New Easel

I requested and received a new tabletop easel for Christmas.  It is a small, easy- to- handle wooden easel by Trio.

You can change the height and angle with a simple twist of a knob.

I will probably use this for painting, as well as for displaying unframed art in my studio.  Here is a reworked version of a hollyhocks painting that I have done about four times.  I redid the background on this one.

Here is what it used to look like.  Much better, yes?

I have been painting some background pages for journals, trying different combinations of gel medium, stamping, watercolor, collage, and acrylics.  Might be something worth following up on here.

gel medium mixed with black acrylic paint and applied with stamps and stencils; collaged papers

gel medium stamps with acrylic paint

gel medium drizzled on page with watercolor dripped on

It was so nice and warm outside yesterday that I sat out in the yard after walking Kasey.   She loves getting "Furminated" which removes excess  undercoats of fur.  Puts her right in a zen kind of mode.  "Do me again!"

Last night we went to DPAC in Durham to see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as part of the Broadway South series.  It starred Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox.

What a powerful production!  Great voices and very dramatic scenes.  We don't watch American Idol much, and were not familiar with former finalist Maroulis.  We were very impressed!  Definitely recommend this show.