Pine Shadow, 6x6, oil on panel

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Back to school!

I'm going back to school.

Art school. I'm "attending" through Virtual Art Academy, which a friend of mine told me about. As soon as I looked it over I knew I wanted to follow this course of study for my painting. For quite some time I've looked at paintings that seemed to have a quality to them I wanted to have in mine, but didn't know how to achieve it. I've taken lots of workshops, read lots of books (probably not enough) and studied on my own as well as with mentors. All of that has helped me immensely but there seems to be too many gaps in my education. Having taken up painting later in life, I sometimes feel that I'll never catch up to wherever I think I would have been, had I pursued this path right out of school. I like to study and often have wished I could go attach myself to an atelier somewhere. But that just isn't realistic for me. Needless to say, I'm very excited to be following this course of study. Maybe you're like me and would like further study. And I'll be posting some of my completed lessons here as well as more paintings that will hopefully show the results of my study. 

I'm also a bit of an instigator in the sense that I often try to get all my friends on board with whatever I'm doing, so possibly a few of them will take up this course too and we will be able to discuss the lessons with each other. If you decide to take it let me know, it would be great fun to hear from you.

Path To The Creek, 9x12, oil on canvas

This is today's painting from the back yard. It was a beautiful day! The first one with no wind for quite awhile so I had to take advantage of it. I painted on a gray toned canvas, which I haven't done much. It could be a good idea once I get used to it. It's easy to go dark, a little harder to go light. I hope all you who paint are getting a chance to get out there and enjoy some good weather.

New Looks

Hi everyone,

I decided its time for a new look. I haven't settled completely on everything, but this is the starting place. I've been working on some painting assignments from a course of study I've been doing and felt like changing things up a bit. I hope you like it. There should be some more changes on the way . . .

A Novel Owl: Chasing a Dream

A Novel Owl: Chasing a Dream: "There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart.... pursue those."                           ...

The above is a blog post I really enjoyed! It lifted my spirits and reinforced my determination to pursue my own dream. Let me know what it does for you and your dreams . . . 

Sunlight Through The Trees, 12x16 oil on panel

This is a painting I did yesterday at the river. I had a few goals in mind for this painting before I started and I think I accomplished them. I was really convinced of this when my husband said  "Wow, it looks like you're there."