Painting #9 Adobe Vines

Adobe Vines  24" x 30"

Black lines again! I am hooked, not sure why but it is an art style that really attracts me. I know when I buy books for my classroom I am particularly prone to those with black line drawings and lots of juicy colors. Like the illustrations by David Diaz, in children's author Eve Bunting's books Smoky Night and Going Home. So gorgeous! Follow this link to see some of  David Diaz's work. Follow this link to find out more about Eve Bunting and the 250 books she's written!

Lately I've also been getting into my doodling roots--I've been an avid doodler since I was a kid and doodle all over everything. And doodles are slowly but surely creeping into my paintings--like the leaves with the designs. I find doing this kind of detailed work focuses me and pulls me into the painting in a way that nothing else seems to.

I love the colors in this painting. Very Mexican town-ish. The turquoise and terracotta contrast well and add to the overall feel of the piece. The finer black lines and spirals in the vine leaves and flowers, help to create movement and flow. I used a bumpy piece of cardboard from a cupholder to stamp brown spots on the large vine stems, to create some texture.

I sent a text picture of this one to my brother. He'd seen some of pictures of my other work when I was in Seattle and we were visiting our mom. I had showed him a picture of Fernz and a few others, which he liked. When I showed my mom the pix of Fernz, she blurted out, "That's disgusting." We cracked up. I am not sure what mom thought she saw, but I was afraid to ask for clarification. Somethings you really don't need to know. After all, everyone has their own tastes, especially when it comes to art. My brother on the other hand, text me that he thought Adobe Vines was and I quote, "frigging awesome!" Good enough for me, so I sent it to him for a birthday present.

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Painting #8 Ladders

Ladders 24" x 30"

Bold black lines! I don't know what attracts me so much about black lines in paintings and drawings. This painting started with great marks. However, once I began filling in areas with pink, chartreuse or green, it wasn't really going anywhere. This is a usually a stopping place for me in most of my work--the transition from beautiful chaos into becoming the painting it wants to be. I listen for hints and whispers of inspiration. This canvas was very loud about the black lines. So I grabbed a mid-sized brush and dipped into the black and just let my arm go. This was more angular than I expected, but I  liked where it was going. It was fun because I was still fresh from Flora's class in Portland and remembered her sage advice to focus in on a small area that you liked. I did that over and over moving from one area to the next until it just seemed to come together. It became a thing to add ladders or steps to connect all areas of the painting. So if for some reason I became really small and fell into this painting I could climb anywhere. Bizarre, I know. I was tempted to name this one "Crooked Streets" but ladders was a theme so that's what it became. I really like how the perspective shifts in funny ways. Overall, it is interesting to stare at, my eyes continually rove. I have to say this is one of my favorites.

Painting #7 Kristen's Daisies & Painting with the Grands

Kristen's Daisies 4"x 4"

Kristen's Daisies is a tiny little 4" x 4" painting I did for the wonderful woman I work with for her birthday. You guessed it, her name is Kristen. This is our last year of working together, after nine good years, as I am retiring and she is going to graduate school. I was experimenting with painting very small. This was one of my first. I've started 3 canvases that are even smaller, 2" x 2".

I recently read about the Art Abandonment Project and thought it would be fun to try it with the little paintings. The idea for the project came from Michael and Andrea Matus deMeng's book of the same name. The project revolves around artists of all types creating random acts of art and leaving their creations in various locations around the globe. Sometimes with little messages and sometimes not. I always liked the idea of finding treasure but the idea of leaving treasures for others is even better! My goal is to make a few and leave them around Hilo town during Christmas time.

This past October I had the pleasure of spending 5 days with my granddaughter, Kiana, her husband Andrew and their two kids. Pua is 3 years old and Kekai is 5 years old. I took a big bag full of paints, brushes, canvases and other fun stuff to make art with the kids while I was there. 

Kiana & Pua painting together.

During our first painting session, the kids choose the colors they wanted and did their thing. They definitely had their own ideas of how and what they would paint and I realized right away they did not need my direction.

Pua's Painting #2 above and #3 below.

Pua choose warm bright colors as her palette: reds and yellows. She liked mixing pink when we added some white so that became one of her trademark moves. She also liked using lots of water with her paint, the biggest brushes I had, and the foam roller. Her pictures usually had puddles on them but once they dried were beautiful.      

