The blue-gray sky is lightening by imperceptible degrees outside my window.  With the stifling humidity, the glass pane provides a hazy viewpoint onto the waking world.  I’m curled up in my new favorite spot in the house- a sofa with a view of the jungle and my bird feeder!  It’s been too many weeks since we last visited, and I have so much I want to share!

Were you one of my visitors at Wildflower Market at the end of July?  Thank you for taking a moment to stop by my booth to shop and visit.  I had a wonderful day meeting new faces and visiting with you.  These encounters make live events immensely rewarding!  I love hearing feedback and getting inspired to create future art. I left the Meadow Gold pavilion that Saturday with far more ideas than time!

If you attended the Wildflower Market on July 29, you know it was HOT.  Good news!  The next one promises to be much cooler.  Mark your calendars for September 30.  I will be at Wildflower Market with new art, new cards, and a burning desire to visit with you!  I will keep you posted and you can check my “Events” tab on my website.

T-Shirt Update-   I placed an order for “Okie Proud” t-shirts the first week in August.  My production company has run into supply issues.  She had hoped to have them to me last week.  I just heard from her about the supply issues and that the delivery date has been altered.  When I know a date for new shirts, I will be sure to post it here.  In the meantime, there are still a few remaining at Hummingbird Fine Craft.

“SOLD”

In other exciting news, I recently sold “Silent Sentry.”  I learned of the sale the day before my birthday.  It felt like a great big “happy birthday!” from the universe.  A HUGE “thank you” to the anonymous buyer.  As of this post, I have not made any prints of the painting, though I did debut the 5×7 greeting card in July.  Now that the original has gone to its new home, I will create prints for the fall months.  (That’s the owl perched on a crescent moon with the amethyst crystal.)

I also completed a new commissioned pet portrait.  Melly is the sweet pup you see at the top of this post.  She is a darling chi-weenie dog.  As I designed the portrait, I made a subtle nod to Ermilio Pucci in the color palette, the swirls, and the repetition of shapes in the flowers and leaves.  It was a lot of fun!

The summer months have sped by with alarming speed.  Our household celebrates a few birthdays (ALL OF THEM) and our wedding anniversary during the months of June through August.  So it seems like when the birthday candle smoke clears, the summer has slipped by and autumn is lurking in the doorway.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love autumn!  I appreciate the changing temperatures and the promise of slower winter days.  In fact, I could ramble on about autumn; let’s keep that for another time.  But my mood droops a little when I consider the passing of summer.  And as the birthdays pile behind me, the sadness I feel at summer’s passing is undeniably tied to a regretful knowledge that my autumn years are approaching as well.  It’s not something that I dwell on, just a subconscious knowledge that rises to the surface when the conditions are right.

I had a new (visiting) studio companion this summer, Kiki, my daughter’s cat.  After exploring all the off-limits objects and fishing all the ping-pong balls out of their respective troughs, she would often curl up on the floor nearby and snooze.  I have a couple small sketches of her in my sketchbooks, but I intend to paint her more purposefully one of these days.  She has returned to Norman with my daughter.  And then there is Melly.  A chi-weenie dog (portrait) who occupied my table and easel for a few weeks.  I think she turned out beautifully and it was so much fun to create the whimsical flowers and background.  In each painting I create, I am striving to find the balance between realism and stylized portrayals.  Melly was a commission, and she has since moved onto her permanent home.

My current painting in progress is a Ladybug and “Curcubit” blossom composition.  I began with the pencil drawing, which then became a vector drawing in Illustrator where I can play with its future possibilities.  The vector drawing then became a pencil drawing again and then the painting can begin.  I am still completing the painting and have already begun the variation I will use for kitchen towels.  Look for these in September!

Thanks for joining me today.  Drop me a line in the comments or find me on social media to say “hello”.  I have been pretty quiet on social media these days.  But I am still there…. I just prefer to paint.

• Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver  This is the follow-up to Bean Trees.  I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these two books.  When I chose them, I had no idea they would touch on topics so relative to Oklahoma.
• TheTriumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton  This one is going to be a true marathon!  It’s a look at the history of paganism/witchcraft (specifically in Britain).  It begins with etymology and promises to be a fascinating read.)