the area be sure and stop by the Springfield Art Museum to see the exhibit.  

In other news...yes the pandemic continues, but hopefully vaccinations will become easier to obtain shortly.  I don't know how I will be able to give up wearing sweatpants full time.  I look forward to eating out and seeing my family again.   Back to my brushes.  

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"Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold." - Leo Tolstoy

I'm pleased to share that jurist Ann Prentice Wagner has selected my entries for inclusion in the Arkansas committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts 2021-2022 Artist Registry.  The works are in the process of being uploaded to their website and will go live soon.  

In other news...nothing.  I have been isolated for nearly a year now.  I continue to paint and have had some successes, but must admit that my three latest paintings I discarded... or more accurately destroyed.  That was difficult as it represents quite a large time frame.  Such is life.  Always moving forward.  

On the upside, I want to encourage everyone to listen to Artcurious podcasts by Jennifer Dasal.  What a treat!  I started with the book and found it so entertaining I quickly moved on to the podcasts and haven't looked back. You can click here Artcurious podcasts where you can listen for free, or just google it.  If you are anything like me you will love it.  Also I have a couple of books to recommend!  The Elgin Affair by Theodore Vrettos and The Raphael Affair by Iaian Pears.  I may have already recommended the second, but it's a fun read, so why not.  Back to my brushes.  


"The advantage of working day and night is that you earn enough to pay the doctor when you break down."  -  Unknown

Self Isolation day 337

I have been working on a portrait for the last few weeks?  I've lost track of time.  The subject is almost totally in shadow so it is a little odd.  And the tilt of the head is different.  It is coming along, I don't know what else I can do to make it better so I am nearing the end of my patience with it.  It is a small painting, just a half sheet.  In hindsight, I think I would have preferred it even smaller.  I don't usually think that, just the opposite, but this one I believe would translate more fully on a smaller scale.  Perhaps I will try again, I'm not sure.  I will begin something else soon.  The weather has been gloomy, but this afternoon the sun came out which helped lift my mood.  I haven't read anything worth mentioning unfortunately, but I plow through these books anyway.  Back to my brushes.  

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan

Self Isolation:  Day 306

So it's coming on New Years, they're throwing out trees...  and I am ready to kick this year to the curb too.  But it has not stopped me from living my best life. I suppose being an introvert has helped me, but even I am getting pretty tired of the same old walls for so long.  No matter, I wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year.  Let's roll out these vaccines a little faster please.  

​I quietly enjoyed the Christmas holiday at home.  I missed my family terribly. But I did enjoy tremendously the ornament sent from my tribe designed by another Choctaw artist Edmon Perkins.  Celebrating the pottery firing, "a symbol of the warmth in the people's hearts".   My tree is a celebration of our history and traditions.  Also a shout-out of thanks to my niece who sent me this thoughtful gift of pen and paper for drawing!  I haven't owned a fountain pen in...well, seems like forever.  I look forward to using it.  Perhaps a wood-cut print is in order, and I will use this pen and paper to draw it!  

Accomplishments for 2020:  I have completed 15 paintings and finished reading 43 books.  I have not made anyone sick because of my actions.    I'll call that a win.  

​So as 2021 approaches I think of the George Harrison song Here Comes the Sun  whose lyrics (I paraphrase):  "Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter; Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here; Here comes the sun; Here comes the sun, and I say; It's all right."  Yup, that about wraps it up. Back to my brushes.  


"The human quality Degas most admired was endurance." - John Berger