Bye Bye...for now!!

Hello everybody,
Leaving today .....like in 15 minutes!! Quick blog...to let everyone know how much I enjoy their blogs and comments...the artwork and everything else is a real highlight for me!! So me and Max are off to Paint and play...see you when I get back around Sept. 8th!!!
Best of everything,
Theresa




Buffalo River-Plein Air 8x10 sold

Just a House?

1157 Main-The Historic Hill Home
Saturday I finished my painting for the MGA Auction. The painting had to be something from Jasper County. I painted three things from this area...this is the one I settled on. For the past 8 to 10 years I have been coming to Carthage to attend different art shows and art fairs and I have always been deeply impressed by the historic homes here. There are several different styles from the late 1800's to the early and mid-1900's. From austere and imposing mansions to layered tiers of gingerbread looking just short of an overly decorated cake. I love them all. I think about the lives that might have gone on in each one and the generations of care and love dwelling in each one. My mind pictures women attired in flowing dresses cutting flowers from their garden to display in the grand entry halls. Children racing up and down the stairs hands gliding along the silky smooth wooden banisters. Daily tasks of washing and housekeeping and cooking in the large spacious kitchens. Parties held to commemorate a birthday, baptism or graduation. Victorian Christmases and large gatherings of family and friends at Thanksgiving.
The streets are lined here with maple trees, lush and green in the hot summer and turning red and fiery in the fall. There is even a festival in the honor of the trees. Things have not changed much since those early days in Carthage. Their is still a feeling of quiet continuity and history..... a feeling of community pride and planning. No city, town or berg is perfect. Yet in so very many ways this town is. I feel very comfortable here...always have since I first read about Carthage 17 years ago.
I was looking for a place to live in the Midwest. I wanted to live in Carthage but couldn't at the time and settled on Kansas. My family has Midwest roots on my Dad's Scotch-Irish side,haling from Illinois and Missouri via Kentucky and North Carolina, my Mother's side is straight from Italy with a bit of Russian thrown in. (Yes I have also done my genealogy!!) There was a continual draw to come back here after growing up in California and living in Hawaii, Utah and Oregon. I can honestly say I have been very happy here in so many ways...largely because of the generosity and friendliness of the people and the quiet laid back lifestyle. I enjoy a good city trip...but after growing up in Beverly Hills, California...I crave the peaceful honesty I find here!
But I digress...as usual...and to finish up the story about the painting....it is a home that to me embodies the past present and future of this area. At any given moment one can drive by that house and see children playing, kittens in numbers on the front porch (Max said he saw two and I counted three but Max said he then saw six and that was just so he would not be out done..teehee). There are always flowers in bloom and people on the porch...it is a home and not just a house. That's why I painted it!!! Later I will show pictures of our little Victorian....not grand...but very homey indeed! I am also including a picture of the home I grew up in for most of my younger years.
One last note.....I am like everyone else...overwhelmed by the Olympics and the closing ceremonies....to some it up...it does instill hope and a promise for mankind....if we only play fair, do our personal best and choose the right thing!
And I am off to go start getting stuff ready for our vacation!
Living happily,
Theresa
The Home I Grew Up In

Vacation Time!!

Old Reddings Mill Bridge 8x16 sold
Since I was requested to to attend the Richard Schmid Pre Auction Party....and Max and I have never been on one together...we....well, he decided that we should turn this into a full blown Oklahoma City...Prix De West...Rocky Mountain National Park....camping....plein air painting...Estes Park...Richard Schmid get out and get away!! We are very excited to get going...but I must finish my auction piece for The MGA first. Then I can start packing and get into the swing of things! I will post before I am gone..but will not while I am gone. Here are a few more plein air pieces for your viewing.
Getting ready...
Theresa Harvest Sundown, Missouri 12x12 sold
Coastal 11x14

