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Another Big Thank You!

Posted in daily painter, Small Town Life, tagged Thank You, The Studio on August 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Thank-you-clipart-2-2 Today I just want to say once again THANK YOU to everyone who has made The Studio a success. When I first asked a handful of women to meet with me so I could bounce some ideas off of them about what I had in mind I never envisioned that it would be all of this. I just thought a teaching studio would be a great idea.

What I didn’t realize, and I don’t think anyone did, is that it has turned into a gathering place for friends. So many new friendships have come from people meeting at various classes…or by getting to know different instructors. We have created together, traveled together, learned together…and so much more!

So, thank you again for making my vision so much bigger than any of us could have imagined!

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Big Paint Party with NFCU

Posted in daily painter, Landscape, Paint Party, tagged Beach on August 26, 2016| 2 Comments »

We had a big group at a paint party organized by Navy Federal Credit Union last night in Winchester….and they did GRREATT!!!!

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Hydrangeas for Support

Posted in daily painter, Flowers, Paint Party, tagged hydrangeas on August 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Liz's Hydrangeas Group Liz's Hydrangeas 1 One of my favorite Paint Party students, Liz, set up a private party for her support group and friends on Monday. They painted hydrangeas. Many of them had never painted before…and they loved it….and did GREAT! Good job everyone.

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The Colors of Healing

Posted in daily painter, Serendipity, tagged arthritis, Makoplasty, surgery on August 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Day 14- Front view

Day 14- Right Side

Day 14- Left Side

I haven’t posted much about my recent knee surgery on my blog. But for almost three years I have suffered with some pretty painful arthritis is both knees but especially in my right one. I tried everything I read or heard about to make it better from Physical Therapy, injections, medications, chiropractic work and more. I even had my meniscus repaired in the right knee back in December thinking that it was the cause of the majority of the pain but turns out that it was mostly the arthritis causing the pain.

Lincoln encouraging me through my PT exercises this morning.

I never realized that arthritis could be so painful. My Granny had arthritis that she often complained about and we just thought she was a hypochondriac. I wish I could tell her how much I feel for the pain she was experiencing. So after trying everything I found a surgeon who used Makoplasty (read about that here) so that I could cut my recovery time in half. I didn’t want to close The Studio for 6 or 8 weeks while I recovered from “regular” surgery. I had the surgery 14 days ago. Today I go for my post-surgical appointment and I am anxious to hear what he has to say about it….and hopefully have the stitches removed.

And I want to find out what is next for the left knee which also has painful arthritis. I am hoping that we don’t have to go through this again real soon. We’ll see.

***NOTE: I realize this isn’t about art (although there are some interesting shades of blue and purple on my leg) or The Studio but I have had dozens of people message me about the knee surgery as they are going through the same thing and have been watching my posts on Facebook so they know what to expect when and if they have to do it. I understand their curiosity because I would have loved to have known more before going through it. That is why I am sharing this today.

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Being the Student

Posted in Art Class, daily painter, Serendipity, tagged Class at Michael's, Terri Nicholson on August 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Class with Terry complete

My painting

Terri Showing us how it’s done!

Yesterday I got to be the student at an art class. It was so nice! For years I have been friends with the wonderfully talented artist, Terri Nicholson. We met through the Blue Ridge Arts Council and showing work through their exhibits. Later when I was teaching classes at the Arts Council Terri was thinking of teaching at Michael’s and asked me for some advice on how to go about it. I said she should sit in on my class as the easiest way to see what I did and she did. Not long after that she started teaching at Michael’s in Winchester and Martinsburg. Ever since then, which had been 4 or 5 years ago, I have wanted to take a class with her but we teach on the same days. But yesterday, since I am off recuperating from my knee surgery, I went over the Winchester with a friend to take Terri’s class. It was so much fun. She’s a wonderful teacher. Check her out at Michael’s. I’ve invited Terri to come and be a guest instructor at The Studio. We are working on a date for her to come soon so watch for the date. Trust me, you’ll enjoy her so much.

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Not a Grand Slam

Posted in daily painter, Small Town Life, tagged Art as a Profession, Artist, Professional Artist on August 10, 2016| 1 Comment »

20160620_150852 Sometimes I am asked to create a special image for a paint party…especially for kids…since they don’t always want to do something from the list of many paintings that the adults choose from for their parties. I don’t mind trying to create just what they want.

Here is one I spent a several hours coming up with for a girls birthday party with her fellow softball team members. This is exactly what she requested. The sad part is that they canceled a few days before the party. The only reason I mention this is just to say that while being an artist for a living is FUN, there are many people who think that what we do is a “hobby” and never consider the time that goes into the preparation to make a party a success for the guests. It’s almost always worth it to me to do special requests but sometimes I’m a little surprised that a few people don’t understand that it is work that takes hours and cancellations like this one left me with supplies and several hours of work from research to painting for which I didn’t get reimbursed. Just saying it’s something for which some people may not be aware.

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Multi-media Collage

Posted in Animals, Collage, daily painter, The Studio/Classes, tagged bird, cat, cats, collage on August 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A few weeks ago we experimented with multi-media collage work at The Studio. Boy was it fun. We used burlap panels, paint, Sharpies and beautiful scrapbook papers along with ModPodge to create these simple but lovely animal works of art. The kids did great in their class with these and I enjoyed the ones I did too! Super fun.(We did some cute dogs a few weeks ago with Sophia’s private lesson too and you can see that here.) I see a Paint Party for adults doing something like this coming soon.

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Last Day to Vote

Posted in daily painter, The Studio/Classes, tagged Best of Awards on August 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Best of Ribbon 16-1 Today is the final day to vote in the “Best of Awards” and I really could use your help. Please take just a minute to click this link and go to these categories – #3, 29, 49, 97, and 105 -and vote for The Studio. We would be every so grateful. And if you can please share and ask your friends to help.

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Hydrangeas

Posted in daily painter, Flowers, Paint Parties, tagged hydrangeas on July 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

I have worked on several hydrangea paintings this week in preparation for a private Paint Party coming up tomorrow with a good friend and a large group of her friends from Lake Frederick. I’m looking forward to it. Part of the fun of hosting Paint Parties is coming up with interesting subject matter that can be simplified so that even people who have never painted before can create a successful painting. That’s what we are good at doing at The Studio and we love it! (And please don’t forget to vote for us in the poll. You can vote each day. Click here and vote in categories # 3, 29, 49, 97, and 105. Many thanks!)

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Last Day of Art Camp

Posted in Art Camp, daily painter, tagged Art Camp, Calla Lily, Georgia O'Keeffe on July 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Camp 6 Day 4 OKeeffe Calla Lily.jpg Yesterday was the last day of Art Camp for this summer. We had a fabulous group of painters who created amazing paintings. Great job everyone!