Bringing the Everyday to Life

Hello Everyone!  This blog post is part 2 in a series on my painting trip to Italy in September 2021.  I hope you enjoy these photos, pictures, and short descriptions from each day of our painting holiday through the Watermill Inn in Posara, Italy.     Day 4:  Tour of Lucca, the Walled City    At this point, we had three days of painting and Wednesday was our day to tour and my day off from teaching.  We had a choice to travel to Cinque Terre or Lucca.  They got us train tickets to either location and then they took us to the train station in [...]

  Hello everyone!  My husband Ken and I just returned from Italy!  It was a dream come true for me to paint in Italy and I am excited to share my experiences with you.  I oversaw a painting holiday at the Watermill Inn in Posara.  We had booked this event for May of 2020 but, because of the pandemic, it of course was canceled.  The trip was postponed until this month.  I am so grateful we were able to go.    I had no idea what to expect.  I had never been to Europe or oversaw a painting excursion like this.  It was amazing [...]

Hello Everyone!   This will be my next to last blog post about building my dream, my new studio.  We are so close to being totally finished.  The last few projects will be done in the spring when it warms up a bit.  It has been fun sitting here in my new space, writing about how it all came about.  I am still in awe that we were able to get it all mostly done in less than a year.  Remember that last March was when we had first broke ground for the foundation.  Amazing!   Continuing where I left off in my last post… [...]

Hello Everyone!   I hope you all had a Happy New Year and that you are looking forward to 2019 as much as I am.  I hope this is a great year for you all.  I am feeling very grateful this year, in part, because of my new studio space, of course.  So, I would like to continue with the story about how we built it.    After the amazing “barn raising”, thanks to my family and neighbors, my father, father-in-law, and husband worked really hard to get the roofing on and the interior framing finished before my husband had to return to work.  Remember [...]

Hello Everyone! Let us continue with the building of my studio.  With the foundation excavated, built and poured, we started ordering the building supplies for the framing and roofing.  It was exciting the day the trusses arrived.  With every supply that got ordered and delivered, my excitement would increase.  I still have a hard time believing it happened and I am working in my studio right now.       My husband, father-in-law, and dad, along with various friends and neighbors, built the walls in pieces off site.  They were able to build the frames for all the walls in just a couple weeks.  I think [...]

Hello Everyone! About a year and a half ago, I began designing a new studio space to build on our property.  As with most artists, this has been a dream of mine for so long; a space of my own in which to work and create.  My husband and I had talked about it for years and I had hoped one day we could actually make it happen.  Then, came the miracle that was the catalyst to propel us forward:  Cedrik!  Our new born son took my painting space in my house and then all the sudden we were out of room.  [...]