Growing Pains

I can't in all honesty tell anyone I LIKE the creative process of building a presence in the online world - be it presenting my work personally on this time-sucking entity called the web and all it's 'necessary' chores of seemingly endless writing, editing, revamping, etc.  There, I'm done wingeing for today - check back tomorrow for more descriptive comments!!  All I did was hit a simple button to check out the new templates page in Blogger, and 2 1/2 hours later, have finally got the blog back to looking something near what I will allow others to view again - phew!  At one point, it appeared that the whole blog had vanished into the ether....maybe I should have gotten the hint and stopped there.....??

New Venues
  I appreciate the owners of two coffeehouses 5,000 miles apart who are now hosting my work:

• Rose and Sihead of newly opened Cafe Savini in the quaint Ross-shire market town of Dingwall in Scotland (I saw a great review on Trip Advisor - can't wait to visit!)

• Amy of Twisp Cafe & Coffeehouse in Liberty Lake near Spokane (the service and food are excellent!

Enjoying the ambiance in a good coffee shop or tea room has got to be in the top ten of favourite activities on my list, and even MORE fun is hearing comments on my work as patrons express their impressions and reactions.....always a lift to hear I've made someone's day just a little bit brighter, or inspired some thought or action through the paintings.

Time Marches On.......

Have you heard of the wonderful 'Painting A Day' idea, where one creates and completes a small painting, on as regular a basis as possible?  Very beneficial for honing skills and focus, besides a fun
concept!  This year, it feels as though I'm on the 'Painting A Quarter' program, due to family focus....
ah well....at least everything's there ready and waiting when time allows, and I refuse to get frustrated!!
An excellent local Idaho 'Painter A Day' is Mary Maxam, and her website and blog are well worth a visit.

Coming in April: 
    
   -  Friday, 1 April and Saturday 2 April I will be performing traditional Scottish tunes with drummer Todd
      Neel and fiddler Lorna Woelfel at Unity Church's Mardi Gras Variety Show, 7pm both nights. 

   -  Friday, 8 April, noon-7:30pm and Saturday 9 April 10am - 7pm.....I will be exhibiting current paintings
      (and talking about Scotland with anyone interested!!), along with cards and prints in the 11th Annual  Artist Showcase by the Coeur d'Alene Art Association.  We will be at the CDA Resort Plaza Shops, 2nd and Sherman downtown.  Forty two artists are participating, and it's always a lovely event, and a great opportunity to meet interesting, creative people, who might happen to be your neighbour!  I will be demonstrating part of the day on Saturday.

  -  22 April - 31 May.....I will be on holiday in Scotland - gathering inspiration, and hopefully dipping into some of the inviting tubes of paint that are sitting around the studio saying 'squeeze me!'.....