Beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Boy is it coming down here - beautiful fluffy huge snowflakes! I love this kind of snow- a fresh blanket in the morning, no tracks just quite yet. I'm down in my studio with my stereo singing songs to me, my little space heater working overtime to warm up this room and lucy in her little dog bed next to my easel. I've been looking through the images I have taken this year and am visualizing what each piece will look like in a particular format. Maybe I'll try for three large pieces this week and I can't help it - WINTER pieces! That is never my galleries' favorite words, but it gets me so excited to paint these palettes, this texture, this SNOW! One more month to enjoy it and then down to Arizona for the best winter months of the year. I miss skiing, I miss driving in the snow (I know, must have lost my mind), watching the snow from my big picture window at home. Wow - someone gave me an extra dose of nostalgia in my coffee this morning! Here is a painting that was done from my favorite parts of two tiny little miniatures done with a tertiary palette, different value patterns, same subject matter. This large one, mainly because of the size difference, is much more subtle, very quiet and I am still living with it, deciding how much further to push it. It is of that beautiful lake North of Durango, CO that I have painted and worked through what seems to be a million times. Not sure I have said everything that needs to be said about it, even to this day. My color of choice these days has been a violet. Violets and blues! Hmmm. What will today bring?

Two new watercolors!

I am having such a great time with watercolor again! Here are a couple finished from yesterday and today! Quite the value if you are interested in Christmas gifts!

Me and Lucy

Lucy is my little studio dog! She is eight months old now, very much still a puppy. She would rather be outside chasing things than in by her mom.

Shan's Chili Recipe

It's been so cold around here that everyone should have a little chili! I did my research (as usual) and came up with a few recipes. Well, add a little of one and a little of another and then some of my own and this is what I came up with. If anyone tries it, let me know what you think!

HEARTY CHILI

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1-2 lbs. rib roast, cubed

6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, save grease

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 can diced green chilis

2 stalks celery

1 lg can crushed or diced tomatoes

1 8oz can tomato sauce

3-4 beef boullion cubes

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp parsley

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt, pepper

1 c shredded jack or cheddar

sour cream

chopped cilantro

Brown meat, add all ingredients down to cheese. Let simmer all day.

When it's time to serve, dish into bowls and top with a bit of cheese, a

dollup of sour cream and top with a bit of cilantro.

Winter Schedule

It's going to be a busy winter/spring! I'm lining up all my shows and travels and it's going to be a whirlwind. First in line is the one-woman show at Mtn. Trails Gallery in Park City, Utah, then on to Scottsdale a few weeks later for the Celebration of Fine Art. February brings the Kneeland Gallery three-person show with Lori McNee and Cary Henrie. I love exhibiting with my dear friend Lori! March brings the Diane Stewart Invitational in Palm Springs and I am so pleased to be invited back to paint with the amazing artists that will be there. A week later I will be back in SLC to do the Hospice Charity Benefit show Art and Soup. Shows after March are still in the making.... Better get back to the easel!

New Work

A new 18x36 oil named "Evening Glow"

Looking for thoughts on an art conversation....

Do you think an artist is continually getting better and growing or do you think at some point they hit their prime and maintain status quo (as in an athlete or someone with physical strength and adeptness)? Do you think the freshness of ideas and eagerness to experiment in the early stages is second to the maturity of technical skill and experience? Or maybe early in one's learning curve, an artist hits on something above their present level and then they play catch-up for awhile? Hmmmm.......Check out your older work and tell me what you think!

Madison Meadow

This painting is of the Madison River area in West Yellowstone. It had been awhile since visiting Yellowstone and though it's changed from fires, it remains one of the most beautiful places in the west!

New Watercolors

It's a Watercolor Day

I love Sundays! Painting and cooking - cooking and painting. I'm working on watercolors today - all small ones, 8x10 and 6x12's. I will frame them with a 4-5" museum mat and a nice frame. They are such a bang for the buck. They really are a good value for the size and quality. I love taking a break from my oils once in awhile to do this. I work on them right in the middle of the family room, TV blaring, family and animals all around me :) Funny how I learned to tune everything out from doing this when my kids were small. I used to sit on the floor cross-legged and paint for 14-16 hours in a day. I could see what the kids were up to and still be part of everything and paint. Now it has to be on the coffee table or I couldn't get up. The back is just not what it used to be! I would like to have a half-dozen small watercolors for each of my shows coming. Probably a little lofty and unrealistic, but why not shoot for the stars? They give me a chance to try a few different palettes and compositions before translating them to a larger oil.

Now to the cooking.....Having my mom and dad over this evening for Corned Beef and Cabbage. It's my first time at cooking it, but I tried it last year for St. Patty's Day and loved it. It's cold outside, well into the fall season, so I am in the mood for a roast of some sort. I'd give a recipe here, but it's pretty easy to throw this dinner together. That way I get to paint at the same time. As soon as this last watercolor is finished, I will take pics and post. Have a great day!

New Piece off the easel

My newest piece reflects a little back to my past work. A little rain in the air, drenched color, soft atmosphere. This piece is called "Mountain Rain Adagio". It is a 24x36, oil on canvas with the floated hand-leafed frame made by Tony at Rocky Mountain Frames.

Productive Day

Well, off the soapbox for another year :) It was a great day for painting. I have a group miniature show coming up in Ketchum ID at the Kneeland Gallery, so it was a catch up day for miniatures! I also worked on a piece that I am "crushing" on! Do you ever do that? Do you get a crush on a particular piece, so much so that you can hardly stop working on it? I'm going to continue tomorrow, but it was a teaching day so I had to put it away for the evening. I can't wait (but will have to) to post the finished piece! Until then, here are some mini's......

I VOTED!

There was a time in my life where the passion of politics consumed me, especially around this time of the year! I was worked up on issues to the point of obsession for sure! Ask my poor neighbors, my kids, my friends - dear Lord - poor people! I have been this way my entire life, even as a teen. I felt it was my obligation to study and soapbox every issue - worry and stew, worry and stew and scream about it. Kind of runs in the fam....! At 48 years old now, I've lived through enough elections and enough party changes to know that we will survive most anything and anyone and that big changes rarely happen unless tragic events force change. I have adopted the philosophy now that real change happens at home, with the people you love in showing tolerance and hope for the future. I know I risk sounding Pollyanna, but I wish to bring about change by showing love, acceptance and high expectations in a positive way instead of screaming and b---ing about how bad things are and what jerks are out there. They might be, but I don't need to put my energy in that direction. I will always VOTE and do my civic duty to let my voice be heard. I will always try to be informed on issues in case I can do anything to help, but I will quietly envision a more beautiful world and show my children the example of love as much as possible instead of spewing venom upon them!

Aren't we lucky to live in this country and to be able to speak our minds and live our lives by our own choices? What a privilege it truly is!