I am sorry that I have been so quiet of late. Thanks everyone for being so kind and concerned about me. The summer is my busiest time. I do two Farmer's Markets a week, and I travel around doing art shows. I have been preparing for two art shows for the past couple of weeks, so I have been in the studio framing, framing and framing some more. Now I need to matte up a bunch of prints. I thought went I went into business for myself, I would have more free time. Not the case at all! I've never worked harder, but I've never been happier.



I've also been going through a challenging time these last weeks that Saturn is in my sign. Saturn is all about ending cycles and that started 30 years ago and starting new ones. Many challenges have come before me...seeds that I planted didn't sprout....something that has never happened to me, and for some reason triggered me greatly....then after I did some inner work about this, lo and behold, a month and a half later, they began sprouting! Sometimes you just need to let things go. You just need to let the winds come and blow away what you no longer need to hold of....sometimes it is about simple, sweet surrender...not giving up at all, but surrendering...trusting, finding faith, and in so doing, you create the fertile soil for things to grow.

Then my computer crashed a bad crash. It appears that Vista enjoys creating parallel realities, and my entire computer world is still in disarray even though I have a new hard drive. Usually, this is something that would have driven me nuts. However, it was another lesson for me to take things in stride...to do what I can when I can and to just let it all go.

I also have gone through some challenging relationship issues with friends of late. Luckily, my boyfriend is straight and true. He is such a support to me. His belief in me and my artwork never waivers, and I am so grateful for him to be in my life.

However, I have had a couple of friends that seem to think I need to give up my whole artwork dream and just focus on other things. In the past I have kept my mouth shut saying to myself over and over, "They are just saying this because they care about me." Then one day I snapped. If they did care about me, they wouldn't say these things. They wouldn't hurt me by saying these things, and it suddenly became unacceptable to me. I drew my line in the sand, and I lost a couple of friends because they just couldn't get what I was trying to say or ask of them. I am sad, but I understand that they need to be where they need to be as I need to be where I need to be. What is interesting after I let all of this go is that I have sold several hundred dollars in prints and I won first place in an art show and an honorable mention award!

Surrender, surrender, and surrender some more. Let things go, so new things can grow. Plant seeds to creativity, compassion, passion, loving kindness, and peace, and just sit back and watch it all grow!

Hi Everyone....I just want to thank everybody for staying in touch with me even though I have been horrible about staying in touch with everyone. Summer is such a busy time for me, and this year it seems even worse! I want to thank everybody for being so encouraging about my artwork. It sure presents me with a lot of stuff....it is my constant teacher about what I need to surrender in my life, what I need to embrace, and what I need to just sit down and figure out....sometimes it is about memories as well....good and bad. I don't have any contact with my family, because we just don't seem to fit. I got tired of being the bad guy all of the time, so I needed to let those old stories go. In the process, my family let me go. Today it is my birthday, and I am missing them...I have a painting in mind to do, but I am just not sure I have it in me to do right now. This painting is of my horse...I kept seeing him in my dream....and I painted him....he is wild and has this exceedingly thick mane of hair. When I was five, two of our mares were pregnant. Since I was the oldest, my grandfather told me that the first one born would be mine. We named him Michgo...he was this beautiful chestnut colt. He had a mind of his own from the beginning, and boy was he feisty. He never took guff from anyone. I grew up in horse racing, so when the day came to register his name, we were told that another horse had it already. Two horses cannot have the same name in horse racing. I was devastated, because we had called him Michgo for two years! How in the world would he know his new name now? How would he know when I was calling him? I refused to accept the new name that my grandfather chose for him. I was furious, and someone had to stand up for my horse.

My grandfather patiently took me by the hand and took me to the stables. These were my favorite times....anytime I had alone with him, and especially when we went to spend time with the horses together. My grandfather truly was a horse whisperer. He was born blind in one eye, and he had heard problems from the moment of birth. He was told he would never survive his childhood. He lived for 78 good years....:) He died when I was 18...just after I moved to New York City.

Anyway, we went down to Daisy's to hang out with the horses...to feed them carrots and sugar cubes, and for my lessons on how to "see and feel" horses. He could see problems before anyone else could. Anyway, we were watching my horse play with his teather ball. Yes, we installed a teather ball. He had so much energy that he was always going after all of the other horses. My grandfather put this teather ball in, and he and I used to play teather ball together....and he started leaving the other horses alone.

We were leaning over the wood fence when my grandfather gently began explaining why we had to change his name. I vehemently, and with tears in my eyes, explained my protests to this. "We just had to find another name!" I stated. He looked at me with that twinkle in his eyes, and that smile that told me he was completely amused by me in a loving way, and he said, "We have to change his name...there is no other way. I chose another name, and I want to run it by you to see what you think first. If you don't like it, we will find another name. I want to name him Big Ruckus. Do you know why? Because wherever he goes, he causes a Big Ruckus. Everyone notices him. He is always kicking up dirt, and he never follows the others unless HE wants to. He is just like you, and I am naming him after you." Well, of course I liked the name, mainly because I think someone finally got me...finally understood me and this beautiful horse of mine.

For some reason, this is on my mind today....

Below are two YouTube Videos. One is of my kitten nursing on my 100 pound puppy, and the other is of a Bluegrass Interview...if any of you like Bluegrass, then you might find it interesting. I am not the biggest fan, but as a violinist, I do love all of the strings!