I set up this account over a year ago and since then have received many of life's little nudges to paint every day. What pushed me over the edge to begin daily painting and blogging was meeting Kevin MacPherson in Middletown last weekend at his "Reflections on a Pond" exhibit. Granted, he has a more inspiring view out his kitchen window than I do but I'm convinced the act of painting every day, even if it's only for an hour, will advance my artistry immeasurably.

This little acrylic sketch of the red Cape Cod house is for a home portrait I'm doing right now for a family in Lebanon OH. I'm not quite ready to post the results of my poor efforts out the kitchen window yet but I did actually do my first one on Wednesday morning and I have 5 more little canvases to complete. So when I get brave enough, you'll start seeing this daily work here uncensored, whether I think it's good, bad or somewhere in between. As Kevin said, even the greatest artists still paint "stinkers."

And I've noticed that sometimes painting a "stinker" is what got me to the next good painting. When I was in high school, one of my mentors said "You can tell a lot about an artist by the quality of the work in her wastebasket." That's right where I am today: just paint, paint, paint and be willing to throw a lot away and only keep the best. You read it here!

If you see me, ask me how many hours I've actually spent painting this week and how many days I painted; I'll appreciate it!