"What comes from the heart, goes to the heart." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

What inspires you? What inspires you to paint, to bake, to clean . . . .

As artists, inspiration surrounds us, most of the time, and makes the hard task of making art easy. Somedays, it is nowhere to be found.

In my long journey of an artistic life, I have been inspired by so many people, so many artists, so many friends - I feel very blessed. I hope to give back to others by inspiring them, sharing with them, helping them. This is what makes the creative circle keep going.

It is not only other beings that inspire me, it is the beauty of nature that surrounds us that inspires me as well as a million other artists. The natural world, the trees, the fields, the marshes, the lakes all play a part in my work. I am definitely not an 'urban' artist and know that I could never be - as that, for the most part, gives me no inspiration at all. I guess I am lucky to live where I do and need to keep reminding myself of that.

So where do I get my inspiration from . . . hiking, walking in the woods, riding my horse through fields, woods, marshes, in all seasons! Traveling, awakening my eyes to something different. Sitting and doing nothing. Yoga - giving my mind time to 'chatter-down'. Exercising - hiking, biking, walking, snowshoeing, skiing.

Inspiration is all around us, sometimes we have to look for it, sometimes we have to just be still and it comes to us!

This painting is titled "Forest Grove" and is 18x18" oil/cold wax on paper.

"Every canvas is a journey all its own" - Helen Frankenthaler
Today I am going to think about GRATITUDE.!!! Not only is it Veterans Day and all Americans should be thankful, but I am also feeling inside of me the need to really think hard about all the good things that have come my way on this journey.
Last night I attended the Northern Exposures Annual Juried Show of U.P. Artists at the Bonifas Art Center - WOW!!!!! - UP artists rock! The show is a very competitive one filled with great art and represents the UP - the best of the best!
I was happy to have two pieces accepted into the show and I also won an award - an opportunity to have a show at the Ed Gray Gallery in Calumet! I haven't visited this gallery, but have heard from other artists that it is a favorite - and one of the best in the UP. This opportunity comes at the perfect time - as winter nears, I start to get really serious and dedicated in the studio and a deadline/opportunity sure helps me to focus. - So THANK YOU Lynn and Ed Gray Gallery I look forward to the show!
Other artists/friends winning awards were Candace Zebell, Ronna Katz, Ingrid Blixt, Martha Fieber, Patrick Dragon and more. One especially lucky artist/friend of mine, Mara Manning not only won an award but sold/purchase prizes all three of her paintings - she is very talented and well deserving!!!! (See our smiles in photo!!!)
Oh and there were lots of sales that night - everyone should be grateful for that!
So as I contemplate my work here in the studio, I take time to see my older works along side my new works and I am pleased . . . and thankful to each and every friend, collector and art lover that I have met on this beautiful journey . . . may the road continue . . .

Recently I returned home from a fabulous trip to Spain (Barcelona) and Italy. This is not my first trip to Europe and I so love the whole feel for life there. The food, sitting in the cafe's, the sense of people gathering, getting together, walking, markets and all the other beautiful offerings of the cities and smaller villages in Europe. Love it!
However, it does feel good to be back home, in solitude, painting in my studio. These last beautiful days of autumn make it difficult to really work inside, however, I read a quote on facebook today - something to the affect "I must go to my studio everyday to at least see if the 'angels' are working there, God forbid if I miss a day and 'the angels' were there and I wasn't".
I'm busily preparing for my Holiday Open House in the studio this weekend as well as doing some 'business' work for my art. Happy to see the sunshine today.