Pastimes and Passions

Parsing Paintings

Parsing Paintings

I’m continuing to capitalize on the fragile and fleeting momentum I have to paint, and pairing it with my word of the year:  resolution. That means rescuing some works in progress that have been languishing in the studio closet.  These four pieces...

read more
The #100dayproject did its job

The #100dayproject did its job

Instagram hooked me again back in February, and I've just completed another 100 day project challenge. Did I cheat?  Kind of.  My goal was a 5"x5" piece every day, taking no more than 25 minutes. I didn't create every day, but I caught up, so I...

read more
5” x 5” x 25 Minutes continues . . .

5” x 5” x 25 Minutes continues . . .

#The100 day project continues, sometimes with Instagram evidence, sometimes not.  My challenge to my self was a 5”x5” piece I work on for no more than 25 minutes each day. The first couple of weeks I was in California, and the images reflected...

read more
(5 x 5 = 25) x 100

(5 x 5 = 25) x 100

Yes, I’m going to give it a try, the #100 day project on Instagram for 2024.  I have to say, it’s in my nature to finish what I start whether I should or not, so the upside is that I do tend to be more consistent with taking the time to make some...

read more
Refine and Resolve

Refine and Resolve

The time is approaching, as Instagram keeps reminding me, to think about the 2024 version of the #100 day project.  Since my intention last year was to “resolve” and this year to “curate”, my attention has been on looking around my studio and...

read more
An Artist’s Refrigerator

An Artist’s Refrigerator

Yes, you are seeing inside my refrigerator - paint pots just below the chicken salad.  It’s a trick I was taught by Chery Baird, my lovely art teacher, to save those leftover custom mixed acrylic paint colors. I never quite mix the right amount,...

read more
Palette Cleansers

Palette Cleansers

I’ve finally finished by 10 painting series based on a color palette inspired by the Villa La Contessina in Sorrento, Italy. Now, I was taught to mix a lot of my own colors, so that means I have little pots, lots of little pots, because when you do...

read more
The Villa La Contessina Series

The Villa La Contessina Series

Sometimes I feel the work I create is random and doesn’t have a cohesive style.  But then, sometimes, when I look back after several months connective tissue appears. Years ago I moved away from Atlanta and my art teacher before I completed my...

read more
Thankful Thursday – Ali Manning

Thankful Thursday – Ali Manning

Why am I grateful this #ThankfulThursday to Ali Manning of @vintagepage designs? Is it a coincidence that I finally developed the #morningpages habit just as I was introduced to the #handmadebookclub? Just today I wrote the final pages and added...

read more
Thankful Thursday – Bari Zaki

Thankful Thursday – Bari Zaki

Thankful this month for @barizaki, one of the first people to teach me the fine points of bookbinding and box-making at her studio in my hometown of Chicago. Had a lovely afternoon at that studio yesterday with local members of the...

read more