Happy New Year! 2010

New Year Symphony 2009-2010 • 16" x 20" • oil on canvas

Happy New Year! I am quite excited for 2010. In 2009 I started this blog and it inspired me to create a second studio in my home. My poor family, I have officially taken over the kitchen table and entire breakfast nook with my paints, easel, brushes, canvas' and my dogs. It allows me to work at all times without having to drive to my studio. I can also bring paintings back and forth and view them in different light and settings. I can follow my creative heart and paint in the middle of the night. I can add little details here and there as I see them in passing or I can leave paintings at my studio to dry.

I now have a studio and a horse in the same town. Both on the water and in old hangers. My studio is in a ship hanger and the indoor arena for Smokey is in an old balloon hanger. I now live work and ride in one of the most beautiful places in the world with spectacular views, astounding wildlife, and gorgeous weather. I have friends and family close by. Today I will be celebrating with my family. Lucky me! 2010 can only be a great year!

Ballet - Yoga without music - Boy Runs to Ocean

Boy Running to the Water • 18" x 24" • oil on canvas

Boy Running to the Water • 18" x 24" • oil on canvas

While I was finishing this painting of a boy running on the beach to the ocean, my dogs disappeared and I couldn't stop painting!

These photographs were both taken in my studio on different walls. The top image is on the wall where I painted it with a light on. The bottom image is on the opposite wall with only the skylight.

After Yoga Monday I took my first ballet class. It is much harder than I thought. Listening for the beat of the music, keeping your legs straight, lunges, balancing, movement, grace etc... Ballet really was more difficult than yoga in many ways.

Tuesday morning I took the dogs running on a mountain that I avoided all summer due to ticks. They had a blast. After that I went to a figure drawing group with some fabulous local artists. It was wonderful and I really immersed myself back into it. We did a lot of quick sketches.

This morning my yoga teacher forgot the music and I had a much more intense workout. I think it really had us all focused. Ran with the dogs in Sausalito this afternoon where I pulled out my iphone to take more heron photos in the water along the houseboats. Quite colorful with some amazingly clear reflections, then brought the dogs to my studio and tied the big one to a chair he dragged the chair into the hallway and all the way to the front door of the building while I was emersed in a painting. I of course took photos.