Pink Rose Oil Painting

11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas

About five years ago I was sitting down to a cup of coffee and opened our local newspaper....I'd been feeling that middle-aged itch, I suppose. I was a Realtor at the time but I didn't feel like it was working for me. I guess I was feeling a little melancholic and sorry for myself that morning and reading the classifieds when I saw a little ad that read "Art Lessons".

That was all it took. I'd not painting in decades and suddenly here it was! Art lessons! I could take art lessons and get back into it. I immediately called and set up lessons and here I am.

I am so glad I'd called on that ad and got back into painting because it has been a joyous little journey. It has also taken me on a sometimes bumpy road.

This little rose painting is one of the first that I did when I started back into painting. It's not for sale - it reminds me of my first art lessons.

"We do not remember days, we remember moments." --- Cesare Pavase

Alla Prima Pink Roses Daily Palette Knife Oil Painting - I Have a Crush On You

"I Have a Crush on You"

6 x 6 inches, Oil on Board

Was thinking of old songs when I heard Rod Stewart singing on the radio, an old standard "I've Got A Crush On You"...perfect for Valentine's.

In my family, on Valentine's Day morning, my mom, sister and I would find those heart shaped boxes of chocolates waiting for us on the dining room table where we'd normally sit. A Red one for my mom and for my sister and I, Pink heart boxes. I think I miss that little family tradition a lot as I've become an adult. In Japan, where I grew up, Valentine's Day was the day a girl could buy chocolates for the boys they had crushes on, sort of like the Sadie Hawkins Day here in the U.S.

I'm feeling a bit sentimental and romantic this dreary rainy North Texas day waiting for Valentines....