Monday Night

Cisco Lake

I am exhausted after a day in Duluth. After the radiation treatment, we hung around for a physical therapy appointment late in the afternoon. I was glad I went, but sorry my whole day was shot. With daily radiation treatments and other appointments plus about 2 1/2 hours on the road to get there and back, I really will have to motivate myself to make time for art. I would like to post another finished painting soon for anyone reading this to see!

I did have a painting sell today at Firefly! (Campshore) Big smile!

So much rain the creek is running again!

J and our dog running on Cisco Lake Rd last week. N and J are training for the 15K race in early August.

This was a long week for me. I did paint a bit but have no completed paintings to post yet.  I had four days worth of doctor appointments and radiation treatments in Duluth this week. Steve, Karen T and Jan M. all drove me. Thanks so much. My oncologist had a great big smile on his face when he walked into the exam room on Tuesday. Steve thought that was awesome. I guess the outcome is as good as we could have expected. so yeah! And maybe the joy will reach me after I get through this next stage of treatment. At the moment I am pretty worn out! and there are 27 more radiation treatments to go!

Photos from Black Cat Show

The sun is out with us again. Yeah!

Yesterday I went to Ashland to get food for our household and stopped in at the Black Cat to get a cup of coffee and see our group show there. It was just lovely. Wendy's mask and Sara's sculpted aprons combined with all the paintings and Jan's glass art made for a diverse exhibit. Birgit's jewelry too. (Oops, it looks like I missed Jan's glass art in my photos) Saw two friends and they both had positive comments. Even though sales are slow, our group shows were worth the effort!

Are we ever going to see the sun again?

'Tulip with Daffodil' pastel, 6 x 6, © Mary McHugh 2010

Another cloudy day!! Yikes.
Shown above is what I worked on yesterday. I am not sure I am done with it, but maybe. I just have to stare at it awhile and see if there is anything left to do. Maybe just sign it and be done. Hmmm.
I don't have any doctor appointments this week! Next week I have four days worth with radiation starting on Wednesday, for 30 weekdays, into August.

My radiation driver helper schedule filled up quickly. Yeah! Thanks everybody. This will be my summer of lots of conversations with friends and family in the car to Duluth and back again.

One of those Saturdays

Here is the start of my creative process. I lay out the different sizes of pastel papers I have on hand and get out some photos. Just mull around a bit and decide what paintings should go on what paper, cropping photos with my scissors to make better compositions. Decide what photos appeal to me at this time. I picked out a mountain scene from camping last year at the Tetons, a lupine field, the river with some yarrow, daffodils with a tulip, and a friends garden. I make some sketches, tape the paper to boards and I am off and running (so to speak)!

I am experiencing the empty house today. N is at a graduation party after the ACT and J is at work in Cable. It's a cloudy cool day and I am a bit low energy after having two procedures done this week; port removal Wednesday and my radiation simulation yesterday. S and I were just over at some friends' house and they have such a lovely garden and home. I found it very inspiring there despite the dark, wet day we are having.

Superior Artists Online and In Person Celebration Exhibition Opens

Well here we all are at the opening reception last Thursday June 3 in Washburn. Our show looks gorgeous and it was fun to create a show together and see each other again. What a great group of gals!

This week has gone by quickly with no new paintings started but I have been planning a few new ones. I have some garden photos from last summer to work from. I also plan to get outside and work on location at least six times this summer. There is a plein air competition in Cable in mid July too. That is something to practice for!

Some of you reading this have offered to help with rides to radiation this summer. I should be starting in a couple of weeks. Probably June 23 but should find out more details this morning.

We are having a thunderstorm this morning too. All kinds of excitement here in Northern Wisconsin!
take care, Mary