Winter Storm Virgil

Winter Storm Virgil (3-24-13) 

was one of those Johnny-Come-Lately spring surprises 

 that stuns you with its beauty and then quickly melts away.   The snow on this picnic table had to be 

at least 15 inches deep!

"Tomato Cage" --- SOLD!

"Tomato Cage"  acrylic, 12"x12"   SOLD!

I wanted a painting with

 the rusty tomato cage wire in it

because I scratch myself on it 

every time I pick tomatoes. 

Ouch!

A Christmas Commission

12-12-12  
THE ASSIGNMENT: 
paint an old, old tin as a Christmas gift for a man's wife. He had the thing already prepped & primed, so I gave it two base coats of folksy blue.

What most people don't understand is that artists need time to mull a project for a while, then paint like the dickens, get almost finished, and then they need some time to mull it over again, before the finish. This can (and usually does) cause me to work slow anyway.  So getting the tin on the 12th and having it done less than two weeks later was a real push for me --- but I did it! The man seemed pleased with it.

2012  was a hard year on all of us, I think. This was my only commission all year, and I sold one other small painting. Without the support of my husband, I truly would be a starving artist.

Merry Christmas to All

A day late 

and a dollar short...

but I hope you had a blessed Christmas!

End-of-the-Year Update

I'm feeling better than I have all year --- finally. In March I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Apparently, I've had it for 15 or 20 years but never knew what it was. Various aches and pains all over the body --- I just thought that came with growing old. But last winter I had it so bad, the pain was unbearable and I was suffering from a very bad bout of insomnia. I was so weak, there were times I couldn't even haul myself up out of bed. I just laid there and cried for hours. I finally had to see my doctor.

It's only been recently that modern medicine has finally recognized what I have as a legitimate health issue and have given it a name. It used to be  called "hypochondria," or more simply put, "laziness."  Everyone knows someone (usually, but not always, female) who just seems to be sick all the time, complaining about this or that pain, but in all outer appearances, they seem to be normal. They hurt so much that even housekeeping is too overwhelming for them, and they lose all interest in things that used to delight them. They don't want to be around people, withdrawing into an ever-thickening shell of depression. This now has a name: FIBROMYALGIA.

Giving it a name, however, doesn't mean a cure. Doctors don't know what causes it or how to cure it. In fact, with all the research I had to do on my own, I feel like I know more about the disorder than the doctors do. I was sent to a rheumatologist, who started treatment with one of only three meds on the market for fibro right now, along with a couple other pills. At first, it seemed to help. My pain was cut by 50% & I had great hopes. But after awhile, it lost its effectiveness. It's also funny (not ha-ha funny either) that the side effects of the drugs used to treat the disease are the same as the symptoms of the disease itself.  After 6 months of feeling as bad as I did before treatment, I gave up on it.

The worst part of fibro is that the usual pain-killers have no effect. None of the opiate-based ones like Vicodin do a thing! I've practically lived on ibuprophen for years, even though relief was hit-or-miss. I recently read that NSAIDs are ineffective, so I switched to Tylenol PM to take before bed to make sure I don't wake in pain in the middle of the night.  The other pain med that I take 3 times a day is Gabapentin, an anti-seizure drug that does seem to help with pain in fibro patients.

Needless to say, my life sucks big time. I'm doing my best to keep going. We recently built a porch onto the south side of our house and installed a hot tub. What a wonderful thing it is to soak away my pain every night before bed time. Temporary, but very effective!

In other news, we sold our cute little camper.  With my illness, camping is no longer that enjoyable. I sure hated to say goodbye, but we were making payments on it and couldn't justify continuing to do so, when we used it so seldom. We still have our pontoon boat, and we'll just have to find pet friendly motels when we travel.

Gardening was especially challenging with our summer-long drought. Caring for it and hauling buckets of water to it nearly every day actually gave me a purpose to keep going and brought me through a long, hot, dry, summer.

I sold the "4 Bins" painting (see post below) at the Dec. Gallery Hop. The only painting I've sold all year. I also took on a small commission to paint an old tin. It has a Christmas deadline! My only commission this year too.  

2012 hasn't been the best year of my life by any means. Let's hope the New Year brings better.

May you and your loved ones enjoy a blessed holiday season!

2 New Paintings

"A Sandy Beach" South Superior Lakeshore (Wisconsin)  7"x14", acrylic

I visited this deserted beach in Wisconsin a few years ago, while I was on a self-directed artist retreat. The elderly gentleman who owned the resort where I stayed had been very helpful in recommending local sights for me to see. I couldn't wait to see this one.  It was supposed to have a trail to some look-out rocks. But when I got there, the parking lot signs said it was a 1.5 mile hike (3 miles, round-trip) and I didn't know if I was up to that. I might have gone ahead and tried it, but at the trailhead there was a sign that said "Bears Frequent This Area." No way! So I walked down to the beach instead. It was a blustery, cold, gray day, with the sun sometimes breaking through. The choppy waves washing up on shore were making a loud roar, and just being there in the solitude of nature was spellbinding.

"4 Bins" Morgan County, Illinois  7"x14", acrylic - SOLD

This is an Illinois farmscape from right here in Morgan County, although I couldn't say exactly where. Once in a while my husband and I take a ride in the country. He drives, and I man the camera, yelling at him to stop when I see something photo-worthy. Something caught my eye about these 4 bins in a row. This is how the corn and beans should look. The photo I painted from was taken last summer. This year we're in a prolonged drought,  and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that there's anything out there that's photo-worthy right now. I still can't stand to go into my ruined garden, after the storm we had the other night.  

NOTE ON THE PHOTOS ABOVE

I apologize for the poor quality of these two photos of my paintings, above. I was in a big hurry this morning and it was misty-rainy outside, so I couldn't photograph them in natural light. I had to grab a couple shots in the studio, under incandescent light.  So they're a bit warmer in color here than they are in real life, and not real sharp.  I hope to replace them with better ones soon, but I was in a hurry to get them to the gallery.  

A Temporary Detour

A Painful Smile ~ 8-13-12 ~ after a grueling hike!

Friends, I've been sick. Sorry for the absence. For the time being, I'm only going to be updating this blog when I have a new painting to announce.

Please visit me at my other blog, which I will try to update daily, as I'm able. It can be reached by clicking on the link to THE HEARTLAND DAILY at right or using this web address:

http://theheartlanddaily.blogspot.com/

Dust Bath

No more rolling in the onions for Katty. 

They've been harvested!

Happy...

Happy Birthday, CC!

Canning --- Ugh!

I hate canning. I'm very slow at it, even though I've been canning for nearly 30 years. It's a LOT of work, and it fills the house with heat and steam. Last year we had a tomato failure in our old, worn-out garden site, so I was only able to can seven quarts (one canner load). This year will be a bumper crop, so I'll can toms for the rest of the summer. Helllllpppp!

Cussed Tomato

Oh, the verbal abuse I heaped upon this blasted tomato, trying to pull it off the vine. This year, instead of pinching off excessive growth of the vines, we just kept sticking it back in the cage. Now the ripening tomatoes are packed in there so tight, they're almost impossible to pick. Here is one (top & bottom) where three tomatoes grew together into one, wrapped around the wires of the cage. I wanted to scream when it wouldn't come loose. (Live & Learn!)

New Painting

"Last Spring"