Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah. Thank you for following my blog through the year. I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous 2015.

I've been kind of freaking out. I have made the commitment to teach 2 workshops in Europe this coming year. In fear that I've overcommitted myself, and that neither class would make, I've been paralyzed. But I'm beginning to think this is really going to happen. In May, 2015, I am going to teach in Italy. The class is not full yet, but the spaces are filling. The 5 day class is limited to 10 students. We'll spend 13 days in a private villa in the Santa Croce section of Florence. We'll have 3 apartments so we will be 4 per apartment. Cafes and shops are right outside and it's only a 10 minute walk to the  Accademia D'ARTE,  where our class will be held.  Check out the school:  www.accademiadarte.it . This trip is being orchestrated by Debra and Ivano Zamperla, both talented artists, who have hosted several of my workshops in their home town, Ann Arbor, MI. Ivano is from Italy, and he knows his home well, so we'll be in good hands. Here's D...

I'm honored to have several paintings in this Fine Art Auction of over 180 paintings by Southeastern Impressionists, Plein Air and Contemporary Abstract artists. Presented by The Lighthouse Auction Company in connection with Sumpter Gallery, there will be reception Friday, 10/24 at 7 pm in Madison, GA. Join us and see all the paintings on display. Then join us at the auction, which begins Saturday, 10/25 at 2:00 p.m. and will run through completion. You can also participate  in the auction online. For auction info contact Dianne Lewis at lighthouseauctionsinc@ gmail.com. To view a catalog of the paintings (my work starts on page 98), visit http://issuu.com/sumptergallery . Lighthouse Auctions, 1410 Atlanta Hwy, Madison, GA, 30650

A message to my Wednesday morning class : There were 2 small pizza boxes on my dining room table when I arrived home. The rest of the story for the rest of you : I live in southwest Atlanta, an area that not too long ago was notoriously crime-ridden; it's not the most desirable area of town today. But the neglected Craftsmen bungalows, generations-old shrubbery and huge beautiful trees suggest what the neighborhoods used to be way back when, and could be again. This past Tuesday evening, after having been gone all day, I went to my mail box. There was a young African American girl passing by; she looked 16. She asked me if she could use my phone. She saw me hesitate and said she needed to call her mother; she couldn't get into their house down the street. I went into my house and returned with my iphone. I waited as she made several attempts to contact her mother. She left a message, handed the phone back to me and thanked me. As I sat watching TV four hours later, aroun...

If you're seriously considering purchasing some original art, Allison Sprock Fine Art is hosting a preview party, launching a satellite gallery in an intimate home setting in Atlanta, off Collier Road. Two evenings, Wednesday, October 22 and Thursday, October 23. RSVP at janet.asfa@gmail.com or 404.245.7668 if you're interested in going. I'll be there on the 23rd.

It was hard to shine in my family. I was surrounded by 5 intelligent, talented, funny, high-achieving siblings. I always felt inadequate (still do). But one thing made me more special than any of them: my godmother was Rosemary Murphy. Rosemary was my mother's best friend at Manhattanville College. Mom went on to marry my Dad, have a station wagon load of children, and leave New York to make a home in Atlanta. Rosemary went on to to perform in 15 Broadway productions, in film and on TV (Eleanor and Franklin, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julia, Walking Tall, to name a few). I was 8 years old when we left New York, but I remember visiting her cluttered, book-filled apartment on the upper east side. I'm sure if I could see it now I'd be fascinated by the photographs, art and show posters, but back then I was just enthralled with her little dachshund, the dressing-room lights on her vanity, and the black eye masks she wore when she slept. She was the most glamourous thing I had ...

I admit it. I read the Bible. And I love reading it. There's not another book that feeds my soul like this one. I was reading Ezekiel this morning and came to the line that said "Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." I had 2 fig trees in my back yard ('had' because I inadvertently murdered one last year; I am still grieving over it and thinking I ought to be charged with a crime), so I did some google searching to see what modern thought was about fig tree leaves. What I found is pretty gosh durn amazing: http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/forum/topics/fig-leaf-benefits-diabetes-triglycerides-etc I'm going to go pick some fig leaves, dry them and save them for my morning tea. Couldn't hurt, could it? I also came upon the benefits of olive tree leaves, none of which I happen to have in my back yard, but I was fascinated by the benefits of those leaves too. I'm wondering about pear leaves now, which I do have in my yard. B...

