Hello Tuesday!

Today, I finished two of my four "tree and field" paintings. I need to give them titles and take some pictures when they dry a bit. I hope to have a picture or two by tomorrow so you can see what I've been up to! If you've been to my website, you may notice that many of my earlier paintings are very Southwest and my newer paintings are Midwest inspired. A little history may help explain this phenomenon to those who are new to me or those who just never heard the story. It is a bit of a long story, so I apologize if this post is a bit wordy!

It started in college (I got my BFA at BGSU). I was privileged to have the opportunity to student teach art on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. There the people are called Dine (pronounced din-nay). "The people," I believe is the translation. I fell in love with the land and the people, especially the children I taught. I did quite a bit of hiking and on one of my early trips, I asked a Dine gentleman selling jewelry in Monument Valley, "which do you think is the most beautiful view?" He answered, "none of them." Flabbergasted, I continued admiring the towering rock formations and fantastic reds, golds, and blue, blue skies. I related this story to my mother that night and she asked me, "what do you think is the most beautiful part of Ohio (where I grew up)?" I couldn't come up with a good answer. Lesson, if you are surrounded by it all the time, it becomes just a part of the background -it isn't anything special. I started painting landscapes of Arizona and Utah. They were fantastic subjects and I could use the bright and bold colors that I loved. I was able to make those special landscapes come alive in my paintings. After three years teaching in Arizona, I married my husband and moved to Oklahoma. Teaching took up most of my time, so painting was put on hold.

Then we moved back to Ohio. I have been able to paint full time since I have been here. I continued painting the Southwest though because it continued to inspire me. However, now that I've been in Ohio about three years, I have started to become attracted to the local landscape. But now I can answer my mother's question. I see things in Ohio now in the kind of light I saw the Southwest. I am able to pick out what is so special about these scenes. I am able to find interesting trees and rocks and fields that I never took notice of before. Actually, painting these new scenes has added some spark back into my painting. These are new and exciting challenges: How do I paint grass, leaves, clouds, and flowers in bold and expressive ways? We are about to find out together! And now you know! Thanks for reading!

Until next time...