I took my 10-year-old beloved cat, Quani, to the vet on Friday because she was drooling brown and had funky breath–I figured she had a dental problem.

It turns out she has a huge growth on her tongue extending way into her throat, and either it’s a bacterial or viral infection, or it’s cancer.  We are force-feeding her antibiotics every 12 hours till her appointment next week (force-feeding medicine to a cat: not fun) in the hopes that it is just an infection and will clear up.  If it’s cancer, it can’t be surgically removed because it’s on her tongue, so there’s not much we can do.  I feel helpless.  It can be so hard when the animals you love are sick.

On top of that stress, the water heater in my basement has been having intermittent flooding issues for the past couple of months, and this weekend it finally decided to blow up completely.  It still heats water; it just also happens to pour a river into my basement whilst doing so.  Life had to stop momentarily while my husband and I shopped for a new water heater and arranged to have it installed.  Ouch!  At least we should be able to take hot showers again by tomorrow.

My good news for this week is that I visited Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, D.C. to see the lotus flowers in full bloom.  I took a lot of beautiful pictures.

I decided my future Lotus paintings, in addition to frogs, dragonflies and other bugs, need to include turtles, bees, and possibly butterflies.

Can you see the camouflaged frog?

I hope to still meet my painting goals for this week by putting in extra studio time later in the week–so, stay tuned!

Here’s the progress on this painting so far.  Right now I’m just getting the color onto the canvas (which takes a long time with a big canvas) and figuring out the basics of the design.  Once the canvas is filled with the first layer of paint, I’ll come back in with smaller brushes and add more details throughout.

Right now, I’m laying the paint on thick and sloppy.  I’m going to clean it up a lot and add some intricacies later, but I want some of that loose feeling to come through in the final painting.  Starting sloppy and fast and then finishing up with more care and attention to detail is one way I attempt to balance freedom with precision.

Here’s a close-up detail of the work in progress:

I like how some of my tree paintings evoke a certain mood.  For me, it’s the smell of the woods and the feeling of clean air in my lungs that always comes to me–not always while I’m painting, because then I’m mostly focused on mixing colors and thinking about the composition–but every time I stand back to look at it, I have a feeling of being there in the painting.

I probably won’t finish this painting until next week.  My sister is visiting from out of town, and one of my brothers is going to be joining us this weekend.  This Friday I’m going contra dancing with friends for the first time in months!

My setup is not fancy, but it works.

I’m using Winsor & Newton Artisan water-miscible oils.  I love them.

Here’s a quick sneak peek at my work in progress–one of my “Looking Up” tree paintings.  The bare bones of the design has been laid out and I’m starting to work some color in.  I’m taking a very loose approach to this painting–now that I’ve got a rudimentary plan, I’m going to just follow it where it takes me.

It’s a good painting to work on out in the yard, surrounded by living green things and the contrast of sun and shade.

My sweet canine companions are keeping me company.

(Not too much longer now till Blake gets to take off the lampshade!  He is happy and doing well.)

Lots of things are popping up in the garden.

My strawberries have bloomed.

Happy May!

I was honored to be present at the press conference where they announced all the details.  That’s me on the far right.

As a Baltimore artist, I’m eligible to win the significant Mary Sawyers Baker Prize or maybe bragging rights as Baltimore’s Choice.  There are nearly 600 artists competing, and I’m impressed with the range and quality of talent present.  Voting is open to the general public, and I sure would appreciate you taking a moment to vote for me!

It’s a fun and interactive site.  The more you dig around the website, checking out the dazzling array of artwork there, the more votes you get to spend.  You can support me by going there and giving me your votes!  (Registration is fast and easy, and the site is extraordinarily easy to navigate.)

There are only 5 days of voting left!

To vote for me, go here: http://www.bakerartistawards.org/ and click “sign up now” at the top to register.  Once you are registered, go here: http://www.bakerartistawards.org/nomination/view/cedar_lee/ to view my profile.  To vote, click “Vote for Cedar Lee” on the right side of the page.

Thank you in advance if you’re just joining in, and if you’ve already given me your votes, thanks for supporting me!

In other news, I’ve been dog-sitting a boxer named Honey for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been kind of insane around our house, what with 3 big dogs (Clara, Blake, and Honey) wildly romping underfoot, playing enthusiastic games of tug-of-war and tracking mud in from outside.

But it’s also been fun–all the dogs are having a great time, getting plenty of exercise running around indoors, which is nice because I hate having to go outside in this freezing weather.  Honey is a super-good dog and we like having her around.  And since we installed a new baby gate, we can now corral the beasts into the kitchen when we need to, which makes thing a lot easier.  Isn’t she sweet?

