Epiphany Art - Art By "The Epiphany Artist" TM

Kermit The Frog

2008-04-16T11:34:00.004-04:00

My daughter made this little bird house may years ago. It is nailed to a post on my patio.

We kept hearing LOUD frog chirps for the last two weeks and one night I walked out on to the patio to let the dogs out and there he was...Kermit the frog in his house :)

I think this one moved his house here from behind the painting that is on the patio LOL!

Vatican Art!

2008-04-13T23:17:00.006-04:00

Maitland Art Center -visit the Florida International Museum,

St. Petersburg, Florida, Wednesday, April 30, 2008.

Pictured below:
Giotto di Bondone, Bust of An Angel, c. 1310

This may be my only chance to get anywhere near this art since Italy is far away and an expensive trip :(

BUT I am going to LOVE this trip to the museum!

Now... if I could just get a Papal audience while the Pope is here in the states!

SOLD!

2008-04-02T20:47:00.007-04:00

One of the 9 miniature acrylic pear paintings sold
Comma Gallery

"Afternoon" 5x5" sold-- framed -I never did get a great picture of it!
Comma Gallery

"Poppies Galore" oil -24x24" Sold
Comma Gallery

"Another Morning" Acrylic framed-Sold

The Gallery at Metro in the March ALOC show

Onward!

2008-04-02T13:12:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe that it is April!
When I last posted I was in so much pain-- I remained in pain till last week.
After seeing a dentist and getting xrays that showed nothing and getting the first antibiotic -
then going to my regular DR and getting another antibiotic, a prescription for Prednisone and taking 3 ibuprofen 3 times a day and a Cat scan.

Then going to the ENT Dr and getting a high dose prescription for Prednisone, another prescription for antibiotics and an MRI and hearing tests (they thought I had a brain tumor...) A week later I thought may be I would call and ask for my results since they weren't bothering to call me... no tumor... jeesh and I almost ordered my pink burial casket...

Then I went back to my Dr. , got on Naprosyn twice a day-- long acting ibuprofen sort of... and a lower dose of Prednisone to ween me off the high dose Prednisone (which the ENT DR did not order...) and verify that the neurologist that was recommended to me was good . Whats the neurologist for? Well the thinking was I had trigeminal neuralgia - because I was having extreme shock like pain on the right side of my face down the 3 branches coming from this nerve... what can be the cause of this? a brain tumor... which I did not have. what else? MS. what else? who knows? So I am waiting to see the neurologist -an appointment a month a way-- it gets closer, I get more in pain...

I go on vacation easter weekend to St Augustine, Florida. Easter Sunday I was in so much pain we left early and NOTHING for pain worked on the way home... I got home proceeded to take old prescription for codeine, two hours later an old prescription for Demerol, two hours later a shot of whiskey- which made me happy I was in pain... and finally at 10:00PM I took my husband's prescription for morphine from his heart surgery-- I finally fell asleep at Midnight -- still in pain...

The next morning I was not in pain ... till I accidentally bit down on my right back molar... ahhheee! Why would God allow this type of pain? Essentially electric cattle prod pain distinctly coming just from that tooth....An abscess had finally localized and off to the dentist again I went... put on another very strong prescription of antibiotics and told me to take whatever I had already for pain... two days later I was in the chair having my first root canal.
Now mind you I am 98% out of physical pain but the financial pain continues.
I don't have dental insurance... we all know how much a root canal and the resulting crown costs here in America...
Well I have a high deductible on my health insurance ... guess who paid for 3/4 of the MRI and CAT Scans....?
Now I hesitantly say I am healed!
and during all this I sold 3 paintings Yipppeee!

If You Don't Have Your Health You might be in Dante's Hell

2008-02-22T20:03:00.007-05:00

If you don't have your health--you don't have much. Surviving on faith is what I have been doing since my last post. I found out have a hearing loss issue in one ear...which led to a CT scan and an MRI and a week long scare that I might have a brain tumor. Nope... no brain tumor. Praise God. No issues with sinusitis...the ENT DR. TMJ is fine. No bad teeth- report from the dentist.

3 courses of antibiotics and two courses of prednisone later-one of which was high dose, and now the general consensus before I am to meet with the neurologist is that it might be trigeminal neuralgia.

