Flowers, flowers, flowers - and a Mexican Koko!

 Brown-eyed Susans

Oil on black canvas, 14x14

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AFTER A WEAK show in Tubac and a round of self-doubt and self-examination, I dove back in and started painting again, and it felt great.

I have a solo show in July and August at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, in Norfolk, VA, and I need 30-40 paintings for it. So I decided to paint florals, and just let the paint flow and take me where it takes me.

You people - the community that has grown up around my paintings - you people are so very sweet and so very supportive, it takes my breath away sometimes.

I write about the bad times as well as the good to share the experience, with you who love and admire and buy my art, and with other artists, especially younger ones, who might think that they are the only ones who doubt, who question, who wonder about their work and their direction. I've been making and selling art for a little while now - and that is not false modesty, but the truth: In terms of people making their living at art, I'm still a neophyte.

But I'm successful, and people buy and collect and love my paintings - and still, I question my direction, my purpose, my way. I wish artists with vast experience would share more about their doubts and missteps. I'd love to hear their questions and their answers.

Thank you, all of you who wrote and sent me your love and support. I truly appreciate it, and it always, always helps me gather my courage.

And that is what I'm doing. I'm experimenting, I'm painting with faith and verve, I am going to go where the path leads me, and I'm not painting scared. And guess what? It feels great.

Inset - Peonies, 6x6

Above - Peonies and Tiger Lilies, 12x36

Below, Bouquet on White, 16x16

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Hola! 

DAD AND PAULA and I went to Nogales, Mexico, last week, so Paula could have some dentistry work done. They, and all their friends - and a number of other people I know - cross the border from Nogales, Arizona, to Nogales, Sonora, regularly for dentistry. The dentists are first-class, and the work is miles cheaper and way quicker. It's often more economical to fly to Tucson, get a hotel, drive to Nogales and have your dental work done, than to go to your own dentist down the street. To the right is the dentist in his waiting room. Below, Nogales, Sonora. 

Above, the border going into Mexico by car. Below, Paula walking toward the border you cross on foot. Dad and Paula park in Nogales, Arizona, and then walk across the border. Apparently, the line for cars to cross back into the US can be very long. 

Above, a Mexican Chinese restaurant. Below, a Mexican Koko! 

Look through the fence at the border return, above, and you can see the metal fence, now lined with razor wire, separating Nogales, Sonora, from Nogales, Arizona. Below, the line to get back into the US. It looked pretty long, but took us only about 25 minutes. 

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Perro de la Dia

IT'S THE MEXICAN Koko, above! For those of you who might not be able to conjure up an image of the Virginian Koko, I have included a photo of her, below. Amazing likeness, si? 

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A Final Thought

"Art has many avenues; love is carried through many vessels. Your oceans are your colours, your ship is your brush and your treasures are in your heart." 

- Moncy Barbour

Say a Little Prayer

Say a Little Prayer

Oil on canvas, 36x48

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When I started painting this large floral, I wanted to paint a chaos of color and shape, a song of blossoms and springtime, a poem of shade and bright sun - and I think I got there. I love the little stream winding through the foreground, and the small surprise of the three daisies in the middle of the garden. What do you think? 

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I AM GRATEFUL for all the big things, my husband, my family, my faith, my success. And I am grateful for small things, too. The smell of lilacs, the tenderness of a sleepy little dog, the delight of a beautiful iris garden in a neighbor's yard. I hope you are feeling lucky and grateful today. 

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Dog of the Day

 It's Doc, suspicious, thoughtful, scheming, shy, devilish. One of my favorite dogs, ever! 

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A Final Thought

"The beautiful is always bizarre." 

- Charles Beaudelaire

I Shall Find You - and a New Neighbor?

I Shall Find You

Oil on black canvas, 12x36

sold

I love a tall, skinny painting! Verticals are more unusual, and while a huge vertical can be tough to hang, a small one works pretty much anywhere. 

The colors in this one, the dark green foliage at the bottom, the stained-glass feeling at the top, the little blurb of orange and pink at the bottom, and the willowy feeling of the tall flowers, these are all things that make me like this one. 

Here's the poem from which I took the title. The poem is "Idyll," by Siegfried Sassoon:  

IN the grey summer garden I shall find you
With day-break and the morning hills behind you.
There will be rain-wet roses; stir of wings;
And down the wood a thrush that wakes and sings.
Not from the past you’ll come, but from that deep	5
Where beauty murmurs to the soul asleep:
And I shall know the sense of life re-born
From dreams into the mystery of morn
Where gloom and brightness meet. And standing there
Till that calm song is done, at last we’ll share	10
The league-spread, quiring symphonies that are
Joy in the world, and peace, and dawn’s one star. *** Dog of the Day

I'm pretty sure his name is Nick, and I'm pretty sure he's going to move into the little blue house next door. His human, Margot, has put an offer on Dulcie's house, and if the inspection and all the other house stuff goes well, we will have neighbors. Yay! 

Coneflowers - and More Coneflowers

Coneflowers I

Oil on canvas, 10x10 

sold

Continuing down the path I started clearing the other day, I decided to try my hand at some coneflowers. And thinking about a suggestion Coach Joe made a couple months ago, I think I'm going to declare Fridays "Flower Fridays." Whenever I am here on a Friday, I will be painting flowers. 

Sunflowers, delphiniums, coneflowers, zinnias - what else? What other flowers would you like to see me paint? 

I do love painting flowers, even though I still don't really like "pretty." I think flowers are miracles of nature. They are pretty, sure, but to me, they are more bursts of color, bright proofs of God, scolorful examples of the science of Darwinism - and some of the simple and pure delights of summer. 

Coneflowers II

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

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Dog of the Day

Here's Vinny! He lives with Ruth Hamel and Tim Schreiner, in Red Stick, LA (Baton Rouge...). Ruth is a fabulous writer, who has an excellent food blog, and at least one book to her credit. 

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I always love watching milk curl and unfurl its way into iced coffee...