Kekai liked all colors and had a great mixing style. He would add each new color on top of the old one and mix away with his brush. Each new color was an exciting discovery.

Kekai mixing purple in painting #2.

                                 

Kekai's finished painting #1.

Kekai showing his favorite animal cu

Kekai's painting #2:
more color mixing and etching on canvas

We also made fun crazy cut-out animals with scrape pieces of paper and marker pens. When you hang out with little kids all they want to do is play! I had such a fun time. I can't wait to go back and do it again.

BTW, if you are on my email list and want to leave a comment please go to my blog at terryjwalker.blogspot.com. For some reason (at least until I figure it out) you can't leave comments on the email version--even though it takes you to the comment page. As soon as I fix that glitch I'll let you know. Thanks!

Floating Heliconia #6

Floating Heliconia 18" x 24" 

Floating Heliconia continues my tradition of painting bizarre plants inspired from my yard and neighborhood. Part of my thing is I am not a realist--in any sense of the word! In this case, meaning I can only paint things that look like their counterpart in the physical realm with a lot of grunt and effort. Painting then becomes un-fun very quickly. So, I paint my weird interpretations of what I see 'out there' filtered through the lens of my inner eye.
I had a lot of fun painting the marks on this canvas. I was attached and didn't want to cover them up. I had outlined many large heliconia leaves so I had a good excuse to show-off all my cool marks. The overall feel was crowded and out of balance. I slowly, with sighs and resignation covered them up. I did give myself all the little circle shapes as a consolation prize and was able to make some of them part of the heliconia flower and others, floating seedpods. You may have noticed in my paintings (or you will in the future) circles and spirals are some of my favorite shapes to doodle.
Although there is a lot of pale turquoise in the background, I attempted to break it up with texture and some pink paint. I like this painting, I think it is interesting to look at and think about. When I finished it a few years ago I was not so sure how I felt about it. When my neighbor, Judith saw it and said she liked it, I gave it to her. Now it hangs in her house and when I visit I always enjoy saying hello.

On a different note, it has always bugged me that when I did my blog on my second painting Palmz that I didn't have the photo of the early morning sunrise through the palm trees that inspired me. This morning on my way home from checking the surf, (which was wild and pretty junk so I didn't go out) I saw this in my rearview mirror and stopped and took this photo. Feels good to finally have the picture posted.

Cosmic Tree: Painting #5

Cosmic Tree 18" x 24"

The inspiration for Cosmic Tree came from a leaf my cat brought me. "Whaaat, your cat brought you a what?" I know, sounds crazy, but the deal is I have a cat named Mr. Chubbs whose main job in life is to bring us (my husband and me) leaves. From the time Chubs was a year old he would find a leaf in the yard and bring it back to the house yowling the whole way to announce his latest acquisition. He collects a variety of leaves from all over the acre we live on. Today I was finally able to get a picture of him with the leaf in his mouth. Sorry, it's a little blurry but I've been trying to get a picture forever. He usually drops the leaf as soon as he sees me but today I had my phone ready and snuck out, aimed and snapped. It's not a great shot but it'll do. Today's leaf was from an avocado tree. The leaf that inspired my painting was a kukui nut tree leaf.

On the painting, I outlined the leaf shapes on the right and then filled in the background area with the terra-cotta-orangish color, some chartreuse and white. I used my finger to lay on the paint and blend and smear the colors. The long thin shape next to that felt like a tree trunk to me but seemed a little plain. I was inspired to put in little doodle shapes--triangles, lines, dots and suns. I have been a avid doodler since I was a little kid so this spoke to me loud and clear.

The more the painting progressed, the more doodley things happened. I love how free I feel when I am doing these small details. They are not in all my paintings but I feel they are definitely a part of my developing painting style. Not sure how it all fits together but I like these details, the way I am inspired to paint them, and how they look.

I was basically done with the outside areas but the middle was a black hole. Then I saw the face and realized it was a cosmic tree spirit. She is holding a basket of stars and a galaxy, maybe the Milky Way. (BTW, she is a doorway to the Universe. Trees are access points to enter her domain.) Most of her face was already on the canvas, and I just added the eye and the mouth. Once I had her face, her body and her cloak of the universe fell into place. The whole vibe feels very southwest Native American. I am not sure where that came from as I don't really have any connections there. However I received it, I appreciate whoever sent it. It is my favorite painting so far! 

