Happy Mother's Day

Cowgirl with Child, 20x16

Happy Mother's Day, and a special thank you to you who subscribe and follow, and to you who leave comments~ you are a blessing to me.  I devoted myself to our boys while they were growing up, and when they left home, I turned my attention to another labor of love.  You are part of this labor of love, which kind of makes us family.

Son Worshipper, 18x24

Son Worshipper, 18x24, Oil Painters of America 2017 National Show, opening soon!

It has been so long since I posted a blog, I actually forgot how to do it.  I had to get google help to get back into my account.  
There are so many outlets now for social media and I am really enjoying facebook and instagram, mostly because they are much more interactive than blogging.  Blogging can feel like talking to yourself, except that talking to yourself requires no effort and no spelling worries :-)  
So I took some time away from my lonely blog to write for some publications and I have to tell you, the response makes that kind of writing so much more fun and gratifying.  
And now I'm taking time away from them because I can't work with deadlines right now; I'm back to the rarefied ether of the blogosphere!  

So, I have been working on some paintings that I have long pictured in my head but have had to figure out just how to create.  This is a LOT harder than painting something that you see with your real eyeballs.  
Some of these paintings have been in my mind for decades before I learned how to paint, and I still don't know how to realize them on canvas.  This one, though, only needed a good ram skull, so you would think it'd be slam-dunk, but it wasn't.  I had a half a dozen people hunting around for a skull for me for OVER TWO YEARS before I finally asked my husband, Russ, if he would get me one for Christmas.
He thought I was kidding.
I won't share my secret of how exactly I convinced him that I was not kidding, but he was convinced that I wasn't joking in time for Christmas.  He found a guy up by Canada somewhere who had this professionally taxidermied skull that had originally come from TEXAS, where I had been looking for OVER TWO YEARS.  
Not to digress...

Like a lot of my paintings, this one was staged in my own backyard, and all parts of it are symbolic.  I am working on another larger one right now that, if it turns out, I will share on the blog as well.

The Oil Painters of America 2017 National Show will be opening in the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art in Cincinnati, Ohio on 12 May.  There are about 200 paintings in the show and the preview looks pretty spectacular.  If you are in the area, it will be worth your while to take a peek.

Also of note, my own gallery, RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX, is having the grand opening of its new space this coming First Friday: 5 May 2017.  They have expanded, during a time when so, so many great galleries have either sold out or have had to shut their doors altogether.  I feel very grateful and indebted to the outstanding leadership and hard work of Shannon Hanna and her whole crew for their tireless work and love.  Please come if you can!  And thank you to John and Patty Curtis, Texas art collectors who bought the first painting that sold on the night of the soft opening: my own Beach Hut!  
It looks like the art world is coming back to life after a long hibernation, and I'm so glad.
Here's the new address:

RS Hanna Gallery
244 West Main Street
Fredericksburg, TX

If you miss First Friday, don't worry: Hanna Gallery isn't going anywhere; come by anytime and see what wonderful things Shannon Hanna has done for the Art World lately.