"Spilling Out in France"

"Spilling Out in France"

12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

$550

I love the way color, flowers, sunshine and the like can just "spill" out. Like a glass filled to overflowing--it has to go somewhere. 

And as spills go, if it's sunshine, flowers, color and the like--France is a great place for it to happen:))!

As promised, the closing chapter in the Atlanta 2012 workshop saga:)) 

Gary and Aileen Byrd graciously opened their home and hearts to our artist group for our evening get togethers (but really, what else could they do.  Leslie is there sister--and you know how hard it can be to tell family no--especially when they're as cute as Leslie;)  

Our days were spent in spacious surroundings that is home to many workshops in Atlanta! 

 Leslie Saeta getting underway with a lesson on color mixing and values:))  She wields a mean palette knife!!

 Dottie and Dottie....per my last blog post reference to dots being connected. 

In case you're wondering, they are as mischievous as they look. 

 Must be something to do with the name...

Just a "snapshot"of some of the paintings from the artists on the second day!

And our beautiful group of artists (you too Garry!) in no particular order:))

Brenda, Virginia, Kathleen, Dottie, Suzette, Karen, Mary, Joyce, Wende, Dinah, Connie, Pat, Sharon, Denise, Durinda, Leslie, Jacklyn, Donna, Paula, Dottie, Carolyn, Judy, Linda, Marie, Connie, Robin, Tommye, Sharon, Christine, Theresa, Nancy, Elise, Garry, Raji, and Becky.

Art workshops bring out the best people and the best in people. Artists are a curious lot, ever growing, ever seeking to see things in a new way.  They are open, generous to a fault, and lovers of life.

I consider it an extraordinary honor to be able to share what I have learned thus far with folks like these:))

Thank you to all the artists that made Atlanta 2012 GREAT! 

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"Monday in Italy" SOLD

 "Monday in Italy"

12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

$550

Monday has long been tied to laundry day. 

It can also be the day a workshop begins:)) 

In my case, it was both. 

I "did the laundry" and it was the first day of the Atlanta workshop with fellow artist and friend, Leslie Saeta! 

35 painters from all across the US,

Texas to Florida,

 Kansas to New York,

gathered in for 5 days of painting, motivation, marketing, eating and laughter:)! 

Can I just tell you-- there was an abundance of all of the above:))

Garry held his own , Dot's were connected, and PHD's abounded. 

New friendships were made, and new (in) roads too;)

And I was not alone in my hanging of the laundry:)))

The first day of the workshop yielded some fine paintings!

Then came the dinners...

Smoked salmon, grilled chicken, great salads, lasagnas, blueberry cobblers and of course we nibbled on something chocolate ...we had to celebrate Valentine's Day properly;))! 

 Relaxing afer dinner conversations drew everyone closer together, as stories of where we had been and where we hoped to go with our art flowed.

Too much to cover in just one blog post, so stay tuned for the final episode of Atlanta 2012, complete with smiling faces of all the great artists that attended!!

P.S.  Pasadena, CA Workshop/2012  with Leslie and myself has space in it for you!  Read  about the upcoming 5 Day Oil Painting workshop by clicking here.

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"Priceless Books and Friends"

Priceless

I am so grateful for the people in my life.  When I think about them, it brings home again what the real beauty and meaning in everything we do is about.  
It is not about who gets the most marbles in their bag.  


(Note: I have been losing mine for years so I have never been very good at that game:))

True people enrich our lives in ways that neither we or they even begin to know.  That feeling of love and acceptance is as necessary to thriving in life as good food, sunshine and air.  

For every true person one has in their life, it is like having a check with a blank space to be filled in for abundance.  

Those true connections are what is behind, underneath, between and above all the other "stuff" we fill our lives with in our headlong rush to success. 

  Those feelings of making it and proving ourselves are already there in the eyes of true friends. 

  It's like they see into us and know what we don't yet realize-- 

 that we are 

priceless:)))


Happy Note:  I received, on the same day, two beautiful books from two true friends who don't know each other---but probably should:))
Thank you Lynda and Faye
You are rich additions to my life:))


The books above are The French Cat and One Thousand Gifts.  In true fashion, I am trying to read both at once....I get a little crazy when it comes to books:))
I figured you might want to join me, so I added them to the store---just click here:))) 


P.S.  I am in Atlanta finishing up a wonderful workshop--will post details in my next post.  It has been a very FULL week:)))  with lots of painting, meeting fantastic artists, cooking and eating:))) -- with my wonderful co-host and artist friend, Leslie Saeta!

