Dedicated to dogs and the people who love and care for them.  Maudie is my first dog I’ve had without kids in the house.  She’s become my baby lol…Im so attached to her and her presence in my daily life.   I can now understand the people I always thought were nuts for wanting to bring their dogs with them everywhere haha.  Maudie is a really bouncy happy 9 month old Newfoundland girl and sometimes I need time to paint and catch up - so when I can’t give her my full attention, or the weather is nasty, rather than her be bored at home I take her to a doggy daycare.  It usually winds up being 2x a week and lucky for me she just LOVES going. When I ask her if she wants to go play with the puppies she tilts her head and makes sure she understands me and then gets so excited when she realizes she does.  I pack her lunch while she waits sitting at the door to be leashed up and hop in the car for her ride to her fun spot. Puppy daycare is such a wonderful option for us both. This painting was inspired by the friends and playtimes she has there.  Maudie is the brown Newfie up in the barn window holding the sunflower. The other dogs all have significance in my life as well, from dogs I’ve owned in the past, my grand puppy Jansen is the yellow lab playing tug, and several neighbors and friends dogs make appearances. Happiness is a warm cuddly puppy. 

I was inspired to paint this series of paintings starting with “The Garden Party” while seeing all the sad cuts the government was making to social services - USAID programs around the world,  and the threats to the supplemental nutrition programs and Medicaid, and more here in this country.  My husband and I started donating to a charity that feeds hungry people and I thought how beautiful it actually would be if everyone took care of those in need.  I’ve been blessed in my life with never having to go without,  however when my husband I first got together we were young and dumb and so broke.  I remember shopping at the Omni store and choosing wisely, while totaling up the cost of items in our cart in our heads as we shopped, so that we wouldn’t be embarrassed at checkout.  We were very strapped for cash and buying groceries was stressful back then.  My paintings often depict children and animals enjoying life together so naturally that’s what came to mind for this series of paintings.  I have my kids growing a bounty of vegetables, fruits, and edible flowers and the hungry critters that need and appreciate those goodies hanging around enjoying them.  Friends taking care of friends has always been an important theme but it has special meaning particularly now.  

I am getting my summer art show schedule lined up and I’m more busy than I expected to be.   I didn’t want to travel as much as prior years because we have a wonderful new addition to our little family but my schedule got away from me.  Maudie the Bear, our sweet Newfoundland puppy.  I’ve had several Newfies over the years and I just adore them.  Their personalities are sweet and silly and so loving.  My goofy Newfies have been my inspiration for my black bears and my cows. Now I have a fudgy brown teddy bear girl so I’m painting little happy brown bears these days. I named her after Maud Lewis the amazing Canadian folk artist.  I was originally torn between Olive and Birdie but then I remembered the movie “Maudie” I had seen and the name Maudie just seemed so perfect for my little Newfoundlander.  Our Maudie has just been a joy to us and added fun and laughs to our days but she has really slowed my painting down.   She is 5.5 months old now so we are getting more adjusted and I am finding more free time in our busy days but it’s been all about my sweet puppy girl the past few months.  We have suffered through a long cold winter and I am looking forward to the spring weather so I started painting a few garden scenes and florals.  My space paintings all sold out last year so I’m planning on working on a few more of those as well.  Art show season is right around the corner and I am looking forward to getting back out there in the sunshine and meeting art lovers and other artists and enjoying the summer months with a sweet cuddly puppy to come back home to. 

Now that I’ve been home for a month and caught up around the house I’ve had trouble thinking of what to paint. Having some creative block issues. Luckily the weather has been gorgeous here this October and I’ve been able to get outside and walk almost daily. Sometimes when I’m walking and enjoying my beautiful surroundings my mind wanders and ideas come to me, such as this sweet childhood memory I hadn’t thought of in years.

 My own family and my aunt & uncle and cousins lived on 5 acres each on my grandparents 100 acre hobby farm property.  Our house and my cousin’s house shared a long gravel driveway and my grandparents lived a short walk away - up the driveway and to the right along a forest path.  When we were young we would imagine never leaving.  Raising our own kids there and living happily ever after.  On the way to Grandma and Grandpa’s house we’d pass my grandpa’s grapevines and his old rusty shed with his tractors and miscellaneous farm equipment.  Then closer to grandma and grandpas we’d pass grandmas garden with rhubarb plants and raspberry bushes. I’m sure there were vegetables as well but the yummy stuff is what I remember. Then up the hill that was their backyard and into their comfortable house which almost always smelled delicious from home baked treats.  It was a childhood filled with farm and forest adventures.

