July 2026

Chinatown!

 Usually during the summer I am extremely down in the dumps. NOT THIS YEAR! I’ve had to work very hard to prevent the summer doldrums, but so far so good! To begin, we flew to San Francisco for July 4th. Had the best time: museums, walking, a ferry ride across the bay, lunch in Sausalito, a Chinatown food tour and absolutely perfect weather. We didn’t want to come home.

Lunch in Sausalito

View from the Legion of Honor

One of the most famous works of art in art history
SF MoMA

Artist: Lavinia Fontana / Legion of Honor

Bar Spretzzatura

Another big summer boost was meeting with a personal coach. I wouldn’t say that she was outstanding, but she did provide prompts that motivated me to do further research and analysis on my own, and that’s where I found real answers. Three major takeaways: 1) I’m settling into a fitness routine in the morning. Scott and I leave for the gym at 5:55 and we’re home around 7. 2) While I’m at the gym I listen to confidence building / motivational podcasts . 3) As a result of the podcasts, I’ve confirmed that some of the people I was spending a lot of time with are extremely toxic and not good for my self esteem or outlook on life. Oooof. And it would be easy for me to beat myself up about that (why didn’t I see it sooner??), but that’s not the point. The point is that I see it now. 

Coaching reminded me of a habit I got into during Covid, when I had 4 tasks to complete each day: something to meditate on, some form of exercise, a little bit of reading and a creation of some sort (drawing, painting, watching a how to, etc). I got out of that habit, but I’m back in the groove, and it feels good. There’s a lot more work to do but in general I just feel better.

Another fun thing is that I signed up for a 3 week course on Albrecht Durer through the Atlanta German society. It’s fascinating! Makes me want to do more things like this. Last night we learned so much about woodcuts, engravings and etchings. I also learned about Durer’s depiction of a rhinoceros. Had no idea!

We also spent a few days in Nashville. Scott wanted to see his favorite band, Pavement, so I tagged along and we made it an adventure.

The band was staying in our hotel and as luck would have it, Scott got to meet and talk to the lead singer. So much fun!!

We visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, which I absolutely loved, especially fun to see The Bandit!

And we saw the Surrealist exhibition (on loan from The Tate) at the Frist Art Museum. The museum set up a really fun surrealist still life, so you know I couldn’t resist! Scott drew too!

And I got to shop live and in person at Jerry’s Artarama. 

ART

Tis the season for flowers, so I’ve been painting lots of them and submitted three to the American Impressionist Society online show. Acceptances/rejections go out in early August. Will I have yet another rejection???? 

In addition to painting flowers I’ve been drawing them in charcoal, and it’s really fun. 

AUGUST

Docent training resumes. This will be my 9th year. And classes continue, of course! We are dividing up the Acworth drawing class into intermediate (Wednesdays) and beginners (Fridays). There are a few folks in Friday’s class that are beyond beginner level, so I’ll have a few extra challenges for them. Scott and I are going to Charlotte to see the Caravaggio exhibition. I’m taking some artists to the High to see the Paper Trees exhibition. And I may try to sneak over to Athens to see the Edmonia Lewis sculpture exhibit. 

OTIS, WINSTON and LOU

The big excitement for the boys is their new bird feeder. Well, it’s actually more of a squirrel feeder at the moment, but that’s beside the point. Lou is on cloud freakin 9. I put a cat bed on the dining room table (we never use it anymore) so he’s on patrol all day. He can watch and nap, nap and watch until his heart’s content. It wears him out and that is the best part of all. We’re hoping birds will show up eventually, but for now, I’ll take the squirrels. Otis, our sweet old boy, turns 14 on August 25.