"Walking the Dog at Sunset" Oil (Image Size 5"x7") - I started this little painting sometime ago and thought I'd work on it while I let the strawberries dry a little before continuing. This one is nearly done. Gotta punch up the colors & and more highlights.

What we create just is and I believe there’s no right or wrong when it comes to expressing ourselves in a creative way. So long as we give it our best effort – I mean really try our hardest – that’s all we can expect of ourselves. There’s no doubt the more one practices and learns that the final product will improve in your own eyes as well as the eyes of your audience. But that doesn’t diminish the art you created in the beginning.

I saved those first couple of watercolor paintings that I created in 1987 and still have a couple of things I produced in high school and in the years after high school (which incidentally was way before 1987). Even though at that time I was raising my twin sons I still did a little drawing when time allowed. What those older creations tell me is that there has always been this desire inside me – an absolute necessity really – to create and these days my creative energy is screaming, “Let me out!”

So that’s what I’m doing – unleashing my creative spirit – and I’m trying to do so without judgment. That’s the hard part for me since I am after all my harshest critic. The wonderful thing about unleashing your creative energy is a Divine peace envelopes the soul that is using the gifts God has provided.

"End of Summer" Oil, Image Size 4"x5"

I thought I’d share one more of my newly-completed old paintings today.  It seems a shame to name this little oil painting “End of Summer” when spring hasn’t even arrived here yet, but this painting was inspired by one of those sunny and warm days toward the end of summer when the greens lean more toward brown and you know you’re headed toward autumn.

Hey, hold on a minute . . . I know they’ll be no rushing the season around here.  Heck we’re not even officially done with winter yet.   Be assured that mother nature is the boss and today she finally gave a little hint that spring hasn’t forgotten us completely by delivering warm temps and sunshine galore.  Oh how sweet it felt after such a long and grueling winter.

All this summery green talk reminds me that today is St. Patrick’s Day and this morning I scoured my closet for something green to wear.  I’m not sure why but I was always told you needed to wear green on this day or it was an insult to the Irish.  I wouldn’t dream of insulting the Irish especially since my maternal Grandfather’s family came from Ireland in the late 1800′s and settled in Rutland, Vermont where my son, Jonathan, lives.  Such a cool coincidence . . . but then I don’t believe in coincidences (and that’s another story for another time)!

Anyway… this morning as I continued rifling through my closet, desperate to donn myself in green, today I realized that my  wardrobe is lean on green.  After discovering one blouse with a little bead of green and the other technically more of an aqua than a true green I promptly wrote a “Note to Self:  buy green outfit pronto so as not to diss my Irish ancestors.”  Sorry Grandpa!

"A Summer Read" (Oil on Masonite Board, 5"x7")

“A Summer Read” (above) is an oil painting that was inspired by a photograph taken at Congress Park in Saratoga Springs during one of the Art in the Park events the Arts Council hosts there every summer.

As you can see it was a beautiful sunny day and this young woman was so engrossed in her “summer read” that I couldn’t resist secretly snapping a few pics.  I was quite inspired by the sun on the grass and the contrasting cool dark shadows.  I find that green can be a difficult color to work with and have discovered that mixing my own works far better than using many of the harsh mixtures that are ready made.  There is one exception. . . my Sap Green.  I can yellow it up or gray it down relatively easily, but still in spite of my love affair with Sap Green it too can be a tough customer.

Hilltop Spring (Oil on Masonite, 5"x7")

“Hilltop Spring” is an oil painting that has many layers beneath the final layer you see here.  The soft greens of spring in the distant trees caught my eye.  My first attempts to lay in just the right hue failed miserably, were way too dark and my handy paper towel was used to wipe away the evidence.  That’s one of the things I love about oil painting. . . pushing the paint around and when I have pushed it too far . . . out comes the paper towel to wipe away the evidence and I start again.  That part I really enjoy.

[Click on image above for a better look]

It was a good day.  A restorative day spent painting (mostly) with a little cleaning and such interspersed.  I enjoy being home and have never been much of a traveler.   I suppose it’s not that I didn’t want to travel it’s just that my finances have never been in such a condition where travel to distant or exotic locales was even an option.

So out of necessity I do most of my traveling through my art.  Today, though we still have more than a foot of snow on the ground, I found myself in spring fields, summertime pastures and enjoying the antics of a mare and her young colt.  All this travel was accomplished without leaving my art room.

My creative oasis is tucked in small room on the second floor of my home.   It’s cozy and filled with all my special treasures.  Hanging on the walls you’ll find the plaster of Paris hand prints made by my sons many years ago when their hands were small and could easily be enveloped in mine.  Not so anymore now that they’re grown, but I love those hand prints.  They remind me that I’m a mother even though I’m no longer needed in the same way I once was. Those hand prints they comfort me.

Also in my art room you’ll find reference books galore, more than I can ever effectively read, but I find comfort in having them nearby just in case.  This room crammed full with family photos, my scrapbook, old sketchbooks, paintings, photographs, knickknacks, and, of course, my favorite music.   This room, so filled with me, is my favorite place in the entire house.

Today when I settled in I began to tackle the unfinished oil paintings that have leaning against the wall for many, many months.  This new found determination to finish what I have started is gaining momentum and honestly it feels good and a little scary at the same time.

You see I think my tendency toward not finishing things might come from a fear of failure.  The ironic thing is that an unfinished piece of artwork is an automatic failure.  So today I worked simultaneously on the oil paintings you see here and, whatever the outcome, I intend to finally bring them to completion.  It’s the only way go and today was the perfect day to travel.