 My sister and cousins and I would build (really rustic) treehouses and forest villages and load rocks into a wagon to clear grandpa’s fields, watch hot air balloons land (oops) on Grandpa’s soybeans,  shoot pheasant, and ice skate on ponds on the frozen fields. We also had a creek running through the property so we would look for frogs and turtles. Haha I was so different back then. Today I shudder even typing about frogs and turtles. One of my most precious memories is of when our “city” relatives would drive out to visit for the day.  Loved seeing them all. They were Grandma and Grandpa’s family-  sisters and their husbands and children and their children. There would be lots of fabulous homemade Polish food and dancing - grandpa and my aunt would play accordions and we would all polka- and then weather permitting wagon rides around the property.  This painting was inspired partly by that hay wagon memory and also annual trips my own family made to pumpkin patches when our kids were little.  There would be kiddie carnival rides, cider and donuts, and hay wagon rides out to the pumpkin patches to pick our own pumpkins. Always a fun family time. So this painting has a lot of history and love behind its inspiration. It was a joy to paint and I hope it brings joy and sparks some happy memories from those who view it. 

I am finished with my art show season whoop!  I always look forward to the shows but when the season is over I am just beat physically and mentally.  It’s really nice to do shows and interact with interested engaged people that come into my booth.  I enjoy talking to people about my art and hearing their comments - most of the time.  I usually get a lot of love and positivity at shows that motivates me and excites me about going home to create more art but sometimes……there can be comments I’d rather I never heard.   Honestly I laugh them off at this point but why do people feel the need to even speak if it’s not nice?  Art is subjective and I get it - my art isn’t for everyone.  My lil Witchy Moo was the victim of being called ‘The most hideous thing” someone’s ever seen - spoken in a strong southern accent which makes it sound even funnier and more opinionated.   When I hear the obnoxious stuff I just smile.  But sometimes after a while my cheeks hurt lol.  I think I’ve developed a fairly thick skin but then it goes both ways and I catch myself not really able to absorb the lovely and kind comments directed my way.  I have received some of the most beautiful and uplifting words from people and those are the ones that I will bathe my thick skin in over the winter when I have all the time to imagine and paint and create.  And I am looking forward to just being home getting messy and painting in the months ahead!  Artists share a part of ourselves with the world when we display our work and I know most people realize and appreciate that.  I escape in my mind and paint images that make me happy and hope people can connect with those images and feel the happiness too but beauty is in the eye of the beholder - and some things (poor lil Witchy Moo) may be a little hideous to some eyes haha. 

I just had a wonderful weekend in Chicago at the Southport Art Show.  I really enjoy this show as it’s low key, a mix of street fair, crafts, and fine art, in a great neighborhood and is well supported by the people in the area - but boy I am beat!  It was pretty steadily busy Saturday, kind of sporadic Sunday, but so steamy hot both days. I wanted to find some cool shaded concrete and lie down behind my tent at a couple points during the weekend haha.  After all the love I received I was motivated to paint something today but I just didn’t have the energy in me to even think where to begin. The time out in that heat zapped me. I did my catch up around the house chores and sat to read in the family room where I have this large 36x36 painting, “Sea of Green”  on an easel drying there - I have art in all states of completion throughout my house lol - but when they are drying on that easel where I see them all day, I like to look at them and contemplate what it is about them that means something to me.  This painting is kind of wacky whimsical but it was inspired by the passing of Richard Sherman who, along with his brother Robert, composed lovely catchy music for Disney and more - Specifically “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”.  I love the happy vibe of that song and the impression I get is of the excitement below that the flyers enjoy and freedom above with the kites dancing in the sky.  You can try and control them but a kite will do what it wants and that’s part of the joy. Probably like a whale will.  I have vague 53 years ago memories of flying kites with my dad.  I didn’t even recall them until working on this painting.  I remember some nights after dinner we would walk over to an empty field and try and make some magic for a kite and for us - set it free in the sky where it could dip and float and dance and we could watch in wonder while the breeze would try and take it.  My dad built cool box kites and it was a challenge to get those big things up there but we succeeded - well he did. I was just the assistant and cheerleader, and probably my dad’s inspiration to get that kite flying.  So this painting holds my very vague childhood memories of special times spent with my late dad.  I remember being proud of him and his beautiful kites and loved those special perfect kite flying weather evenings spent together and how magical it was watching the kites.   I wanted this piece to show the beautiful orcas free and joyful in the brilliant blue sky among the other friendly fish kites,  but I also wanted to show the happy people below enjoying a magical time flying their kites with friends surrounded by curious critters that came to experience the fun - all in their own sea of green.  

