Posted on by paintandsimple

October Sail

12″x9″ pastel on sanded paper

The State Fair Regatta happened this weekend at White Rock Lake. The boats were so beautiful scattered on the lake. No wind may be a sailor’s nightmare, but it makes an artist’s job easier.

Please enjoy a celebration of pink paintings this month, in honor of breast cancer awareness. I paint for my friends and family who have fought the good fight against cancer, for their families, and for all caregivers who help along with the journey toward a healthy self (body, soul, and spirit). In my strokes of pink, are prayers of strength and healing.

Posted on by paintandsimple · 5 Comments

A day at the Beach

24″x18″ pastel on sanded paper

Today I brought the beach to Baylor Hospital in Dallas. The best magic trick I know is making a scene appear from a blank sheet of paper and bits of colored chalk. It was wonderful to share that process with doctors and nurses, patients, and their caregivers. I set up in a wonderfully busy atrium in the heart of the Sammons Cancer center. There is a small stage with lights and an easel. Then…I just made art. People could just walk by, or stop and talk as their schedule and curiosity allowed them. The beach has a universal appeal. My painting reminded many people of trips they had taken to the beach and many shared their stories: a honeymoon to Hawaii, a trip to Mexico in college, family reunions in Florida, and two little girls told me all about their adventures camping on Padre Island. Some people found reason to come back over and over to watch the painting’s progress.

I love that today my daily painting touched so many lives, and for a moment, people could imagine (or remember) a sweet time at the beach instead of their chemo or their busy day at work.

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Sunrise with Coffee

10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper

Plein air

My sweet husband is a runner, and he spends his runs scouting out fantastic painting spots for me. Today he made coffee in the dark, brought me to a spectacular beach, and even set up my easel.

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Launch on Every Wave

14″x11″ pastel on sanded paper

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” -Henry David Thoreau