Diving into the Rest of My Life & Kelly Rae Roberts

Diving into the Rest of My Life  11"x14" wooden board

I've been subscribing to Kelly Rae Unscripted for the past few months. Kelly Rae Roberts is a wonderful mixed media artist, and a lovely person. Her art is a soul-full collage/painting mix of angels or little ladies with great, deep quotes that makes you smile and feel good when you see it. In the Unscripted weekly video she creates a piece of art, all the while chatting about life and things. She is joined most times by her sidekick and office manager, Nicole and her dog Lulu. It is not a painting lesson but more of a "let's hang and create together and be art buddies" kind of experience. During the video I am working right along side her. I made the above piece while my art buddy, Kelly Rae, worked on hers. You can find Kelly Rae at http://www.kellyraeroberts.com.

Queen of My Heart  5"x7" flat canvas

Another little piece I did is called "Queen of my Heart". It is a birthday present for my granddaughter, who just turned 26 years old. This is her in the first grade celebrating her birthday at school. She was queen for a day. It is one of my favorite pictures of her. When I go to the mainland next week I will see her and the family. Can't wait to give it to her. I love sharing art!







The inspiration for Diving into the Rest of My Life came when I was driving to the beach one morning and thinking about retiring. This piece of a quote rolled through my mind, "diving into the rest of my life" and I knew I wanted to use it in my art. Also being inspired by Kelly Rae, I knew I would make a collage and use it on that. So below is the collage part. I put in pictures and words for all the things I want to be doing once I retire.

Diving into the Rest of My Life Collage

Lots of art making, writing, (I'm finishing up 2 books at the present moment: Swims: Adventures with Hawaiian Spinners and Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. My goal is to finish and publish both by end of 2017, when I retire. I am really close.) photography, sailing, (Norman, my husband, dreams of sailing to all the surf spots in the Pacific Ocean.) surfing, traveling, and living and loving life! I had a lot of fun doing the collage.

Using a black sharpie, I drew the girl diving and waves, bubbles and sun. Then I gessoed over most of it. I got this technique (collage, black sharpie drawing and gesso) from a wonderful and free tutorial for kids on the Internet. I have searched for it but can't find it yet, and don't remember the artist's name. When I find it I will credit her. I put a little too much gesso and covered up more than I really wanted but by the time I figured that out it was already dry. So, I sanded it with fine grit sandpaper and was able to subtly uncover stuff. I added some color, sanded some more and stamped my phrase and words in the bubbles.

Even though you can't really see the collage anymore, I know what's underneath and love looking at my vision of my future each morning when I roll out of bed.

Kekai's Rainbow Fish: Painting #3 & Pua's Little Birds: Painting #4

Kekai's Rainbow Fish 12"x18"

This little painting was a 3rd birthday present for my great grandson, Kekai. His name in Hawaiian means the sea, so I thought I'd paint something oceany.

Having 2 great grandchildren means when I do something for one it's usually good to do it for the other. Why? Well, I still remember when my sister and I were in school in California. It was the beginning of the school year, I was entering the second grade and Michele, my sister, was going into third. My grandma bought Michele a special present because she was now a third grader. I didn't get anything. I asked my grandma and she explained that when I was in third grade I would get a present, too. Okay, great, but then at the end of the school year we moved to Hawaii. I never got my special third grade present, a tube of Ipana toothpaste and a new toothbrush. Yes, I am that old. Is there anybody who even remembers Ipana toothpaste besides Norman my husband. How's about that catchy song "brush-a, brush-a, brush-a, with the new Ipana..." and that icon of good teeth their spokesperson(?) Bucky Beaver. Oh well, I got Hawaii!

Sorry, back to the point, I also painted a picture for Pua, Kekai's little sister.

Pua's Little Birds 12"x18"

I picked birds for Pua because she liked them and always pointed to them when they flew by. She was one year old at the time. It's been a few years since I painted these and the kids each have them hung in their rooms at their eye level. They love to touch them and show them off, which I think is so cool. Art should be accessible to kids.

I am going to visit them over Fall Break, in a few weeks, and am taking a bag of painting goodies so we can all paint together. Can't wait!

Lifebook 2015: A Left Turn Into Mixed-Media!

