Activities and Art

We have been gone much of last month, first to Ft. Lauderdale for the exhibit opening at Artists Haven Gallery.  The gallery opening was great fun!  You can see the pictures of the reception HERE.  Next, we went on a cruise of the western Caribbean, ostensibly to be warm and to snorkel.  We snorkeled plenty but we didn't get warm until we got to Belize!  Record cold in Florida was a big surprise for us.  But the fish and the reefs were terrific!

Since returning home, I've been catching up and creating a painting for the Casa Esperanza annual Art for Hope Auction fundraiser, which takes place March 20, at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque, NM.  Stay tuned for details and to see my painting!

Casa Esperanza is a low-cost retreat house for cancer patients undergoing treatment in Albuquerque.  It's funded largely by donations and fundraisers.  This is my fifth year to participate.  You may remember my hope chests in 2005, 2007, and 2008 and can see them online on the Casa Esperanza website in their past events links.  I've also contributed several paintings for their auctions. 

In the midst of creating a larger painting, which took me way longer than I hoped to tweak, I created some small paintings (as in 2.5 x 3.5 inches!) with the leftover paint on several days.  This is one of a New Mexico mesa.  I had a lot of fun palette knife painting this from my memory, using the colors at hand!