Woods IX    40×60    $1,800

Okay, it’s only been 3 weeks, right?  Not bad.  For me, not bad.  Tons of valid excuses… if you want the details you can email me.  Anyway, this is my latest painting Woods IX.  I’m going to have to start naming them with a bit more effort or I’ll have to google roman numerals… I’m good to 19.   Nice.  I have to concentrate on the Grand Hotel!  I’m still struggling with making one of my many photos work.  I simply do not want to paint the typical Grand Hotel painting.  They are painted by the hundreds and I just don’t want on that bandwagon.  This series of Woods paintings are all from Mackinac Island.  I wonder if they’d count the woods behind the Grand Hotel?  Hmmm.  Doubt it.  Okay, today is the day I’m putting all my efforts in this next painting. I’m going to think outside the box… be super creative and get a good solid start… Wish me luck!  Better yet, say a prayer!  I’m in a rut and I need inspiration!  Talk about timing… a neighbor just brought over beautiful, red velvet cupcakes. OMG my prayer has been answered.  I reckon inspiration can come in many forms.  For me, it’s in a cupcake.  Thank you Lord.

Windermere Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI

I’m actually posting a painting from last year because I’ve been spending a bit too much painting time playing scrabble on my ipod.  There it is right out there for everybody to see.  I went to my son’s basketball game last night and the lady who takes the money so you can get in the game was playing scrabble.  I swear I had to say “excuse me” 3 times before she looked up!  I should be indignant about that but I totally understood.  I know a lot of people have a strong opinion about technology and how it’s affecting how we interact with each other and I can’t disagree… yet I can’t stop playing either.  I know I can get more points than my opponent.  I know it.  I just need more uninterrupted time is all.  Today will be different.  Today I paint… you’ll see.

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Here’s an updated photo of the painting I posted last time.  I knew it looked dark and dreary but I didn’t know how to fix it.  I have a bad habit of giving up on computer issues when I get frustrated (which happens about 10 minutes into a problem).  I put Photoshop on my new computer and it helped.  At least it’s something I’m vaguely familiar with. Photo quality is so important!

My latest:

Woods VI    40×30    $1,800

I’m so into these woodsy paths!  I started something new and totally different today and hopefully I can make a go of it.  It’s imperative for me to be “into” my subject or I just don’t paint well.   Sometimes I can concentrate and put myself in the right frame of mind and sometimes it’s a no go.  I sure wish I could completely control that.  Girl Scout cookies help immensely.  If I’m not at my best painting and getting frustrated… I can eat one and it erases the negative feelings I’ve been having about my current piece… I can start fresh with a more positive attitude.   OMG.  I have issues.  But for the record, ice cream works too.  Just trying to provide useful tools for you all out there…

My excuse for not posting for several days is… (drum roll)  my computer had been replaced when I returned from South Carolina!  It was a surprise and I’m grateful but it’s also the reason I’ve been putting off posting.  Now I’m up and running.  I know you all hadn’t expected an excuse this worthy but there it is.   If anybody needs a list of excuses you can contact me… I have a huge one and it’s good.  Very, very good.  I thought about writing a book of excuses for people to use in their daily lives but couldn’t figure out a beginning paragraph so for the time I’m still a painter.  Things could change…

I was so inspired after viewing all of the fantastic paintings in Charleston, I just had to paint BIG!  You get so much bang for your buck in terms of the pieces’ presence in a room.  Although I need to be concentrating on paintings for a show at the museum on Mackinac Island (which celebrates the 125th birthday of the Grand Hotel), but I have these woodsy themes in my system and I’m trying to purge them before I move on to another subject.  I started another woodsy theme… let’s think what shall I name it…hmmm oh ya, probably Woods VI.  I know, I know, original. Jeez, I can’t do everything.

Me and my sister (Barbara Stroud) in Mt. Pleasant, SC

I didn’t want to start this painting blog out by an excuse the very second day… BUT, I’m actually visiting my sister and so my painting time won’t begin until early next week.  Then, I’m hot on it! No excuses (unless it’s a very, very good one) and no holds barred!  I’m serious, I’m really committed to this and I’m not the sort of person to commit.  But I can do this.  This will be a piece of cake for me.  I like to talk the talk for a bit before I walk the walk… gets me in the right frame of mind to follow through.  I plan to explore the importance of getting and staying inspired enough to paint to your full potential.  I’m very inspired as I am visiting my sister in Charleston, SC and  viewing all the beautiful paintings in this incredible city.  I hope to bottle this painting energy and stay focused enough to apply it when I get home next week!   Wish me luck!

Hello there! Welcome to my WordPress blog… I thought I would change things around for the New Year and learn a new way of doing things… Can’t be bad, right?

I’m an artist living in Algonac, Michigan… Check in with me to see what I’ve been up to… hopefully it will be painting… I will post if so… otherwise perhaps an excuse I can come up with for WHY I haven’t painted. Good for a laugh anyway. I am a great lover of art so maybe along this journey I will share with you some of my favorite artists…

See you tomorrow…!