Recent Thoughts and Works

I've been quiet for a while for a variety of reasons. Mostly, I miss Bituminous, and although he isn't on my mind all the time anymore, every time I have come to my blog to post something, I would see my post about him and have to go do something else. It's amazing how such a small creature can have such a large presence, and that presence is still very much missed.

I've also been quite occupied with dogs to train, and that has been good, but does make it hard for me to find the chunks of time I need in order to get into a writing frame of mind. This past week, though, I took a complete break from facebook, and that has made a huge difference. Even though I wasn't spending a great deal of time on facebook, the time I was reading there was having a somewhat scattering effect on my thoughts. Staying away from it freed my mind up in ways I hadn't expected. I found myself much calmer and more settled inside, and I was able to work much more efficiently and enjoyably, whether at writing, housework, or correspondence. Although I will be visiting facebook, I am planning to carefully monitor and limit my time there.

I have been painting as I have had time and opportunity, especially outside when weather has permitted (which hasn't been all that often, between summer heat that extended into fall, then nonstop rain, then a heavy October snowstorm!). Unlike facebook, painting has a calming effect on me, and I almost always feel better for having taken time to paint, no matter how my paintings turn out.

Here is a sampling of my paintings and sketches from the past three months:

Riga Falls-- Plein Air Sketch

Stump -- Sepia Graphite

Harvest Moon

Rocky Mountain National Park- Charcoal Study