Pears are done...

I thought I had shared this, but lately our so called 4G connection has been acting up, so downloading photos has been a bear. I finished the pears painting so now the debate on a title has begun. My original thought was "Ready for Market", but we had a lot of time to deliberate while on our way up to Brighton ski resort yesterday. Nature Guy said I should call it " Eight Pears In a Box",  or "Market Fresh", which is a local grocery store slogan. Then he came up with Market Morning. Still thinking about that one. What do you think? I'm planning on entering this one in the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts, unless I come up with something much better.

Gallery Feature In Oregon....

 It's been a whirlwind week of visits and art fun. I stopped in Idaho on my way to Oregon and helped a dear friend get her blog going. Calamity is the name of her business, and well worth a stop by to see what she has. I will post a feature on her later and share some of the fun work she does.

I stopped by the gallery I show in to see if Missy would take some of my new art, and yes! She was so excited to see my newest abstract art that she built a front window around those and other spring/summer art I do. How fun! She had good news for me as well. Two of my older art pieces she's showing have sold, so that's a nice bonus. Wish I could stick around and see what you've all been doing, but that will come this week. Have a great weekend all.

Have you ever had .....

..........  what appears to be a stress dream and not know why? Last night I dreamed I was in Oregon getting ready to help with the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts, only to discover I had left my two entries back in Utah, EEEK!!! I don't know why it happened; for the first time since I've been entering into this show I have my work done well ahead of time due to the change in set up and the jury process, which is most of the battle in my opinion. Being accepted is the other part, and you can see by this photo that I'm in! So where the dream came from I don't know.
Sure I'm under a lot of stress right now. I live in a never ending, open ended life plan as we are not sure when my father-in-law will pass away. Each week as I drive the 100 miles one way to go spend a couple of days with Mom and Dad, he looks more and more gaunt, and complains of feeling weaker all the time. He sleeps most of the day now, and is in such pain that we just don't know how he stands it. He gets dressed every morning though, with a lot of trouble due to severe arthritis, and will try and do things such as water the lawn, take out the trash, and so on. Sometimes he looks as if he will collapse and we are amazed at how he keeps going. So hubby and I take turns tending to them, he goes in on the weekends and sometimes I go as well, and trying to keep Mom from doing things she will regret as she doesn't see very well and hears even less. I've put in a garden for them and us, and it gives Dad something to tend to in that he makes sure the little Parson's Patch is watered.
When I'm home my job, besides tending the twins 3 days a week is to help keep hubby's spirits up. His job is tremendously stressful, and while he doesn't dump all his problems on me, he is not a very happy camper right now and that wears on me because I hate to see him so frustrated with the mountain of work he has in trying to clean up a school that has been let go for over 10 years now. Add to that trying to keep up with children and grandchildren, church responsibilities and such, it gets so crazy I can't concentrate on the commission I have to finish, much less any other art. If you're like me a messy house is a downer and adds to all that. Right now I feel like a boat without a rudder, directionless and wandering aimlessly adrift. That must be the reason for the dream because I'm actually ready for the show and can't wait to head to Oregon. Thank goodness I get to stay home this weekend! All will work out I know, but it's funny how dreams happen.

It Finally Came.....

My invite to come back to the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts came in the mail last week and I'm so excited!!!! It was a dream come true to get juried in last year, and since I won a blue ribbon for my lemons painting I have the incentive to come back again. Isn't that a lovely lake setting? I can walk up there every morning when I'm in Oregon, and I love the peace, serenity and beauty of the place. My mom still resides in spirit there, so spending time in Wallowa Valley is a healing place for me, and getting to fulfill our dream of being a part of the art community in Wallowa Valley is so, well, wonderful! The folks who dedicate so much volunteer time to make this show happen are truly amazing, and such nice people as well!
The building you see with the red pick up and trailor in front of it on the left, is now a real estate office and has a restaurant where the tavern used to be, but the real estate office used to be an eatery called the Gold Room. Mom worked there for awhile and we used to love going there to get large plates of fries for 75 cents, along with thick creamy milk shakes. Yummmm! We have our home 2 blocks away, so we can walk downtown easily, and I often ride my bike there to get supplies at the hardware store. What a place that is! The clerks greet you and help you find whatever you are looking for, and are always good for a joke or tease. If they don't have what you want, they can order it. It's a home town hardware store, with a bit of housewares too, so if you need a bowl, or grater, toaster, you name it they have it. As much money as we spend there each summer we should own half the store by now.
Anyway, I have 2 months to put together 3 pieces for the art show, so I'd better get to it!