Reflections On A Quiet Pond 24x30 sold
Okay...I am officially stunned, overwhelmed and on my knees thankful and have been since yesterday afternoon! In fact my hands were shaking so badly I had to quit painting yesterday a little earlier than I had planned.
The owner of the gallery I am with, Cherry...of Cherry's' Gallery...called the other day to ask if a few paintings were available on my website. She wanted to pick them up and take them over to McCune Brooks Hospital. I had just recently sold a rather large painting to them....and of course I said yes. I have been holding on to a few, in my estimation, good pieces that I am very fond of...they are close and personal to me...and want them to have a "good home". The paintings she asked for were all available...with the exception of one..."Reflections On A Quiet Pond"and I told her I would not let it go for anything less than $2500. as I was not eager to sell it. The story on that painting follows.
It was a beautiful February day, cool with the portend of Spring not far off....Valentines' Day to be exact. Max and I had been seeing each other since the end of October...and had decided we were definitely for each other. I am a typical woman...and love all the wonderful cards and favors..that her man will bestow upon her. I had been previously warned though..by Max himself...that he was a stable guy...but not given to a lot of the sentimentality that many women crave. That's Okay....I said to myself....he's solid as a rock....and shows it in ways that one would never expect....like paying my bills for three months before I moved from Pineville to Carthage! He called to say he was picking me up and maybe we could go to George Washington Carver National Park and look around some, take some pictures and have a picnic. Of course I was thrilled at the invitation. He arrived an hour or so later and off we went to the park. Our timing was a bit off...or maybe he planned it that way... but we only had enough time to to walk around...take a few pictures and hold hands. I strolled around the pond looking for something I had seen a year earlier and also painted. I wanted to try it again with a little more knowledge under my belt. Then there it was.....Spring light hitting the side of a leafless tree...the reflection on the still water, a maze of reaching fingers with brilliant green moss and romantic soft color. I stood there fairly mesmerized by the beauty of it all! "That's a great shot" Max said.....I couldn't wait to get home and view the digital image. It was beginning to turn cool so I hurriedly took some more shots and we ran back to the car. We drove to his house and he surprised me with some chocolates and the dinner he had prepared for me...he waited on me hand and foot! Three days later was a repeat performance...on my birthday...complete with cake! So much for not being a romantic!! As a matter of fact he hasn't stopped cooking yet! Shortly after, we were viewing the pictures from that day....and between the two of us....came up with a painting. I thought I couldn't pull it off....that no one would like it and it was just too hard. Not Max..."Do it!"he said.."I know you can....go ahead and try something a little different." So try I did....after considerable studying! I am normally given to thinking outside the box....but for some reason...felt a little trepidation this time. The outcome was arduous...exhilarating...fun....and I learned a lot. Max encouraged me every step of the way...even when I was ready to quit and wipe it all off. One morning I woke up....and bingo...there it was the answer to the problem that was plaguing me. Fortunately I had long since learned to stop painting on a piece before I completely destroy it. Well, i have almost learned...I still make that mistake on occasion and must wipe away all the poor work. I quickly finished up the painting in the next two days and was extremely happy with it. Max loved it and enjoyed just sitting and gazing fixedly at it.
When Cherry showed that painting to the woman who buys the pieces for the hospital...She said, "This is the piece we have been waiting for! We have held off buying a piece for the hospital chapel for some time until we found the right one....but this is it!"
Hmmm?...How many lessons learned here?....well a whole bunch!! I think you smart cookies out there can see them!
The painting is in the possession of the hospital today....a brass nameplate is being made with the title and my name on it...we are a farther ahead financially than we were yesterday....and I am ever and always so thankful for life's lessons....and....My Max.
Lovingly,
Theresa

Cherry's Gallery, Carthage, Missouri

Of Painting and Roads Taken

Happiness 12x12 sold
I have been spending some time looking at art this morning before going to the studio. Most days I do this...I feel it is an important aspect of learning. I am mindful to save my eyes for work that appeals to me...generally realism with abstract and/or impressionistic qualities, although I do love a good non-objective or abstract piece, which was my college training. I believe that all this looking will find its' way to my subconscious and hopefully make me a better painter. Some of the things I look for are loose brushwork, edges, open canvas, good color, exciting grays and of course an overall good design. The design elements are not just the composition or division of compositional space. They are also light and dark value patterns, interesting negative and positive space, color balance, repetition of shapes with variation, line, harmony, unity and texture to name some. All of these elements when put together well will help to produce a great piece. There is so much to learn and then perfect! I love the continuing challenge of painting...everyday there is a new problem to solve....or an old one to improve upon. I am hoping and betting that this will keep my mind sharp!
A little work today around the house....but most of the day will be spent painting. I spent quite a while reading last evening before watching some more of the Olympics. The book I am reading is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and is planned to be a film . The book was praised by British environmental campaigner George Monbiot who said of the book "It could be the most important environmental book ever. It is a thought experiment that imagines a world without a biosphere, and shows that everything we value depends on the ecosystem." This nomination echoes the review Monbiot had written some months earlier for the Guardian in which he wrote, "A few weeks ago I read what I believe is the most important environmental book ever written. It is not Silent Spring, Small Is Beautiful or even Walden. It contains no graphs, no tables, no facts, figures, warnings, predictions or even arguments. Nor does it carry a single dreary sentence, which, sadly, distinguishes it from most environmental literature. It is a novel, first published a year ago, and it will change the way you see the world."
I never seem to have enough time to read but am making headway in that department by better organization of time. Speaking of which....time to get going!!
Always a great day here and hope the same for you,
Theresa

Good Monday Morning!

