Day 3 was sweet, literally and figuratively speaking… I enjoyed painting this still life and then enjoyed the smoothie afterwards. Do you remember the York Peppermint Patty commercials when the actress bit into the cool minty chocolate candy they closed their eyes and were transported to top of Mount Everest?
Well this was the same but just the opposite. What do I mean? Well, here in the Northeast the temperatures have dropped to the teens today and with snow blanketing the ground…. baby it's cold outside! I'm inside with my cube heater blowing nice warm, dry air I lean back in my kitchen chair, take a sip of my smoothie, closes my eyes  and magically I'm transported to a beach chair on Key West, Florida… 
How did that happen? I'm glad you asked… it's our secret ingredient that made the tropical daydream come true….
What is the secret ingredient? I'm so glad you asked….
I'd tell you but that would ruin the surprise…

just click here to go to our new blog… Full Plate Colorful Palette to find out for yourself…. 

Today is Day 2 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge that I signed on to be apart of with Leslie Saeta and over 260 other artists.

My theme is: Connecticut Treasures. 
Over the past year I've taken so many shots of places, events, people and things all around Connecticut and I'm looking forward to sharing these inspirations with you.

Springtime in Mystic
Last April my husband Dean and I took an overnight trip to Mystic, CT as a shared birthday present (we both have the same birthday April 12, but one year apart. He's older :)

We stayed in the beautiful Old Mystic Inn Bed and Breakfast ( I'll share more about the Inn in a future painting/post) and made our way out for an evening of delicious dining and fun in downtown Mystic, CT. 

Picture Perfect
Here's a shot I took while we were strolling alone the main street downtown. We explored the enchanting little shops and boutiques, stopped in for a bite to eat, fresh oysters and fried calamari, and to our surprise found a "Pirate Party" fundraiser going on at the Mystic Art Center with a band, more great food and lots of silent auction items to bid on! Oh and I can't forget the place was swarming with lots of colorful and animated Pirates... these folks really know how to play the part of their seafaring village!

Join in the Journey
Hope you join me on this 30 day painting challenge... you can sign-up for these blog posts to be delivered right in your inbox... just look for the email sign-up box in the right column. Feel free to comment below and share either your  favorite places and/or things to do in CT or... Have you been to Mystic, CT recently? or perhaps you have a favorite childhood memory of Mystic, please share, I would love to hear your story.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
For breast cancer awareness month, Six Summit Gallery, Ivoryton, CT put out a call for artist to enter their “In the Pink” Juried Show. Running for Oct 3, 2012 - No?

I'm in!
I submitted three of my pink ribbon series painting and one was accepted! I was thrilled to be apart of this show.

Taking a Ride
This morning Dean and I took a scenic ride along route 80 to Ivoryton,CT to drop off the Watermelon and Pink Ribbon Painting.

The sun was shining and a crisp clear sky hinted to the beginning of a colorful fall season ahead of us. I’ve always loved fall since I was a little girl. I can remember so anxiously wanting to help rake the leaves into a big pile, (a pile taller than me... but that wasn’t saying much because the neighborhood kids called me smidge) in the front yard and then running and jumping in them! I still can remember my dad patiently raking the pile back to it’s  original height and we’d get a running start and scream our way to the leave pile. I get the biggest kick out my own kids repeating my childhood... I guess it’s inevitable - kids and leaves piles.... a color- filled explosion of fun!  

On my way into BJ's yesterday for just a few things... ha ha who am I kidding. 
In front of me was a bin of watermelons. I looked closely and notice the pink ribbon logo. So upon investigation I found the website below is a sponsor of Breast Cancer Awareness.. makes sense... think pink... watermelon... that's today's inspiration.

This painting wil be on display and available for purchase at our ART GATHERING Friday night at Main Street Cafe in Cheshire, CT

Hope you can join us!