My night scenes have been very popular at art shows.  They have all sold before I could even list them here on the site.  I have been working on several more and here is one of my most recent called “Blue Moon”.  It’s a good sized 24x30.  The huge full moon has a magical glow about it that is mesmerizing the forest animals who are waiting for something magical to happen.  This one was inspired by my soon to arrive grandson. That is the magical event we are waiting in anticipation for.  I’m enjoying working with the golden colors of the deer and bears and the deep blues, greens, and turquoise of the leaves and grasses. Right now we are in Salina Kansas but I can’t wait to be back home and enjoy the four week break until the next show. I’m looking forward letting my mind wander and painting anything that comes to me.  We have had a few hectic weeks and I haven’t had much time to have fun with my paints.  When I’m not painting, I’m thinking about painting ha. 

The art show season has begun. We had a great weekend in Chicago for Mayfest. It wasn’t really my jam but we tried it and live and learn. We did however meet a lot of interesting and fun people and I always enjoy dog and people watching at shows. Chicago people love their dogs!  As I was sitting there sometimes my booth was quiet(other times it was nuts) but I could just watch and daydream during the quiet waves. Saw so many adorable families.  I will be a grandma for the first time this summer and I am beyond excited for that. It will be a new phase in my life and I’m so happy for my daughter and son in law.  When I think of becoming a grandma I sometimes reflect on how my own mom years were. I had three wonderful kids.  My son - the oldest of my kids- tragically passed away in 2011.  There is alot of his soul in my art…He was a beautiful person inside and out and a joy to me.  I have two adult daughters who also give me plenty of ideas.  Seeing the families at shows takes my mind and memories back. Those thoughts inspired my latest painting. It’s a small 11x14 called “Mama Bear” of course.  Mama loves all her children as different as they may be. They are all unique and precious gifts. 

It took me over a week but I finally finished my orcas and wanted to share.  A couple days in it definitely went through an ugly phase but I had the words of my artist daughter in my mind, “trust the process” - so I pushed through and I’m glad I did because it turned out to be a really fun painting with lots of movement and action. The bright colors balance out the black and white orcas and the contrast allows them to really stand out.  A couple days into it I was thinking maybe I included too many orcas but I read that Orcas stick together in a family group for life so here it is - a large happy orca family and friendly people celebrating a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest.  “Magic Happens” 36x48  

We will be heading out to Portland Oregon in a few months to participate in the Art in the Pearl Art show.  I was so excited to be invited to this show. I have heard wonderful things about Art in the Pearl. It’s a top tier show and I am so grateful to be included.  That acceptance email I received from them really gave me some extra motivation and put some pep in my step again.   I felt so drained after the last year of our hectic art show season. I’m a big time homebody and being on the road so much took a lot out of me. Home is where I get my inspiration and my ideas and my comfort.  Seeing the trees and the sky, deer in my yard, ducks in the pool, hanging out with my kids and grand puppy  - and even little things like cooking and doing laundry keep me grounded and let my mind wander into creative territory. It took a long time to get back to reality and let my mind calm and get my imagination flowing again. We finished with art shows last November and the art show application process for 2024 started again last December and I wasn’t even in the mood to apply.  But I applied to plenty - trying to stay closer to home more often and not do quite as many shows this year.  In early spring thought I was done with applications but then on a whim I applied to The Pearl.  April 1 I received the email I was in. Wow I felt refueled,with a big boost to my morale.   I have never been to the Pacific Northwest.  It’s been on my bucket list though as I’ve seen photos and it looks just beautiful - that’s what made me want to apply. I love to road trip and this will be a big one. 31 hours each way haha.  Crazy - but we have never driven that way before so it’s all new and exciting.  I was looking for info and images of Oregon and kept coming up with coastline pics- Cannon Beach etc. With all of those travel thoughts I had a dream about Oregon that gave me the idea for some whale paintings…. The first one I did is of gray whales. Gray whales are the most common seen off the Oregon coast. They aren’t the prettiest whales (kind of homely actually) as they have white barnacle spots all over but they are still magical to see.  The painting is a sweet one 24x30 inches of whales meeting some friendly swimmers and sailers and with people on the beach waving and cheering at seeing the whales.   Currently I’m working on a larger 36x48 of Orcas.  Orcas are more often seen off the Washington coast and around then San Juan Islands but sometimes magic happens and they are spotted in Oregon waters.  I googled for orca images and info and discovered how amazing they are  - so loving to each other and smart. I knew that already but the stories about them are incredible.  I think next will be sea lions.  I didn’t want to do whales and sea lions together…can’t tempt those hungry whales.  I want them each to be appreciated for the loving beautiful creatures they are, separately, without considering the food chain lol.  Looking forward to seeing gorgeous Oregon and more this summer.  We start the show season in a few days and I’m very grateful to the energy the acceptance to Art in the Pearl has given me.