The garden is wasting away. It's time to pull up the dried-up tomato plants, pull more weeds from the flower beds, purchase carloads of mulch and put my garden to bed for the winter. Usually at this time of year I'm sad to see the growing season come to an end but this year I'm actually relieved. I'm afraid I'm overwhelmed by the garden and house. I won't feel so divided now as I climb a borrowed ladder and clean, sand and paint my house's exterior (I'll hire someone to do the really high areas), sand and paint my front porch floor a glossy gray, and get my house shiny and sparkly for the winter. I am enjoying it, no matter how much work it is. "Annie in a Kimono" is an Atlanta model; all the figurative painters in the area love Annie. And I do too. This is a 5x7 pastel up for auction. Click on the title above, or the picture if I did this correctly, to view the auction.

I was right. I've been challenged again by someone else to do something else . Can't do it. Can't allow myself to be obliged to so many people. Sorry. And I forgot to say 3 more things I am grateful for on the second day. So here they are a day or two late: 1. I'm grateful for a garden, good black soil and the proliferation of seeds I am now accumulating. 2. I'm grateful for good neighbors (who make an incredible hot pepper jelly from the peppers growing outside my kitchen window--I served it on brie yesterday when I had some recently single high school friends over--it was a big hit). 3. I'm grateful for my kitty Molly, who has become an amusing little companion and bed partner, even though she's lately gotten into the habit of crying to go out the back door only to cry to come in the front door only to cry to go out the back door only to cry to come in the front door only to... This pastel is another 5x7 up for auction. Click on the title to see ...

Wish I could remember where this was. I can remember the day vividly, just not where. When you visit two, sometimes 3 places in a day it gets very confusing. But of course, it was a cloudless warm  June  day and everyone was celebrating a brilliant day in France. "Somewhere in France" is a 5x7 pastel available at auction. Click the title above to visit the auction.

The Caretaker is a 5x7 pastel on PastelBord up for auction. Click on title to see the auction.

Oh no! My sister has challenged me. My daughter has challenged me. I think I'm going to go into hiding. Turn off my phone and computer. My sister Emily challenged me to do the ice bucket thing. I know it's a worthy cause and it's an excellent fund raising campaign. But as soon as she started her sentence I knew where it was going. "No! Please!" I interrupted her. I'll just donate the money, just please don't make me put myself up on facebook. Thankfully she respected that and went on to all the other sisters in my family. Now, like I was beginning to suspect, other challenges are coming. For some reason this challenging thing is starting to make me uncomfortable. I don't like feeling coerced. My daughter challenged me to post 3 things for which I am grateful, for 3 days, after she was challenged to do it. Because I love my daughter, I'll do it, but I won't challenge anyone else. It ends here with me. But I'm dealing with that guilt ...

I'm putting a few more pieces up on ebay. I guess you might have guessed that whenever the checking account starts looking a little scary, I hustle up to the studio to crank out a few little pieces. Sometimes I create some really sweet pieces that way. I used to work in graphic design, and I found I thrived on deadlines. The deadlines motivated me when I moved into fine art too. A show in 3 weeks? I could work like crazy and produce some really good work (and some not so good). You may have seen this imagery before, or something similar; I'm going through my old photos. This is my oldest daughter Anna and her baby Victor at the beach on Tybee Island. It was his first day at the beach. He was slathered with sunscreen. He was almost impossible to hold when the water hit him; he's slip out of her arms, Victor is 10 now. They still live down in Savannah. He was stung by a Portuguese Man o' War last week. Look that up on google images. YUK! Actually, I'll spare y...

Four pieces finished, framed, packaged and waiting for a FedEx pick-up tomorrow morning, to be delivered to Stewart Fine Art in Charleston, SC. The gallery participates in a First Friday gallery hop, and Sue Stewart has invited me to hang with the artists in her gallery. September 5 is the day. I'm hoping to send more work for October 3. Where : Stewart Fine Art 12 State Street Charleston, SC 29401 When : Friday, September 5 Friday, October 3 Go, if you're in the area. It's been quiet here since my return from France. I've spent the time trying to clean up the garden (again), getting my house in order, building shelves everywhere in the house and cranking out some new work in the studio. Things will get busy again in October, when I'm to get back on the road to teach in Cleveland, New Orleans and Dallas. Several weeks ago I had this unexplained burst of energy, which lasted for days. I found myself waking at 3 or 4 a.m. Wide awake. So I figured, why don...