Calla Lilies and Brass 16x20 sold
Hmmm...slept a little late today and fell asleep pretty early! Painting does that to me. I am anxious to get back to the piece I am working on. It is for the upcoming Midwest Gathering of Artists. I won't say much about it until after it is finished...but so far I an quite happy with it. Spent some time on a little housework yesterday..ugh! Have been following the Olympics with Max in wonderment in the evening. I myself am not all that athletic! In my younger years I did a lot of body surfing, sand volley ball and horseback riding. Now I garden when I can find the time....right now our garden looks like a very well tended weed patch!! It is still producing and there seem to be a large amount of green tomatoes.
I looked at several other painting blogs this morning...WOW....some great work out there. I received a comment from Barbara M. and read her blog about how some paintings are so easy.I replied "I understand what you mean when a painting just falls together....I call it flow...it seems to me I am transported into another place where every brushstroke, every decision happens subconsciously...and before you know it...there is a fantastic painting there before you. I believe it may have something to do with letting go of all the extemporaneous stuff in our lives the moment we pick up that brush..but am not sure if that is the only reason." Some years ago I read a book about flow.....I need to reread it....but there are a few things I have noticed do help induce flow.
1. Letting go of all the extemporaneous stuff in our lives the moment we pick up the brush.
2. Don't over think
3. Appropriate music for the mood I am in.
4. If it feels right....do it!
5. Completely uninterrupted studio day. No evening going out plans, grocery shopping, appointments. etc.
6. A visual image in my mind of the piece I am working on...brushwork, colors etc.
7. Letting the painting take on its own direction when presented.
These are a few things that work for me....and then again the magic just happens!
The painting today is a still life...of course..painted from life.
Happy Painting,
Theresa

Missed A Day...It's Okay!!

House on Highway 71 8x10 sold

It's Sunday, right? I have been so busy I almost forgot what day it is! Friday was spent catching up on art business, shipping my painting, "Septembers' Barn", to the Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction . Calling the host of the artists party to R.S.V.P., I received an email that they would really like me to be there...so Max said..."Let me check the figures and the car and we will go." Looks like I am going to Colorado! To download a color flier of the auction, click here
I met Richard Schmid once before...a few years ago. It was my first year at the auction and I was terribly nervous...but I walked up to him anyway and asked if he would take a look at my paintings and critique them. Being the gentleman that he is...he permitted me some time in his very busy auction day schedule....and took a peak. He studied them carefully and while still bent over..he is very tall and my piece for the live auction was hung rather low.....he peered at me curiously over his glasses and said "This is very good work". The painting I entered was a small piece, "House on Highway 71"...only 8x10.....and I had it listed for what I thought was a fair price..$465. Well, I waited around for what seemed forever...for the live auction to begin. Finally the notice was given and off we went. The pieces of art were to be described alternately between Richard Schmid and the other artist hosting the proceedings. As the auction went along I noticed that if Mr. Schmid really like a piece he would take the turn himself to describe and introduce the artist...instead of going turn for turn. I anxiously awaited to see if he would pick mine......and.......Yikes...he did!!! He praised the work highly and said he wished he had painted it himself. The he turned to me and asked if I would step up to the front and introduce myself...I did. He asked me to explain how I painted it and when I mentioned that I painted en plein air he stated that "Nobody hardly does that anymore!"
Richard Schmid and his followers, which I am one, believe in painting from life as much as possible and although I do use photos for many of my paintings I always paint from life when I can and as a continuing observational tool. My teacher for some years was Barbara Courtney ( a wonderful artist herself and an avid Schmid fan)....taught us that right from the beginning. I learned much from her and am honored to have studied under her. All really good artists I have spoken with paint from life regularly!
To continue my Schmid story he then said congratulations on such fine work and shook my hand...then..paused and said "Come here..let me just give you a hug!" Well...what can I say, except that was quite a day...a high point in my art career I will never forget. I returned to my seat and the auction began. I was thrilled when the bidding went past $600....but it didn't stop there, in dismay and tears, I watched the phone banks ring and people bid....$700...$1,000.....$1200...$1500.....$1800....$2000...anyone for $2100??? No going once...twice...three times....and sold for $2000 to a lawyer and his wife who lived in California and had law offices in Singapore. She loved my style and has kept track of me ever since.
You just never know what will happen next. I am anxious in a good way to go to the party...but as always I get very nervous at these affairs...Max says I do fine and no one would ever know how nervous I get. He himself was a business man for many years and was in constant touch with bosses, clientele and buyers and such......he has no problem....he is my rock!
I have to say this.....I never had a rock.....never had that solid, dependable, faithful guy...who was smarter than me....sounds bad but it's true....I sure like having a rock! So we will attend and the painting I submitted this year is posted along with the one from the first year. I have been given the high seller status....which means you have a guaranteed place as one of the 75 in the live auction. This event is widely publicized and adds have been run in Southwest Art twice, Western Art Collector and American Art Collector. So I can I say truthfully my name has been in these magazines....of course you have to squint to see it....but it's fun to see ones name in "lights" however small...LOL!
I have been sending out invitations for The MGA also...getting entries ready for a show in Texas and of course painting! After all the craziness these past weeks between art business and doctors appointments. I can finally get back to what I love. I don't mind the other stuff anymore and it is life...and I intend to live life...always have! But painting is something that builds up in me if I can't do it...makes me feel like I am all bound up or something. So I started a new one yesterday....painted most of the day....a larger piece...and am enjoying that process thoroughly...with the addition of music...always...! Really enjoying The Felice Brothers and the Avett Brothers....someone my Max found...he IS a music connoisseur!!
Well I am burning daylight, so off I go to the studio, watch those edges.....keep it loose and don't over paint....until later, happiness, oh and take a look at this video!!
Theresa Septembers' Barn 16x20

