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I have donated this painting to a fundraiser for "Memories in the Making" -  a unique art program which enables people with Alzheimer's disease to express themselves creatively.

Even after people with dementia have lost the ability to use words, they are able to paint their thoughts, emotions and memories in a manner that is expressive and often beautiful. The experience provides professional caregivers and families an avenue to learn more about the person with dementia. The essence of who they are and what they care about shines through their artwork. Art from the Memories in the Making Art Program is donated by the families for an annual art auction.

Beautiful artwork is created by those with memory impairment in 18 Memories in the Making art classes held weekly throughout Northern Colorado. A jury of professional artists selects the artwork for the auction and it is then professionally framed for display at the annual Memories in the Making Art Show and Auction.

This year over 1,600 pieces were submitted, and 53 chosen by the jury to be in the auction. Of these, ten pieces are "paired" with the work of a professional artist. The artist chooses the piece with which to pair. Then they create a piece that is similar in color, composition, subject matter, style - or in some other way ties into the artwork created by the MIM artist.

When I was invited to participate in this project, I jumped at the chance. Just having recently learned that my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, I wanted to do something that would not only allow me to explore my feelings about the disease but would also help raise awareness - and give me the sense of being able to DO something.

The picture below is the piece of art I chose to pair with. The auction will be held on May 20, 2010, at Drake Centre in Fort Collins. For more info, http://www.alz.org/co/in_my_community_10051.asp

I'm not sure if I am finished with this painting  - haven't signed it yet. I started it during Earth Hour, when I turned off all electric lights and painted by candlelight. I was - pleasantly - surprised by how the colors turned out. Much brighter than they appeared while I was painting!

This is the first large painting I've attempted since starting my Painting a Day Project. Those paintings (52 paintings in a little over 52 days) were all 6x8" or smaller.  The first thing I remembered is how much more physical painting on a larger canvas is. Instead of most of the movement coming from my elbow, they movement for this painting (40x30") came from my shoulders and hips.

I also challenged myself on this painting to just let go and paint. I was feeling somewhat uninspired as I began this painting. I think really I was a bit intimidated by the size of the canvas. I've painted this big before - and larger - but it has been since the Fall. I'd really gotten used to the little guys, and suddenly, here was this big blank canvas. Since I really didn't know what I wanted to paint, the safe thing would've been to grab one of my little canvases. I sure hate screwing up a big canvas. As "free" as I want to be, the thought of wasting a $85 canvas is always a little nerve-wracking.

But I decided to just throw caution to the wind and paint big. But paint what??  I decided on a vertical orientation - another step out of my comfort zone. I tend to paint horizontal or square. But Saturday night, I went for the "full monty."

The first thing I thought of when contemplating the vertical canvas was trees. So I painted in some quick vertical strokes in ultramarine blue. Then I added some yellow ochre strokes. In doing that, two things happened: I started thinking about and visualizing birds. And, the trees morphed into reeds and dried grasses. 

So, out of quiet mind, candlelight and Native American flute music came "Bird Song."

Painting # 50 of my Painting a Day series. This little guy was fun to paint. Although I haven't painted a raccoon before, I've had several close encounters of a very personal type, and know these masked critters pretty well.

As a kid, I remember we always had raccoons prowling around the backyard, getting into the trash cans. When I was 12 or 13, my Dad built a deck onto the back of our house, with a glass sliding door that opened out from our dining room. Well it didn't take the critters long to figure out that they could climb the stairs up to the deck and look in the window to see what was going on. And it didn't take me long to break the rules and feed the raccoons - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were always a favorite. They'd grab the pieces and scurry back down the steps to "dunk" in the bird bath.

When my parents owned a cabin up in Maidstone, Vermont, I used to take the kids up there during the summer. One of the neighbors had a pet raccoon that he would bring over to visit. Rocky was a friendly guy - loved to be petted and played with.

Once, quite a few years back when my oldest daughter was 8 or 9, my husband and I took her to a Wildlife Center. There they had a raccoon in a small enclosure - sort of a birdhouse looking thing with bars to keep raccoon in and everyone else out. There was a rope around the enclosure to keep people from getting too close. Of course, bad example that I am, I had to step over the rope and get closer. Close enough that I could touch the soft, smooth black paw that was reaching out to me. What a sylvan moment!

And then quicker than I could react, the little bugger grabbed a hank of my long hair, wound it around that sweet little black paw and started pulling with all it's might. And growling. I screamed to my husband to help. He was useless, rolling on the ground convulsing with fits of laughter. I finally was able to yank most of my hair out of the vice grip of the raccoon's hand, but I'm sure the little devil was able to line it's den with the hank of hair it managed to pull, roots and all, out of my head.

So I learned a very important lesson there that day...and can't see a raccoon without the episode replaying in my head!

