Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

Sunday Afternoon is a 24x12 pastel on paper. Another piece sacrificed for the sake of sanity. It's really nice, but for some reason just did not sell. I'd rather see it go to a good home than to the trash bin.

"Two Roses" is a 19x24 pastel on paper. "Two Roses" was a demo I did at a workshop a few years ago. I am in the middle of my annual studio cleaning. My studio gets to where I'm tripping over frames and piles of old work. I force myself to throw out as much stuff as I can--it gives me the freedom to create anew. And although these are really nice pieces, for some reason they just never sold. I'd rather make a little money than throw them out. See my ebay store as I list more unframed pieces on paper.

"The Protector" is a 12x16 pastel on PastelBord, hanging now in my show at ChristChurch Presbyterian in Atlanta. This is my daughter, Anna, and her son Victor. It was a few years ago when we took this vacation. My two beautiful daughters and Victor had a picnic on the beach while I played the paparazzi with my camera. Today, if he isn't Spiderman literally bouncing from wall to wall, 4 year old Victor is a Power Ranger, swinging around with his karate chops, or expertly showing me how his newest transformer works. He was at my show last Friday night. At times I'd pan the crowd and see him across the room writhing on the floor amid all the grown-up legs. I'm sure it was for a perfectly good four year old reason.

Waiting is a 12x16 pastel on PastelBord, hanging right now at my show at Genema Gallery. See my web site for info on the gallery. Thank you, everyone who came to the show last night. Thank you for filling the room. I wish I could say that my biggest fear is that I'd have a show and nobody would show up, but I can't because it has actually happened. Many years ago I was asked to exhibit my work. I wasn't especially proud of the body of work, so I didn't send out invitations to my usual mailing list. I assumed the gallery would send invitations to theirs. I guess they assumed the opposite. So the entire evening...I'm mortified even remembering. But I lived through it. Now my fear is that nobody will show up at my funeral. Please come to that if you ever hear I'm having one.

This is a 12x16 pastel on PastelBord. It's hanging right now in my show. Finally! Finished framing yesterday afternoon, hung it last night with Suzy Schultz (check her stuff out www.suzyschultz.net), who curates the ChristChurch shows. Would love to see you locals there on Friday night.

I cannot believe I just did that. My mac is acting soooooooooo slowly, and I just banged a key out of frustration and now I've filled up hundreds of email boxes with countless duplicates. Can you tell I'm over stressed? Can you tell I need some sleep? Can you tell I'm absolutely mortified but can't do a durned thing about it now. Please accept my apologies. I'm going to bed.

This is a 16x20 pastel on PastelBord This is another piece that will be in my show, opening this coming Friday at Genema Gallery in Atlanta. I'll be working frantically for the next two days trying to get my work finished and framed. I hope I see some of you there.

I'm having a show at ChristChurch Presbyterian here in Atlanta. There'll be about 20 or more pastels (I'm still working furiously). I'd love to see as many people there as possible. Here's the info: RECENT PASTELS by MARGARET DYER January 23-March 8, 2009 Reception: Friday, January 23 GENEMA GALLERY AT CHRISTCHURCH PRESBYTERIAN 81 Peachtree Park Drive (off Peachtree, across from Bennett Street) Atlanta, GA 30309 404.6054.0505 This is a church, not a commercial gallery, so they don't stay open during the normal times. My web site has a link for directions. www.margaretdyer.com/events.html

"Rockefeller Center Afternoon" is a 9x12 pastel on pastelbord. I am nearly recovered from December. I know, it's mid January. On the very first day of December I went into silent desperation mode. Then for the first two weeks of December I went into a state of paralysis, then decided to dive in, find a tree, decorate the tree, arrange a Christmas dinner, cook a Christmas dinner, avoid family fiascos, organize an art show for my church, take down the Christmas tree, lay out a newsletter for the Southeastern Pastel Society, teach a 3 day class in Virginia in mid January, then I agreed to have a one-person show in Atlanta at the end of January, so that meant hiding out in the studio and working in a frenzy once Christmas was over (never did avoid the family fiasco at the family get-together). There were a million things to do and I could only deal with them one task at a time or I'd be overwhelmed (thank goodness for Welbutrin). I think maybe I'm overdoing it. Never ...