It's Been Awhile

I know, I know, I was supposed to send this newsletter much sooner than this but hey, better late than never! I haven't checked in with you in awhile and there has been a lot of painting going on! During my last newsletter in June I was getting ready to show my artwork at The Byrne Gallery in Middleburg, VA. The show was successful and so much fun! I sold paintings, made connections and had a successful Artist Talk. I am very much looking forward to the next show I do with The Byrne Gallery!

This summer was big for painting! I participated in Paint Annapolis in June. Some friends and I went out a couple of times that week to paint the beautiful scenes of Annapolis, Maryland. We were able to submit two paintings from the week to be judged and I ended up winning 2nd place in the public artists category! I was also in the June gallery show at The Art League where I won Best in Show! It was an incredibly thrilling month to be sure!

In August, I had the incredible opportunity to go to the Olympics! I went with a great group of friends from college and we had an absolute blast. I brought along my sketchbook to get some painting in but ended up not even getting it out. We were so busy with all of the fun things France had to offer, I decided this trip was a much needed break.

For about ten days in September I was soaking up the start of Fall in Maine. I did Bethanne Cople's painting workshop in Rockland, Maine for a second year. This workshop is a great reset for me after a hectic summer of travel and inconsistent painting schedules. We spent a week capturing the boats in the harbors and the changing leaves. I felt amazing during this workshop and was producing a lot of work I was excited about!

On our final day we were painting at the Rockport Harbor and I had just done a painting that I was particularly proud of. Naturally there were times throughout the process that I hated the painting, felt like it wasn't going where I wanted it to, etc. But in the end it was a beautiful painting. At lunch I took my set up down, left my painting next to my stuff and went to the bathroom. When I got back there was some chaos, a dog had come up to my painting and stepped on it, wiping out the boats I had worked so hard on! I was feeling pretty down about it when Bethanne asked if I wanted to fix it. Honestly I wanted to fix it but was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it look as good as it did before the *incident*. With Bethanne and my friends in class encouraging me I was able to refinish the painting and it turned out even better than before! I learned that the paintings I like are not just a fluke, I have built up these skills that allow me to keep painting and getting better!