red white and blue 8 x 10 oil

I don't know why I seem to be drawn to red white and blue but alot of my paintings seem to be these colors.

raspberries 5 x 7 oil

I am happy I was able to paint this yesterday. I have to admit it wasn't easy. When I don't get to paint as much I get a little rusty and frustrated. I actually started this and then wiped the canvas clean and painted it again. I amost stopped about half way through this painting and gave up. I am glad that I worked through it. I think I need a new palatte. Maybe that would help. Mine gets so dirty with old dried out paint. I read about other artists who have burnt umber on thier palatte. I may try to use it but part of me feels like that is cheating. I was trained to mix my own colors I basically use 2 shades of red, 2 of yellow, 2 of blue and white.  I am going back to Iowa soon for a visit. I am excited. I miss the small town feel, the country, the antiques. Where i am going there are lots of Amish and you will see horse drawn carriages along the road. Much different than Houston.

three tiny tomatoes 5 x 7 oil

Okay, so I have hardly painted in the last few weeks. I did one painting but I was too embarassed to show it. It was pretty bad. I am trying to figure out a schedule now that my oldest is out of school.  Hopefully I will get one worked out but I may take it easy over the summer what with vacations and trying to entertain the kids. I am planning to take pictures and find other things to paint. It is my birthday today, 37 yrs old. It seems odd. I feel like i am only about 28 or 30.

two bottles 8 x 10 oil

I don't know what is going on with my computer. It has a virus or something attacking it. I have a great book about picasso that has quotes from him that my mom would borrow to read to her class. I want to blog one of those quotes today.....

"Everyone wants to understand art. Why don't we try to understand the songs of a bird? Why do we love the night, the flowers, everything around us, without trying to understand them? But in the case of a painting, people think they have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works out of necessity, that he himself is only an insignificant part of the world, and that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things which please us in the world, though we can't explain them. People who try to explain pictures usually are barking up the wrong tree."

I had a painting of three teacups in an art show many years ago and the judge came and talked to me and about how two teacups were touching each other and the third was a little off by itself and how that meant loneliness and not relating to the other teacups. Give me a break. It was just a painting of teacups!