Where does the time go!!

Wow, I just looked at my last post date and was shocked!  Where did all that time go?  I just read this morning one of my all-time favorite newsletters, Painters' Keys, by Robert Genn, in which he talked about "seizing the day."  It was a timely and important letter for me, and I hope -- and expect -- I will seize the day more often than I have been doing for the past month.  Of course, life does get in the way - again - but I feel that if I don't paint at least a little every day, I start to lose those "painting brain muscles" and have to build them up again before I can get going at a comfortable pace.  By the way, here's the link to Genn's newsletter if you're interested:  http://clicks.robertgenn.com/seizing-the-day.php.  I very highly recommend it; I've been reading it for years now and find it interesting, inspirational, enjoyable, sometimes very funny,  etc., etc.

I don't know if I've listed all the custom paintings I finished around Holiday time; but if I didn't, I'll try to get them listed in the next few days.  I'm afraid they were all I was doing at that time -- well, that and endlessly it seems hosting various family members who were here, no kidding, for over month.  (Note to said family members:  Yes, I loooooooved your visits and wouldn't trade them for anything, but obviously I didn't work while you were around because I wanted to spend all my time with you!)

So I'm back and re-flexing my painting part of my brain again.  I tried, by the way, a landscape a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot harder than I was expecting it to be.  But, darn it, I am going to conquer landscapes if for no other reason that they're not dog or animal paintings and I sometimes need a break from painting my beloved animals.

Speaking of animals, I sadly must note, too, that we lost one of our boys around mid December.  It was Henry Higgins, our shih tzu.  On the good side, he lived a very long, happy life; we should all be so lucky as he was.  We miss him terribly, though, in spite of his advanced age at death.  In fact, this is the first time I've even been able to talk about him at all.  He was so cute and made us laugh very often.  He was also the laziest dog I've ever had in my life.  No kidding, we had to poke him sometimes in his later years to see if he was still breathing.  He raised the fine art of relaxing to unheard-of astronomically high levels; he was a master relaxer!  May you rest in peace, Higgy.

I'm Still Here! In Florida, that is

Believe it or not, I'm still trying to settle into a new life here in Central Florida after two months.  I've kind of found my way around but actually am preferring to stay right on my own little piece of land and play with gardening.  And now I understand why there are so many snowbirds alighting here each winter:  This place is heavenly -- this time of year, at least!  I sat outside for hours a couple of days ago, in November!!!, without even a sweater, and watched the sun go down.  It is beautiful beyond words here, and really, the weather is perfect!  Neither too cold nor too hot.  And the colors!  You wouldn't believe the colors of the sky, the trees, the shadows - it makes me wish I were a writer so I could describe them vividly for you.  Soon, very soon, I'm going to have my schedule cleared enough that I can start doing some paintings of this region of the world.

In the meantime, though, I am overloaded with commissioned paintings that all have a looming deadline.  The painting shown here is one of two that I did for a client very recently.  This is a beautiful Rhodesian ridgeback, named Matilda.  Her adopted brother, Henry, a handsome weimaraner, will be shown in my next blog entry.

I've been thinking a lot lately and reading a lot, too.  Yes, I know I should be painting, but one has to take a break from time to time.  One of the thought-provoking things I read is a biweekly newsletter all about art and life, too, because they're closely intertwined.  It starts with an interesting, thought-provoking essay and is followed by comments from fellow artists, including examples of their work.  I look forward to it twice a week.  I may have mentioned this newsletter before, but it merits another mention if I have.  Here's the address:  http://painterskeys.com/, and it's hosted by artist Robert Genn.  To receive the newsletter, you have to actually request it at the site and confirm your request through the email you'll receive.  I very highly recommend it.

Also, artists can pay to have their artwork featured through the website, and I was just randomly looking through some of the artists' listings and came across this artist:  http://painterskeys.com/pal/christine_hanlon/ - and was just blown away by her work.  What a great inspiring artist this person is!  And I discovered this person literally by just a random click on a name.  Give her work a look if you have the time; you won't be sorry you took the time.

Okay, speaking of time, I guess I better get back to my own paintings!