With the successful completion of another Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, I want to say thanks to my crazy helpers! I wish I had a photo with all of you, but THANK YOU! Shows are awfully taxing when setting up and tearing down, but my helpers always make the job so enjoyable!
This morning, I was on the phone with a dear artist friend who seemed to be having trouble getting back to the studio. We were talking about how to get inspired, and I suggested she try one of my old tricks – hanging out in her art studio and not leaving until eventually the watercolors will call out to her to start painting. This was the exact advice I was given by my sister years ago when I was stuck in an art desert. I also suggested that she “just paint something,” like I did after Portugal (I painted a rock!) – my friend replied, “I love that rock!”
“Along the Argarve Beach” was my return to painting after the big season in Market Square and our adventure in Portugal. I was inspired to paint the piece by the beauty of the light playing on the surface of the rock and the reflection in the water as the waves broke upon it.
Sometimes inspiration comes to me just from sitting down to write this blog every week! In fact, just today while looking at Tom’s phone for blogworthy photos, I came across one of our three granddaughters gazing at the city from the West End Overlook. I saw myself in those girls and thought, “I wonder if they’re seeing what I’ve always seen from that view – the beauty of our hometown?”
Pittsburgh has given me years of painting opportunities and stories to tell! I’m not sure what this year holds for me artistically, but I am wide open to the endless possibilities.
Change is in the air, and I’m ready for it! Have a great week!