TY Griffin

This card was so much fun to do.  My grandson Griffin fixed my fence for me as a Christmas gift.  There were several boards loose and some bent.  It turned out to be harder than I thought it would be, but he did it. So, I just painted a section of the fence as a thank you card. It was fun to let the colors bleed together.

Griffin is pretty great at helping out and last night tightened up a lightbulb that I thought needed to be replaced.  I'm glad he is close and always willing to help.  Thank you Griffin.

TY Sophia

Here's something to make me happy!  A magnet set for the fridge with words that inspire happiness:  words like "sunshine," "glow" and giggle.

My granddaughter Sophia (who is a generally happy person) selected it herself and gave it to me at Christmas with a bath bomb...which is also a way to make me happy.

I did this card a couple of weeks ago, but somehow didn't post it.  Now I will and get on with being happy.

New Bee Mug

A couple of months ago I experienced a major tragedy in my life.  I dropped my beloved bee mug and it crashed beyond reconstruction.  That is not entirely true.  I did glue the major pieces and it is now a pencil holder.  But we know a pencil holder is not as good as a mug.  It will never be a mug again.

On a recent visit to DC, Catherine brought me a new bee mug. Of course, it is not exactly the same.  In many ways, it is better. John did the work and I am grateful to him and Catherine for their dedication to getting me this new bee mug.  They know how I love it.

Just as history, I used to have art friends to my house every week for sketching.  Many sketched the bee mug, but the important thing was that the "artist of the day" got to use the bee mug for coffee or tea...or whatever.  Good memories.

In the Mood

I actually did this a couple of years ago, but set it aside thinking I would add something more.  I never did figure out what would improve it, so now have framed it and it is ready to submit to a juried show "Rhythm and Blues."  The gold is metallic, which doesn't come through in this image.  It is a gelli print with acrylic paint on black paper.  Something a little different for me.

TY Jeff

My brother Jeff came for a visit at Christmas, and that was the best gift of all.  The little painting for the thank you card is the castle at Connemara, Ireland.  He brought me a letter opener from Connemara.  He loves Ireland and all things Irish.  He also brought me a gift card for Amazon.  I thought just painting this little Irish scene was more interesting than a letter opener (though it is very pretty) or a gift card. 

Owlet in the Rain

This was my bird for "Draw a Bird" day January 8th.  I found the picture online and it just appealed to me.  He seems related to the hummingbird sheltered by a leaf that I did a couple of months ago. 

January 4 TY Louisa

I got a bunch of very creative stickers from "Santa" in my stocking.  I'm guessing Louisa put them there.  The one above is a woman's power symbol.  With flowery stuff instead of black in the design.  I just liked it, and used it as inspiration for my thank you card. I added the watery black background.  Some of the other ones were fun, too, like one that says "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet" and a couple of ones featuring Van Gogh.   One made me cry a little "The mountains are calling and I must go" because it reminded me of Howard....it's on the trail sign for his trail. 

There was more from Louisa and her family, including some magnets for poems about DC.  That should be entertaining.  The big gift was a book about Black Mountain College. I just didn't want to make a painting of it, but I love the book.

January 1,2,3

I began 2020 by making a commitment to paint at least 15 minutes everyday.  It's part of a group challenge called Art 365.  I know, 2020 has 366 days, but that's not something to worry about.  I started with thank you cards. 

January 1 was a thank you to Nancy, who sent me a great dishtowel with an Oregon theme....in watercolor.  I just painted the barista coffee and included the green background.

January 2 features a pin from Jan that looks like my cat Jerry.  She also sent me a very fun Starbucks ornament, but I only painted the cat.

January 3 was a challenge.  I get Moravian cookies every year from my sister and brother-in-law.  My sister-in-law and my late husband, were raised as Moravians, so that is an acknowledgement of that.  And they are delicious.   I have painted the cookie tin, a Moravian star, churches, and cookies in previous years.  This  time I went on-line to find a picture of a woman in traditional Moravian dress.  At least, that is my belief---I can't read the language,  It was fun to keep it simple.