Painting Food

Paint what you love, right? One of my favorite things is food, and I like to paint it too. I've been doing some little food paintings lately, and it is a lovely way to "repurpose." I paint it, then I eat it. Isn't that a good way to Go Green? This is a little 5 x 7, and it was delicious.

More from South Carolina

River of Tears

I'm very excited because I have been included in a very significant project. I was one of the artists selected for the Art and Addiction exhibit sponsored by Innovators Combating Substance Abuse at the Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Medicine. Sixty-five were chosen from 900 entries. After the art was exhibited in May and June, a calendar was made to be circulated to professionals working in the substance abuse field, and to foundations supporting treatment and prevention centers. My painting, River of Tears, was one of the 13 used in the calendar. This has been such a meaningful project. Here are my words that accompanied my entry:

"My father gave up his fight against alcoholism by taking his own life. In the River of Tears are those most affected by his act: his children, wife, and mother. How many rivers of tears have been shed because of addiction? Each tear in the background of my painting represents a family member whose demise was hastened by his or her own addictions."

And I must qualify that by saying that cigarettes have been more deadly for my family than any other substance.

Spring Island Painting

Here is a little painting of a well-preserved slave house on Spring Island. It's astonishing to think how barbaric some Americans were in the not-that-distant past, and I think that's why we should keep reminders like this little house, so that we can aim for a higher level of the National character. It was all about money, just as the recent rampant greed on Wall Street was, and when it's all about money no good comes of it. People are still trafficking in humans today, and the sick, sick thought is, there are still customers.

Weird Week

My head is spinning. Deaths in in-law's families this week, very sad. Got to see my grandchildren from Memphis, who just dazzled me with their brilliance. They are also very funny, and such talented artists. Anime' apparently is a great teacher of figure drawing. My 16-year-old granddaughter can draw figures in any pose, including very foreshortened ones. She's way ahead of where I was at her age!

Watching the economy reach scary lows and wondering where the bottom is. They let the fox watch the henhouse and were surprised when the chickens disappeared. Now if people would just realize that art increases in value...there must be a slogan there...Appreciate Art, Because Art Appreciates?

Voted early yesterday. It was raining, it was early morning, yet there were long lines. Pretty exciting. My county in Florida uses those ballots where you blacken an oval with a pen. It works. Why doesn't everyone do that? If we can only get through one election without my state held up for ridicule...come on, Florida, you can do it!

The Artist's Lament

There once was an artist named Lil,
Whose creative juices stood still.
She consulted her Muse,
Then she pondered her shoes,
And then got up to dust off the sill.

(And we've all been there.)

Small Paintings

Sunrise on the Island

Making Art in the Marshes

Just returned from Spring Island, SC, where I went with my peeps, the Pieces of 8. A fabulous time was had by all (staying in a house complete with pond and real alligator off the back deck), eating, relaxing, and painting the marshes. It was hot, muggy, and beautiful, and we couldn't wait to get there every day to paint. We didn't suffer too much--there was a clubhouse that provided refreshments and the covered dock had fans. It's amazing how the marshes change before your eyes. The light changed because we had storm clouds come and go, and the tide did a big mud reveal as it receded. Our annual artists' retreat is our chance to immerse ourselves in art all day every day--if we aren't making art we're talking about art. It's the only way to eliminate those distractions of everyday life, like pulling weeds and getting groceries. This year none of us fell out of a boat and I only stepped in my palette once. Now we need to paint those marshes larger and see if we can recall the emotion of being there.

Sunrise

This is a small painting, 9 x 12, of one of our glorious sunrises here on the Space Coast. I love to sit on the beach and photograph each stage of sunrise, with the changing light and the constantly moving water. Even the sand on the beach changes as the sun makes its slow rise above the Earth. In spite of hurricane panics, I love living in such a beautiful place.

Farewell, Hanna; Hello, Ike

Here we go again. And Ike is very scary. Hanna is dumping wind and rain on us right now (6:53 am Friday).

Here is what I wrote after Hurricane Floyd, in which we were trapped in a motel room with no power or water. It's called "The Hurricane Diet."

Two days before evacuation, prepare a hurricane kit that includes many batteries, first aid and nearly inedible canned meats.

Worry so much that you lose your appetite.

Work hard at packing up, preparing the outside of your house, etc. Sweat a lot.

Evacuate late and stay in a line of cars for eight hours. Don’t stop to eat, because it’s too hard to get back in line.

Settle in to your hotel.

If the storm turns your way, stock up on the same prison food you bought for home.

Hole up in your room without electricity or water and survive on Spam Spread, crackers, and bananas. You won’t eat much. It’s too disgusting.

When you head home, enjoy the air-conditioning in your car and recharge the cell phone.

Upon arriving home, start clearing debris. You will lose many pounds in the exercise known as the Debris Haul. It will be hot and humid and the pounds will melt off.

The Snake Jog is very beneficial for raising the heart rate and tightening leg muscles. Your high jump is worthy of the NBA.

After a few days of no electricity or fresh drinking water, you will notice quite a difference. You will be slimmer in spite of living on Vienna Sausages and food cooked on the grill. Your thinking will be dulled and you will be chock full of nitrites, but who cares? Check out that girlish waist!