I just returned from my surprise trip to SANTA FE NEW MEXICO! It was girls weekend and oh so much fun! Our friend Lori Schappe-youens had a solo show opening at GVG Contemporary on Delgada St. Lori now lives in South Africa. GVG is an awesome gallery owned by husband/wife Blair (painter) and Ernst (really cool furniture/modern/maker and painter) they also feature sculpture! Loris paintings were expertly displayed and such awesome, whimsical/abstract oil paintings. My friend, Johanna, and I decided to just "walk in" at the opening and surprise Lori - and "surprise" we did!!!! Blair helped us keep it a secret and all went well. We had a great weekend in Santa fe - saw Georgia O'keefe and native american art museums which were both amazing! Did some shopping. AND stopped in at a lot of galleries. Truly the perfect weekend! Anxious to get back to work in the studio. Here's a pic from the opening which was a huge success! I'll continue to fill you in on my trip, which I'm sure will continue to inspire many more paintings!

This next week will be a week full of art and inspiration. Part of the week I will be taking a workshop by artist Rebecca Crowell, I am really looking forward to her minimalist inspiration with oils and wax. The rest of the week is just a secret - but I'll tell you all about it later! My artist/friend Ingrid Cline took some photographs of my recent works and added them to my website. Here is a photo she took and creatively arranged, a photo of my "tower" which I have hauled to every art show this summer and it hasn't sold, although it's the first piece people comment on and love! Her photo has inspired me to do another series in a smaller/table top version. Thankfully, one of my collectors, who is a wonderful woodworker, has offered to build some panels/cubes for me - so that is my next project/inspiration.Enjoy the rest of autum, it's been very cold here and I have lots of gardening to do yet!

Nature has always inspired my artwork and understandably so as I love the woods and surrounding fields. This fall has been beautiful and the changing color of the leaves has influenced some new encaustic pieces I have been working on. Many years ago I did a huge series in watercolor of birch trees. Some with water, some with just woods in the background with just the trunks of the trees, not the whole tree in itself. This year, I have re-invented those old paintings with a new medium - encaustic and really like the outcome.
Busy getting some pieces ready for some upcoming competitions, but planning on taking some time off this weekend for a nice long horse ride! Also, just got word that a painting I had in an exhibit in California for the International Society of Acrylic Painters, just sold! Thank you!