It is fun to reflect on blogiversaries. I can't believe it has been two years already! It is interesting to review the work of the past year & see that I have made work in line with my aesthetic objectives e.g. livable artwork. Many themes were worked on for extended periods of time, aerial views, oyster shells, salt painting, & this provided nuance. Truthfully I was uncertain what work I would have to show for the year as I felt that I had not been as copious in my output, but the truth of the matter, as is evidenced by page after page of blog posts is that I did the work. Yay! Whatever your field I recommend an evaluation. I found this years blogiversary useful for direction & encouragement. Here's to another year! 

The exuberant colors & patterns of Bianca Bello's work invariably cause one to smile. Her marks create patterns that playfully vibrate. I strongly recommend reading her #PaletteProject responses below & then heading straight to her Etsy shop without even a detour to her website, because you are going to want her work on your walls. And of course following Bianca on the social media platforms is a good idea too: Twitter, Instagram, & Pinterest. 

What color do you wish wasn't there? 
I'm actually not a fan of red- I use it very rarely - and in this case, I was trying to push myself out of this rut of soft colors. I still can't decide if I like the finished piece, but it's getting there! 

What is your favorite brush?
I don't use fancy brushes because I lose everything. My favorite brush right now is my Loew-Cornell fat 11 brush from their 12 brush set...you can find this set for less than $10 and it's fantastic! I love using fat brushes to lay down big swaths of color. If I use little brushes I get too worried about each little line, so big brushes help me to just make a commitment and paint a little more freely. 

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
I paint pretty small paintings right now on watercolor paper or stretched canvas due to limited space, but I absolutely love to paint murals. Years ago when I first started painting, I would paint these huge wooden signs to advertise for my high school's musical productions. I loved it! I would spend weeks outside with buckets of paint, climbing up and down ladders, working on little details that came together to make this big image - it was wonderful! So, give me an empty wall in Boston and I'll be a very happy camper. 

What is your favorite color to work with? 

This is a pretty difficult question! I really love to work with soft pastel colors, and I'm sort of in a pink rut right now. Pink is my comfort zone (which is really weird because I never liked pink until my 20s). 

By Seamus Heaney


Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it. 

Even on the sea islands of South Carolina there were freezing temperatures last week. The camellia above froze! It doesn't look to icy, but I can assure you it was frozen. The camellia below bloomed after the freeze. And is none the worse for the chill. Nature is amazing. 

Because sometimes you have to take a risk. Available on society6. 

Lisa Congdon's diversity of approaches, from hand-lettering & sketching to painting & illustration, is impressive. Lisa's generosity is evident in the Creative Live & Creative Bug classes she teaches. Going well beyond the task at hand she gives great insight into being a working artist on a variety of platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & in her book, Art, Inc. Her blog is refreshingly honest, a striking combination of personal & professional happenings & thoughts. Lisa's work is a distinct combination of folk imagery, contemporary color, & tempered optimism with a strong backing of historical resonance & future trends (she really is the trend-setter). Essentially Lisa is spot on! Read her #PaletteProject responses below & then go pick up this lovely gem in her Etsy shop. 

What color do you wish wasn't there?
I create my own palette with liquid watercolors and gouache! So If I didn't want a color in my palette, it wouldn't be there. I used to hate purple, but it has grown on my lately.

What is your favorite brush?
I work in both acrylic, gouache and watercolor, all on a variety of surfaces. For everything, I love flat edged medium-sized brushes the best.

What is your favorite paper/surface to paint on?
It's a toss up between watercolor paper and wood. I love how porous they both are, how they both soak up and disperse the pigment in interesting ways that are never the same twice.

What is your favorite color to work with? 
Opera (aka neon pink). I am also into neon red/orange right now.

BY JOHN DONNE

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Nothing like the Holy Sonnets of John Donne to get a person ready for Lent! 

Many of the things I observed this week found natural partners in upon review. They are paired here for your perusal.