Red Shoe, 8x10 Collage on Canvas

I just realized my last three posts have had a musical theme. I guess it's time for a change. This kind of shoe is meant to be admired for its beauty, but I still maintain it's not meant to be walked in. Ouch.

I was doing my Wii Yoga the other day, feet far apart in the "Warrior" pose, and my Roomba passed between my legs as it vacuumed the rug. Now, that's technology at its finest. What a great time to be alive.

 NFS

Bourbon Street, 11x14 Oil on Canvas Board

After Nashville, we drove down the Natchez Trace Parkway, and what a glorious road that is. Little traffic, gorgeous scenery, and historic sites along the way. Meriwether Lewis died on the Trace (there is controversy about murder or suicide), and he is buried there. There was a cypress swamp that I will paint someday. We stopped in Tupelo, saw the birthplace of Elvis (two rooms, no bathroom or electricity), and   then we went on to New Orleans.
What a place. Where else can you ride in a streetcar and a man with a silver face and a Confederate uniform gets on? Then you see a large, pot-bellied man wearing a cowboy hat, a bra, and shorts. The music being played on the street was amazing, and the beignets were my particular guilty pleasure.

PURCHASE

Low Country Sunset, 6x6

South Carolina marshes are so much fun to paint. I'd like to paint more of them, but you know how it is...so many subjects, so little time. This one me feel better after I painted an unsuccessful painting earlier this week. I hate to admit it, but better painters than I have admitted such things. In fact, it was a floral painting and as I gaze upon it now, it looks more and more like a "scraper." I think I need to work on painting flowers, but there are so many other things, like water: seascapes, ponds, rivers, waterfalls, and, of course, marshes.

SOLD

The Old Folks, 8x10, for Japan

These are two of my favorite things that my son sent from Okinawa when he was stationed there. They are so clever, beautifully done, and just plain cute. When I saw Qiang Huang's Japanese doll painting, I knew I needed to paint these and join the Daily Paintworks Challenge to raise money for Japan. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Japanese relief.

Auction

Artist at Work, 8x6

I like the warm sunny aspect of this painting. This was at an art show, and I loved the concentration of the artist in the midst of the excitement around her. She is focused and at peace, and she is making--think about it--an American product.

I heard this week that if we all buy 1 percent more American-made products, we can add 200,000 jobs right here in the USA. One percent is not much, but would have big results. The problem is, just try to find a product made in the USA. And by the way, hint, hint, all of the art I do is made in the USA. Sometimes it's inspired in Italy or France, but it is American-made. Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

BUY

Lindsay, 8x10

This portrait is part of my learning process. I really like painting people doing things, but I'm getting into the more formal portraits also.

Our week has started badly. Yesterday, just as I was about to leave for church, my husband Hap fell from a ladder while trimming a tree. I immediately drove him to the emergency room. He had X-rays, got a splint, etc and they said his heel is crushed. His ankle was tennis-ball size, so we thought he broke that. We have to get with an orthopedist and find out if he needs surgery. So now I get to repay him for taking such wonderful care of me when I broke my wrist. He hasn't lost his sense of humor. He was in absolute agony, but when we drove off to go to the hospital, he told our neighbors, "If we don't come back, watch the Oscars so you can tell us who's wearing who." He finds the red carpet hoopla absurd.

The things you take for granted! I got up this morning and Hap was standing in the kitchen on his crutches just looking at the coffeepot. If anyone can tell us how to walk on crutches with a cup of coffee, please let me know. One's hands are completely occupied with holding oneself upright. I am calling him Hopalong Happity now.

  BUY

Red Pepper, 6x6

I just couldn't think of a clever, or sarcastic, or odd, title for this. It's simply a red pepper, one of Nature's  beautiful and delicious foods. It just sits there quietly in all its vibrant red deliciousness.

BUY

Marie's Hamlet, 7x5

Imagine having so much money that you build your own village, so you can go play at being a milkmaid. That's what Marie Antoinette did, and no wonder the people of France got so mad. They couldn't even get a loaf of bread, for crying out loud. I'm very thankful this little extravagance of Marie's was preserved so that I could visit it. It is quaint and beautiful, and has thatched roofs, my favorites.

BUY

A Kiss is Still a Kiss, 7x5

Candy kisses are the cutest candies ever. They just have a perky look, with their jaunty little paper ribbons coming out of their heads. If they had heads.

SOLD

Orchids on Gold, 7x5

These orchids are on a metallic gold background. I find orchids hard to paint. Matching the colors is not easy, for one thing. I do love the way they have such fantastic blooms on the end of long skinny stems. They are also beautiful to me when they aren't staked up, but just hang gracefully. 

BUY

Red Vase, 8x10

A bit of drama here. It was so good to be back painting with the Pieces of 8 again after the holiday hiatus.

BUY

Road at Versailles, 6x8

One could spend an entire day at Versailles and not see everything. Even Ponzi Scheme Perpetrators don't live as well as Louis and Marie. They came to a bad end, which is what I wish upon all Ponzi Scheme Perpetrators.

Speaking of living well, my husband and I now have iPhones, thanks to my diligent shopping and ATT's good customer service. We have spent many, many hours figuring out the phones and downloading special ringtones and apps. My husband used to say, "I just want a phone that's a phone!" until he got this one. We had a very nice Christmas and it's hard to get back in the painting groove. My pace was interrupted. I need a good dose of painting with the Pieces of 8.

BUY

Lonely Coconut, 5x7

I couldn't resist painting more beach treasures on metallic gold. I wish you could see the gold in person, it makes such a beautiful background. I've had this photo a long time, and I didn't take it on our beach. I was in Antigua and came across this perfect half of a coconut just lying on the beach. Even the beach was perfect; it was curved, had coconut palms lining it, a few goats under the palms, and not another soul on the beach but my friend Joan and me. We went swimming, and the water was, of course, perfect.

BUY