Autumn Jungle - October 2, 2009

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul." John Muir

Autumn Jungle
5" x 7" Watercolor

John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-born naturalist, author, and early advocate of the preservation of wilderness. His essays and books were fresh with the spell of wilderness, particularly of the Sierra Nevada in California. Muir popularized the idea of nature as healer. Yosemite and Sequoia National Park, the Sierra Club and the modern environmental movement, are direct results of his gentle insight.

With the influence of a rigid, biblically-minded father, Muir, by age 11, could recite most of the bible by heart. Words and turn-of-phrase did him well, and while he escaped orthodox beliefs with little apology, he wrote well and often of a universal view of the power of deity through attention to nature.

Lily Pads - October 1, 2009

"There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best."

– Doris Lessing

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Lily Pads

2.5" x 3.5" Watercolor & Gouache

I had the best time this morning! Vikie Lea emailed me about this wonderful artist, so I just had to go see. Karrie Evenson is another artist who loves color and has a wonderful style, like Lindy Gruger Hanson, who I have been following for a while. When I spend time looking at art like theirs, I am always inspired to take a few more chances and get a little more bold with my art. They just seem to be having so much fun! Thanks, Vickie!


About Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing, the iconoclastic British author who writes both realistic literary novels and humanist science fiction, is best known for her book The Golden Notebook, an experimental novel about a blocked writer who jots down her thoughts in a set of notebooks. She was born in Iran in 1919 to British parents and grew up in Rhodesia. She went through a communist phase but became disenchanted after witnessing the reality in the Soviet Union. She was awarded a Noble Prize in Literature in 2007. She has been married twice and has three children.

Lemon Wedge - September 30, 2009

"When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge."

– Tuli Kupferberg

L is for Lemon Wedge

2.5" x 3.5" Watercolor

for Alphabet Exchange

I enjoy the ATC size. They are fun to create and it's amazing what we can fit on to that itty bitty little card.

About Tuli Kupferberg

Tuli Kupferberg, the American Beat poet and musician, was 42 when he cofounded the Fugs, a satirical, politically pointed rock band that became an integral part of the 60's countercultural movement. He was born in 1923 in Brooklyn. Before forming the Fugs, he had no formal training in music; he had edited the underground magazines Birth and Yeah, and his poetry was featured in anthologies, including The Beat Scene. He still does poetry readings and has a cable show on public access.

Aspens Aglow - Sptember 29, 2009

Miracles are not altogether made out of dreams. Often they are put together out of plain, everyday, nonglamorous facts.

Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Thinking Every Day

Aspens Aglow
W&N Watercolor in my 5" x 8" Moleskine Travel Journal

Those aspens were glowing all around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was fortunate enough to be there late enough to see them turn yellow, yet early enough to miss the first snow and cold weather. I painted this on my way to the airport Saturday morning. I actually took two hours going that 11 miles to the airport. It was just too beautiful to rush.

Jenny Lake Plein Air - September 28, 2009

"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

– Lucille Ball

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Jenny Lake Plein Air
4" x 6" Watercolor on
Indian Village Handmade Paper

What a beautiful place! I walked in to this spot and climbed on a rock and began my first plein air painting.... ever! I usually paint from photos, so this was an amazing experience.

I left Idaho on Friday morning and spent the day in The Grand Teton National Park and in Jackson Hole. I saw some incredible art in Jackson!

Saturday, I did a little more painting, then headed to the airport for my noon flight. I walked in the door to my house after midnight! What a day! It's good to be home to my honey!

This is a page from my 5" x 8" travel journal, that I did on the flight to Minneapolis.

About Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball, the beloved redheaded comedian, was born in 1911 in New York. She enrolled in drama school — where she was told she had no acting talent, so she became a model. That career led to her discovery by Hollywood. Ball and her bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, pitched a sitcom to CBS, which refused it, but they went on the road with it as a vaudeville act. The act — about a ditzy housewife and her bandleader husband — was a success, as was the ensuing TV show, I Love Lucy. The show made TV history when Lucy's sitcom character was pregnant on the air. She died in 1989.

Oreo the Dachshund - September 21, 2009

"What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence."

