I can't believe it's already November. With the conclusion of my art show season, the busiest time of my year has now passed. This means that I'm now working on commissions for several clients, my new book about Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park, as well as some new landscapes and cityscapes.
With the freak snow that we had a few weeks ago, this year's fall foliage was not quite as brilliant as usual. It was almost as if the snow sucked the color right out of the leaves. Nonetheless, I hosted a dear friend and accomplished artist,
Lisa Mitchell, a couple of weeks ago. We were blessed with some fabulous fall weather and we painted on location at several of Pennsylvania's beautiful state parks and you'll soon see a few of these new pieces on my web site.
A plein air landscape in progress at Colyer Lake in central Pennsylvania.
When not out in the field, I'm in my studio working on some commissions for several clients. I'm currently working on a large fall mountain vista, a portrait of Victorian home in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, as well as several vistas from a spectacular farm in south central Pennsylvania's Mifflin County.
Cows gaze upon me while I visit a commission client's property in Mifflin County. I am really, really excited about this opportunity because the farm has been in my client's family since her grandfather worked the land. The scenery is just stunning.
Finally, I'm taking advantage of this quieter time to work on my new book, From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. My goal was to have it available this month. Unfortunately, the final release of this book will be later than I desired because I've been dealing with a fairly significant distraction: I'm undergoing hip surgery in a couple of weeks. And I've been surprised by what the degree of preparation necessary for this type of thing: Obtaining a handicapped permit for my car, getting crutch training, buying new shoes since I won't be able to tie my own for a while, retrofitting our home, etc.
I injured my hip many eons ago when I crashed my bike as a teenager.
You can read about the whole story in the archives of this blog - scroll down to the post of "Mountain Biking as Inspiration." I've dealt with chronic pain for decades since then and this year things went from bad to worse to the point of where I don't sleep well and can't comfortably do some of the things I love, like mountain biking and hiking. And there's nothing worse than a sleep-deprived, lethargic artist (!). So I'm taking the plunge and
relying upon the expertise of a good surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic to help me so that I can sleep and get back to my usual level of activity.
Of course, this means that I'll be on crutches for many weeks and not in my studio. We'll see how that goes....I'm not well known for sitting quietly. I'll have a sketch book within arm's reach for an outlet. And I've already queued up a bunch of DVDs and books to help get through this time. I'll also use this time to work on my book. Please watch for it early in 2010.