One of my quirky birds from a
 lesson with Tamara LaPorte 

This week, I take a left turn to talk about mixed-media art, how I discovered it and how valuable it has been for my confidence and progression as an artist. When I found Flora's website for the first time (September, 2014) I was ready to start painting right away, but had to wait to February. She had a link on her site to this year-long art event called Lifebook 2015, in which she was one of the guest artists. I checked it out, liked what I saw and signed up, and still had to wait until January, 2015, 4 long months away!
Lifebook is the brainchild of Tamara LaPorte from Willowing Arts, an artist from England with a fun, quirky style. Besides Lifebook, she offers lots of fun short classes, some for free. The little bird was from her "Quirky Birds" online class.
In Lifebook, you pay a one-time fee of around $125 for a year's worth of mixed-media art lessons from lots of cool artist and Tam, herself. There is a lesson a week and a monthly theme. I know it sounds like I am promoting Lifebook, and maybe I am because for me (who knew nothing about the magical Internet art community) it was a doorway into the wonderful world of mixed-media and lots of incredible artists of many diverse styles.

January finally rolled around and I got my first lesson. It was a piece that centered on New Year's resolutions and intentions for 2015. We were supposed to incorporate our ideas into our mixed media collage. I jumped right in and immediately sank! I tried to do my own thing, following directions but making my own color choices and such. I didn't have a lot of the supplies Tam used but carried on using what I had. My piece didn't look anything like Tam's, not that I expected it to be exact but OMG! It was so truly awful that I will spare all of you from having to look at it here. I do keep it though, just as a reminder that we all have to start somewhere. My ego definitely took a hit on this one, I mean, come on, I was always the artsy one in the family.

"Beacon of Light"

A week later, I was a bit recovered and ready for the next lesson. It was called "Beacon of Light" and I was shocked when I saw it. It was a big-headed, big-eyed, skinny armed, no legs girl. I was like, "I am not painting that!" I had thought I'd get more Flora type projects. I rebelled for 3 weeks until I relaxed and realized it was a learning experience and I really knew NOTHING about how to do mixed-media art (especially based on my New Year's piece) so I dove in. I decided to just copy exactly what Tam had done (she said that was okay to do that) and thought it went against my "I am an artist and create my own masterpieces" self-image, I did just that.
The following pictures are a few of my Tam pieces from Lifebook 2015. All credit for the ideas and images go to Tam. I take credit for being an amazing copycat! After finishing "Beacon of Light" I was quite pleased with myself and looked forward to each week's lessons.

"Courage dear Heart"

The tight-rope walker on the right was not a Tam lesson, but a project by Patti Ballard called "Courage Dear Heart. I added her because of my extreme left turn into liking painting skinny big-headed girls. Although it is a total copycat of Patti's picture I am still proud of it.

"Seeds of Love"

"Seeds of Love" was my second Tam lesson. I was starting to get a little more confident but not enough to do my own thing. I have a few of my own ideas in this piece but it is mostly Tam's work I copied.
And I have to say even though I was copying, it was valuable and I learned a lot about how to do mixed-media. I was always a collage person but never took it this far with all the paint, stamps, pens, ink sprays, little drawings and other cool embellishments.

"Layers of Your Heart"

This piece on the left, "Layers of Your Heart" sealed the deal for me and mixed-media. The greenish page in the background is a cool envelope for all the hearts. I did copy that but the hearts are my own, inspired by Tam's. Each heart has 2 sides of art and are about things I love and am grateful for. This was the first time I did a Lifebook project that was truly meaningful for me, based on my own process and internal knowing. I still get a thrill every time I look at these hearts. I have since started a mixed-media vision journal and my style there continues to follow this lead. It is very personal and very satisfying.

"It's the Little Things"

                                                                          Tam did several 2 page spreads in her lessons. I did learn more about doing faces, which she is very good at, also shading and embellishments. All of the lessons were done on heavy weight watercolor paper, rather than canvases. This style of picture and my end result are not one of my favorites and after doing the hearts I was really wanting more of that type of project.

"You are Wise"

When I did "You are Wise" I closely followed Tam's 

directions and style. I really love how it came out. 

I am very clear that this is not my style (though I am 

not sure yet what is!) or the direction I want to take 

with my art. However, what has served me in 

mimicking Tam so  closely is a steep learning curve 

into mixed-media. I find I love it as much as I love 

painting. I need to diverse and express myself in 

different ways and this is so very satisfying. 

