Oils and Pastels by Margaret Dyer

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...