Alls Well That Ends Well....No Pun Intended!!

A Winters Evening 30x24

Yesterday was a busy day!! Thank goodness I have Max to help drive me around while I do some of the things I really do not like to do in regards to my art....the business side! We started out by dropping off a new painting at my gallery that Cherry has framed beautifully. Then on to the bank where I was asked to display a painting, some handouts, business cards and my bio in regards to the upcoming Midwest Gathering of Artists. Then over to Sandy Higgins house to pick up invitations for my clients and posters and handouts to put up around town. I finally delivered about 20 posters to the businesses in town and met some great people along the way. Max said I was a "good little soldier" about getting this done....I occasionally have an aversion to interacting with people that I don't know. I like people...a lot...but I get pretty nervous. It was good practice and it all went fine. Even a few prospective clients! I know it's silly to be that way....but I "soldiered" through. LOL! After we got that done...we were in dire need of groceries, etc. so onto the supermarket and finish up that chore. After we got everything put away...we remembered we had a dinner invitation with some friends. Sooooo....a comb through the hair, a dash of lipstick and changed my top and off we went!

It was a delightful evening...a few drinks and some pretty good pizza...talk of politics, books and just generally catching up. Susie has brand new baby canaries.....not an easy thing to raise. The are cute in a rather ugly way...ha! Little hairless bodies...great big yawning mouths waiting for food...wobbly....but really adorable! She has done a great job getting them that far and she also has some juveniles from hatching's also!! One guest was someone Max worked with many, many years ago...TV repair...with tubes....imagine that!! We had a real nice time...and then....went home...lights out immediately....boy was I tired!
It seems there are a few people who need to have done what Max had done the other day. As the doctor said their is no reason for people to have colon cancer with these regular examinations. Some have mentioned they need to "git 'er done"!! Here is a brief description, that hopefully will ward off any fear that some of you have about this. Although the preliminaries of cleansing the system are a bit uncomfortable....no food, only clear liquids, drinking Phospha-Soda to help clear the intestines....it is a small discomfort that lasts about 4 to 5 hours. Nothing more to eat or drink after midnight. The next day you go to the outpatient surgery...you are given something to relax you...sedated with Versed (which causes you to forget most of what happened that day...for instance Max was relating to the attendant that they are now powering the Hallmark Card Company in Kansas City with recycled natural gas....pumped in from who knows where!!! not true...but this is what happens with that kind of short term sedative. LMAO!!).....you are examined with a camera scope and polyps found at the time are removed. In Max's case two were found and removed. The problem is when they are not removed....that is when they become cancerous. You will also find out if you have the beginnings of diverticulosis..(diverticulitis is when you already have the infection) something that does happen with age and a low fiber diet. He was 100% back to normal the next morning and their are no after effects...except that you are pretty hungry after the anesthesia wears off. You will also need someone to drive you around that day and are cautioned not to make any decisions or sign any papers. He has been eating much better since he met me...my Mother was a Jack LaLanne fan and health fanatic. I myself did not get to have sugar until I was 6 years old and we ate mostly whole foods. (Not even Wonder Bread!!) I have since made up for the sugar thing...but I try to keep it in moderation! I had mine done a while back and everything was fine. But, alas, I am about due to go again! So if this is something you have been putting off...I encourage you to git 'er done!! It really isn't that bad considering the consequences!
The painting I have posted today is a studio painting...the one that I am exhibiting at the bank...and one I have been asked to sell several times....but I like it...and do not know if I will sell it. I have a few like that. Well I am off to another busy day!
Best to everyone and git 'er done!!!
Theresa

