Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Success comes with Hard Work!!

About 6 years ago I was visiting friends in Lexington, KY and met a dynamic young lady who worked at the University of Kentucky campus bookstore. She was dating the son of my friend and was a bubbly, lively person to be around, I liked her right from the start. She was writing short stories in her spare time and submitting them to magazines, but hoped to become a full time writer some day.

This past week I found one of her novels in my local public library and squealed out loud, I am SO proud of her. She has done it!


Meet Tiffany Reisz. She specifically writes adult-only erotica, and was writing it well BEFORE the Fifty Shades novels appeared. She is quite successful in her genre and is now in a relationship with a fellow writer, so they are able to travel together a good bit. She has bid the retail job market adios and is her own boss with her own booming business.

So if you are awake in the middle of the night and need something to read, you might try downloading one of her short stories - or not - it would probably keep you awake...   ;)

I love, love, love to see people succeed by the hard work of their own hands. Way to go, Tiffany!
http://www.tiffanyreisz.com/about/

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Showtime!

It's time for the class reunion art show, it's in the old home town! I am excited, not for myself but for the fellow artists that will also be there. I have known them all since childhood and it's really keen that we'll be in the gallery together.

I wanted to post a little bit in case anyone wants to know more about what I've done with painting.

My best, and last, watercolor, The Good Life, from 1999:



I found my true niche painting with oil after having dabbled in watercolor with great frustration. (My sister, on the other hand, loves working with watercolor and has made beautiful pictures.) At the time I began I was working full time and taking care of my father, who was in the final years of his life. I needed an outlet that would remove me completely from all the stress, and learning to paint did the trick. I lived for those classes with my wonderful teachers. And mostly I gave my work away to whoever asked - my best friend, my husband, my grandson.....my most favorite one, Tulip II, was donated to a silent auction for a charity fundraiser. I hope it is hanging in a really beautiful home somewhere. That's Tulip II posted on the banner of my blog.

Here's my first oil, Flippers, from 2006. If you know me, you will recognize the subject, they are my favorite shoes:
 
and lastly, here is a peek at a current oil in progress called Dad's Roses, this is one I will keep!
 
 
That's my painting progress in a nutshell. Thanks for looking!
 
Til next time-     ch
 
 
 
 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

A Summer of Milestones

Well now, this has been a summer of milestones.

After many years of working in harness, we took the step to join those who enjoy camping in travel trailers. We did it mostly to have it to share with our kids and the grands; but also to help us re-learn to turn off our work ethic sometimes and get some badly needed rest. Stress is a terrible thing to give your life to! In our new owner reverie we proudly stuck a University of Kentucky sticker on the window and named her the 'Wild Blue Yonder' but with a few miles under our belts now a better description might be 'The Money Pit'. That's how hobbies go.

We've taken her out 4 times now, and the kids have had her out twice. It has taken us this long to get the hang of all the prep and setup that is involved before you can finally sit down, put your feet up, and exhale deeply. Our last site was a beautiful lakefront spot where the kids could fish and the rest of us kicked back to watch the sun go down and stars come out while we talked of all manner of things. It is such a good time to spend with family, nobody is rushing about or fooling with their cell phone (except Amanda!). 


It is also time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of my high school class reunion. How quickly the time has passed! I am one of those people who moved away from the old home town and look forward to seeing those people who were my friends for so many growing up years. An interesting feature of this celebration is going to be a show at a local art gallery, spotlighting the creations of our classmates. We have some accomplished painters in the crowd, as well as potters and fiber artists. I am showing two of my early paintings (the others since have been sold, alas) and some of my current fiber work, along with my big spinning wheel.

Spinning, along with dyeing and carding the fiber, have been my biggest interest for the last couple of years. I have travelled a lot to learn different techniques and meet some of the most interesting people, it has been wonderful!

My drive to keep learning and doing new things is so strong. I am converting a bedroom into a studio and have found that it's already to small to hold the necessities of knitting, crochet, oil painting, beading and jewelry making, fiber collecting, carding, spinning, collecting fabric, sewing, quilting, and working embroidery. So many ideas, so little time.  :D

 And so, we will go to the 40th class reunion to remind us that friends are very precious, and remember the best of the good old times.

Be safe and thankful!