Permanent Collection RAM

"Making Paper"
24" x 24", Oil on Panel
Copyright 2009

This painting was included in the "Encountering India and Bhutan" exhibition at the Richmond Art Museum. That exhibition closed on April 4th. Today I got a call saying that the Museum has purchased the painting for their permanent collection. A great honor for a painting that I love.

Thank you to the Board of Trustees and the Museum Director.

Dancing with the Stars

Writing from Maryland today, and posting some photos from

the "Art at the Arnold" Painting and Drawing Juried Competition.

Day One of the Competition we painted from live athletes.

 Day Two, Arnold's good friend, Sylvester Stallone showed up.

Here is my friend Carrie Lewis (center) and I

sneaking into a photo with Sly.

Notice my 3-D sunglasses?

I'd recently seen Avitar, and I wore my glasses

to lessen the glare from the blanket of snow on the ground in Ohio.

The glasses fit comfortably over my regular glasses,

and I forgot I had them on.

Above is a photo of me (far right) with the man himself.

The Terminator, The Governor,

signing his autograph in my sketchbook.

And just after getting the autograph,
here he is looking at my painting.

"This reminds me of the movie, They Shoot Horses Don't They?"

he said. I told him it was ballroom dancing,

to The Matrix. Mr. Stallone said,

"Arnold, it looks like you and me dancing."

So here I was, 'dancing with the stars':

Arnold, Sylvester and my winning painting.

Dark glasses, the key to success.

Thanks to my good frineds Edie Dean and Ray Hassard for the photos.

Columbus Museum of Art Permanent Collection

The Columbus Museum of Art was home to one of possibly only two surviving public gardens designed by renowned landscape designer, Russell Page. The garden has been home to several wonderful sculptures, a reflecting pool, and served as a quiet place in the city to have lunch or take in a concert on Sundays in the summer. The garden was also in demand for wedding receptions and parties.

When the museum decided it would finally start on a much needed expansion, it was a sad day for this garden and it's visitors. The expansion would mean the destruction of this garden.

Late 2008, The Garden Club of the Museum asked members of Ohio Plein Air Society to come and paint scenes in the Russell Page Garden. The Club wanted the artists to make a record in paint in different seasons.

September 2009, the works were juried by a panel of 3 jurors, and about 25 paintings were singled out for a week-long exhibition at the museum. The works were moved from the exhibition site to the garden for a Saturday night gala event. One of the works would be purchased by the Garden Club and donated to the Museum's Permanent Collection. My 14" x 11" oil entitled "The Russell Page Garden in Spring" was selected for purchase by a committeee which included the Museum's Director and the Curator of Collections, among others. I received the happy news by way of text message from my friend Edie, while I was in India.

Happy Birthday Ginger Rogers

Continuing on the dance theme, I'm posting a tribute to the ballroom dance queen, Ginger Rogers. TCM began airing movies with Ginger and Fred at midnight. I watched one in the early hours of today and continued watching again at 7am this morning.

While googling for a photo of Ginger, I found a blog you might like if you like old movies: Hollywood Dreamland, Musings on the Golden Age of Hollywood

Art at the Arnold Press

Links to Arnold Press:

Artists compete at weekend's Arnold Classic

http://www.asfnews.com/generalnews/art-at-the-arnold-winners/

Shall We Dance?

The snow has almost melted here in Ohio after 5 days of temps in the 40's and 50's. I drank my morning tea to scenes of blooming snow drops and a robin gathering worms.

Spring! What better time for the tale of a dance?

"Ballroom Dancing to The Matrix"

16" x 20", oil on canvas, copywrite 2010
Top Prize Winner at the Art at the Arnold

. . . to be continued.

Blizzard if 2010

Maryland doesn't often get big snow storms, but I remember several blizzards from my childhood where we'd get three feet of snow all at once go. Our house, 11 miles south of Baltimore City, was on a dead end road, and since we lived on a dead end, it might take days, or up to a week to for that plow to come to us. That left my Dad, Mom and us kids to shovel the long drive by hand. One year we shoveled past the end of our drive and out into the road so that Daddy could drive into the field across the street. With tires on turf, he could finally get the traction he needed to get the car to the plowed streets and get it work. Another year, because of drifting snow, my sister and I were unable to open the front door. But somehow, Daddy got out and worked for hours shoveling trails just wide enough to walk through. I was young around 10 years old, and the side walls of the trails he dug were almost taller than I was. We let the dog out to go to the bathroom and never saw him again. That was Sparky, our Scottie. We never found a trace of him, and so thought someone picked him up. Much later, in the 80's, I remember my boss driving his 4-wheel drive to the top of the road, and me wading through snow up to my hips to reach his vehicle just so I could get to work.

