'Tis the Season

"Forest Canyon"
Oil on Canvas
24x36"
2007



'Tis the season to be busy!!

Aspen and I both caught a nasty cold last week, so between taking care of a boogery toddler and taking care of myself, there hasn't been much time for the blog. Luckily, I did manage to finish all of my Christmas shopping, wrap presents, and squeeze in a short trip to the mountains. For the record, Christmas shopping is so much more fun when I don't have a 9-5 office job to keep me tied up during the daylight hours!

I did manage to paint most of the day on Tuesday, and started a couple of larger paintings. I don't enter a lot of juried shows, but the few that I do enter all seem to be at the same time of year, so I'm trying to come up with some good paintings to have for various show entries in January. While I was up at Nate's parents' house in the mountains, I finished up three 6x8" studies for the Pay It Forward thing - hopefully I'll get them packed up and mailed out before the New Year. Nate's currently taking a few days off of his building work, so I'm also taking advantage of having him around and keeping the schedule clear so we can just relax.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! This is such a busy time of year for so many people, that I think it's hard for people to slow down and really enjoy the holiday. My favorite moment every Christmas is when they turn the lights down at church and we hold up our candles and sing "Silent Night" - all my worries and plans and goals fall away and I remember what's important, and that's priceless.