**Painting is my happy place. I love creating little worlds to dream in. I have several paintings to share, but these two are the most recent ones. These were dreamt up after hiking around caves in Iowa. 

 finished. finally.

Earlier this summer, I found this blog and absolutely loved it - friends, you probably remember this... "omg, you have to read this, it's so, so lovely! just look at that fox!"After reading about Lucky I decided to make a painting. This weekend, I finally had some time to paint and dream up some places for Lucky.I also worked on these two pieces. They aren't finished yet, but I thought I'd share.

I just found a new band that I adore. The Paper Kites. I'm sure they have been around for awhile, but I think they are wonderful.

I love how magical their videos are! Who wants to have a mega pillow fight in NYC?

They will definitely be added to future playlists!

There's something about being in an art studio/class that makes my heart skip and feel calm at the same time. The smell of paint, the paint covered easels from previous students, being surrounded by other talented artists eager to paint and learn - it all makes me happy.So as soon as I walked into the room last night, I felt comfortable. I was at ease.But feeling challenged is also good and I want to grow as an artist.What does this mean? That for the next few weeks I draw.I'm very nervous about drawing. I admit that I hide in my blurry color swirls, but I think  (know) that brushing up on these fundamentals will ultimately help me create even better paintings.As one guy put it, "it's like taking two sticks and making a fire. Once you do that, you can do anything."So here's to trying new things.These are some snaps of my new painting. Let's see what happens after a few weeks of drawing and when I return to painting. It will be an interesting experiment!

running through open skies with butterfliesand flowers...lonely swamp birds...and mountains and forests of color... **these are some new paintings for a small gallery in my hometown Dysart, Iowa! **My new painting class is wonderful. I can't wait to share some of the things I've been working on!

a new painting in progress**To be perfectly honest, I don't love this piece right now. I think I ruined it with the horse addition - but I think/hope it can be fixed! It was challenging because I've been trying to push my "style" of paintings and wanted to make this a whimsical piece, but it may have been better left abstract. That's one of the biggest things I've learned in this class - when to stop and just LOOK at a piece.Oh well! Either way, I love painting and am just so happy to be making art.would love your thoughts/feedback! 

Sometimes I get really frustrated with life so I dream up places I'd rather be.For example...a snowy egret in a magical swampland away from everything else...Another thing that makes this painting magical is glitter. Yes folks.. I brought the glitter back. I was covered in tiny sprinkles when I left and loved it.Have a great week all! Birthday photos to come soon...Xo

..have been added to the whimsical piece from last week...**and she's almost done...p.s. at some point, i will take higher res photos of all of this new art!