So, it's interesting to be in Maryland now during the Blizzard of 2010. We could get 24" - 36" by the time it's all over. It was certainly beautiful to see around 5:00 PM today. Right now, gale force winds and wet snow are causing white outs and slippery roads. Last I looked, there was about 9" on the road outside my daughter's house, and the snow is to continue falling tomorrow at a rate of 1-3" an hour.

My easel is in the car, and I am under a blanket on the sofa watching reruns of Inspector Morse, and writing to you.

New Website

"Paan Raja"
10" x 8", Oil on Canvas


I have been in Maryland for over a week now, working on cleaning out my Mom's house and readying it for sale. So what to do with any downtime???

First of all, I crushed my primary hand, my painting hand, in the car door, resulting in a trip to the emergency room. No breaks, thank heavens, but my poor hand that serves me so well, is bruised and still swollen and sore.

I remembered that I promised myself I would work on building a new website. The template one offered by Fine Art Studio Online. There's a learning curve, and things to work out, but I have been working a little for the past two nights, and making progress on that, but not ready to unveil it just yet, especially since I don't have access to all of my photos.

But I did have this photo above of a paan stall in Kumbakonam, India. I loved the colors of this scene, and the sign above that shielded the man from the sun. I tried to copy the Tamil writing at first (I started at the left of the writing), but I quickly ran out of room.

There are lots of paan sellers in India. Paan is sort of a "hand-built chewing tobacco", which starts with a betel leaf. Various things, like tobacco, spices, and gosh knows what else, are placed in the middle of the leaf, and rolled or folded up into a packet. Sometimes you might get a paan at the end of a meal. You pop it into your mouth, and chew away, and like with chewing tobacco, you spit. But the leaves are a gorgeous color green, and are fanned out in piles for sale, and it's always a treat to see the paan seller, even if you don't chew.

You're Invited

Encountering India & Bhutan

Over six years in the making!
A cast of billions!!
Spanning two oceans and several continents!
You won't want to miss Encountering India & Bhutan!
Opening Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at the Richmond Art Museum.
2:00 - 4:00 PM

Twitter Widget

Well, I don't think I got that widget thing correct. HUM? Maybe someone will clue me in. I am off for bed.

Twitter widget

Twitter widget

Why am I up so late? Watching the earthquake coverage, again. After making a donation, I finally succombed to starting a Twitter Account. Now what do I do with that?

Merry Christmas!

Here is the Christmas card video that Ray sent to me. It's too good not to share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5ar30_tgg

Cincinnati Art Club India Slide Lecture

I've been pretty busy lately and feeling like I want to blog, but haven't had time. Here is a photo of "Slumdog" - the neighborhood - from the air as we flew out of Mumbai and on to Chennai. Amazing isn't it? How it butts right up against those gleaming white highrises.

And now for something completely different:

February 19, 2010.
Ray Hassard and I will be wowing our audience with
tales from our recent trip to India at the
February Meeting of the Cincinnati Art Club.

Not positive if it's possible for the public to come.
http://www.cincinnatiartclub.com/

Here's the blurb that I hope will appear in the art club newsletter, The Dragonfly:

"Just back from their third painting trip to India in six years, this intrepid duo will again delight audiences with tales of their adventures in their own inimitable style. A seven week trip in a foreign land offers its own rewards and frustrations, and preferring a bit more adventure, this duo never takes the “luxury route”.

Their Indian adventure involved more than a tour bus and the Golden Triangle. It was an intimate road lined with cherished friends and friendly people, con men, holy men, beautiful women, beggars, babies, actors, monsoon rains, mountain leeches, elephants, bats, and so much more. Sanity came in the form of teaching a workshop at Adobe Industries in Delhi, and then, it was right back on the road for an unexpected “awakening” in the holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges River. With time on their side, these artists covered over 4400 miles, revisiting some of their favorite haunts in the south and exploring new locations in both south, central and northern India. And, this crazy pair, tried to paint it all, everywhere they went.

