Monday, August 20, 2012

Late August, cool fall weather

Here are my latest paintings.  These were all started plein air (outside) this summer and finished in the studio. Will have a few more in a week or so. Two of them are at Firefly on display in the show featured in August and September: "Birds and the Bees and the Flowers and the Trees". There will be a reception on August 24 from 4 to 6 P.M. I also have my painting of Neil skiing in the Cable Museum show in the art display room of the museum.

The art crawl last weekend and teaching my pastel class at the beginning of the month were both a lot of fun.

I'll be heading back to the chalkboard soon to teach kids about writing equations and using variables. I have to adjust my brain around mathematics, because it is something that doesn't mesh well with summer weather. Fortunately we have had some cool temps up here at the 46.4 degree latitude to help me get ready.

I am still recovering from some cancer treatments this summer. The cyberknife targeted radiation has caused some of the weirdest baldness so far of all my treatments so I have been wearing a hat. I am also taking some xeloda (capecitieine) and tykerb (lapatinib ) which are  oral chemos. They don't seem to have much of a side effect. They are in pill form rather than an IV infusion like many chemos. Before I had to deal with cancer and chemos, I didn't really understand how the chemo entered the body. Most are  in an IV infusion so you sit in a nice comfy chair in the infusion center and the drug enters your body slowly and peacefully. The nurses are all super nice and it is a peaceful experience until a few days later when you are sick as a dog at home. These new oral chemos I am taking are supposed to enter my brain somehow and put a halt on the cancer growth. Most chemo doesn't break through the blood brain barrier. They don't make me sick like a regular chemo and hopefully they'll work!

 Okay back to art! The first and third paintings are done at  Big Brook greenhouse garden and the middle one is my front garden. ! Five more coming from the Washburn class and Cable sites soon.

       'Solitude', 11" x 12" ,  pastel , © 2012 Mary McHugh

     'Roses and Peonies Too', 12" x 11", pastel , © 2012 Mary McHugh


     "A Touch of red", 7" x 7", pastel , © 2012 Mary McHugh