Must recommend a book: "The Book of Joy" co written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalia Lama

Oh wow!  what a great difference these two are making in our old world.  Got this book (audio) and I have the privilege of listening to both of their voices as they share views on many subjects and deliver mischievous jabs at each other.  They are dear friends of long standing and both have hit the decade of 80's in age.  Spent a week together and this book was born.  Go to your library or buy it on Amazon for "not much".  All of my kids will get it.

Will be mighty thankful when the 4th of November arrives.  I have already voted via mail in and I have never felt stronger-----EVAH, EVAH, EVAH about an election.  That is all I'm going to say.

Did this plein aire painting of my Tree House Studio for the third time.

LIFE'S EXPERIENCES

Nothing goes to waste in life's journey.  Both good and bad experiences shape us for what is to come.

Sometimes we need to make a choice to not let the political climate, friends health issues, family difficulties, financial set backs, house maintenance, loss of pets, fatigue affect our daily outlook on life in this journey.

So, I did a very simple "sweet" painting that I could do almost in my sleep.  It does remind me of the time I was in  Ft Worth, Texas, painting in a Butterfly Garden at the Botanic Gardens.  A young girl with special needs was watching me intently.  Her age was probably 16.  I asked her if she would like to paint on my painting.  She was ecstatic.  Her Mother could almost not extract her from the paint brush and Mother had an appointment to get to.  Named the painting "Evelyn's Painting".  That painting is long gone, but here is my recent:

HOW WE CHOOSE TO LIVE

From Richard Rohr: (I get an email from him daily and he is one of my most respected mentors of life)  "You have to deliberately, consciously choose to love and not hate.  Because people haven't been taught that,  we have even decent people in our country, in political parties, and even in leadership positions in our churches who are much more at home with hate than they are with love.  And, they do not even know it".

Because of the recent election of our new President, I have been sick at heart at the hate espoused during the campaign.  What Rohr says helps me to understand a little bit more.  But, I am still sick at heart.

Sometimes I have to paint something just to lighten the mood.  Here is such a painting:

Bees in my Treehouse

This is going to bee an interesting experience.  Have a hive of honey bees in the attic of my Treehouse studio, where I paint.  Am trying to get rid of them via taking them live and transporting their hive to another place.

Bees in my Treehouse

This is going to bee an interesting experience.  Have a hive of honey bees in the attic of my Treehouse studio, where I paint.  Am trying to get rid of them via taking them live and transporting their hive to another place.

Back from Alaskan Cruise

Rather a spontaneous cruise that started in Anchorage, boarding the HUGE boat, The Millennium, in Seward, to Juneau, Skagway (whale watching and glaciers on a side trip), then Icy Straits, Ketchikan where we took a train trip up the mountain, and Vancouver.  The plane trip from DFW was straight through on both flights.

Didn't let any experience go unattended on the cruise:  the food was absolutely the best.  Every dinner was spent with different people and that was great joy for me.  One night I had four appetizers and dessert and no entree.  Another night I had escargot and two lobsters!  Had the most wonderful massage.  Played my first ever roulette and won 33 dollars that I quickly lost at my first ever black jack.  Played in the boat ping pong tournament (2600 people on that boat) with all the 20 year old boys and won the silver medallion. Hate to admit it, but that was one of the most fun events for me.  I told each young man as I went to the table that I didn't see too well, didn't hear too well either, and I might have to have someone retrieve the balls.  Used a very fragile voice.  And, then I sliced a serve at them.  Played eight games and only lost to the gold medal winner and that one was pretty close.  A couple of the boys brought over parents or a parent to meet "that little ole lady who beat them".
  One night at dinner looked out the window and right beside the boat, saw a Blue whale (largest of all mammals that have ever existed on this earth).  I let out a yelp of "whale" and one fourth of the dining room was looking out our window.  The whale swam along right beside the boat, very close, for a while and then did a dive.  This was by far the best sighting we had the entire cruise.
  Entered a guessing contest on a huge yellow Sapphire.  The sapphire was 28.4 carats and I guessed 28.3 carats.  Won the prize of a really pretty bracelet and a 1 carat blue sapphire.  So, you can see no adventures were left untouched .  It was a genuine memory maker and great fun.  No paintings from it yet.

Three Things That Determine Your Happiness

For one full year I have studied and taken action on "happiness".  I love my life and the variety of interests and activity in it.  Last May I started dance lessons at the Colleyville Senior Center and have only missed 1 weekly session the entire year.  Once a month we go to a "dress up" dance at Swing
Time.  There, I am without a specific partner, but almost never miss a dance because they have dance hosts and a dance where we line up and dance with "whomever" in the chair dance, and because our table of Colleyville dancers reaches out to everyone.  Telling you this to say that it is great fun to learn this new skill.

