Open Studio Reception -- a Great Party

Our daughter-in-law outdid herself catering our Open Studio Reception last week. All the food was absolutely delicious, and the table looked festive and appealing. The irresistible desserts looked lovely on a buffet on the side, and our guests certainly did them justice. A fine calligrapher, Ashley made little signs for each dish so that there was no mystery about the food. UPDATE: I have added an index to all blog posts about planning and holding an art reception. Access it here. 

I would have liked more photos of the whole scene and the guests interacting, but hosting and mingling (and attaching those wonderful "sold" stickers to some paintings) were much more important. We were fortunate with the weather; although it was cloudy, the afternoon steadily brightened and became milder, but not hot. You see a few of the guests enjoying the gentle breeze in the backyard.

For the artists among my readers--and anyone else interested--I will soon post more information about the reception details. Important features of the day like the guest book, door prizes, sales tax, receipts, and studio policies all needed to be considered, planned, and set up in advance. You may find ideas for your own parties and for art marketing.

Question of the day: Isn't it fantastic that we can share events and information through blogs?

Savoring--Summer Flowers, Indoors and Out

For us, appreciating nature's beauty is an essential element of creative everyday life. We also love the trees and plants in our own yard and the birds and animals that come around. My husband particularly likes gardening and growing flowering plants--luckily for me. I like bringing flowers indoors, but didn't have the right kinds of plants in the yard for it. So this spring, we chose a spot to plant a cutting garden.

Because we are committed to planting North Florida natives as much as possible, and because this is a unique ecosystem--not tropical, and yet not friendly to many of the flowers we knew from other parts of the country--it has been a learning experience. We presently have mostly yellow and purple flowers, with some reds (the colors I wanted for bringing into our home).

So, here is a quick look at our cutting garden in its very first season and at a modest bouquet I gathered to celebrate our return from a couple of weeks away. I am glad to be back to blogging and apologize for the gap in postings. Even though I had two posts written in advance to post automatically while we visited relatives, more time has passed than I intended. I also hope to get back to a more regular schedule of visiting all your blogs soon. It seems to be a slow season for blogging in general with fewer visitors coming around than in the spring. Hope you are all enjoying a fine summer (at least those of you in the Northern Hemisphere; I need to remember that some of you are looking toward spring's approach :>).

Question of the day: How is your summer going? For those of you who blog, has this been a busy or a quiet season in blogland?

Exploring--A New Perspective on Our City, Jacksonville, FL

These views of Jacksonville, FL, are taken from a boat on our mighty St. Johns River. I think our city looks amazing from many angles, and particularly enjoyed seeing it from the deck of a power yacht this past week. One of our friends, William Gardner, had made the winning bid at a charity auction for a dinner cruise for 25 people aboard the yacht belonging to one of our local business owners. The experience felt quite "upper crusty", well out of our usual league, with a bartender, and a caterer who produced astonishingly elegant food in the small, but well-equipped galley . However, we were among wonderful people--some of them friends and some of them fascinating new acquaintances to enjoy conversing with. The whole experience seemed quite magical and refreshed me for the rest of the week.

In a way, seeing the city from a fresh perspective feels like a metaphor (loosely speaking) for what I need as a blog writer. I am feeling the need for a new point of view lately and am trying to take a mental "cruise on the river" to see if I can find a fresh approach to the blog. It's not a matter of being unhappy with the kinds of posts I have been writing, just a matter of needing a boost to keep my own interest in it alive. On Wednesday, the blog was one year old, and the anniversary is making me reflective, it seems. Lately, I have posted less often--sometimes because of other commitments, but sometimes simply because I had trouble deciding on a post topic or getting motivated to write. I try for general interest entries on the overall theme of creative living, but find myself rejecting ideas that seem too ordinary. Yet, there have been times when an entry that seemed a bit dull to me struck a chord with some of you. Your creative comments and insights revealed deeper levels of meaning that had not occurred to me.

So, maybe the new direction I need is to be less perfectionistic and more conversational with posts. I know I need to post more frequently to keep readers interested. No promises though--I've aimed to start a better post schedule several times in the last few months and then failed to come through for you. However, my original goal of posting at least every five days or so is a good one and should be achievable. That would make for at least six posts per month--I would like to get back to that. Do any of the rest of you who blog have trouble staying with it at times?

Question of the day: Do you have suggestions for me regarding blog topics you have liked or ways to stay on a blogging schedule?

Growing--Art Studio Reception Preparations Continue

We are very excited as we prepare for our Open Studio Reception this coming Sunday afternoon. If you can make it, we would be thrilled to see you. This painting will be one of those on exhibit. The specifics once more:

North Florida Landscape Paintings

by Mary Lemmenes

Sunday, November 8

2:00 - 5:00 PM

7364 Secret Woods Drive

Jacksonville, FL 32216

Fresh organically grown produce from Down To Earth Farm

Live Piano by Greg Spiess

Food & Drink--Casual Dress

For information:

lemmeneslandscape@bellsouth.net or

904-945-0458 UPDATE: I have now added an index of all blog posts about planning and holding an art reception. Access it here.