It now looks like it’s turning into a foster situation rather than just dog-sitting.  I’m not sure how long we’ll be caring for Honey, but it’s clear that staying with us for awhile is the best thing for her at the moment.  She had been cooped up alone in a tiny apartment where her person was never home.  I’m free to send her back there anytime, but I really want to see her placed into a good home environment when she leaves us.  I have never been a foster parent, for a human, canine, or any other kind of child, but now I think I understand why people do it.

On the Art By Cedar front, I’m getting ready to start several new paintings.  The blank canvases await!

And I’m going to be re-designing parts of my website to more clearly represent the overall direction I’m taking with the different series of paintings I’ve been developing these past few years.  I’m so excited about it!  I just need to work out the logistics of code & design–I’ll let you know when I’ve made the updates.

Okay–the next question from my Art FAQ list is “How do I get this home?”

Finally, a question with a simple answer!

If you are local to me (within an hour’s drive) I have no problem either arranging a convenient pick-up time for you or delivering and installing the work in your home for free. This is a nice thing I like to do, especially for people who don’t have a vehicle large enough to transport the work themselves.

If you are not local, I will ship you the artwork. Depending on the size of the artwork, shipping may cost anywhere from about $10 (for a small piece) to $100 and up if you are buying very large pieces. If a person buys multiple pieces, I often provide a discount on shipping or sometimes even free shipping.

For large pieces, I always build custom shipping crates. I pad all the edges of the painting with a type of foam tubing normally used for insulating copper pipes.

Then I build a crate that fits very snugly around the edges of the painting so it cannot shift at all. I use pine 1x2s or 1x3s for the 4 edges and Masonite hardboard for the front and back. I assemble it all with wood screws.

When the painting reaches its owner, he or she simply removes a few screws to open the crate.

I started using this method for shipping artwork a few years ago when I read a helpful tutorial by a fellow artist in one of my online art communities.

Click to read his tutorial:

For small pieces, I still usually pad the edges of the work with foam, but I will build a box out of sheets of cardboard instead of a wooden crate.

Never has one of my paintings failed to reach its destination safely.

When buying from any responsible art gallery, getting the artwork home should likewise be an easy process—it is standard for galleries to arrange for shipping or delivery of large artwork for a reasonable fee.

But once you get it home, how do you hang it? Next time I’ll explain in detail my simple formula for hanging any piece of wall art at eye level!

In personal news…

I recently went to New York City for 4 days to visit my brother.  It was awesome!  We saw a great improv comedy show, ate falafel and pizza, and went shopping for books and candy.

This is me with the brother in question, circa last year:

During my trip, I lost my glasses somewhere in the buzzing hive of the city.  There’s no telling what happened–did they slide out of my purse onto the floor of a shop or restaurant when I pulled out my wallet?  Were they crushed under hundreds of feet in the crowded subway?  I only need glasses for driving and watching movies, but they were my only pair.

I have since been to the eye doctor and ordered new glasses, which I will get this week.  The new frames I picked out are snazzy and stylish, and I’m pretty excited about them.  This time I am also getting a cheap backup pair.

While I was in New York, I also managed to pick up a nasty cold virus, which flattened me for several days last week and still has a grip on me, although I’m out of bed and working now.  Sadly, I missed Thanksgiving day with my husband’s family because I was sick.

My puppy, now going on 5 months old, has suddenly become more destructive than ever before.  My vet predicted that he was about to enter a bad “chewing phase.”  Apparently this is typical, although I don’t remember it being this bad with my first dog.

Oh man.  He has begun chewing on the corners of all the books on the bottom 2 shelves of my bookshelf.  He destroyed his own bed, pulling out all the stuffing.  He is methodically pulling up strands of fiber out of the rugs and chewing them.  He steals clothing from the hamper and chews on it–heaven forbid we forgetfully drape a shirt over the back of a chair!  He has now started stealing brushes and tools from my studio.  He found and destroyed all my wooden coasters.  He even ate my chapstick.

The only thing keeping me patient is the knowledge that he is just a teething baby, and it’s temporary, and he will respond to our training if we are consistent.

Ahh!  Stress!!  C’est la vie.  Christmas is coming up and I am feeling the crunch of deadlines.  I’m just going to be as productive as I possibly can this month, and that will have to be good enough.  I’m working on a couple commissions as well as additions to some of my ongoing series.

Here are a couple pictures of my studio today:

Canvases awaiting paint.

Messy desk.

I seem to have a lot going on at once right now.  I’ll have new paintings to show you soon!

This is Cosmic Dance II.

As you can see, the sun, the moon and the swirls of color are all in the same positions in the sky, but the color scheme is quite different–in place of reds and oranges are soft purples and peach tones.  Overall, I think the resulting effect is quite feminine.

The bands of color in the sky were painted with detail and precision.  I think it’s interesting to paint light–one of the most intangible substances I can think of, in such a solid way.