Another skill that I am working on is my ability to throw an artificial lure into the exact spot I want it in my pond out back.  Some 40 years ago, stocked it with large mouth striper bass, brim, and catfish.  Those bass give you a thrill when they hit the lure.  Have a running competition going on with Son, whether he is here or not, I keep score on my refrigerator.

Relearning to play the card game of Bridge will be next skill learned.

Now, with the above said, I have determined via time with three other women in our meetings over breakfast once a month for a year and holding each other accountable, making a poster on "happiness", reading,  and taking action,  that three things determine our happiness:
  1.  When you develop the maturity to understand that you have the right to determine who gets to be in your life.  You remove the toxic people out of your life.
  2.  When we have basic skills (competence) to express ourselves intellectually, artistically, politically, and comically.  Learning new things increases happiness.
  3.  When you feel like a person in charge of own life.  When you have the freedom to be your most authentic self, not bound by other's expectations,  you are simply happier.

A Night in Seville at an architectural wonder by Dilbeck

From 1969-1973 Those Starving Artist Shows

Every week I have someone email me with a painting or two they bought in the above four years.  Some of the paintings make me cringe and others I actually like.  This one was sent by a daughter via her Mother.  It was done very expressively with quite liquidy oils and I like it for the looseness of the paint and the color that was exaggerated.  And, the frame reminds me of this precious man who made me 300 frames at a time in the color line (turquoise, lime green, avocado green, burnt orange, yellow, and orange) of the decorative colors used at that time.  Remember those avocado green shag carpets, anyone?  Anyway, that dear man made these really nice frames, distressed them, painted the color line, and charged me a pittance for them.  Am remembering that I could get a 16 by 20 for close to $5.  Is that not unbelievable!!

Also reminded that I was painting 20 paintings a week, actually 5 a day for the first four days of week, as I had to get them into frames to carry to the shows on that fifth day.  Too wet to do otherwise.  Never will I work that physically hard in setting up tent and display each week end, nor will I ever make that much money again.  Bought the 20 acres in Colleyville, road in, horse trailer to transport paintings before owned any horses, 4 stall metal barn, and fencing.

Here is this painting done in 1969 or 1970.  Like the drawing and like the looseness and the transparency opposed to the opaqueness of the paint.  Thank you, Susan C., for the sending.

Thursday, April 14, 2016, I was the lone member of a panel that David Morgan was the Moderator for Grapevine Art Project

It was a fun night.  I put in some real time on finding sources for the members of GAP.  It is always "fun" to talk about yourself, and is always an eye opener for self.  Having to put things into words makes feelings more real and gives me understanding of self.  Talked about a lot of things fast and hard and still did not get everything covered.
  One of the things I wanted to mention is using references from the internet and other peoples photographs and paintings.  If you want to compete with your painting or sell your painting (and I can't think of many other reasons for producing a painting), you should not use anyone else's photograph, and certainly NEVER another person's painting) or a reference photo from the internet.  Let me give you my personal experience that I have told in most every class or workshop since the experience.  Wanted to enter a State wide Pet Exhibition with a painting of my Blue Great Dane named Belle.  She had died some year before and I could not find a good photo I had taken, so went to the internet.  Found  a photo of a typical position that Belle would get in and made some changes:  1. the dog in internet photo was beige color with darker points and my dog was a blue.  2. The dog in internet photo had cut ears and I changed the ears to Belle's natural ears.  3. The dog in internet photo was not as fat as Belle, so I changed my painting to add pounds.  4.  Made my painting more feminine looking.
  None of this makes any difference.  The photo was not mine and that is the only consideration that copyright takes into consideration.  I won Best of Show, was challenged and gave the award money and ribbon back.  Lesson learned.
  Below is painting of my beloved Belle in Typical Dane Position.

This is What Life is About

Great time at the Outdoor Painters Show at Southwest Gallery on Saturday.  Man oh man did they get that show hung and take care of us (220 paintings from 19 states-our Prez, Tina B. did a fabulous job).  I was NOT happy with my Quick Paint, but appreciated the sale of three of my four paintings by the time the reception was over on Sat.

However, the real stuff of what life is made of came on Sunday.  Two of the artists returning home from the OPS Show, came by my home in Colleyville, Tx., and had bacon, quiche, fruit with me for a brunch Sunday mid morning.  We shared for a couple of hours over our luke warm coffee.  It was a wonderful, trusting, honest,  sharing and that, dear folks, is what life is about.  We all have a story, don't we.  And, then those two fine artists each bought a painting and went in their individual cars their individual ways.

Here are three of the paintings that sold at the show:  Thanks, Southwest.

Foods that fight Inflammation

Just to reiterate the good foods that fight inflammation because I am taking dance lessons and working hard at keeping the knees working.  I forget some of the foods like grapes and cherries.  So here is the list:  berries (strawberries,raspberries, blueberries), fatty fish (salmon, herring, sardines, anchovies), avocados, broccoli, green tea, peppers (bell and chili). mushrooms, grapes, turmeric, extra vir

gin olive oil, tomatoes, cherries, beans.

