Tuscan Sunflowers

Tuscan Sunflowers

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, 24x48

Please contact me for price and delivery options

It has been a hectic day. I took a second show's worth of paintings to Chris Rose at the Lighthouse Gallery today. I took my first show down, the one with my newest paintings, packed it into the car, and left Chris to puzzle and ponder and hang my older paintings.

In the garage here, I found all my show stuff, my S-hooks and my tablecloths, my exhibition grids and my guestbook and my receipt book and my price tags, my cards and postcards and all the little stuff I need for the Paradise City show in Marlborough, Mass.

The van is filled to the brim, I have a stupid amount of work left to do, and I need to pack my clothes and frame two more paintings, but sometime Thursday morning, I will leave for the show with my heart thumping.

I do all this, and I paint, and I work, and I worry about my job, and the house and Peter and the dogs, and I stress and fret that someone at the show will find out that I really don't know how to paint, but am only doing this because it is so very much fun - and then I think about Japan, and the earthquake and tsunami, and nuclear meltdown and the end of the world, and I am stopped short.

It would be all to easy just to say, Enough, and to stay inside and live a life of fear and worry and despair, but I can't do that. I won't do that. I will not give in. I will keep painting, and working too hard, and not sleeping enough. I will keep hugging my husband and petting my dogs, and yelling at my cats, and hoping that today, the sun will shine on my family and my friends, and there will be joy in our world.

Photos from an exhibition

Summer and her mom, Elissa

Lori Rembetski, an amazingly talented sculptor. I have three of her dog sculptures, and they make me smile every day.

On the left, Laura Maiolo, whose beautiful work shares the space with my paintings for the rest of the month

Chris Rose, Lighthouse Gallery curator, maker of large gestures. 

We had a good turnout for the opening reception! 

Chris Rose, curator, talks with friends and supporters at the opening of "Oil & Water, Sunlight & Shadow" at the Lighthouse Gallery on March 4. 

The guy in the hat is my godson and son-in-law, Jon Mowrey. He and our daughter, Erika, came to the opening.

Laura Maiolo and I had a fabulous opening reception on Friday at the Lighthouse Gallery in Groton. Chris Rose, the curator, said he thought 60 people came through during the event. 

Many friends and co-workers from Patch came to the show, and that really touched my heart. Those of us who work for Patch work alone, in our houses, in our cars, in our cluttered and often dark heads, and so to see so many come out, and get together and have fun - and see my work! - well, it was a treat indeed. 

If you didn't make the show, no worries. It will be up at the Lighthouse Gallery through the end of the month, with the minor exception of March 17 and 18, when I will be taking the bulk of the work to the Paradise City show in Marlborough, MA. 

This is a big deal show that I've gotten into, a very high-end collection of artists and craftspeople, and I am thrilled to be included. It's at the Royal Plaza Trade Center. Directions are on the website.

In the meantime, if you're in the area here, please stop in to the Lighthouse Gallery. If you have been considering buying a piece of mine or Laura's, this is a great place to buy. Commissions go to help the Lighthouse Voc-Ed program, which helps kids with developmental disabilites. It's a wonderful program run by dedicated, caring people, and I love that my sales help them. 

And if you came to the opening, thank you! You made my heart sing.