back in the saddle again

Happy April, everyone! Yes, this blog post is overdue...life got busy, and then I got sick (a rare occurrence)...but I'm back in the saddle again! Here's a recap of what's been going on.

Saturday, March 19th was my most recent Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" event, St. CATrick's Day at Wild Oats Bakery and Cafe in Brunswick, and it was a lot of fun! I'm grateful to all of the friends, family, and friendly strangers who stopped by to support me (and to everyone who showed long-distance support by purchasing raffle tickets online, too: Lisa, Amy, Tim, and Julia- thank you). Together, we were able to raise nearly $170 for Coastal Humane Society! If you weren't able to make it, here are some photos of the event:

my setup!

saying "so long" to "Dragonfly Trinity"! 

nearing the finish line (photo by my fabulous sister, Addie Evans)

The tireless Keith Spiro was there for most of the day, documenting the event and promoting away; my sister, Addie, my brother-in-law, Marc, and my nieces, Hayley and Ella, made the trip all the way from Boston; my friend Amy came by to give me an early-morning hug; local musician Lorel Nazarro dropped in on her way out of town for the weekend; and my dear friend Heather Goulette of Monarch Massage and Yoga provided hugs, laughs, and a yummy chai latte! Naturally, my husband Terry was there to provide support (set-up help, hugs, calming my frayed nerves, the usual). Mike Gorzka from Curtis Memorial Library even stopped by to capture some video footage of the event! Can you tell I'm running on adrenaline? Thanks, Mike! I'm grateful to all of you...and I'm grateful to the owners and staff at Wild Oats for hosting me and making me feel so welcome. I must also give a hearty "thank you" and "congratulations" to the winner of "Green Lucky Cat," Kathleen Powers Vermaelen! It's nice knowing that my art has gone to a good home. Yay! Perhaps I'll even be able to visit the little guy one day...

thankfully, the paint on Kathleen's thumb is from another activity! 

In other news, some of you might recall that I've been asked to blog bi-weekly for Curtis Memorial Library. My most recent post is all about my current obsession with Tom Petty and the Warren Zanes book, "Petty: The Biography", so I took a shot and tweeted the link out to Warren Zanes himself. Imagine my surprise when he gave it a "like" and a "re-tweet"! The internet is an interesting place, isn't it? 

this made me happy. 

I think that's about it for now. If you're wondering when and where my next Brushstrokes With Impact (tm) "Paint-a-Thon" event will be, stay tuned...details will be coming soon!