Painting #49 of my Painting a Day Project.. This has the feeling of a painting that wants to be much larger. (It is 6x6") As I was painting, I knew I wanted to put in the aerial perspective that I seem drawn to these days. Birds, with their ability to fly over the landscape, can see the big picture!

In "Snowy Owl: A Changing Landscape," the ground is cris-crossed with highways that at night look like illuminated ribbons bisecting the dark expanses. Lights sear through the blanket of night - man-made stars mirroring the cosmos. I never cease to be amazed, when flying at night, at both the absolute darkness - when flying over western Wyoming for example - and the incredible amount of light pollution - especially in the eastern US.

The snowy owl is said to have the power of prophecy. Like its relative, the short-eared owl, it has the uncanny ability to show up where explosions of lemming and arctic hare populations occur. The snowy owl hunts by sitting and waiting until the opportune time comes for it to strike. An attraction to snowy owl may signify a need to learn patience and timing.

Painting #48 of my painting a day project. This is the first wild cat I have painted. Because cats tend to be nocturnal, I painted this as a night scene. I like the way the Lynx seems to be a part of the sky, almost like a star cluster. To me, this Lynx has the persona of a wizard - an aristocratic, knowing look in the eyes. According to Ted Andrews, author of Animal Speak, the Lynx is closely associated with the occult, and the moving back and forth between what is hidden and what is visible.

The Lynx (including the bobcat) taxonomically consists of four species within the family Felinae. They are a shy, secretive medium-sized feline with tufted ears and a bobbed tail common to the western hemisphere. The prefer to live in mature forests and mountainous regions, but can be found in deserts and heath/scrubland. They are often noted for their haughty or imperial gaze. They tend to be most active at dawn and dusk, but are also nocturnal. Their diets consist primarily of rodents and hare. Lynx are quite dependent on hare populations, and lynx numbers are thought to be directly proportionate to hare numbers. Lynx are mostly silent, and use body-language and scent to communicate most often, however they will yowl and hiss in mating season. They are hunted for their pelts, and kittens are at risk of predation from coyotes, owls and foxes (among others).

More info can be found at: http://www.wildspeak.com/vilturj/totems/wlynx.html

Painting # 47 of my painting a day project. 4" x 4" oil on canvas.

Sometimes you just don't know what you are going to end up with when you start.

Such was the case with "Shapeshifter." Halfway through the painting, it shifted. Perceivably. Palpably. There was a moment when I was painting and then...BAM! The painting took control and painted itself. But it didn't go where I had intended. Oh no. It had a mind of its own.

I started out painting a Lynx - my friend and talented watercolor artist Sue Whitten had written a post on Facebook saying her husband had seen a Lynx while hiking in the mountains. So I decided a Lynx would be an interesting subject to paint. Feline and fearless, Lynx is a solitary and rather elusive animal. So I was painting Lynx, when, in the stroke of my brush, someone else appeared. My old friend the Fox. I knew at that juncture that I had a choice. Stay steadfast with Lynx, or hand over the painting to Fox. I chose the latter.

At that moment the painting was no longer mine. It belonged to Fox, and I was just the conduit for expression. Without thought, the painting progressed and finished quickly. And there was no question about when the painting was finished. Even though it may appear to some to be not quite done, that is how Fox wanted to present himself. Not quite finished, as if at any moment he may shift again. In fact, in looking at the painting, I think he may be between time and places.

Can he shift into human form? Why not. We are all made of the same stuff.

I've written before about Fox as a totem animal. I think the significance of Fox, should he (or she!) appear in your life, is to be ready to change, to turn on a dime, to blend in or stand out as needed to achieve your goals. If you find you have an attraction to Fox - whether it is one you initiate or if Fox just shows up in your life, it is a good idea to study Fox's habits and try to apply them to yourself.

I have had a "relationship" with Fox for many years - my earliest memory is seeing Fox in the woods behind my house when I was a young child. At first I thought she was a big orange cat. But as she passed by, she stopped a moment and then looked back at me. Years later I was attracted to and acquired a photograph called "Goodbye Fox," taken by wildlife and landscape photographer George Hager. (I'd provide a link but he doesn't have an internet presence!) That photograph reminded me of the look the Fox gave me - a look that has stayed with me for over 40 years. On a trip to Mesa Verde, Colorado, I purchased a fox fetish. And a couple years ago, I traded a painting for a photograph of a mama fox and her kit by Michael Roberts. Each time I would see a fox, a kind of thrill would rise up in me. But I didn't put all of this together that Fox might one one of my totem animals until recently.

