Picked up two of my paintings from the framer today.  Have started what will be my entry for AWS this year.  Very excited to get started on it.  Have been catching up on my reading as well.  Have been reading the following books the last couple of weeks:  Watercolor Wisdom by Jo Taylor; Incredible Light and Texture in Watercolor by James Toogood; Light up your Watercolors Layer by Layer by Linda Stevens Moyer; You Can Paint Vibrant Watercolors by Dan Burt; Fill your watercolors with Light and Color by Roland Roycraft; Composition, A Painter's Guide to Basic Problems and Solutions by David Friend; Water Media Techniques by Stephen Quiller and Barbara Whipple; Creative Discoveries in Watermedia by Pat Dews; Watercolor, Pour It On by Jan Fabian Wallake; and The Simple Secret to Better Painting by Greg Albert.  If you're not learning, you're not moving forward.  

Also, if you have young children let me recommend a couple of books to share with them.  Backstory:  I found this book in the fourth grade.  I couldn't put it down, and when I was through my sibling read it as well.  I have looked for it ever since.  To my delight it was reprinted last year and I now own my own copy.  Pick them both up, you won't regret it:  Beyond the Pawpaw Trees and The Silver Nutmeg by Palmer Brown; published by The New York Review of Books.  These imaginative stories, centered around the character Anna Lavinia, will have your children eagerly awaiting their bedtime story.  As an added treat the illustrations, by the author, are delicious.  Enjoy.  

"Asking your neighbors to tweet the news is not unlike asking your cocker spaniel to buy groceries."  - Rheta Grimsley Johnson

I'm working, reading, sketching, and trying to stay cool.  103 degrees yesterday.  My car, parked on the pavement, displayed 113 degrees.  It is wicked hot.  

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells

Received notification that two of my paintings were juried into the Aritsts of Northwest Arkansas 18th Annual Regional Exhibit.  This is a ten state regional multi media exhibit including oils, watercolor, drawing, sculpture, photography, etc.  Very happy and honored to have my work chosen again this year.  It opens August 3rd at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, so stop by and check it out.  

"A beautiful hunger for a great idea is the beauty and blessedness of life." - Jean Ingelow

OMHB!  Scientists have seen the shadow and footprint of the Higgs Boson (particle).  Fantastic.  

"The four building blocks of the universe are fire.  Later gravel and vinyl"  - Dave Barry

Went bowling, played laser tag, and raced go carts yesterday with entire family unit.  Today I am sore.  Plan to paint this afternoon anyway.  The AWS traveling exhibit is moving on to Laredo, Texas and will open there in August.  I don't believe I will be entering any shows in the near future.  I give myself permission to enjoy the process with no pressure attached.  That gives me time to try something different with no expectations or preconceived ideas by others of what I "should" be doing. Now that is a true vacation.  

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." - Wernher Von Braun