i have not fallen off the face of the earth......

...it just feels like it sometimes!!!!  actually  i have been doing lots of painting...but..alas.. not in my studio...in my bedroom!!!..since i was finaly allowed to update my bathroom...that led to a double coat of paint on all the woodwork, doors and windows in my bathroom, bedroom and study..all adjoining.  i am completely done with EVERYTHING  except the one wall of built-in bookshelves...and i can't decide if i want to  paint the whole thing or just the fronts of everything, since the original color is an off-white and the new color is white white..it may be kind of fun to have a bit of contrast  and i'm not sure i can take much more of this!!  i NEED to get back to painting...in my studio!!!...on another note, i did paint some champagne glasses as a gift from our group for a young couple getting married in the fall...we had a couples' shower for them this past weekend which ended up to be a lovely event.  and on yet another note, our group..(cindy, judy, sally and i) had the most magnificent time playing in our member/guest tournament today!!!....  the weather was spectacular...the food was wonderful...and we fricked and fracked our way to a win at two over par 74!!  we actually shot a 34 on the front with three natural birdies..and a bogie...(BOO!)..but we got a bit full of ourselves or we may have actually been able to close it out at even par...the golf gods gave us a serious slap of humility, as we limped in, bogying two of the last three holes...ok..so we were tired and hungry...how do the pros do it for 4 straight days???  what fun though!! - and life is not just about painting...it's also about golf with your friends!!  who's with me?????

Best of the Best Challenge...."Headin' Home"

This is my submission for the "best of the best" challenge for the (www.dailypaintersinternationalartgallery.blogspot.com)  ...a very simple painting, done years ago, sold years ago ( i have giclees available)...but i love it for a couple reasons..a couple of "firsts"...it was the first painting i ever did on linen...(WOW!!)..and the first where i used a limited pallette (ultramarine, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson plus white)...i love the design, the depth and this was the first time ( and i'm sure you guys know what i'm talking about)...where the painting just literally fell off my brush!..

 

plein aire paint out in columbus

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Millrace Park

11x14 oil on canvas panel

so there was an IPAPA paint out today - actually here in columbus - and i almost didn't make it..the weather was iffy...had stuff going on...but eventually headed down to the park. everyone else painted at the Irwin gardens and that would have been very fun but this was my effort for the day - at least i was outside and the paint was flowing!! this is a view of the white river from one of the overlooks in the park.  i love the tree overhanging the water!

old abe challange

Abe Lincoln challenge by Susie Gregory

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so the challenge here was to just use two colors and work on values.  i used untramarine blue and burnt umber.  i really needed to get my juices flowing again because i've been away for so long and i'm happy to get back at it!!

home from georgia...

so we're finally home...and what a great time we had!! papper took us all on a shrimp trawler cruise...they showed us how they lower the nets and trawl the bottom for shrimp...and whatever else!!!  each time they brought up the net and splashed the contents all over this table, there were at least 3 or 4 sharks, along with a billion other things...all of which my grandchildren actually held in their hot little hands!!  very proud of themselves and very dirty and smelly at the end of the day!!..but so was I!!!!...we learned how to dehead shrimp with just our thumb and forfinger and tils, ols and i really got the hang of it.  shrimp are scarse down south at the moment but we cought enough to each have a good heaping plateful which they had cooked up for us.  what fun!!!  of course we had to sit outside at dinner that night and hope the wind was blowing in the right direction!!  and i'll be throwing those clothes away