Camelback Mt. plein air 8x10 sold









Got a late post going today....Max had to have the Big "C" this morning....for the uninitiated you have to drink a horrible liquid plus lots of water, no food.....and there is a camera involved. Because of the delicacy of the situation ...there will be no further details....but I am taking orders for 8x10 glossies for close personal friends.
I got up early yesterday ...and today...and was to bed late last night. So after getting home I took a nap. A real rarity for me! Sure felt good...might do it more often!
I have been trying to put an assortment of videos on my video bar....all about painting but it doesn't seem to work right...Any suggestions out there? Of course I have checked the tutorials...can't seem to find my particular problem.
The interview went extremely well yesterday...I understand it will be published August 28, in the Profiles magazine. I got a lot a compliments from the photographer on my work.......and myself Teehee! We talked a lot about light and Photoshop. The editor was a doll and very inquisitive...simply wanted to know everything about me....don't really know what to say about that! Well everyone in this household is anxiously awaiting the article. Me too!
A few lines I have started repeating to myself..they are pinned to my easel!! The painting today was done while in John Budicins' workshop at The Scottsdale Artists School in Arizona.

▪ I am true to my talents and joys, and I let life help me with all else.

▪ Life takes care of me in miraculous ways. I let go of any sense of loss and accept my good through clever doors and packages.

▪ I move gracefully from good to better to best. I ask for all of what I want, and the universe responds.

▪ I line up my intention and the universe lines up the means. I am equal to my dream
I have been doing this for a long time.....but just recently found the words expressed so eloquently on Alyson Stanfields' website
Try it you might like it!!

Max is awake....he is very hungry...!
Bye ya'all, Theresa

A Brand New Day 24x30

Okay...it is officially crazy here today! Running around getting stuff done ( yikes my hair)! Need to pickup a painting at my gallery.... get to the chiropractor...dogs need out....animals need fed...making coffee...answer the phone...print some stuff out for the article that I will be interviewed for today...pick veggies from the garden....on and on...Paint today?....maybe this evening....drats!
A few studio pieces today and that's about all I have time for except for two poems sent to me by two separate people by the same poet, Kim Addonizio....indulge yourself in her work....it's fabulous!!!


What do Women Want?
Sent to me by fellow artist Lori De Lozier

I want a red dress.
The Golden Hour 24x30 I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me. I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you
how little I care about you or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.
(by Kim Addonizio)

"What the Dead Fear"
Sent to me by fellow artist Marilyn York

On winter nights, the dead

see their photographs slipped

from the windows of wallets,

their letters stuffed in a box

and the clothes for Goodwill.

No one remembers their jokes,

their nervous habits, their dread

of enclosed places.

In these nightmares, the dead feel

the soft nub of the eraser

lightening their bones. They wake up

in a panic, go for a glass of milk

and see the moon, the fresh snow,

the stripped trees.

Maybe they fix a turkey sandwich,

or watch the patterns on the TV.

It's all a dream anyway.

In a few months

they'll turn the clocks ahead,

and when they sleep they'll know the living

are grieving for them, unbearably lonely

and indifferent to beauty. On these nights

the dead feel better. They rise

in the morning, and when the cut

flowers are laid before their names

they smile like shy brides. Thank you,

thank you, they say. You shouldn't have,

they say, but very softly, so it sounds

like the wind, like nothing human.

(by Kim Addonizio)

Fabulously frenzied....
Theresa