Well, it's been a hot minute since I had a chance to work on this website. SO much since August! A quick trip to the beach to check out the place and come back to Tennessee home a few days prior to another foot surgery. Had one on the other foot a year ago, and now recovering from this one. Only a couple of weeks out, and it is hard to do nothing except elevate your foot for a couple of months. I've tried ink pen drawings( new for me) and will try pencil sketching as well. Nothing replaces sitting or standing to paint, and I can do neither right now. Oh well. Been there and done that, and this too shall pass. A new family note : adopted a 6 year old mixed breed rescue dog 2 months ago. Our prior dog had been gone 2-3 years, and I was ready for a dog. Maybe not the best idea, since he is justifiably confused about why I'm not out walking him and carrying around a 3 sided metal cage( walker)! My husband has been a real champ with helping out, plus it's giving them a chance to bond a bit. So, I'll try and make smaller sketches with ink pens or pencil and not try to reproduce what I do with oil paints! Wish me luck over the next several weeks, as I need to get back to painting for 4 group shows, 1 solo and 1 duo show with a fine watercolorist in 2026. That doesn't include art org or national exhibit entries, so thank goodness, I'm a fast painter.

Til next time!

Well. I'm just skipping May as I was catching my breath from all the exhibitions in early spring. 

I received some great news in mid-June when the portrait of my younger daughter was accepted into the NOAPS 2025 Associate Online Exhibition. The accepted artists' works can be seen on www.noaps.org. "Rebecca 2024"

Then in July, I received acceptance of the portrait of my son in law into the AAPL 2025 Online Exhibition, Emergence: Young Artists and Associate Artists. "Andy 2024". 29 artists were accepted into this show. I was seriously pumped after 2 national juried acceptances of such wonderful organizations!

And today, I learned that 2 of my 3 submitted works for a group exhibition at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corp Community Center in Memphis were sold!   "Life's Simple Pleasure" and "Evening Clouds". I was prepared to come home with all 3 and was really grateful for the gentleman who bought these two paintings. I love sharing my work whether it's on IG or FB or Bluesky, or that someone wants to give them new homes. And I only had to carry one back to the car in the suffocating heat today!

I have been painting mostly portraits. I completed a commission of the younger days of a friend's husband, and it is almost dry enough to ship, or whenever the Heat Dome lets go of us. I don't want to take a chance on shipping an oil painting in 115* heat index! Yes, you read that right. 

August 1st will kick off Incognito at the Memphis Botanic Garden where the artists are usually dressed in some sort of costume, but the 10 x 10" gallery wrapped paintings are not signed on the front. Therefore Incognito! People bid on what they love and not who they know. Although I think there are quite a few bidders who know whose paintings they are bidding on. I try not to paint a fully recognizable one of mine, but to vary the scenes and virtually all are in oil. I'll finish mine a couple of months early so it will be fully dry. This year's is recognizable to me but it's not my usual subject matter. 

SO if you've read this far, you know it's been a busy few months. I'll check back in mid September. Hope to travel back to the beach for a week or two, and rekindle my passion for the seascape. Til then, And here's Rebecca 2024  AND IT'S NOT MY FAULT IT WON"T LET ME CORRECT THE SIZE!    LOL 

Just like that, the hard work and preparation for the 40 piece solo exhibit blew in and out ! Literally... it was put up during a rainstorm, the initially planned reception was rescheduled due to terrible storms with multiple tornadoes and high winds, and the day we took it down started with thunderstorms on May 2nd !. I feel like we can truly be called Drought Busters! The exhibit was a lot of fun to arrange, and the gallery is a beautiful place to show. There is a wall of windows opposite the hanging wall, that lets in natural light as well as the spotlights. I sold a few and am always happy when new collectors find my art speaking to them. A handwritten note from one was especially sweet to let me know how much she loved them. 

Next up was hanging a 50 piece organizational show last week and the reception yesterday. There will be yet another one to go up at the end of the month from a different art org. Summer break will be coming up soon, and no meetings scheduled. 

I am in the AAPL Spring Grapevine about my solo exhibit, so that's a really cool thing!

I plan to paint as much as I can during these breaks, and work on updating the website and starting the newsletter now that the big exbibit is over! 

Let's Paint !!

It's been a busy month with traveling to the Forgotten Coast En Plein Air at Port St Joe, Mexico Beach and Apalachicola FL over a week ago. If you've never been to it, it's worth the trip. World class Invited Artists; Ambassador Artists from Florida; signed up 2 hour one on one sessions with an Ambassador available for $40 per session (you just show up, they have all you need except your water, sunscreen/bug spray and hat!); live demonstrations from the Invited Artists throughout the 100 mile stretch of the Forgotten Coast; Lunch and Learns with an Invited Artist ($20 for lunch and sitting at a table, or SRO for free) ; and so much more. I've been attending off and on since 2018. It changes the main location yearly from PSJ to Apalach annually. 

Also working on my solo exhibit coming up next week. I will have between 30 and 40 original oil paintings available but will decide the number when I hang the exhibit in 5 days. You never really know until you have them all together and can see how you want it to be viewed. Busy time right now, but also a very exciting and fun time. 