So I am stuck alternating ibuprofin and tylenol. I have discovered two minor reliefs that I can use when its really bad...nuprin topical cream... you know the stinky stuff you put on your hands for arthritis? Yup that's it... it stinks but it does help- then there is the old tried true toothache medicine Orajel®... well then your are speaking like Bill Cosby in the Dentist routine "Lookkkaaa whattthhh yyyaaaa donnneee to my lipth!

Let me tell you about prednisone... the little dose pack is nothing. When your Dr puts you on higher does of this wicked medicine such as 60mg... all of Dante's Hell is realized. My last dose was Tuesday and I am still "not right". I won't go into all the side effects I had and have, but suffice it to say, I will have to be in a coma before I take that stuff again.

And the bottom line in all this? No painting going on in my studio here. But I do anticipate feeling better day by day as these prednisone side effects wear off. One thing to note if you do have trigeminal neuralgia yourself: those vibrating tooth brushes are not a great idea. They just irritate the nerves in your face more and can actually trigger an attack.

As if all this wasnt enough .. my grandfather has been in and out of the hospital for the last two weeks and they finally did surgury yesterday. He is not a happy camper but rest assured, he will feel like his old self soon enough. God Bless great grandparents!

I Am Surviving

2008-01-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

I have to apologise... seems like I do a lot of that, but well...Everytime I say OK I am going to post on my blogs once a week and then check out everyone elses... something crazy happens.

My excuse this time is a 3 week sinus cold that has I think ended finally and left me with a flaming toothache. I guess I will be in the dentist chair next week blahhhhhhh... So when I am not up to par I do only what I have to do and remain comatose the rest of the time. I have had the pictures of my show at the Apopka City hall since I hung the show... so now without further excuses other than bad photography. This particular show will hang till the end of February and The brand new Apopka City Hall is so beautiful! There is original art all over that building! There is a total of 5 panels with 10 of my paintings there so stop by sometime!

Quote:

Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God and value it next to conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of, a blessing money can't buy.
Izaak Walton English biographer & fishing author (1593 - 1683)

Tag I Am It

2008-01-14T16:01:00.000-05:00

Tag I am It

Well I have been caught errr tagged by :

Robin Maria Pedrero's Blog
http://pocketfullofcolors.blogspot.com/2008/01/tag-i-am-it.html
So, here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Hmmm... 5 facts about myself...

1. I am a confirmed procrastinator to the 10th degree- I have a PhD on this subject. My motto is "the 12th of never is too soon..."
2. I lived in Hawaii during my years 8-16 years old. As a result, I hate poi and I know how to dance Hawaiian, Maori and Tahitian dance. NO, I will not demonstrate... No I never learned to surf-- I got too many belly burns trying...
3. I collect glass balls, marbles, paperweights. My favorite artist Josh Simpson is now too expensive for me to obtain by normal means....must find Mini Me...
4. I love animals, if it weren't for my husband... I would own a zoo...
5. I have never done these things but I just "KNOW" I can do it right off the bat... :
skiing; water or snow, golf, snowboarding, fly a plane...

Now drum roll please I have victimized a few people with this game...
1. http://jeanleverthood.blogspot.com/
2. http://lorisart.blogspot.com/
3. http://croulier.typepad.com/rouliers_rusty_reliques/
4. http://carolbarberart.blogspot.com/
5. http://lynxes123.blogspot.com/

2008 New Years Resolutions and Blah... Blah...

2008-01-06T23:53:00.000-05:00

2008 Resolutions:

hmmmm I have been thinking about these for the last few weeks- If you know me well... I have lots of lists and they continually get revised (when reality sets in...) There are lots of crossovers on each list; like "diet" makes it on to the prayer list, as well as the goal list, as well as the grocery list...

My resolutions tend to revolve around whatever I am currently thinking about at the time. I frequently steal other peoples resolutions for my own, as they are great ideas and I feel that is a compliment to them -if I can remember to give them credit :) Please forgive me if I list one which you "just know I stole from you..." I don't always remember where I saw the idea :) And most importantly... my brain is getting old I love this idea which is on Tracy Helgeson's Blog but I don't think I have a list on my blog from last year...