Thanks, Tamara LaPorte for an incredible learning 

opportunity!

You can find Tam at: http://www.willowing.org

Palmz: Painting #2

Palmz 18"x 24"

Driving to the beach early one morning to go surfing, the sun was rising and the sky was an incredible palette of pale yellows and light blues. The scrub forest along the road obscured the view but occasionally opened up so we could see the sunrise over the ocean. One place in particular had a panoramic view of the sky that was fringed with palm trees. The silhouettes of the palm fronds against those subtle pale colors was the inspiration for Palmz.

I indulged my palm fantasy and created strange new species of palms for this piece. There are many varieties of palms in my neighborhood and I studied them a lot, but I didn't want realism, mainly because I couldn't pull it off. Underneath this mild mannered palm scene are layers of chaos, frustration and many, many smothered and smeared-in palms. I had painted palms of all sizes and shapes, color schemes and arrangements, most of which were a disaster. I painted one bad idea after another as I tried to make it look like the early morning palm-fringed sky. Each layer I covered over with new marks and tried again. This went on for about a month. I was definitely trying too hard. Still not quite getting the intuitive flow and trying to control the outcome.

One day, in a state of ease and letting go of any preconceived ideas about how this painting should turn out, I used a foam brush and happened to create what looked like cool trunks. Following the fun, I outlined those trunks with black wavy lines and things unfolded from there. Having the palm fronds attach to the tree in a natural way was a challenge and I don't think I  pulled it off. I would find and lose my flow a lot in this painting's process. I think that is pretty obvious just looking at the painting. However, there are enough cool things happening in Palmz and the eye does keep moving around the canvas so it's not a big deal.

I felt satisfied when I finished this painting. I usually hang my latest painting on my living room wall across from where I like to sit and read. So, it's only natural I stare at it a lot. Part of me is in awe that I did it at all, but the other part is picking it apart mentally re-doing all the things I don't like so much. Way too much staring. A good idea: finish a painting, let it go and move on to the next one.

Fernz Cont'd.

I was getting ready to write about my second painting when I found a series of photos that showed the progression of Fernz through the layers of mark making. I no longer take photos of the early stages of my paintings for obvious reasons. However, I thought it was interesting to see what I went through with that painting. I think there was a direct correlation with my level of confidence and how chaotic these are. I really didn't have a clue what I was doing save for a little sense of color and a big sense of adventure. I found that I felt really good painting despite my lack of knowing, and that was a breakthrough for me. I liked the good feelings more than I disliked feeling out of my element. 

Following the flow of the layers shows how hard I was trying to find something in my painting I could relate too. It takes courage to keep going with an open mind and heart when the immediate results are so ugly. But in this process it seems most paintings go through an ugly stage. The brave part is sticking with it despite how awful it looks! This being my first painting I really thought I was the exception to Flora's process and there

                 

       

                                   


was meaning somewhere in those smears of color. I really searched, I yearned for images to work with. I was sure this was an ocean scene (see the left one directly above). I added some dolphin shapes,wave-ish lines and some nautilus swirls and lost my flow completely. The canvas sat in a corner for months. One day I picked it up added some color and found a fern. It progressed from there to Fernz and a gigantic feeling of accomplishment and a little more trust in the process of intuitive painting.

Fernz: Painting #1

Fernz 18" x 24"

For a long time I was a photographer. Mostly, I took pictures of nature, lots of plants and the volcano which is about 15 miles down the road and was very active at the time. I used to drive to the end of the road at 4am, park the car and hike a mile or so in the dark over fields of pahoehoe lava. Just me with my trusty little flashlight and several cameras. I went out for months and got miles of film and thousands of pictures. I would set up my tripod with the camcorder, planting it in a prime spot to capture the best footage, and then wander around with my Olympus digital and get up close and personal. I used to take my images and make posters and postcards to sell.

Waikupanaaha Eruption, 7/22/2008

Plants was my other photographic passion. Now, you're probably thinking, "Passionate about plants, hmmm. Volcanoes, yes! But plants?" I used to go on a 3 mile walk everyday in my neighborhood and always took my camera. I never got tired of photographing the plants. In a weeks time I probably shot all the different plants on the street but never tired of taking more pictures. Why? The light and shadow at different times of day, the patterns and textures, the combinations of plants, how the weather effected all of it, and on and on. The plants always had something new, beautiful and awe-inspiring to show me each time I went. Different from volcano action certainly but just as profound in a humble plant sort of way. I used to take my photos and morph them into mandalas and other healing images. I had this idea that just looking at these images was as healing as taking flower essences or using essential oils. My business at that time was called Images That Heal. I talked to plants and they started talking back. They gave me little tips about how to combine my pictures of different plants to create a healing image, and how those images affected whoever looked at them. It was very woowoo, very magical and lots of fun.

