Last night I had the honor of being selected as the 2012 Torpedo Factory Artist of the Year!  I am over-joyed!  The judge chose my proposal for my Mask Series ... ( which, as of right now, has very few images on this website ... )  I will be slinging paint in the studio until the solo show in the Target Gallery in July.

At first I thought a very large truck was in front of my house. The roar got louder and I thought maybe there were three trucks in my driveway.  The walls started rattling as the noise intensified and I thought a tree might be crushing the roof.  The vibration escalated, I could hear the house creaking and groaning through the roar, and I wondered if an airplane was on my roof.  At about that point I realized I had just experienced my first earthquake.  I didn't feel frightened. It only lasted about 30 seconds. 

Yesterday my husband and I returned home after staying with my friend, Cindy Packard Richmond (author /artist), at her house in Chappaquiddick.  It was absolute perfection to be there.  Clean air, great weather, good people, and wonderful food.  This escape could not have happened at a more appropriate time.  My husband had just survived a severe case of carbon monoxide poisoning one week before we left.  The trip was healing for both of us. 

Yesterday I was finishing up a large (54"x12") scratchboard of twisted wood with faces emerging.  A gentleman was visiting my studio and stood transfixed as I worked.  After awhile he told me in hushed tones, that when a tree grows over the site of a grave it absorbs the spirit of the deceased.  I have posted an image of the piece I was working on in the Available Work Gallery.  It is titled "The Vine That Binds".

What's new is that I will attempt to blog and update my website!  I am sorry to keep telling studio visitors that what they see in the studio is NOT on the website.  Computers frustrate me and I would much rather spend my time painting.  But in order to share my work and serve my clients better, I will devote myself to updating this website... 

This summer I spent two months in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I rented a casita in town, loaded my van with supplies, paints, brushes, multiple large Gessobord surfaces, a large studio easel, table, chair, and some painting clothes.