Hello Yello

Been attending Learn to Shine for several months now.  They have convinced me that the color yellow is the Universe's way of reminding us to "shine

.  It doesn't matter whether it is on a pretty flower in the sun or yellow rain coat in the rain, this cheery color reminds us to "shine".  Reminder when you see this yellow color anywhere to remind yourself of something you are grateful for.
  Jack Canfield reminds us "It is a universal principle that you get more of what you think about, talk about, and feel strongly about."

House of Shine Today

Heard a wonderful presentation from LaRue Eppler today at House of Shine this a.m.  Am using the Sunflower painting, as yellow is the official color of this organization and was present in everyway today, including the yellow T shirt that we all took home.  Decorations on each table were a little orange and a lot yellow with keys dripping from branches and goals hanging on yellow cards. Spectacular! ! !

Use your intuition wisely and affirmatively to further your goals.  Remember that the word "don't" is not heard by the brain and you unconsciously do what you don't want to do.  For instance, "Don't slam the door"  is said and you visualize a door slamming.  "Do shut the door softly" and you visualize a door shutting softly.  Are you with me?

A FAVORITE BOOK ON TAPE WHILE PAINTING

I remember exactly where I was when listening to my favorite book on tape, laughing and crying out loud.  Viktor Frankl'

s "Man's Search for Meaning" was listened to as I painted on a low water bridge off Highway 281 in South Texas.
  He lost every one in the four Nazi camps he was in:  his parents, siblings, and pregnant wife.  The inspiration for me was that while he had no choice over these happenings of life, he had the choice of his reaction to them.  He could not avoid the awful suffering, but he could choose how to deal with it.

From the Past

Almost every week I have the wonderful and quizzical experience of having an email or telephone call about a painting from the past.  This story came to me from a dear neighbor that lives down the street, actually on a street named after my daughter, Holly, in a sub-division that I did many years ago.  Had the privilege of going to a New Years Party that was a dy no mite time (more food than you could even begin to name, much less eat).  She was at her Church with some friends including another person named Ann Hardy.  They found a painting that I had done and neighbor had never seen at the Church.  She felt that probably I had donated it to an auction and then the owner had given it to the Church.  I did not remember doing the painting, but did recognize it as mine.  The date of origination was probably in the early 1970's, as I was painting on paper at that time.  That is a long time ago-some 45 years! !  !

Another fun story was from a former real estate friend and his wife, a writer.  They had moved to Denton from Colleyville and consequently put a painting of mine in much better lighting.  Because they could see it so well, they thought the heavily textured underpainting was a "growth or something that was coming up through the paint".  I got the biggest kick when I saw what they were talking about.  Their Son was with his Dad and when they uncovered the painting.
 Son and I had a good laugh.  Son ended up buying a painting of my Great Dane, Belle, as he is a Dane lover also.

Just Sold at Southwest Gallery

Susan just sold this painting for me at Southwest Gallery.  This is such a fun story.  Each year this house wren comes back and makes her nest in a hanging basket (new each year) of Geraniums.  Then the process of not watering for the time that nest is with eggs and babies.  Usually the Geraniums die off.  But, the fun part is that Mama House Wren is so used to me looking into the nest that she does NOT fly when I intrude into her personal life.  Actually look forward to hanging HER basket each year.  Ain't she cute! 

People From My Past

Tom and his Son, Mark, came by to see me and have me look at a painting that Tom and Mary S. had bought at an auction at one of the Gala's many years ago.  They had moved and placed  painting in a much better light.  This light revealed that I had painted it on a very textured surface and they were seeing this texture for the first time and thought something was happening to the painting.  We did have such a fun time renewing friendship (Tom was originally in Real Estate here in Colleyville).  His son, Mark is a financial advisor, as his Mother, Mary, was.  (Mary has a great book on finances that she sent to me.  Well organized and exceedingly interesting).  Mark bought my painting of Belle, my Great Dane.

What Fun to Barter

My esteemed Veterinarian and I just bartered (her idea, which makes it doubly nice) for a couple of years of vet bills for my darling dog rescued two years ago and by my side as I write this.  She is so smart and accommodating and I am the Alpha dog in our pack, so that makes it very nice.  It is good to have the background of dealing with horses for 20 years.  Teaches a consistent and loving approach without being too harsh or too milktoasty.  Actually feel that parenting and raising animals has a similar approach:  consistancy with love, setting boundaries, giving responsibility and rewarding with praise/treats/pats.

She chose a 12 by 16 that was so recently painted that I didn't get a photo of it.  (landscape)  And, she also chose a 16 by 20 still life that I did at Dena Wenmoh's near Marble Falls on a plein air paint out.  And, this last of the owls.