Although a number of tasks are complete, there are still plenty of details to attend to in the next few days. Mounting a show in our home poses interesting challenges. Besides labeling and displaying the paintings, setting up the business end of things, preparing everything from guest book to drinks and food (the latter will be relatively simple for this event), the most challenging aspect of preparation is that after sending out a number of invitations, we have no idea how many people to expect. I think it will be somewhere between 10 and 150. An interesting adventure, no?

The painting pictured above on my studio easel, Look to the Hills, II, recalls a deeply renewing visit to Warwick Conference Center near Warwick, NY a few Octobers ago. Our long-time friends, Ken and Arlene Tenckinck, manage the center and direct all its programs. As I type this, I find myself smiling and breathing deeply with pleasure--they are remarkable people, Our too-infrequent times together are always rich, meaningful, and full of laughter.

I am hoping that family and friends will take some pictures of Sunday's event so that I'll be able to share them with you next week. In the fun and stress of the countdown, I am encouraged and buoyed up by the support of all of you, dear readers and fellow bloggers. Thank you, thank you.

Question of the day: What recent avenue for sharing your creative projects or thoughts has been especially meaningful for you?

Learning--Blogging and Landscape Painting

Thank you for your positive response to the last post. Today, I am posting a related article, also a repeat of a post from this past May. I hope you enjoy it and promise something brand new next time.

Did you learn something new today? Whether simple facts or complex new abilities, new learnings enrich life, keep us mentally and emotionally young, and just plain add fun to our creative everyday lives. I am a compulsive learner on many levels and love to gain new insights and skills. Some of my most rewarding learnings have followed attempts to understand or do something I assumed I would not do well. Taking that risk is stimulating, sometimes humbling, and always enlivening (at least in the long run), no matter what the result is.

This blog is one example of a personal learning adventure. As a minimally computer-literate person, I faced a steep learning curve in order to begin posting. Those of you who are computer-adept would have found my approach hilarious, involving everything from perusing library books to asking friends to viewing on-line video how-tos. Numerous notes and lists later, I took the heart-pounding dive off the . . . well, so far, what I have done is probably analogous to slicing into the pool from the edge; this is hardly the high dive of blogging. However, it represents an achievement for me, both in learning the basics of blogging and in publishing the thoughts and adventures of an introverted self for y'all readers.

I wonder: If blogging had been simple for me, would it have been as rewarding as it is now? In time, I hope to advance to more variety in format and to including appropriate links for interested readers, and more! (Note: I have learned to insert clickable links since I wrote this--progress!) It's a shame you can't all watch over my shoulder to chuckle (in the nicest possible way, of course) at my ongoing efforts in techno-communication. Truthfully, the process is not always fun for me, but my small triumphs are satisfying--and, hopefully, are also beneficial flexing for my maturing brain.

Oh, about the photo above, you ask? A few years ago, I took a wonderful painting course. Awkwardly wielding an artist's brush for the first time since elementary school, I discovered a whole new source of creative expression and satisfaction. With zero expectation that I would produce anything even worth keeping, I was astonished to like some of the paintings I made in the class. Now, that's a sign of a world-class teacher! I'll describe that learning adventure in future posts. In the meantime, you can view an effort from about a year ago--my response to exploring Big Talbot Island (see a recent post about that unique beach below).

Question of the day: What new learning adventure intrigues you? What fears keep you on the side of that pool? Why not give it a try?

Learning--Blogging and Landscape Painting

Did you learn something new today? Whether simple facts or complex new abilities, new learnings enrich life, keep us mentally and emotionally young, and just plain add fun to our creative everyday lives. I am a compulsive learner on many levels and love to gain new insights and skills. Some of my most rewarding learnings have followed attempts to understand or do something I assumed I would not do well. Taking that risk is stimulating, sometimes humbling, and always enlivening (at least in the long run), no matter what the result is.

This blog is one example of a personal learning adventure. As a minimally computer-literate person, I faced a steep learning curve in order to begin posting. Those of you who are computer-adept would have found my approach hilarious, involving everything from perusing library books to asking friends to viewing on-line video how-tos. Numerous notes and lists later, I took the heart-pounding dive off the .  .  .  well, so far, what I have done is probably analogous to slicing into the pool from the edge; this is hardly the high dive of blogging. However, it represents an achievement for me, both in learning the basics of blogging and in publishing the thoughts and adventures of an introverted self for y'all readers. 

I wonder: If blogging had been simple for me, would it have been as rewarding as it is now? In time, I hope to advance to more variety in format and to including appropriate links for interested readers, and more! It's a shame you can't all watch over my shoulder to chuckle (in the nicest possible way, of course) at my ongoing efforts in techno-communication. Truthfully, the process is not always fun for me, but my small triumphs are satisfying--and, hopefully, are also beneficial flexing for my maturing brain. 

Oh, about the photo above, you ask? A few years ago, I took a wonderful painting course. Awkwardly wielding an artist's brush for the first time since elementary school, I discovered a whole new source of creative expression and satisfaction. With zero expectation that I would produce anything even worth keeping, I was astonished to like some of the paintings I made in the class. Now, that's a sign of a world-class teacher! I'll describe that learning adventure in future posts. In the meantime, you can view an effort from about a year ago--my response to exploring Big Talbot Island (see a recent post about that unique beach below).

Question of the day: What new learning adventure intrigues you? What fears keep you on the side of that pool? Why not  give it a try?