Painting #46 of my Painting a Day project. Shaman is a wolf hybrid that was a beloved member of the WOLF Sanctuary in Ft. Collins, Colorado. "Due to his outstanding personality and very social nature, Shaman endeared himself to hundreds if not thousands of individuals who visited or volunteered at Wolf over the years. These qualities made him an outstanding subject for many TV shows and documentaries and he seemed to love being the center of attention. He was genuinely interested in every human visitor and was not afraid to check you out and demand your attention -- not that you could possibly ignore his magnificent beauty or massive size." (from the WOLF Sanctuary website) Shaman passed away on September 27, 2009.

I have created this painting to donate to the silent auction during the annual Waltz for Wolves which benefits the WOLF Sanctuary. More info will be available soon.

I am thankful to Donna Naduch, one of the volunteers for WOLF, for providing me with reference photos of this magnificent wolf hybrid.

This is a painting that almost seemed to paint itself. Before painting, I asked Shaman to present himself as he wished to be portrayed. This is the result, and I am pretty pleased with it!

Painting #45 of my Painting a Day project. In Mr. Bluebird's Neighborhood, Spring is arriving soon. From Mr. Bluebird's perch upon on tall dried weed, he can see the patterns that farming makes on the land. Soon these fields will be bustling with human activity as spring planting gets underway.

I've been intrigued with aerial views lately. Maybe my sub-conscious telling me to step back and look at the big picture instead of getting caught up in the minutia of life. At any rate, looking out the window on countless airplane trips seems to have etched the patterns of the earth below into my psyche. I've tried capturing the images with my camera but the resulting photos never look the way my mind has recorded it.

Mr. Bluebird's Neighborhood is mostly rural, reminiscent of the view from above when flying into or out of the Denver airport. Fertile and fallow fields intersected  and cross-hatched by county roads, farm roads, irrigation ditches, the circular patterns of pivots, scattered buildings, water storage tanks and occasional trees.

Sunday afternoon my husband noticed four bright blue birds contrasting against the dead grass ochre expanse of our horse pasture. They perched on the field fencing, then fluttered down into the grass. We watched them for quite awhile, enjoying the flashes of color in an otherwise drab late winter landscape.

This little snippet of optimism made us look closer for signs of Spring: Tender shoots of grass poking up through the snow-softened ground, the melodic call of a phoebe, the aroma of damp earth rising in the warmth of the afternoon sun. We may get hit with one more snowstorm - our traditional mid March storm - but the worst of winter is over. The seeds that were scattered and sown last Fall are awakening from their deep slumber, pushing themselves upward to the light.

So too, we awaken, stiff from the inactivity of winter, our spirits stirring, stretching toward the promise of a new beginning. Yes, in Mr. Bluebird's Neighborhood, Spring is arriving soon.

Interesting facts about Mountain Bluebirds:

They are distinguished from the other varieties of bluebirds by their lack of a russet colored breast. This species has longer wings and a more graceful, swallow-like flight than the Eastern Bluebird. Mountain Bluebirds usually travel in small parties. They frequently hover low over the ground and drop down to catch insects, or dart out from a branch, flycatcher fashion, and then return to another perch. Click here to hear the song of the Mountain Bluebird.

Painting #44 - This is a painting I did as a practice for the Quick Draw at the Western Spirit Art Show on Saturday, March 6. That painting was the highest bid Quick Draw painting, and was sold for $425 in a live auction. The price for this piece will be $225 until 3/11, when it will go to my gallery price.

I call this one Daybreak on the Land because the pattern of colors on the buffalo's back remind me of a sunrise over mountains. The Morning Star shines brightly on the bufflo's head as the night stars twinkle and fade in the approaching light of the sun.

Painting #43 A Sandhill Crane carefully balances on stilt legs, reminding us of the delicate balance of Nature. Water, land, sun, air, plants, animals (including humans)...all things must co-exist in harmony.

Crane symbolizes longevity and creation through focus. It's cycle of power is year round, and its optimum time is daylight. As a bird of water, Crane symbolizes the feminine energy in the Universe. It is also a symbol of wildlife conservation as it portends the recovery of what is nearly extinct.

I often see huge flocks of sandhill cranes as I drive the I-80 corridor between Cheyenne, WY and Lincoln, NE. I am always amazed by the sheer number of these somehow primitive looking birds. I mostly see them as they graze the farmland that lines the highway through Nebraska.

I am nearing the end of my 52 paintings - and have to say it has been a great experience. Although I took longer than I had originally intended, I am really amazed that I was able to paint nearly every day. Although most of the paintings have been small (under 6x8) I was also able to complete two 12x12 paintings, a 10x10 and a 9x12. Many of the paintings I've done will be studies for larger paintings.

I was asked if I will continue with my daily paintings when I've finished up with the 52. Most likely I will, although I think I'll also do some more larger paintings - I miss the physicality of painting large.