Tribute to Johnnie Liledahl

It is indeed, a sad day for the art world, with the passing of legendary artist, Johnnie Liliedahl, of La Porte, TX. Her monumental knowledge of art, technique, production, teaching was astounding. She touched many lives and spurred on numerous artists, to reach their full potential.

This is for you , Johnnie.......you will be greatly missed!

It has been awhile since I last blogged so there is quite a bit of catching up to do. This has been a magnificent adventure year of travel for me., from cross country to the Grand Canyon, Sante Fe, Taos, Sedona (which I fell in love with) to the east including Niagara Falls and the Hudson River Valley along with the Catskill Mountains!

Denver is coming right up, so there will be lots to share from there, I am sure.

I have been plein air painting most of this time, so I will add photos of some of those art pieces. Here I am recently doing a painting of downtown St. Mary's to promote a show that I am in there.

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Travel & vacations

I sure did enjoy the travel and vacation, but I am ready to leave again, with all this cold in Ohio!

Meyer Real Estate, in Gulf Shores, Alabama has some of the best deals going on rentals in Florida and Alabama, along the coast. I'm really thinking we should rent a beach house for our 40th anniversary that is happening this July. I have stayed at several houses directly on the beach, at the ocean, but never in the really hot time of the year . So usually I am just walking along the shore, getting my feet wet and wiggling my toes in the warm sand. I would love to just be able to walk out to the hot sand and let it massage my feet then cool them off in the water, and be able to leave my window open at night to be lulled to a deep slumber by the rhythmic ocean waves!!!

I remember how much fun it was to lay on a air mattress and ride the waves back in! Relaxation doesn't get any better than that! (Just don't make the mistake of getting water in your mouth and then swallowing!)

The first time I did that at the ocean, I just about choked to death on the salt.Anyway, if you are going to visit that area, or buy, be sure to check out http://www.meyerre.com/ they will treat you right! And their building is so beautiful you will want to take a good look around. There is great art everywhere.......outside there is a wonderful bronze sculpture of a younb boy pushing a girl in a swing. It sets just below the perfect branch of the HUGE oak tree that was saved when they remodeled.....the architect just had to redraw his plans, so as not to diturb it.

Inside you will find one of a kind art glass, scultures, oils on canvas...you name it. Each area and floor has art displayed.........a feast for the eyes. If I get the chance to return, I plan to set my easel up and do a painting or two in the arches of their courtyard.

They have some condos at Orange Beach where I stayed and you could watch the dolphins swim by almost daily. You always know they are out there when you see a lot of birds staying over one small area of the water.

There seems to be a sandbar not far from the beach that the fish get caught behind when the tide is coming in.....the dolphins follow along this sandbar, feeding as they go. Sometimes there were as many as 25-30 at a time.

I thought I would love to go out to paint today since the sun is shining but after being out just briefly, the 10 degree temperature changed my mind pronto! It will have to get closer to 30 for me to try to go out again to paint.Wonder what the temperature is at Gulf Shores today??? I can dream.........

Kara

I forgot to mention that this is a much warmer painting than the photo shows. I tried to correct it in my camera and then in some diting programs, but just couldn't get it to look like the real thing. Just imagine it to have more of a red violet tendency.

Kara latest painting

Here is my latest painting. A quick ( 1 hour) oil sketch of my sister's dog, Kara. On a recent visit, Kara would sit and stare at me, then lick her lips, waiting for her treat. I didn't realize that I occupied the chair that denotes that obligation, but she did.

It was great fun to allow myself the freedom to just paint without the consideration if anyone would like it. I just painted for the sake of creating and enjoyed the process!

Sorry, it has been so long. I have been out of the state. I went to Gulf Shores, Alabama, to visit the beach at my cousin's condo as she recovered from surgery. We had great fun getting reaquainted after all these years.

The weather wasn't as warm as I had hoped for.......prior to going it had been in the mid 70's with sunshine. It decided to turn much colder after my arrival....I got blamed for bringing Ohio weather to the south!

Upon returning, it was MUCH colder in Ohio! Barely reaching out of the teens. I was ready to go back!

I did cut my journey short and a good thing, as my van broke down before reaching home. Had to have a trailer brought to get it home. A crank sensor went out!

Anyway, I did get to Mississippi with my cousin and also visited Florida and Georgia before coming back. I saw a fellow artist friend was having a show at Orange Beach, AL, and managed to get together, see the show and go out to dinner. What Fun! The artwork was plein air and by three women that paint together regularly , yet are from three different areas of the country!

The art was wonderful and I bet they sold several. I also met up with some plein air painters from Pensacola, FL. It was too cold to paint, (only 18) but I took lots of photos and enjoyed the company of the two that showed up in such cold!