Well my first art opening is coming up this Friday at the Main Street Caffe in Cheshire and I'm a bit nervous. I sent out the invites, posted it on Facebook and started to panic that I didn't have enough artwork to show. I know silly me... but this is how my mind works. I got up at 3:30am headed for the refrigerator and there was a fresh package of strawberries just screaming out "paint me, paint me!"
Really? It's the middle of the night should everyone be sleeping?
Well... needless to say.... I wash the strawberries arranged them on the new pink striped kitchen towel Veronica and I picked out at Ikea on Friday night... and the rest was history.

I'll be bringing this painting to the show on Friday even if the paint doesn't dry in time... how much fresher can it be off the easel....;)

Hope you can join us... it's from 5-7pm 
209 W. Main Street, Cheshire CT
It's a little tricky to find but look for the clock out front that says "Coffee" on it ...
by the way... Main Street Cafe not only has great food and coffee but the gifts - jewelry, scarfs, coffee mugs are worth checking out!
Hope to see you there!

I rescued these flowers from our garden today. We had a terrible rain storm and the peonies bush just flattened to the ground. The flowers lost their familiar bowl shape and the petals bent back to the point I couldn't even recognized that they were peonies!
I've been waiting anxiously for the cherries to appear in the produce section of our local Big Y and sure enough, yesterday they were on sale for only $ 45 a pound! Just kidding... It just felt that expensive when the cashier rang them up and the total was at least $15 more than what I usually pay!
Just a little side note: When I was a kid I loved the humor of Erma Bombeck. Not really sure why? Maybe it helped mold me into the mom I am today. Her wit and humor about family life, raising kids and living in the suburbs made me laugh... even if I was only 12 years old. One book she wrote titled " If Life is a bowl of Cherries, what am I doing in the pit? was a favorite of mine.
Here's another quote that so fits my life today... just ask my step daughter Allison....

“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.” 
― Erma Bombeck

Erma Bombeck is timeless and her wit is priceless.. (in my opinion)

Pink ribbon, pink grapefruit and pink depression glass... so many different shades of pink coming together on one canvas.

The inspiration for this painting came from a visit to the gym yesterday. It was late in the afternoon, I ran into my friend Hannah, we chatted for a few minutes and off I went to workout on the elipical... that’s when the creative ideas started circulating....

If you’ve been following my journal/blog I create six paintings at the beginning of March in honor of Hannah. I met Hannah over a year ago at our church and it was just this January Hannah was diagnosed with breast cancer. What shocking news, especially consider that Hannah is only in her 30’s and in excellent physical condition (she’s a runner). 

A large group of women at our church got together after service and prayed for Hannah and I have to say it was such a powerful experience. It touched me in a way that I wanted to reach out to Hannah, let her know how much I cared, but didn’t have the words to say it... so I painted it instead. One painting lead to the next with the pink ribbon woven into each still life..... it just felt happy, joyful and hopeful.. well, at least that’s what I was trying convey.

My thoughts and prayers are with you Hannah.

Three of my favorite things! Pink Lemonade from Stew Leonard’s. I always feel so fancy drinking a glass of Stew’s pink lemonade the bottle has a very unique shape and the label feels very french... oh-la-la.

I just love painting lemons and when I cut them open I can smell their citrusy smell throughout my studio.

The Pink Depression Glass was given to Dean and I as a gift from Dean’s Mom. She was cleaning out her basement and came across a box of several different pieces. I’m so excited to paint it... it looks beautiful when the light hits it just right.

We just can't help it, color influences and effects our everyday life even on grey days. The background color in this painting was inspired by the Pantone 2012 Color of the Year Tangerine Tango.(see Pantone page below)

 Years ago when I was a graphic designer I carried a Pantone color book around in my purse. Why you ask? First to check printing jobs when on the printing press but second I just loved having access to so many colors all in one fan book. I would take it out, fan through the tabs and make dozens of difference color combinations. 

I LOVE COLOR... no, really? 
Even as a child I would walk around with my box of crayons or package of rainbow markers and couldn't put enough color on the page.

I love exploring new ways to combine colors on the canvas. 
Below is another favorite art website called Colourlovers.com.
I'm not an active member in their color community but I find it so much fun to go on create new color palettes, change patterns around, etc. It's more a game than an artist's tool for me... but then again...isn't art suppose to fun.:)