Starting January 1, 2016, I am committed to painting every day, and then posting it online along with hundreds of other artists from around the world.  If you want to see my work progress with just a simple photo of my painting and perhaps a title, join Barocas Daily Painting,  Or join my full out Barocas Art Newletter for complete information.

What I learned from this experience is

• getting out there to paint is easier in that the decision of "should I or shouldn't I" is already made
• the commitment to paint in the same place everyday also removed another huge decision,  where should I paint today??   Some days I would ride around in my car and come back empty handed because I couldn't settle on a scene. 
• painting consistently afforded me a chance to get to know my hosts, allowed me to chat with passersby and I got to see the workings of the orchard.

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This will be the second painting outing of my project to Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton MA.  Some of the scenes will be painted at various times of day and weather.  I am also curious as to how the nature of my paintings will evolve.
I am getting ready to be out there by 10AM today and 9AM tomorrow.  
Look for an update to this post when I share what I have accomplished later today!! 
See you then.

I contemplate my paintings at odd moments.  By that I mean 3 or 4 in the morning - like now  - it's 5:03AM.  I can't access my blog so I will write myself an email and post it later over coffee. God bless my husband who gets up first and announces when the coffee is ready!

I painted some pears and a melon a few days ago.  Now that the main characters are done, I an fiddling with the background in a non-committal way.  Using an app on my iPhone called Draw Cast.

Here are some recent ideas:

It has been six weeks since I set out a palette of paint and picked up my knife. I miss it. The painting is in my mind these days. My husband is awaiting a new hip and if I am not teaching, not feeding Molly and Xena, not walking Molly and Xena, not doing laundry ( forget putting it away), not cooking ( ha ), not minimally cleaning, then I am by Jack's side. Painting puts me in a zone and I can't go there right now. It seems too selfish.

I did enjoy a wonderful walk in the meadows with Xena. She is very nervous in a car, so I drove a couple hundred yards, let her out for a walk, drove a bit more, let her out for a walk. It seemed to work. At the same time, I got my painting fix. I can't wait to get back there again with Xena and Molly and my paint!

Well, it seems like I keep starting this blog by saying, "I haven't been adding anything to this blog for awhile".  And it's true, I haven't.  But now that I am back in Northampton and life is more regulated, I am looking forward to a more regular painting schedule. 

We added a new member to our family last week.  His name is Tylo and we call him Ty.  It is taking him awhile to get used to his new surroundings.  He is fearful going into new rooms or hallways.  He is part Pyrenees and Lab.  I describe him as a white lab on stilts with masca'ra!!

He is very sweet with people - adults and kids.  He is a bit independent - but as I read in my research, Great Pyrenees dogs have to often work in the mountains on their own guarding sheep, and so they make their own decisions too.
Considering all of that, he seems well trained, Come, Sit, Stay, Heel --- when he wants to.  But we are working on that, and he is responding nicely.  We have an appointment with a dog trainer next week to round things out.

Ok, they also have very sensitive hearing and eyesight - all the better to see and/or smell you.  Or predators which bring forth a warning bark - warning us of passing cars and other noises  and other dogs.  An there in lies the problem.  We are learning to wear a "gentle leader" so that we can better control him while on walks.  He is afraid of and therefore aggressive towards other  dogs.  That can ruin an otherwise very nice walk or run.
We are working on it.

He tried an overnight at my daughter's house... but it was unsuccessful.  He barked continuously so much so that he ended up on our door step at 11:30PM.  I still think he is getting over his experience as a rescue dog and that he was just shaken by being separated from my husband and me just as he was getting used to us.  That's ok, we have time.

Soon we will go out painting together and it will be fun!!!!