sweet

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to Jessica Gorton, owner of Sweet Leaves Tea House in Brunswick, Maine. Jessica was kind enough to give me a show. I was the Sweet Leaves featured artist for July...and she kept a lot of my work up until just a couple of weeks ago! I am grateful to Jessica for the unusually long exposure and for the sales to her clients.

reconnecting

I've noticed that I've been doing a lot of reconnecting over the last six months, and it feels good. Far away family, friends I haven't seen in a long time, even my former babysitter--we have been communicating and it feels good. On New Year's Day, I had a five-hour phone conversation with my friend Julia...how's that for reconnecting? (We saw each other over the summer and we email, but busy schedules don't always allow us to be in touch on a regular basis.) I've even reconnected with my yoga practice, having started at a new studio a little under a year ago, which has really breathed new life into it. (I had never stopped doing yoga, but I never really realized that I was in a bit of a rut until I started at the new place.)

Most of all, I have reconnected with the process of painting. In the past, I would go through spurts of working, followed by droughts of not working. I would feel terrible during the droughts, and the longer they lasted, the worse I'd feel. During my spurts, I would work until I felt drained, and then the drought would begin again. Now, I paint every day (when I'm home, that is) for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes it's only 30 minutes, which is fine...everyday work and life doesn't always allow for more time. However, sometimes 30 minutes turns into 45 minutes, or an hour, or two hours, or more. This way of working has caused me to be a lot more productive, plus it avoids the whole process of beating myself up because I haven't painted in x amount of time. Right now I have four paintings going at once, which I don't think has ever happened before; plus, I have tons of ideas for new paintings. I guess self-discipline works for me. Now I just have to discipline myself to write this blog more often!

nailed

I'm curious...is it possible to paint on a regular basis AND have nice-looking nails? My nails always look like crap and I think that one of the contributing factors may be because I am a painter. Of course, genetics and the fact that meticulous grooming was never emphasized when I was growing up may have something to do with it. I have always been a messy painter and it is guaranteed that while I am working I will end up with at least one of the following: paint on the floor, on my clothes, in my hair, on my face, under my nails.

My husband Terry and I are going to New Hampshire to spend New Year's Eve with his sister Heather. In short, Heather is beautiful inside and out. She is warm, kind, intelligent, fun, and always perfectly put together. To say that her nails are the opposite of mine would be accurate. My awareness of how bad my nails really are is always heightened when I am near her. Not because of anything she says or does, of course: she is not a judgemental or superficial person. However, I do have eyes, and I can't help but notice the disparity. Perhaps one of my goals for 2008 should be to find a way to work and pay attention to the appearance of my hands. I suppose I ought to take better care of what I hold my brush with. I practice yoga on a daily basis and yoga is all about finding balance, so maybe I can think about it in those terms. I'm sure that's not what the ancient yogis had in mind, but what the hell?

my first entry!

Okay, this is my first time blogging and it feels weird. I've never been one to keep a diary or anything like that; whenever I would try it as a kid, after a few days I would read what I had written and inevitably tear it up. I don't really have any pearls of wisdom to impart, so if that's what you're looking for, you should probably go elsewhere. If not, feel free to stick around!

Is it okay to admit that I really don't like stretching my own canvas? I usually use the pre-stretched, pre-primed stuff and generally speaking, I have no complaints. I tried it again the other day...my staple gun kept jamming (which was aggravating) and I couldn't quite get the canvas tight enough. Perhaps I will bring it to the Art Guru tonight and see what Jeremy thinks about it (can this canvas be saved?).

Today is the opening of a holiday group show that I'm in at The Art Guru (104 Main St., Gorham, ME, 207-839-6138). All works on display are $199 or less and are supposed to be 12" x 12" or smaller. However, as everyone knows, artists don't like rules, so some entries are in fact larger. Jeremy, being fair-minded, decided to limit those entrants to just one piece (as opposed to two), which I think is a good compromise. The weather forecast is cold but clear, so hopefully the turnout will be decent. We'll see!