May 2021

St Simons Sunset

Driftwood Beach - Jekyll Island

St Simons Island

Another busy, productive and very fun month has passed. I kicked off May by painting at two live events at Colony Square: their Kentucky Derby viewing party and Cinco de Mayo celebration. Colony Square has been an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and Atlanta Artists Center. In fact, they've extended the AAC spring exhibition until July 4th. Thank you, Colony Square!

  

Painting at an event is a lot of fun, but there's also some pressure. I'm not very experienced at painting in front of people, so I feel a little self conscious. It's hard to think my way through a painting while carrying on conversations. More importantly, I'm terrified that the painting I'm working on won't turn out and that could be embarrassing. Everyone has off days, and what if the day I'm scheduled to paint is my off day? Have you ever watched a golf tournament and seen one of the greats miss an easy putt? Yeah, me too, all the time. Fortunately, my paintings turned out well.

The Colony Square events teed me up to paint at the Midtown Garden Stroll on Sunday, May 16th. The folks from Woodstock Flower Company hooked me up with some really pretty flowers to paint and I had a blast. Everything clicked and I was so pleased with the end result. The sunflower painting is currently available on my website, and I'm donating all of the proceeds back to the Midtown Neighbors' Association (a non-profit, 501c3). The Garden Stroll was a ton of fun. Scott and I saw friends and neighbors that we haven't seen in over a year. What a treat!

  

My spring flower painting lessons with Elizabeth Floyd picked back up. We are painting azaleas and lilacs. I'm also still studying the paintings of Cezanne and I have two still life set ups that I'm currently working on that are inspired by him. It's so interesting to see how these paintings are turning out because they don't really look like anything else I've painted. Yes, they are Cezanne inspired, but I feel like I'm putting my own spin on them, and that's generating all kinds of ideas for future paintings. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying my Thursday plein air sessions with my artist friends. My paintings/studies aren't great, but that's not getting me down. It's invigorating to be outside, overlooking a babbling brook while painting under the shade of a gorgeous tree canopy in the middle of Atlanta. Cator Woolford gardens are truly beautiful, a respite from the chaos of Atlanta traffic and noise.

Here are the paintings I'm working on/completed in May:

READING

I finished "Washington's Crossing," which was a terrific book and fed my curiosity to read more about the Revolutionary War. But, after reading a fairly serious, intense book, I usually dig into something light and silly. Matthew McConaughey's "Greenlights" certainly fit the bill. I can't remember when I've laughed so much. I listened to it on Audible, and I gotta say, if all you do is read this book, you are missing out. McConaughey is a one man show. He is a great storyteller. This book isn’t for everyone, but if you liked "Dazed and Confused," this is a must listen. 

And just last week I started, "The Doctors Blackwell," by Janice Nimura. Because I share a name with the first female doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, I've always been curious about her story. The reviews of the book are not great, so we'll see ........

PERSONAL

I've been walking A LOT, with some running mixed in. Scott is training for the Chicago Marathon in October, so it's motivated me to get back into a somewhat regular schedule of morning walks. He wanted to test himself so he registered for the Berry Half Marathon in Rome, GA. There was also a 5K and 10K event, so I registered for the 10K. Scott came in 2nd in his age group! Yay!!!! 

It’s been sooo long since I've participated in road/trail races, so I dug through some of my old race results. My first race is listed as 1995, the Cooper River Bridge 10K in Charleston back when I lived in SC. My dad took me to the race and waited for me at the finish line. A great memory! Since then I've completed 7 marathons, several triathlons, a bunch of trail races, and my biggest accomplishment, the Fat Ass 50K trail race (2010), that goes up and down Kennesaw Mountain. Those crazy running days are long behind me. Now I just enjoy being outside, walking most of the distance, jogging the downhills. 

Scott and I are enjoying a really nice trip to St Simons Island. Reading, painting, fresh seafood and picture perfect sunsets. SSI is such a cute little beach town. We’re having a blast.

COMING UP

I entered three paintings in the AAC's latest call for art, Farm to Table exhibition. I'm also working on some experiments for the summer. It’s important for me to try new things, step out of my comfort zone, experiment with materials and ideas. I have a lot more flower paintings coming soon, and I’ll continue to paint en plein air until the heat and humidity become unbearable. That might not be too far away ...? 

Thank you for reading. Thank you for the words of encouragement and support. Thank you for purchasing my art. Thank you for the commissions. Come back and visit with me for my June update. 

OTIS and JUJU

Have a great summer! See you in June!