I’ve Decided Not to Go to Creative Arts Camp this Year
You long time blog readers know I adore Creative Arts Camp on the shores of Long Lake in Maine. I’ve gone consecutively every end of August for 19 years…
Month: May 2026
Permission to be Imperfect (Louis Noble quote)
When you make a mark that doesn’t look right, every instinct says fix it. Wipe it off. Paint over it. Get it right.
Moral Courage (New Abstract Painting in Pastel)
What do we need more of these days? Moral courage. So I decided to paint it.
Strawberry Rhubarb Overnight Oats (Vegan Recipe)
It is not too sweet, and has a pleasant texture. Plus, it is all ready to go, right out of the fridge.
Motherhood a Gift (New Poem by Polly Castor)
I am so very grateful for this gift that keeps on giving. Festooned with so many ribbons…
Hearts of Horses (Book Review)
The term “horse whisperer,” but it wasn’t always a thing. Up until this time men generally beat horses into submission, hobbling them and bucking them until they “broke” them. During the First World War, when women began to do this job, things changed, and a more empathetic approach proved much more successful.
Gardens at Hill Stead Museum (Photos)
In this post, you can follow along and appreciate with me all this cultivated beauty.
I’m in this PSME “Pastels Only” National Show
These shows tend to be highly representational, but I doggedly keep submitting abstraction. My work sticks out as a bit alien, painting ideas instead of things, but I hope to make room for others to be more adventurous and creative.
Do We Perceive Everything? (Alan Kay Quote)
A frog’s brain is set up to recognize food as moving objects that are oblong in shape. So if we take a frog’s normal food — flies — paralyze them with a little chloroform and put them in front of the frog, it will not notice them or try to eat them.
Hans Hofmann Show at the Yale Art Gallery
I have long appreciated Hans Hofmann’s work as both an artist and an influential teacher to an early generation of abstractionists.
Blue Zone Minestrone Soup (Recipe)
This has a lot of ingredients but comes together quickly and easily, and you’ll have lots of leftovers for your effort.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Movie Review)
Andy (the writer played by the likable Anne Hathaway), who at the end of the first movie left the fashion magazine to write real news, returns to the magazine, this time to write features. She and Miranda Priestly (played by the incomparable Meryl Streep) face down several crises together.
The Perfect Loaf (Cookbook Review)
After reading the rather extensive explanations in this book, my husband made the best bread I’ve ever eaten.
Goal Achieved: Master Pastellist Status!
I am delighted to report that since I have just gotten my fifth painting juried into the elite IAPS Pastel World Show, I will now receive “Master Pastellist” status.