Blue Flowers Mandala

So, why am I rattling on about photography and talking to plants in a painting blog? Because my obsession with trying to capture the essence and simplistic beauty of plants has never left me. Photography opened up for me new ways of seeing and communicating with the world around me and I find I am now trying to do that with my paints. It is definitely different but also very much the same. My eyes are still searching for that elusive something I am trying to capture in my work, only now I am searching for it within.

Orange Flowers Mandala

Fernz was the first painting I completed when I took Flora Bowley's Bloom True E-course (can't recommend that enough! Go to florabowley.com for more information and great painting experiences.) It took me a long time to finish my painting. I had 4 canvases I was working on simultaneously, but really didn't know how to get out of the mark-making and layering loops I was stuck in. These are techniques of Flora's and they are profound and extremely helpful to beginning painters. It's the finishing that can be more of a challenge, at least for me! Anyway, at the time I was painting in an open area under the house and there were lots of ferns growing around. Once I noticed them I was on my way back to re-discovering why I loved ferns so much as a photographer and how I could now express that with paint.

Fernz was my first brave, bold attempt to do that, moving beyond all the nagging doubts: I don't know how to paint; I have no idea what I am doing; everyone will laugh at this, at me; who am I trying to kid; and on and on. Finishing Fernz shut those voices down for a few precious moments and gave me a dazzling glimpse into who I was beyond fear--as an artist! At least for long enough to begin again. And so the cycle goes and each time it completes I am a little more confident that I can express myself a bit more eloquently or outrageously or  however it is I want to paint. Painting is so cool!

I've taken Fernz off the wall a couple of times since I've finished it and have made adjustments, fixing this thing or that thing that bugged me. No matter, it is one of my favorites and will always be special to me because it was the beginning of this wild and crazy painting adventure.

100 paintings

Aloha and welcome to my blog, 100 Paintings! I am a beginning painter and I thought it would be cool to document my first 100 paintings.

It seems to be a common sentiment among successful painters that you have to paint at least 100 paintings to develop a style. Some painters say more, I've heard up to 1,000. Well, I am on #16, and that's taken me 2 years. Though, I did most of those, 13, in the last 9 months. 

I first heard about the 100 paintings thing at Flora Bowley's Bloom True Workshop in Portland in November, 2015. It was such a fabulous experience and in those four days so many things clicked for me in my heart and mind around expressing myself with paint. I came home fired up to paint, and do several times a week. I work full time as a teacher so I paint after school and weekends or occasionally, if the surf is blown out, I paint before work. Sometimes, 10 minutes is all I have but I've learned to center in quickly and do what I can when I can.

Flora & me at the Bloom True Workshop, Portland, Nov 2015

I always wanted to paint but for some strange reason I had this idea in my head (for most of my life) I would paint when I retire. I've been creative and making stuff in all kinds of art forms since I was a kid but for some odd reason painting got stuck on the retirement pedestal. Two years ago I was at the Hilo library and found this wonderful brand new book called "Brave Intuitive Painting". I devoured it in one sitting and went online to find Flora. It was late August and her September Bloom True online class was full. I put my name on the waiting list for the next one in February, 2014. I took the 5 week class stretched out over 6 months and began learning how to paint. I loved Flora's style and techniques. I loved most of all that painting was so satisfying and I could paint anything I wanted and it didn't have to look at all like 'real life'! Thanks, Flora for being such a catalyst for me. 

I don't know what's going to happen down the line once I finish the first 100 paintings, but I am committed to completing them and then we'll see. So far I haven't discovered any obvious style but I am discovering my likes, dislikes and tendencies that are interesting to me.

Because this is my blog I am going to start with my first painting and tell all about it. Each week, or maybe sooner because I am so excited about doing this bog, I will spin the stories of each of the paintings I've done, in chronological order, until I am caught up to the present. Hang in there with me, my paintings are evolving and so am I, and it's a fun ride!