Still here!

I have been working quietly here in my little studio drawing.  After finishing my last painting I felt the need to regroup.  I did like how it turned out but I deceided it didn't quite fit into the series I have in mind.  It is a nice decorative piece but lacked the strong light source the others have.

So I spent some time just going through my research and sitting with all my watercolor resources such as magazines and visiting shows and galleries.  No one is an island and sometimes you just need to take stock of your work and remember where you are headed.

This will be a new addition to my flower feast series.  These lillies are from my summer garden and the late day light shinning on and thru them has given me just the inspiration I needed.  I will start painting them today.  The size is 12" x 18"

So while i was at it, I brought out some propts into the afternoon sunlight and harvested some of the last blooms from my summer garden.  Wait until you see the color on this one!  Also has the sun drenched light souce I love.  Size 18" x 24"

I know this is difficult to see.  With this I am finally getting to all the beautiful research I gather in Italy.

We stayed in the Chianti region of Tuscany and these hanging bottles were outside a cafe where we had lunch one day.  Beautiful coloring and rather large for me, 24" x 36", and will be acrylic on canvas.

So there you have it.  I have been busy and look forward to the next steps!

Also, on a sad note, at least from my perspective.  I heard on the news that Hallmark has finally felt the down turn the whole greeting card industry has experienced since the age of e-communication.

They are closing one of their Kansas plants and laying off many workers, some of which will be artists.  Hallmark is still a giant in the business and I was lucky enough to be a part of it as a young illustrator in the late 70's.  It was really a very busy time for greeting cards.  I always had my assingment bin filled every day with projects.  And for a long time after I left Hallmark I was very busy freelanceing in the industry.  Most of that is lost now and it's a shame.

This was my first card for Hallmark.  I look at it now and see so many corrections I would make but the younger me worked tirelessly on this.  It also became their best seller for the year.  It was an innovative design at the time.  It folded in so that the left was the front and opened up to the boquet.  I was very proud of this.

Another from that first year and another best seller.  

As a 22 year old just out of college, Hallmark gave me a place to actually paint in full color at a time when many newly minted artists were doing black and white drawings or worse- paste ups all day.

As I sat writing thank you notes this morning for anniversary presents my husband I recently recieved, I realized that it's been a really long time since I actully wrote a note and mailed it to someone.  And that I rarely get anything in the mail that isn't a bill or advertizement.  E-mail, evites, texting and so on are good things, I know, but there is still something about sitting and handwriting a note to someone who remebered your birthday or took the time to pick out an anniversary gift for you.