Here's a copy of the invitation that I sent out. The painting on the back of the card is "Strutting His Stuff" which was a very proud Snowy Egret strolling the mud flats near a bayou. All paintings are taken from my own photography unless otherwise attributed.

Off to work on last minute preparations! Until next time.  

For a brief time, it felt like Spring had come. 76* sunny weather for a couple of days, then reality set in. It's 41* with a wind chill of 21* and almost noon. Trying to guess the best time to bundle up and get outside for my mind clearing walk is a challenge. Yet. I'll do it. I have relied on daily walks through our forested property to be a boon not just to my physical health, but also to my mental health. 18 months ago, the life as I knew it changed drastically. My only brother and sister were diagnosed within a few days of what would be known as terminal cancers. We traveled to be with them every 2 weeks 400 miles away. He lasted 8 weeks. Lost 50# in 7+ weeks. Seeing that smart, funny, strong 6'3" man shrink before my eyes was beyond painful. She lived 100 miles north of him, so we split those visits, and her diagnosis took a month to know it was acute myeloid leukemia. We knew her initial treatment failed the day of his memorial service. For the next 6 months, she was in clinical trials or acute admissions. My older, beautiful, talented sister with whom I would often paint, died after 10 months. To say my heart was breaking, would be an understatement. I couldn't paint for weeks and even months though it was an escape.

Several more terrible things happened to me/us prior to and after her death up until the end of last year. She was my "guard rail". She was not only my sister, but my best friend. We shared history.  I miss having her there to critique my paintings. I have no one for that now even though my life is blessed with many artist friends. We just don't paint similarly. I'm an oil painter who used to dabble in acrylics and bought some gouache which I have yet to open the first tube. There is only a finite amount of time left, and I'm glad I don't know that date. I want to get better with oils. I was lucky. My nearly terminal cancer was found by chance, and instead of weeks to live back then, I have survived 24 years next month.

Funny about Blogs, I didn't expect it to take this turn, but here we are. Kind of like a painting, it leads you at times. So, I'll postpone my art updates, and yes, I have been back to my prolific self. I paint at least 5 of 7 days again and am liking painting subjects that are way different from my usuals. No, I haven't embraced Abstracts. My >50% left brain won't tolerate it. But I did make a rudimentary contemporary yesterday in a fun online class. I'm close to deciding the 30 paintings I want to exhibit at my next solo in April. Many of these "smalls" recently painted will be in it. So, get outside and let the wind, clouds and chill invigorate you and Paint On !

Waiting on the snow and icy underlayer to melt. I'm not much for patience. I like to walk every day and walking loops, circles and straight lines in the house rather takes the fun out of it. At least when I'm outside, I can look at a tree, or pond or fence line and wonder how I'd paint it. Staring at the living room kitchen, hall, bedroom and back and forth is not my cuppa. But I do what I have to do, and that's walk. Hard to get a mile in, but that's my indoor goal.

I've been painting quite a bit in the past month. I have a solo coming up in April and need about 30ish paintings to fill the walls nicely. I have 20++ already framed and many never exhibited before. But I decided to try some smalls on cradled Gessobord or gallery wrapped canvas and have really enjoyed it. I mentioned in my last blog that I would be painting away, and I did ! I completed 5 oil lighthouse works in 9x12" or 14x11" on gallery wrapped canvas or 1 1'2" cradled Gessobord. I had a lot of fun doing them as well as 5 shorebird paintings of egrets, herons and a very cute little seagull. All in oil, and also the same sizes. I figured I needed a range of sizes and prices that are slightly different than my usual ones, and I think it'll be a cool exhibit. I'll need a title for the show and mulling over several options. Seascapes, Shorebirds and Scenes of Travel.  Hmmm. Too long ?   Or, From Then to Now?? Or A Panorama of Oil Paintings??  The nice thing is I have time to decide. The group art show has its reception this Sunday. I selected a variety of works, but when I had them hung, I realized ALL of them have water scenes of some sort . Guess it's my Water Works mini-exhibit. I have a little time to get another 2-3 done in time to dry if I don't over texture them. Waiting on a delivery of new boards and gallery wraps. Hopefully here later this week. Until the next time. Paint on ! 

I decided that this year would be the year I would give a bigger push to the personal side of my art. Painting is obviously necessary to achieving part of that goal but bringing it to a more personable level is important. When you live in a community for decades and are better known as the retired doctor-you than as an artist, communication is key for people outside my geographic area. I've been an active participant in social media for many years and have developed "in real life" and virtual friendships across the world. Most of my FB and IG connections are art related or from my hometown in east Tennessee. Most of my LinkedIn connections are medical or administrative. Almost all of my former follows in what I still call Twitter, are basketball fans. I decided to leave that site a couple of months ago. There's only so much force feed that I could take.  I have a nice blend of art, photography and basketball (Memphis Grizzlies) in Bluesky. I have used these platforms to post photos of my work and have been happy with the interactions about them with my friends.

All that being said, I want to start sharing some musings on life and art; where they intersect and what I'm doing.

I'm currently working on some new paintings for a solo exhibit in April. It will be a blend of seascapes, shorebirds and travel scenes. For my 5-person group exhibit to be hanging mid-February, I will have a mixture of my favorites and some never exhibited works. 

Until next time, I need to go paint!!