REMEMBER THE MOVIE, City Slickers? Billy Crystal played Mitch, a man who was dealing with a mid-life crisis who went on a trip with his buddies to “find himself” again. Or, as his wife had put it, “Go find your smile again.” Jack Palance, played Curly, the authentic seasoned trail boss who lived an uncomplicated life – a real cowboy. As Crystal and friends took their adventure to move a herd of cattle,  Mitch was riding along side Curly as they discussed life: Curly: You know what the secret of life is? Mitch: No. What? Curly: This. Mitch: Your finger? Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean Mitch: That’s great, but what’s the “one thing?” Curly: That’s what you gotta figure out. Throughout the rest of the movie, Mitch sought after that one thing....
Read more »

EVERYONE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER faces trying times; financial, family, obligations, commitments, sudden tragedies and more. But sometimes there are struggles I’ve experienced as an artist over the years, and a few seem to boomerang over and over. What are some I have faced? I’ll tell you about a few then talk about how they applied to the painting posted here. I Forgot My Tube of X Every time I have company over for dinner, I forget something. It is usually the plates (yes the plates;) butter dish, spoons or bread. But it never fails. With all the planning I do ahead of time, I have to excuse myself from the table to get this or that. This happens when I paint outdoors as well. I spend hours replenishing my painting bag upon returning from one trip so I am ready for the next. If driving, I take...
Read more »

AFTER PAINTING IN PASTEL for years I wanted to try a picture using pastel pencils only. In 1988, a friend gave me a few sheets of 7×10 inch heavily sanded cotton cloth. It was very stiff and had a great deep gray color. Not wishing to take normal painting hours to try the pencils I did a work-around. I grabbed a small box of pencils, the new paper, a little white eyelet doily that was on my end table, and a little bowl purchased at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest (in VA). Voila! My husband and I hopped on an airplane for vacation. Once in the air, I pulled out all my little supplies and opened my snack tray. For the next few hours, I sketched a couple of little vignettes with the two simple elements of fabric and the bowl. My light source was the plane’s tiny double paned...
Read more »

THE GREAT Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a master engraver who most are familiar with. While viewing some of his delicate, incredible engravings at the Museum of Fine Art Huston, I read a few of the tags written beside them. “Dürer based his landscape on meticulous studies he drew from nature.” The notes went on to say, “This interest in close observation of the natural world set Dürer apart from previous artists.” Why have I brought this up? For the simple reason that artists from many ages have drawn from life. Yes, we all can come up with a decent tree from memory. But, it would be a symbol of a tree, not an actual portrait of the tree. It is comforting to know that masters from earlier times than expected have done what many of us are doing today. As we study old masterworks, we can learn how they...
Read more »

FOR COLLECTORS: TODAY I AM ROLLING-OUT A PREVIEW of my latest collection, inspired by a small piece I painted years ago of a shop window filled with mannequins adorned with summer belts, tops, bags and hats. I am known for painting the landscape on location or in the studio, however, every artist needs a break to explore other genre when the subject strikes. And strike it has! For over a year, I have been collecting and painting ladies hats from the 20th Century, primarily 1920s through 1960s. Thus, HATS: A Fanciful Fling, got underway. At first, I thought I’d paint each hat like a portrait, but found that they revealed an opportunity to experiment and explore their individual characteristics. What fun!! No doubt, I wanted to paint these little beauties without figures/people to let them take center stage. Perhaps I got carried away; the more I painted, the more interesting the concepts...
Read more »