Weaving with Watercolor

Watercolor in progress, continuing to give full reign to my drip obsession. Pleased with how the color is developing thus far.
PS - I'm not a photographer!

A bottle of wine, a piece of art, and thou

CircleWeave: Vine
Originally uploaded by cmorf2000

CircleWeave:Vine is one of four small paintings of mine now showing, and available for purchase, at Cellar 101, the new wine store on Main Street in downtown Fuquay Varina, NC. Just in time for the holidays!

Show Off

The sugar maple in our yard is really putting on a show this year! The color makes me drool.

SOTS: Houston, we are operational!

That’s right – after several weeks of clearing, setting-up, unpacking and organizing, my studio is finally operational! Woo hoo! It was such a thrill yesterday to actually work IN the studio after so many days of working ON it. Soon I hope to be able to show you photos of works in progress. Here are images of the whole process.

This isn’t the only project that’s coming to a conclusion, though. On October 22^nd I finished a 21-day challenge to do 30 minutes of cardio exercise every day. That was a great experience, both working in the exercise habit and joining, with 30+ other questers, Dyana Valentine’s 40 Days of My Body challenge. Had a great visit with Dyana on the very day I finished my challenge – you can see the video interview here.

In September and October I participated in two of Alyson Stanfield’s online business classes for artists: Blast Off! and Cultivating Collectors. Finished the latter today! Learned a lot and met a bunch of other artists in the process. Check out Alyson’s marketing advice for artists at her Art Biz Blog.

It’s been a busy few months (add in a few travel excursions, as well), but I feel that all of these endeavors are building a strong foundation for the work to come. And I’m ready to get to it!

SOTS 10/15

Yesterday I built this work table using a door and leftover wood. Not bad!

Oh, Savannah

It's a cool rainy day here at home, a good day for blogging and for remembering the hot humid weekend I just spent in lovely Savannah, GA. Had a wonderful time visiting with my traveling companions, seeing lots of art, eating seafood, meeting new friends and reconnecting with previous acquaintances.

Here are some highlights:




Chroma Gallery - my fav of the commercial galleries we visited
kobo gallery - co-op gallery, fantastic artwork and newly renovated space
Judith Kruger Studio - my friend Judy, an accomplished contemporary Nihonga artist and now MFA candidate at SCAD. Her work is AMAZING.
Churchill's Pub - excellent steak salad and GA microbrews on tap
The Crab Shack - fun, funky and very popular. Steamed shrimp was perfect.

There's so much more to see, so I hope to return soon. Another notable feature: everyone we met was friendly and helpful. Everyone!

SOTS 10/13

I have been working on my studio, even though I haven't been posting lately. Thought I'd try my hand at a video to show you how things have progressed as of the end of yesterday's work session. Enjoy!
For comparison, here's where I started - the beginning of the State of the Studio project.

Day 13

Lots going on this past week and weekend, but I did want to report that I'm more than half way through my 21-day cardio workout challenge, and so far everything is going well. I have done at least 30 min. of cardio walking every day, and definitely feeling better. Even managed to keep it up while traveling this past weekend - that was an accomplishment! Yesterday I even added in the stretching/strengthening exercises I'd been doing previously because my back was beginning to miss them a lot.

Ignored my alarm this morning so I feel a bit behind, but it was also a good opportunity to remind myself of the parameters - didn't challenge myself to get up at a certain time every morning; I challenged myself to do a 30-min workout. And the workout is done, even if a bit later than usual! :)

Continued kudos to the ever-growing challenge group (almost 30, now!) over at dyanavalentine.com.

A new challenge

Yesterday, Oct. 2, I began a new challenge: set a habit for regular cardio workouts. So for the next 21 days, 30 min. of cardio work every day. Still have a lot to learn about the process - target heart rate and all that - but figured it was better to start imperfectly than not start at all. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Two days in and so far, so good.

This challenge is not strictly art-related, but the primarly reason I'm (finally) motivated to get serious about regular cardio is that I want to have more energy for the work I do. So there is a connection!

Inspired and happy to join up with all the folks undertaking challenges of various sorts over at DyanaValentine.com. Check it out if you're looking for a little inspiration yourself.