To tell you the truth I am a little tired of making resolutions and not keeping them. I did keep one that I made last year-- I did read the entire Bible front to back. I have always wanted to do this. Not to boast that I have done it-- because way to many people have read it all far more than once... But I wanted to get the flow of it, so as to deepen my own personal study and faith.

Well that's the only resolution that I kept that I know of... I lost my list;)

So it is 12:30 AM and I am up drinking coffee with little rescued Topaz at my feet and staring at the computer... None of these are in any particular order.

1. I am going to drink MORE coffee. I get more done when I drink more coffee.

2. I will finish the book Ben Hur and then pick another classic to read- essentially READ more.

3. I will not "buy" Christmas gifts for anyone over the age of 18. ( excludes homemade gifts and food)

4. My husband and I will retire our stockings and give to the church and charities instead.

5. I will fix the damage on my car fender, get it serviced, get it cleaned and detailed- then celebrate it, THANK GOD it is paid for as of this last month, and name it (It's a black beetle).

6. I will start cooking at home and entertaining at home instead of going out to dinner. ( for health as well as saving money)<--- this will be a work in progress.

7. I will strive to make it to at least 2 art events a month (this does not include the required functions that are part of Comma and Creative Spirit Art Gallery of which I display art.

8. I am going to let my hair grow out. I am sick of bad hair cuts and having to pay for them.

9. At least once a month I am going to paint "en plein air" with a limited color palette.

10. I will go to mass at least once during the week - besides on Sunday.

On To The Next Show!

2008-01-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

Here is one of the landscape paintings that I am working on that will be part of the show at the Apopka City Hall for the months of January and February-- starting next week on the 9th!
Apopka City Hall http://www.apopka.net/
120 E Main St.
Apopka, FL 32703
(407) 703-1700
Get directions More information »

I haven't figured out what to name it yet any ideas?
Quote:
All art is an imitation of nature.

Seneca Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)

Christmas Has Come and Gone...On With the New Year!

2007-12-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

Christmas has come and gone and now on to the new year with an added blessing! This is little Topaz a new addition to my family. Yes that makes 4 dogs and 2 cats now. Topaz is a shy rescued Pomeranian adult male about 5 years old. He is quite underweight and was sick the first few days we had him. I got him to the vet and they put him on some medication and on added calorie food. He seems to be doing quite nicely and follows me around as if I am the angel of his dreams. More like he is mine:) Such a Cutie!

Thank you hubby! I strongly ask you to support Pet Rescue Organizations like PetFinder and get your pets from them... NO PUPPY MILLS!

Well this is what Florida looks like in winter... we went on a boat ride compliments of my brother and sister-in-law after Thanksgiving and things are not so green down here but -- nevertheless beautiful in places...

The deeper I go into art the less I like doing the business end of it. I find it takes all of my time and more to keep up with so many directions, art league and other organizations, galleries, exhibits, networking, and all of this requires computer time which really takes the joy out of just making art.

I do have one joy ... a small painting sold at Comma Gallery last week. It is called "Afternoon"-- a small square 5x5 gallery wrap canvas. I don't have a good photo... I repeatedly tried to photograph it and for some reason it just would not photo well... must have been the gold and red paint in it....arggg... Plus indoors my camera likes to go blurry on me...

Here is "Afternoon Two" a 5x7" framed acrylic painting.
I have been going "pear happy" for the holidays. This is a 5x7" acrylic gallery wrap and then I made 9 little miniatures 2x2"s too...

Adored Artists lV Show!

2007-12-10T09:39:00.000-05:00

Framed!

2007-11-16T17:03:00.000-05:00

Lemon Bluff
This is a little 5x7" acrylic landscape painted en plein air. Finally got it framed and it is available at Comma Gallery. I have to apologize for the photo. I am having terrible trouble getting photos that are not blurry of smaller paintings.

I promise this is the last photo of Poppies Galore.
Framed!
Oil on gallery wrap canvas
24x24"

2007-11-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

The palms are coming along... another layer of glaze has been added and some foliage in the tree tops...now they don't look like neon hair follicales...;P

This one is coming along as well ... I think I may rename this "Lamp Lit River".

"Vesper Sunflowers"

All framed and ready to find its final forever home-- May be viewed in real life at the Comma Gallery.
Hurry now or I may put it back on my mantle at home :)...

