Hi, it’s The Birthday Girl! Yes, today is my birthday, and it’s turning out to be a glorious spring day! I’ve been starting to wake up my garden now for the last couple weeks, getting my hands in the dirt and smelling the fresh air. It’s done a lot for my spirits. Anyway, this has been an exciting week for our family (and not just because of my birthday)! One of the highlights was on Sunday when my granddaughter Aria attended her first big art show. The show is called “Pure Pigment,” and it’s currently running at The Artsmiths of…

In the last two weeks, I’ve shared stories with you about my first two Pittsburgh paintings. This week I’m going to skip ahead one and tell you a story about the fourth painting in my first Pittsburgh series, “Sharing the Season at Market Square.” When I began my preliminary sketches, I made the creative decision to remove an entire block between what was then the Jenny Lee Bakery and a group of older buildings, including the “1902 Landmark Tavern.” There was another nondescript building there at that time, but I felt it didn’t fit in with the composition and the…

While enjoying a little downtime after all the hustle and bustle of the Home and Garden Show, I came across an old photo that brought up a lot of happy memories… It was long ago, and I was the young mother of a precious little girl, Brittany. It was early 1990, but as you can see, I still had my big 80’s hair going strong, not to mention my very fashionable 80’s sweater coat! I had just had my first big commercial success with “Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock,” and I was getting ready to paint the second pastel in…