brogan..in progress...

so this is brogie...i'm still working on him - i need to do his hat - and tune up a few things..but i'm really liking this right now! i'm happy to be back in the studio..although we did manage to sneak in nine holes today - bad knee and all - but i think i've gotten a bit out of balance and haven't been putting enough energy into my paints - but i hope i'm on a better track now - maybe another lesson from the golf cart crash?....

patti on the pier

7x5 oil on canvas panel

so i know this may look strange...my cousin patti posted this photo on faceboook and i thought it would make a cool painting! - the photo's taken at the cottage snd she's standing on the pier and i think this is just a lighting phenomenon - very surreal, don't ya think?  and a good way for me to get my juices flowing again - quick and loose and a good thing cause that's all i could manage up there today! for some reason i'm more sore today than i have been at any time since the wreck! gonna post this on facebook!   

today...

..is the last of the "2011 Golf Tour"!!  thank heavens!!!  at one point i think i counted up 14 rounds of golf since my birthday on the 7th of july...most of them command performances because i had signed up and had to play in spite of the longest heat wave i can remember (happy now, al gore?). some regular golf,  two south central outings, a pro-am, the city tourney and  today was our annual rally for the cure at greenbelt and it was actually not too hot! i opted to ride this morning because of an incident yesterday at bear chase golf club in shelbyville.  before play even started, we were heading out to our designated tees and the gal who was driving our cart started down this very steep, curved incline..realized she was going too fast.. . slammed on the brakes  and sent us into a skid - three sixty - and the cart rolled over on top of us!!!!!.  may have been the most scared i've ever been in my life!!! - i was sure we were dying...thank God there were a lot of people around - i don't know who it was or how they managed to get the cart off of us but we were screaming and praying and it was a nightmare!! they called the ambulance and the other gal went to the hospital for x-rays but i knew i hadn't broken anything.  my left knee was all scraped and starting to swell, my left arm was cut, my shirt was a mess, things had broken in my purse,...but i called davey and told him about it..said nothing was broken and that i really wanted to play...and of course he said.."TEE IT UP GIRL!!!!".  yea!! - and probably the smartest thing - to keep moving around - i had to sign off on the trip to the ER and, armed with a trusty, ever-present ice pack,  struggled my way off to join my playing partners..who were dears, by the way..it took me a while to settle down and it was really hard getting my weight shifted but who cared~! - i was playing golf and for the first time i felt so free and happy to be there and not at all wrapped up in my swing or the results...actually had a couple birdies! - and i am one thankful girl - and one sore girl today!! but i managed to play in the rally this morning, all the while realizing that this game we play and get so wrapped up in and so frustrated with...is just that.  a game.  and we are so fortunate just to be out there!!!  maybe tomorrow i can stand for a few hours at my easel - i couldn't yesterday and i can't today - it takes lots of muscles to stand - believe it or not..and my arms are still too sore to hold a brush at arms' length - but all in due time!! i am one lucky and one happy girl!!!!!

city tourney over...

and thank heavens!! - i have no golf swing at the moment...which probably seems strange since i've been playing so dang much golf lately!! - but that's part of the game..it comes and goes - and mine went today! - hopefully i can get a little painting in tomorrow between trying to get the house in order and laundry done.. i love summer..but it wreaks havoc on my yard and my organization and my sanity!!!

i've got my babies...

...well they're not babies anymore...will's 9, tillie's 8, lucy's 6 and oliver's 5..and joe (who's at the lake and not here) is 4...but we're here having a sleepover at gan and paps's - lots of swimming this afternoon - after davey and i played a practice round at otter creek - too much pool and sun time, i fear...but everyone's chilling in the basement for now.. we may have a rousing game of rummykub before too long (because i love it so)...and they're clamoring for one more dip in the pool...but i have to be sensible...tomorrow is the first round of the womens' city championship...and for some strange reason i find i've signed myself up for that...no clue why...the way i'm swinging...but i like to support my local sherriff and so in this 95 degree heat i will be playing at harrison tomorrow and at otter on sunday! wish me luck and no heat stroke!!!!