– Samuel Johnson

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Oreo the Dachshund
Two - 4" x 4" Watercolors

My neighbor saw my Hip Cat painting and asked me to do a dachshund in purple for her girlfriend's work cubicle. Her friend is a real purple freak! These will be mounted on 1.5" thick gallery wrap canvases.

I am headed to Blackfoot, Idaho for my Mom's 80th birthday. Then to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a day of painting. I'll be off-line until Sunday, Sept. 27th. Have a great week!

About Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson, the sharp-witted British essayist, wrote the first English language dictionary; his definitions still form the backbone of current dictionaries. He was born in Staffordshire in 1709. Johnson married a widow 20 years his senior and lived in poverty before achieving success with his essays when he was in his forties. Later in life, he befriended the young James Boswell, whose Life of Johnson became the quintessential English biography. Johnson died in 1784.

Bubbles & Roosters - September 18, 2009

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road."
– Dag Hammarskjöld

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Bubbles

4" x 6" Watercolor

Playing with my new St. Petersburg set of Yarka watercolors. I got this idea from Leslie White's blog, when she had a link to June Malone's blog. I just love artists! June's example was way more colorful and skilled, as was Leslie's, but I still had fun and I got to try out my new colors.

About Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld, a Noble Peace Prize winner, was a diplomat who strengthened the United Nations' peacekeeping mission. Born in Sweden in 1905, he followed his father's footsteps into national government, where he coined the term "planned economy" before becoming a delegate to the U.N. and a two-time secretary-general. He negotiated the release of Americans captured by the Chinese in the Korean War, worked to resolve the Suez Canal crisis, and was on a mission to the Congo when his plane crashed in 1961, killing all aboard.

Two 4" x 4" Acrylics - Roosters

Greens - September 17, 2009

Remember Edison's remark: "If we did all the things we are capable of doing we would literally astonish ourselves." Astonish yourself!

Positive Thinking Every Day
-Norman Vincent Peale

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Greens
4" x 6" Watercolor

This was a challenge that I'm not sure I pulled off. Lots and lots of green. aargh! I had fun, tho.


My husband told me yesterday that he went to hear a motivational speaker one day, when he was still working. It was some guy named Norman Vincent Peale. Norman Vincent Peale!! I would love to have had that opportunity! How cool would that be! I really believe strongly in the power of positive thinking!

Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) was the Champion of Positive Thinking. His legacy is with us to day in the ministry of the Schulers (CrystalCathedral.org), and is currently re-inforced by the highly bankable "The Secret" and there is no doubt that the Peale legacy is powerful and vibrant.

Peale confessed that as a youth he had "the worst inferiority complex of all," and developed his positive thinking/positive confession philosophy just to help himself. It certainly paid off!

Peale's works came under criticism from several mental health experts, one of whom directly said Peale was a con man and a fraud. (Meyer, Donald. "Confidence Man." New Republic. July 11, 1955, pp. 8-10.) These critics appeared in the early 1950s after the publication of The Power of Positive Thinking.

By the way - my husband loved his boat! I told him to be careful with it though, because I forgot to paint in the fenders. he he

Maga Frolic - September 17, 2009

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

– Lao-Tzu

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Mega Frolic
4" x 5" Watercolor

This boat portrait was done for my husband, for our 7th anniversary, tomorrow. I hope he likes it.

About Lao-Tzu

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu is believed to have lived in the 4th century B.C. Little is known about him, but it is likely that he wrote the Tao te Ching, the foundation of Taoist philosophy, and engaged Confucius in debate, honing both men's belief systems. His name means either "old master" or the "old child," and one legend says he was born with white hair after spending 80 years in his mother's womb.

Hip Cat - September 15, 2009

"I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one's inner life. And that too is a deed." – Etty Hillesum

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Hip Cat
4" x 6" Watercolor

This is the same kitty I painted yesterday. I love that.
Expression is way more fun that trying to achieve a certain perfection or in trying to make something exactly like the original. I admire artists who can do that, but it's not me.


Etty Hillesum, less famous than her contemporary, Anne Frank, lived a short life of great courage. She was born in 1914 in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Russian mother. She studied law, Slavic languages, and psychology. Hungry for knowledge, she cut down on food in order to buy books. She went voluntarily to the Westerbork camp to help fellow Jews interned by the Nazis. Her letters detail her experiences; her more meditative diary focuses on issues of faith. She died at Auschwitz in 1943.