I am sorry about not posting so much. My computer is now in my studio in the office, and I just don't spend a lot of time in here. My husband and the TV is in the family room.
I like the hubby much better :)

Quote:
Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. ~Edgar Degas

Palms, Poppies and Pears

2007-11-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

Palms have almost a neon under-painting!

Poppies are done and the frame has arrived--it has a date with my framer on Friday ;)

These little 2x2 pear miniatures I painted are part of a a larger project- a Christmas Tree to be donated by Comma Gallery for the charities that benefit from the event below. There are lots of little unique pear paintings all over our tree with a "partridge at the top ;) All painted by comma gallery artists and friends of the gallery.

20th Annual Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art; $8, $5 for children. Call 407-672-3838 or visit http://www.festivaloftreesorlando.com/, Nov. 11 – 19.

Paintings are coming along :)

2007-10-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

These are updates on two of the oil paintings.... wet wet wet!

Comma Gallery was on TV last night!!!

2007-10-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

Comma Gallery was on TV last night!!!
Here is an excerpt from Karin Carasik the gallery owner:
If you missed our opening, check out this feature on PBS called Arts Connection. It was filmed the night of our opening. Scroll down the page and hit the play button! Do it now! The clip about our opening starts about 8 minutes in. Thanks for coming out! It was a blast ! Congratulations to William Platt whose Techtonic #6 sold sculpture, Rachel Loyd aka a Mud Flap ceramic spoons sold and Megan Paquette who sold two mixed Media works.

Lots of the art in the show and Artists Ken Austin, Henry Sinn, Megan Paquette, Mud Flap Girls, Magda And others from C3: Collage, Constructions and Collaborations are be featured on

Channel 2 Thursday at 8:00pm October 18, 2007 and thereafter on POD CAST at

http://www.wmfe.org/site/PageServer?pagename=tv_local_artsconnection
Note that editing is an art and they did a great job piecing together the segment.
2nd Tuesday November 13th will be Foto Fest: Fine Art Photography opening 6:30-9pm

Works in Progress

2007-10-18T16:11:00.000-04:00

Here is the rough drawing in charcoal of the Beach and palm trees. I have the ocean sounds playing on my radio- I wish I was there ;) } You can see the grid I used to get the right dimensions. From here on out the reference photo is GONE. This painting is 20x30" I think and is going to be in oil.

Here I have used a thin wash of Burnt sienna + turp and have started making darks dark.

Here is a 24x24" Sorry for the yucky photo with all the glare. This one is of a Florida swamp/river and is in oil plus far from being done!

Here is a 24x24" poppies- right now the poppies just look like they are floating in a green sea... don't worry it wont stay like that... This is acrylic.

Right now I am done painting for the day. Have a date tonight with my daughter to make bath salts and perfume - yes perfume...for Christmas gifts - they are all going to be put in to pretty antique perfume bottles, or as in the case with the salts... old, old mason jars. :)

I will be painting more tomorrow at the studio at Comma and tomorrow night I will be at the gallery reception at Creative Spirit Art Gallery for Melodye Murphy and her abstracts!

Saturday at 1:30 PM is the ALOC October meeting -Come on down!

Fall This and That...

2007-10-13T19:45:00.000-04:00

We went to the 33rd Annual Winter Park Autumn Art Festival this morning- can you say AWSOME! Perfect weather!

What have I been doing? All kinds of crazy stuff! I have moved about 3/4 of my studio to my new studio.... At the Comma Gallery in Orlando, Florida!

813 Virginia Drive,

Orlando FL 32803

407 376 1400

Tue - Sat 11am - 4pm

This is a picture of about 1/3 of my studio-- some of my art work is there-- the ones that are currently in progress. There is still more rearranging to do and I still have to get my big easel up there. My studio at home is turning into an office. I have art on display at at Creative Spirit Art Gallery as well.

At supper time we went up to the 25th annual fall festival at my church. I am hoping one of those raffles tickets I bought is a little blessed...:)

Enthusiasm

2007-10-05T11:08:00.000-04:00

Wiki says: "Enthusiasm (Ancient Greek: ἐνθουσιασμός enthousiasmos) originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, divines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or communication." In current English vernacular the word simply means intense enjoyment, interest, or approval."
Merriam-Webster Says:
enthusiasm One entry found for enthusiasm.
Main Entry: en·thu·si·asm Pronunciation: in-'thü-zE-"a-z&m, en-, also -'thyü-Function: noun Etymology: Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein to be inspired, irregular from entheos inspired, from en- + theos god1 a : belief in special revelations of the Holy Spirit b : religious fanaticism2 a : strong excitement of feeling : ARDOR b : something inspiring zeal or fervor synonym see PASSION
Quotes:
Norman Vincent Peale: If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.

