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 !