So, if you are someone that says, I NEVER want to go to India, or are afraid to go to India, or want to go but for some reason can’t, this is the lecture you want to attend. Using slides of memorable sights and encounters, as well as some of the art they produced on site, you will come away from this evening with an understanding of the fortitude it takes to travel and paint in this developing third world country. If you attended their previous talks, you know to expect a most enjoyable evening's entertainment. If you missed previous occasions, you're in for a treat."

Breakfast in Mumbai

Something else that is great here is that they serve some great things for breakfast. In addition to Indian specialties, they also serve one of Martin's favorites, Baked Bean on Toast. Of course with a bit of an Indian twist. As we heard from the mouth of one Indian, Indians always put their own spin on everything.
ABOVE: first morning, me drawing.

ABOVE: Parsi Omelette, Toast Butter Jam and a Malarone pill, for malaria! The omelette is yummy! The jam tastes like spreadable strawberry Jello. Top it all off with a Masala Chai, tea laced with spices and hot milk. We hold the sugar and add our own since the Indians make it SOOOO sweet.

Way better than Starbucks ever dreamed or made.

RIGHT: My handsome husband, easy traveler, Martin, also know as "Sherpa Extraordinaire". He dreamed of going to India long before I ever did. 2007 was his first trip, my second. Well, Martin had forgotten to bring a hat, so Ray loaned "the sherpa" the Ohio Plein Air Society golf cap. I'd recently given the cap to Ray, since it's always been too large for me.

Seemed funny to see Martin in a cap like that, but the sun in India is brutal on the eyes, even early in the AM. Too bright not to have a hat to shield a foreigner's eyes.

LEFT: Martin's Baked Beans on Toast. Looks like a rich sauce, maybe they added a little spice and parsley or coriander leaves ? I didn't taste them. I only know he ate them happily.

Morning in Mumbai

We arrived at the airport in Mumbai around 10:00 PM on September 10, 2009. A car from the Hotel Harbour View was waiting to take us to the hotel just down the street from the Taj Hotel and the Gateway of India. After checking in, we headed to the rooftop bar and restaurant. This was my third time in India, and coming back to this rooftop is always like coming home.

Below is the view of the Gateway of India at dawn, from our breakfast table. Monsoon season filled the warm air with a heavy moisture.

Below is a photo of a drawing I did that first morning, with Pepto Bismol tablets lying on the lefthand page. Some days later, I was to loose this sketchbook/journal and all of my resource drawings and written impressions from the first week of this seven week trip. It was a sickening disappointment to me at the time. Eight weeks later, at home looking through photos, I was happy to find three photos I'd taken of my book that morning in Mumbai.

I'd bought the Moleskin book the day before we left America. It had extra thick blank pages, 100 to be exact, that I thought would be good for watercolor, but when I tried a petite sketch of the harbor at dawn, the paper resisted the water and you can see the paint beaded up. I used this book only for drawing from then on, and stashed small pieces of watercolor paper into the back pocket in the book, so was ready for a quick painting if and when I wanted one. I did do one, and lost it when I lost the book.

Birthday Drawing

Twas the night before Natalie's 10th birthday. Granddad was busy, Mommy was busy, Natalie was playing a game on the net. I was bored. Remembering I had brought my drawing materials, and "Eh. Voila!" A quick sketch: "Natalie, Age 9" Conte Crayon on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing paper.

Beginning of a long flight.jpg

Landed and off the plane

Landed and off the plane in Newark, NJ. A prop plane, some turbulence for added fun. Enjoyed Big Apples skyline. Mumbai next stop.

Late already.jpg

Our flight to newark is just unloading passengers. So our 12:20 boarding time won't happen. Security went smoothly. They didn't swab my empty turp can this time. My email lists were done in hurry and some not working. Task for india.

AirportColumbua.jpg

Here's Martin with his tickets to Newark and Mumbai. We're waiting for lunch so we can take our Malarone to prevent getting malaria.