Autumn on the Eastern Shore - and How I Love Living Here

Autumn on the Eastern Shore

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

To buy this painting, please click here to email me! 

Texas treated me well, indeed. I had two good shows, met really nice, really friendly people, and saw beautiful sights all over the state. 

But when I drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and onto the Eastern Shore, I found myself letting out a whoop and holler of sheer, unadulterated joy. It wasn't only that I was heading home, to my husband and our dogs and our house and our friends, but that all of that was in this place that so delights and moves me. 

Time and again, I drive onto the Eastern Shore and I am simply filled with gratitude that after living in all these places over all these years, Peter and I found our home. I've loved places where we've lived, but I have never felt so centered or so delightfully settled. 

I took the photo below as I was driving that last stretch on my way home from Texas. I thought about stopping to paint, but I really wanted just to get home, to hug Peter, pet the dogs, and stop driving. 

Much of the draw is our home, and our friends, the people, and Wachapreague itself. But I love the Eastern Shore as a painter, too. Partly, I think, I'm attracted to the simplicity of the landscape. Even more, though, is the light. With the Atlantic on one side, the Chesapeake Bay on the other, and virtually no air pollution at all, the light has a roundness, a golden color, and, often, a sort of brilliant, thin pink that warms everything it touches. 

Above, the photo of the sorghum field I painted. 

Below, three pix of the Eastern Shore I took on

Friday evening. 

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Dog of the Day

Abby, Smokey and Woody having a good howl. You can hear Jojo howling in the other room. 

The Way of All Earth - and Something New

The Way of All Earth

Oil on canvas
sold

I am trying something new today - putting paintings up on Daily Paintworks, a showcase and auction site devoted to two-dimensional art.

As usual, with me and the internet and new stuff, it's never quite as easy as it seems. Took me much of the past couple days to get to a point where I understand (I think) what is going on...

I've been pricing my 10x10 paintings at $100, and they have been selling so quickly that I have been running out. So the auctions offer me a chance to reach more people, and to test the $100 price. Also, I am curious to see how this will work.

p.s., the beautiful red/brown stuff in this painting is sorghum.

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EVEN IF YOU'RE not interested in bidding, the site I am using - Daily Paintworks - is pretty fascinating, and worth a look. It showcases art from people from all over the world.

I found it in a way I think I should share with you all. Jason Horejs owns Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. He is an interesting and active gallery owner, who publishes a great monthly catalog of art; has an active website; has written an interesting book, "Starving to Successful," to help artists understand galleries better; and does regular art- and gallery-related podcasts.

Over the years, he has been approached by many artists, asking if he would act as a mentor, to help them launch or grow their careers. He decided to offer a free mentorship to an artist, and invite everyone who applied to watch the podcasts.

I applied, and of the 500 or so who did, was nearly chosen for the mentorship. Nearly!

Carolee Clark, who was chosen, makes colorful and fun paintings, and sells them on this auction site, which is how I found it. I've been watching podcasts Jason has done with her, and learning a lot from them.

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Dog of the Day

Don't know this dog's name, but he lives at the corner of Main and Pearl streets, here in town. He's always riding in the back of this truck, usually standing on top of the boxes and crates the guy has in the back. He is leashed and chained, and while a part of me worries that he will fall off a box and get killed, the other part of me says he's been doing this for years, and the guy probably doesn't take him out of town, anyways. But this dog sure does have fun here in Wachapreague!