I returned home from Scotland yesterday, tired but relaxed and fresh with many painting ideas from my travels.

 

I received a silver gilt medal from the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society at the Botanical Images Scotia exhibit at Gardening Scotland. The judges said that most of the work was gold quality but a few pieces were not and kept me from getting a gold overall. The good thing about that is the comments the judges had on those few pieces were all the thing that I saw when I lined everything up to pack. Most of it centered on the last painting I was working on; things that I would have done had I the time. I simply ran out of time, painting up to the night before I packed and left for Scotland! They still commended my body of work and I commended myself – since I completed (almost!) 6 fairly large pieces (for me) in less than 3 months. Most of the other artists had drawn from their own ongoing body of work as they have singular focuses for their own work. Only one other artist started painting for the show after she found out that she had been awarded the space. It has been a goal of mine for a long time and I am proud of myself for accomplishing it. And of course, it got me to Scotland, one of my favorite places of all time!

I was so intriqued with focusing on a series that I am planning on a series of miniatures of waterfowl – waterfowl so that I have some subject matter relevant to Southeastern Wildlife Exposition  – and miniature so that I have an actual chance of getting it done while working on commissions and juried exhibition entries this summer.

I took over 5000 photographs, including puffins on Lunga, a Treshnish Island, pandas, penguins and big cats at the Edinburgh Zoo, and blue Himalayan poppies at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. All in all, a whole bunch of new material for future paintings.

So, back to the studio today – after I do my housework bit and vacuum some of the built-up dust bunnies around here!