profile

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so this is a study i did a few days ago after going through my art magazines.  one article suggested starting with a totally wrong color and see what happens.  in this case i started with a green face!  if you look closely you can see some green undertones.  this was fun!  no time to paint right now...heading out the door to play in a pro-am tourney at eulen country club...and it is RIP-roaring HOT out there!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!...Little Girl Golfer

6x6 oil on canvas panel

NFS

people may have thought i'd fallen  off the end of the earth...but i haven't...i finally finished painting my bedroom..(i'll take some pix)...and then when we got home from the lake, i finished putting the bookshelves back together.  then, for my next project, i got the laundry room in order....THEN...in between rounds of golf, of course, i tackled the studio once again...somehow it just gets away from me...i've been going through old art magazines and gleaning the articles i want to save, ripping them out and stapling them..at a much later date i will further organize them but for now i'm fairly proud of meself!  then..after watching that wonderful darrin clark win the open and crying most of the way through the last several holes...i trundled myself upstairs and got my paints out for the first time in more than a week.  of course by this time, my mind is swimming with ideas to try but i decided to be practical and do a painting that i really needed to get done...and so...my "Little Girl Golfer."  i'll be donating this to our local Rally for the Cure on the 29th of this month...a golf tournament to raise awarness for breast cancer.

twins...in progress

this is a photograph of the four feeties of a set of twins...such a neat photo but actually very difficult to capture in paint! - i'm working on it - i just found out we're heading home tomorrow instead of monday so my schedule is a bit different.  i'll work more on this today but may not have this done for several more days.
....actually it's now sunday morning - i've worked a lot more on this but not enough to post...heading home in an hour and must get cracking!!!

tools of the trade..

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so here's another small painting i did a couple days ago - i don't have the best lighting up here and it's hard to see this but it was fun.  i have so many brushes and pallette knives - and this is one of my paint / pallette scrapers.  they wear out so fast - i'm working on a painting today and i'll probably post it later in progress - we head home tomorrow so i need to wrap everything up.

yesterday

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so this is my warm-up from yesterday.  i needed to find sometihng from around here to practice on so why not steal from our traveling bar?...i also did a small painting of some brushes and a pallette knife which i will tweak a bit before i publish.  hoping to paint some this morning before we hit the course at noon!

two small warm-up paintings this morning...

..unfortunately, it's too late and too dark to post them.  plus i need to tweak a bit.  it's been a while, after all...BUT...we had a great day! - my cousin terry treated us to some golf at the white hawk course in crown point.  davey, bad back and all, managed to eke out an 80 and i was cruising along til i hit a bump on the back ( tripled a par three, for one thing..) and ended up with an 82.  not too shaggy for an old person!  and a birthday girl!! the dogs were alone for so long and we tore back to the cottage and are now heating up the charcoal for a steak and some good red wine to top off the day.  tomorrow i will post my things from this morning and hopefully do a bit more painting.  if davey's back doesn't get better, that may be it for the golf...hope not!!...

at the lake...

i am finally finished with painting every stitch of woodwork and bookshelf in my bedroom and i am ready to get back to the kind of painting that is truly energizing, fulfilling, fun...i dragged my paints up here and i just found out we will be without family for the rest of the week and weekend so i am psyched!!  we do have plans with my cousin terry to play some golf tomorrow...to celebrate my birthday  (ahem)..but i think i can get a bit of painting in beforehand and then who knows...i have plenty of canvas and some projects to tackle - i just need to get my painting legs under me again.  meanwhile...this is the view from our deck..that's our pier that gets shorter every year as more and more sections either float away or fall apart...but we ( read: my son-in-law) lovingly erect it every year while contemplating the cost of a permanent dock/pier the likes of which grace our neighbors' homes.  but i digress...

one more day...

i think with one more day's work, i'll have the whole project  (bath, den and bedroom...INCLUDING that pesky built-in wall of bookshelves)....all double coated with paint and i can finally get back to my life!!!..i may take a picture or two of the final product and post it here.  meanwhile, we're heading up to the lake on wednesday and this time i'm taking my paints and no matter what, i'm getting back in the saddle!!!...i also have golf on my mind...played nine holes today and, wouldn't you know it, i had three pars, two bogies, two birdies, a seven and a TEN..and shot a 44..but oh my goodness, what a score i might have had.......and that's called golf...