Henry Ward Beecher: In things pertaining to enthusiasm, no man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions.

Yoshihisa Tabuchi: It's always the challenge of the future, this feeling of excitement, that drives me.

Mark Twain: Let us endeavor to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Katharine Hepburn: Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting.

Norman Vincent Peale: Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm.

Paul Harvey: Like what you do. If you don't like it, do something else.

Wayne Dyer: Love what you do. Do what you love.

Mary Kay Ash: Mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.

So then how do you get it?

Here is an interesting article: How Do You Get and Keep Enthusiasm? By Kare Anderson

Baby Squirrel!

2007-09-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

A baby squirrel came to stay with me this week. Starting on Monday he was lost, confused and terrified on my patio. I tried to return him to the trees but mom was not insight. He climbed half way down the wall and fell the rest of the way. So I went on "Mommy nursing duty" feeding it 1/2 strength esbilac puppy formula- 4 times a day, from a tiny baby bottle. I set him up a nice warm place to stay in a pet carrier with an empty box of Kleenex and some paper towels to keep warm and shred. Here he is actually eating a nut yesterday. Today, he started climbing in the cage so off he went to the animal refuge so he could really play with his buddies and learn how to climb in trees. They said he would be released in about a month when he was 3 months old.

Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge

Here the Garden Grows!

2007-09-10T09:01:00.000-04:00

St. Francis

This patron saint of animals and the environment is the perfect guardian for my garden.
Francis wrote a Canticle of the Creatures, an ode to God's living things. "All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."

Take thy plastic spade,It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,They are thy colours.~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

Artistic Right Hand Of God

2007-08-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

The Artistic Right Hand of God has finally come!

By this I mean "He" cleaned up the studio a bit... started a painting and then decided that there were a few "sins" that needed to be wiped clean... i.e. as in paintings that were never completed (because they weren't working for whatever reason). The condemned sinners have gotten their first coat of baptism :)... pure white gesso paint. Tomorrow they will be sanded and another coat will be applied. I am waiting on the one painting that was started to dry before moving on to the next steps. Meanwhile I have to get that sunflower painting back out and put it on the fireplace mantel for some contemplation and prayer as to what its next step in faith shall be.

"We must accept that this creative pulse within us is God's creative pulse itself."
Joseph Chilton Pearce

Gardens Gardens!!!! Before Pictures

2007-08-27T10:44:00.000-04:00

This is the last day that I see this. My eerrrr... "garden" is being transformed starting today. A few plants are staying -- like my papaya trees in the foreground. In the second picture-- all the grass is going bye-bye and a water fountain with numerous flowering plants and small trees with a stone path way around the center and more! For the last few days I have been doing some back breaking work and taking up plants that I wanted to save and putting them in pots as well as re-potting a ton of plants that I have on the patio around the pool. Got a back ache and a sunburn in the process but--- God Is good! I have a "little extra help" from the best garden landscaper!

Designing Women Landscaping
& Nursery

P.S can you see the little squirrel in the top photo

"I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day." ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

Color Theory: What Color Crayon Are You ?

2007-08-23T14:22:00.000-04:00

OK I am really getting out of hand here with the quizzes but I thought it funny that this one too picked a shade of orange for me:)

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors.
You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find.
On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody.
However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front.

Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

What Does Your Birthday Mean Quiz

2007-08-22T13:32:00.000-04:00

Saw this on Argent's Blog and just could not help myself :)

Your Birthdate: July 5

You have many talents, and you are great at sharing those talents with others.
Most people would be jealous of your clever intellect, but you're just too likeable to elicit jealousy.
Progressive and original, you're usually thinking up cutting edge ideas.
Quick witted and fast thinking, you have difficulty finding new challenges.

Your strength: Your superhuman brainpower

Your weakness: Your susceptibility to boredom

Your power color: Tangerine

Your power symbol: Ace

Your power month: May

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?