After the HolidaysBoo and I have been laying low in Florida and I have heard from many of you that I have been negligent in keeping up with the travels. The truth is I could not go in any direction over the holiday season and I am finishing up some studio work now for entry into the shows that seem to all pop up this time of year. M Gallery has been selling well for me and are also asking for more work. So I spend some time in the studio and then make plans to get back on the road at the end of this month.
I enjoyed Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with my family and then made another brief trip up before Christmas. I have also had some business to take care of and of course have to wrap up the year end tax stuff left over from the gallery last year.The RV is getting a little sedentary looking and can't wait to get back out there. I also have no desire to travel in winter weather and Florida seems pretty nice right now. Once I get going again I will begin the trek west with my first extended stay being in the San Antonio area. On the way there I will visit Mississippi and Louisiana, probably staying along the gulf coast.
Boo and I took a few days to go down to Venice as a short trip before our next big venture. Mary Erickson and I went painting in Cortez and painted these three boats at the Coast Guard station. It was a good warm up for the Venice paint out which was the following week. At the paint out I received a Merit award.
I was also pleased to have a painting accepted into Salon International again this year. "Lisbon Castle" will be their 2008 show in April in San Antonio.
Holly joins us
I had to make one more trip to Pa. to pick up Holly, a 9 year old Brittany Spaniel. Holly was rescued by National Brittany rescue in Michigan and I thought she would be the perfect dog for my Dad. When he decided a dog was not a good idea for him, I was happy to make her my dog. She is a great traveler and a sweetheart and is getting used to Boo being the queen bee. Holly has had a volatile few weeks. Following the sudden death of her owner, she was put into the rescue program and was transported across the country by volunteers to my Dad's house. She became attached to my Dad very quickly and I was sad that he could not keep her.
Off we go
March 15, 2008
After leaving St Pete March 10, I spent a few days in Winter Park with Brenda & Mark Hofreiter. It is the shake out journey for Holly & Boo to see how I manage with the two together.So far Boo seems happy to have a 4 legged friend.Two years ago Brenda & Mark went on an overnight sailing expedition with me from St Pete to Key West and we still laugh about the death defying 2 foot seas we endured. After discovering we were not sailors, we decided painting might be a better venture. Brenda and I went to downtown Winter Park for an afternoon. The following day we visited with Morgan Price and Cynthia Edmunds. You can see Brenda's wonderful landscapes at www.brendahofreiter.com.Holly found a soft place to fall with Mark and Brenda who took to her right away. Mark got out his guitars on my last night there and we sang a few back and forth. Mark is a prolific songwriter and it was great fun hearing him. Also it was great catching up, telling stories and chatting about painting. On the 13th I headed out to Tallahassee and called Natalia Andreeva. Check out her work at http://www.andreeva.com/ She graciously invited me to stop in and I found out her parents were visiting from Russia. Apparently I had hurt myself the days before because I began having severe back pain. I was about to cancel the trip and go home, but Natalia persuaded me to rest up, I made a quick diagnostic call to my sister, got some Aleve and have made enough of a recovery to go forward. Eight years ago I had back surgery so I've learned that when it tells me to slow down I must listen. I am the only one in the house who cannot speak Russian but we have communicated through the universal language of food. They are wonderful warm folks and Natalia's 2 boys had fun playing with Holly. Tomorrow it is off to St Mark's to paint and then it is time to head west.
