My husband of almost 48 years, makes fun of me because he thinks all I draw and paint are trees.  That not true, I draw and paint other subjects too.  It just TREES are my favorite subject.  I love trees, I loved climbing trees as a kid and I would sit in a tree for hours alone or with my best friend solving the problems of the world.  I love to find trees in nature that seem human, you can almost feel their soul or spirit. I would love to hear the stories they could tell from years past. My Dad instilled in me my love of nature, and I just love trees. Out of the 17 drawings and painting shown here, 11 are sold.  I'm not the only one who loves trees. Thanks to those who shared in my love for trees and now have my trees in their homes.

The plein air event in Clarksville turned out to be really exciting and fun.  But now I have to calm down and get back to creating art.  The photo above is of  the paintings I completed for the 2Rivers Paint Out last Friday and Saturday. I liked all of them this year.  As I've said before, I'm slow for a plein air painter.  I know artists who can do four a day.  I do well to get 2 done a day.  I do enjoy getting outside and painting but I don't make myself do it enough. I'm also thinking about using oils instead of acrylics.  When I started plein air painting five years ago, I used watercolors.  I stopped when I was painting a cute little yellow cottage in the mountains and there came a down pouring rain.  All I had left was a yellow stained piece of watercolor paper.  All that work - - -gone!   

Two days of painting on location in Clarksville this week-end.  Artists friends were there and I met new plein air artists.  The talent was amazing and it made for a beautiful show Saturday night at the L&N Depot.  

I was awarded an Honorable Mention for my painting "Clarksville's Waterworks Building".  I was at Liberty Park at the boat dock and looked across the river and saw the wonderful old building at a distance (its always been one of my favorites). The artist I was with said, she couldn't even see it in the distance. Thank goodness, my eyes are still pretty good.  I want to Thank Sue Catchings for being my painting buddy for this event. And Lisa Wallace for coming down against all odds, Murphy's Law followed her all week end.  We had a wonderful time at the reception.

15 Artists (including myself) will be painting on location tomorrow in Clarksville, TN.  It's the annual 2Rivers Paint Out.  We start tomorrow at 9am. They will return to paint Saturday and at 4:00 pm we stop.  We will turn in our artwork for an Exhibit at the L&N Train Station starting at 6:00.  while they hang the show, we will be participating in a Quick Draw.  We will have about 2 hours to complete a painting.The two paintings above were done at last years paint out. 

I did this for my sister over 50 years ago.  I was still in school but I don't remember how old I was. She found it last night.  I had forgotten all about it. She thought she was still in high school when I did it. That would make me about 13. I always wanted to be an illustrator, I guess this is one of my first attempts.  My brother, sisters and I roller skated every week-end and we always said it was the little green men who tripped us to make us fall. So here are the little green men.  She found it in her HS Yearbook folded in half. It brought back a lot of fun memories.  

The reception at the Weichert Realtors - The Andrews Group in Murfreesboro Tn. was great. Lots of people, good food and lots of smiles.  The group was so complementary of my artwork, especial the Pen & INKS.  Which I love to do, pen & ink is my favorite medium.  I love working with a crow quill pen. You apply a little pressure and your fine line gets wider, less it's thin again.  All that information in one line. I enjoyed telling people the stories between the work. 

These were the two most talked about pieces last night at the reception in Murfreesboro..  They liked the fact I did the watercolor landscape totally out of my head.  It's called "Tennessee Springscape", I was living in Georgia and missing Tennessee when I created it.  The cats, "Eight is Enough" are my two cats in different poses.  The guest were trying to guessWhich cat was which.  It was a fun night.  

Today I got a check for placing 1st in drawing @ Hopkinsville, I'm feeling really good tonight.  

Today my husband and I went out in the boat to take photos for my drawings and paintings. It was a wonderful morning to be out.  I'm very excited to get started back to work on some new materials.  The last two months have been so hectic.  Everyday for the past 2 months, I've had something to do, volunteer work, commissions, doctor's appointments etc..  I'm looking forward to just kicking back and just doing what I want to do.  Which includes building another chicken coop and organizing the basement, I'll still be going down to the studio a few days a week but for the most part, I'm taking off the rest of Oct.  I'll be back in the studio the first of NOV. and concentrating on my artwork...