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"Sabbath Song Sunflower" SOLD

"Sabbath Song Sunflower"

12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

$550

"Perhaps when I started loving my life

 it began loving me back."

Reminder!  For those of you following the "Free Eddie" fundraiser, the auction ends 9 PM/EST on Tuesday, Feb 14--Valentine's Day!  All proceeds are headed to P.A.W.S. which help over 2,000 cats and dogs each year.  That's a lot of LOVE!!  You can check in on the auction by clicking here:))

Eddie says he can't believe the bid hasn't hit the one million dollar mark, but is gloating that it has exceeded my prediction of 50 cents.....;)

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"Free Eddie" SOLD

"Free Eddie"

12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

Auction Style Format

Fund Raiser (Click to Bid) for PAWS Animal Shelter 

Go big or go home.
That is all I have heard from Eddie this week.
I was going to do my usual 8 x 8in size of him for the fund raiser but
one would think this was his idea by the way he's been acting and not from the mind of Phyllis to save his furry butt from Santa's wrath.

Never mind the "Fine Print" attitude we all endured when he signed away his modeling fees--now that he is getting all the glory for "helping the little people"--- he has been flaunting his fur around the house for days, padding back and forth, trying out different "staging" scenarios for the portrait.  And slinging out the go big or go home mantra.

When I informed him I was bigger than him and I was already home.....he intimated that he had been having digestive problems of late and that a hair ball or two might just turn up somewhere really unpleasant.

What can I say...I caved.

So there you have it. 
A 12 x 12 of Eddie the Cat, free of modeling fees and hairballs. 
Hence the title, Free Eddie

The auction will go for 7 days and ends on Valentine's Day at 9 PM EST.  All proceeds from the auction style sale will be donated to the Paris Animal Shelter (P.A.W.S.)

Please Note:  It is worth mentioning that Eddie himself was adopted from an animal shelter (click here for story) .  Please know that like most TV weight loss commercials, Eddie does not represent typical results....THANK GOODNESS:)))  There are wonderful animals adopted out every day from shelters everywhere and this money will help keep that act of love in motion:))

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"Running Wild" SOLD

"Hidden"

12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

$550

Running Wild

“It takes strength to be still when others rush.  It takes courage to go against the stream....”                                                                                                     ~Leo Babauta

Boy, is that the truth!

The frantic pace at which life’s current seems to be running, one almost feels compelled   to start running with the troop, even when you are not sure why they are running or where they are running too---we’re just afraid we may be left behind if we don’t get our feet to shufflin’!

We are, after all, part of the human Race--yikes, is that a Freudian slip or what:)!*?

Creating in stillness, the path for yourself --- therein lies the  real magic.  

It is then that you run with purpose, with Knowing, with love.

Resist the urge to run for the sake of running.  Let your feet find their rhythm matched to the Stillness within.

“Practice stillness, and the stillness becomes a canvas upon which you can paint the masterpiece of your life.”                        

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                       ~Leo Babauta

"Hidden", in France

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"Back to a Weird State of Normal"

Just arrived last night from Marco Island.  A few items somehow turned up in my luggage.  In my defense, they had tagged them with words like..."Life is Good" and "Live life enjoy color"

they may as well of said-- take me, I'm yours:)))

 Live    Life   Enjoy   Color

 SMILE (It's Contagious)

 

I returned home with: 

Wet Paintings

Overweight luggage:))

Key Lime Pie on my breath

Sea shells

Sand dust on more than a few things 

Some errant lizards (those in the workshop know what I'm talking about:))

A thicker journal

Priceless memories of:

Dinner --at the Sanborn house. On the menu?  Laughter, love, joy, and the world's best key lime pie!!!

Women-- who shared the workshop experience, whose faces I saw full of hope, wisdom, readiness, love, and all manner of amazing things (when you have the rare privilege to stand before a group, always take it--it's amazing the beauty you will see from that vantage point)

Skies---daybreak, raining, dusk, and midnight, all one of a kind canvases for my viewing pleasure

Quietness---early morning, late at night-- the vastness of the ocean and the skies beckoned

 "be still my soul"

I am, for the moment, back home.

Back to my studio

My bed

My Kentucky sky

And Eddie

Which means, things are back too

A weird state of normal:)))

Please Note:  I will be posting shortly the painting of Eddie that will be sold auction style with all proceeds going to the PAWS animal shelter.

The auction will end, appropriately, on February 14,

Valentine's Day!

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