I've just been notified that my two pastels, "Taxi" and "Ann Braiding Her Hair" have been  selected as finalists in the Landscape and Portrait/Figurative categories of  The Artist's Magazine   31st Annual Art Competition, which will be published in December 2014. Thank you, Artist's Magazine , for the honor.

"A Table for Two in Isle sur Sorgue" is a 5x7 pastel on PastelBord, and is available at auction. Click on title above to see auction. Bidding begins at $100. Thanks for looking.

If you are standing at the perimeter wall in Gordes and look out across the valley, you'll see this house perched at the top of another mountain. What a gorgeous place to live. "Just Outside of Gordes" is a 7x5 pastel on PastelBord. Bidding begins at $100. Click the title above to see the auction.

Gordes  is a spectacular walled village, perched on the crest of the high Plateau de Vaucluse in southeast France. Its beige stone buildings are built into the cliffs. Dating back to Roman days, It overlooks the fields, forests and small villages in the mountainous region of Provence. We climbed its winding roads and could see for miles in every direction. Here is one of the roads on the perimeter of the city on a cloudless June afternoon. "Gordes" is a 5x7 pastel on PastelBord, at auction on ebay. Click on the title above to go to auction.

Never thought I'd be able to boast that I've swum in the Mediterranean, but I can now. Frigid at first, but within moments you're perfectly comfortable. So salty that you can stay afloat without any effort; you could fall asleep floating on the gentle waves. But the sand--or what would normally be sand--is rocks. Very uncomfortable on the bare feet. It makes you almost not want to get out of the water. I hope I never forget that day though. Just beautiful. "A Brilliant Day in Cassis" is a 7x5 pastel on PastelBord, available at auction. Click on the title above to see the auction. Bidding begins at $100. Thanks!

I'm working on a series of small studies of French scenes. This one is from Provence. On our last day in Provence this June we searched for lavender fields, so easy to find from great distances, not so easy to get to. Winding hilly roads made our search a challenge. But we found some. "Lavender Fields" is a 5x7 pastel on PastelBord, available at auction on ebay. Click on the title above or the link below to go to auction. Bidding begins at $100. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=231292287647

Been recovering here, from a month in France and the loss of George. My garden is keeping me occupied. I've been pulling weeds and filling my jeep with mulch, 10 bags at a time, so far 4 trips. It keeps me busy. I keep expecting George to show up though. I've also been painting in my studio, thanks to Mike and George, who finished my ceiling and installed my air conditioner while I was gone. It's comfortable now, and lately I've spent hours up there, forgetting about the time, loving the tactile feeling of paint smearing on a canvas. I close my eyes and see beautiful brushstrokes intermingling with surprising color combinations. I've been taking a painting class from Jim Richards an Atlanta artist; he's probably my daughter's age. But he can teach me what I need to learn -- that expressive painterly stroke. Here's one piece I worked on in class that I'm pleased with. Normally I hate my oils, but I'm thinking I'll be happily working soon. ...

I arrived home from France early Tuesday evening, pulling my heavy luggage from the train station a few blocks away, to a beautifully manicured yard and 18 inch zucchinis in the backyard garden. George, my across-the-street neighbor had mowed and trimmed my yard to perfection, like he always does. And the zucchinis were real, from the garden he had planted weeks before I left for France (unlike the not-real ones--see http://margaretdyer.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-will-talk-of-my-time-at-international.html ). All he ever wants is a thank-you. I give him more when I can. But I'm told I won't be able to thank him until he returns from his 4th of July camping trip. He had recently rekindled a relationship with his high school sweetheart; they were in the north Georgia mountains. They were going to look at houses up there on Monday. George died in his sleep Friday night. 54 years old. I won't be able to thank him for everything he has done for me in the short time I've known ...

We had a leisurely morning but wanted to have one more experience before we took our 6 hour trip back to Fountain-Fourches tomorrow morning. After lunch in a sweet little restaurant a few blocks away from our gite, we drove to Gordes , classified as one of France's most beautiful villages. The site dates back to the Neolithic era. Its Rennaissance chateau was rebuilt on the site of a 12th century fortress. We did the usual...climbed stone stairs through twisting narrow streets under vaulted passageways, slipping into boutiques. We did visit a church however, surprisingly the only one on this trip. It was unusually decorated with vivid hand-painted patterns on every possible space, with seemingly no attempt to coordinate color or pattern, like someone went nuts with wallpaper. It was an unexpected surprise. Our last expedition: find a lavender field for Alice. We found one after winding around the mountains for a half hour, piled out of the car and took some selfies, and piled back ...