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You know, I really should have written a new blog post before my EPIC WEBSITE VIEWING SPIKE on April 2, thanks to being selected as January's Bold Brush Competition Outstanding Watercolor and subsequently recommended in The Informed Collector newsletter on 4/2/18.  Oops!  Chalk it up to my parents being here for an Easter visit or maybe I just had no idea how many eyeballs that newsletter would bring to my site, but I sorta dropped the ball on that one.  Live and learn :)

SO MANY THINGS have happened since I last wrote!  Let's just list them for efficiency:

1) I did NOT get into AWS.  Again.  I did not cry, but I was irritated.

2) I did NOT get into TWSA (and that means I didn't earn my letters this year, since it would have been my third show).  I predicted this one (I never get into shows that John Salminen juries) but I still cried.  Crushing blow.

3) The same painting that was rejected for AWS won Best Watercolor in the 2017 Artist's Magazine All-Media Competition!  Just goes to show that it's all about who's judging; different eyes mean different preferences.  My painting will be featured in the September issue this year, so keep your eyes peeled for that one!  Woooooot!!!

4) I got super sick over Christmas and ended up taking longer than planned to finish my fall painting, "Jazz is Jazz," but I wrapped up in January, got that sucker up on my website, entered it in the Bold Brush monthly competition, and stinking *won* Outstanding Watercolor for the month!!!  I'm planning to enter this one into NWS this year, so being selected as an Outstanding Watercolor has given me a nice shot of confidence on that decision.

5) I started my first "political" painting :)  It had to be done.  It's not necessarily overtly political, it's just a still life, and it's kinda funny in a way.  I'm excited to finish up.  I have no idea if/how it will be received by potential jurors, so this will be an interesting experiment.

6) I had to take a forced 2-week hiatus from painting in March because my 2006 Honda CR-V was *totaled* and I cried, and cried, and cried, and cried.  I loved that car.  That car was long since paid for.  That car only had 68K miles on it.  I was going to pass that car down to my kid when he turns 16.  Alas, a 92-year old driver ignoring a stop sign and crossing a very busy road directly into my lane of traffic put an end to all that.  TEARS!  A 2006 car isn't worth much--even with very few miles.  I couldn't even afford a used CR-V with a zillion miles as a replacement with the settlement money I received.  I ended up with a used hamster car (the Kia Soul), a new loan to pay off, and an increase in my insurance premiums because it's a newer vehicle.  Shoot me.  It's always something, isn't it?  Most importantly, though, I was completely uninjured, and so was the 92-year old and his 91-year old wife in the passenger seat.  So there's that, and that's not a small thing, so... I will count my blessings.

I think that about covers everything.  I just submitted my NWS entry this morning :)  I packaged up two Etsy print orders, which means I'm only 4 sales away from *100 SALES*  Amazing!  And it only took 5 years to accomplish!  LOLOLOL

Not for the weak!