As I painted these wispy ribbons of light reaching their way across the sky, some of them told me where they wanted to go.  Some of them began to twist, curl, and reach in delightfully unexpected ways.

In the inky blue-black parts of the sky untouched by the dance of the sun and the moon, you can see a thick sprinkling of stars.  (Which I literally splattered onto the canvas!)

This painting includes the constellation Pisces, which I intended to stand out prominently from the rest of the stars.  I like how the wisps of color to its right resemble two delicate little hands, showcasing the constellation Vanna White-style, or perhaps cradling it in a motherly manner.

Unlike the rest of the paintings I’ve made recently, this one is a seascape.  The colors of the sky are reflected off the gentle waves of the ocean.

The closer you get to the painting, the more you can see how the individual brush strokes come together to create the larger image.  I wish I could convey how much better a painting is in person than in photographs.

This is how it looks on a wall:

I’ve made a video of the painting process for this one, at the request of the collector who commissioned it.  If you’re interested in these videos, then this is for you–but it’s not for everyone.  I think it’s cool to watch it all come together in super-fast motion, when in reality it took many hours of work–but then, I’m a painter.  So, please watch according to your level of interest:

The YouTube link, should you wish to pass it on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmnhtppPvoU

(If you like my videos, do a search for “speed painting” on YouTube.  As well as videos like mine posted by other painters, you can find a lot of cool videos of digital painting, in which the artist uses Photoshop to “paint” an image.)

Change is on the horizon.  With election day less than a month away and the economy looking dire, there seems to be a lot of freaked-out energy floating around.  I’ve turned introspective.  Re-assessing my life, making plans, and counting my blessings seems more productive than getting caught up in all the negativity that’s out there right now.  Of course I’m not immune to it–but I figure consciously resisting it is better than nothing.

My new puppy Blake, at 12 weeks old, now eats more than my full-grown dog, and appears to be growing exponentially.  Life is good.

Irvine Nature Center is the only private, non-profit nature center in the region, and has a reputation for providing impactful, high-quality environmental education programs for Baltimore-area schools and the public.  The Center has a museum, a nature store, and a walking trail.

From Irvine’s website: “It is only because of the generosity of many forward thinking and environmentally minded people that we are able to offer our programs at low to no cost to participating schools in the Baltimore region.”

If you would like to support this organization as well as me and my work, 20% of the proceeds of any artwork you purchase from the show this month will go towards Irvine Nature Center and all the good things they are doing.

I am the first artist to display my work in their brand new facility in Owings Mills, MD.  The official opening of the new facility is this weekend, and all are invited to attend.  If you live in the area, go check it out!

WEEKEND FESTIVAL
Saturday, September 13
10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, September 14
noon – 4 pm
On Saturday and Sunday, bring the whole family for two days of free festivities and fun. Experience our new interactive exhibit hall; catch a puppet show; try your hand at traditional Native American games; meet our resident animals; take a guided nature walk; or head over to the main stage to sing and dance with award-winning musical acts. And don’t forget the food! Local and organic treats will abound, prepared by vendors who respect Irvine’s zero-waste goals. With so much more to explore, why would you ever want to leave?
Free and open to the public!

Irvine Nature Center is located at: 11201 Garrison Forest Road, Owings Mills, MD  21117

Other news:

My dog Clara is doing much better!  Thank you so much for all of your caring and compassionate letters when she was so sick.  Click here to read an update on her health.

I am happy to report that Clara has also gotten a new baby brother.  He is 8 weeks old, half lab and half springer spaniel.  His name is Blake Fanghoff and his antics are hilarious.

This past week has been spent chasing this little guy around, making sure he doesn’t eat houseplants or tubes of paint, and working on potty-training, which involves taking him outside at all hours of the day and night until he’s big enough to hold it for longer.  It is an exercise in patience and devotion.  The repetitious, often frustrating task of raising a puppy is so rewarding in the long run.  Every day I am a little bit more enamored of him (which is saying a lot, since for me, it was love at first sight the day we adopted him.)

My life is so good lately.

Many of my paintings have sold this summer–both to new and repeat collectors.  I am so grateful for this steady income that has been allowing me to pay the bills and to continue making my art.  My work is selling in galleries.  People are finding my website.  People are asking about commissions.  Sometimes I can’t believe that I am really making this happen–my “art career.”  But I’m doing it!

All this and I’ve hardly been in the studio since mid-July.  There have been many adventures.

I attended Sugar Hill 2008, my first contra dance weekend, with one of my oldest friends and also lots of new friends, all of whom are thoroughly charming.  The whole thing was marvelous beyond all expectations.  It included canoeing and swimming all day, delicious food, and dancing all night–literally all night.  I danced till 4:30 am.

I went to Cincinnati and visited several art galleries.  There’s one that I really like there, and my art would totally fit in, but I can’t even think about taking on another gallery until I make enough new art to keep up with the galleries that already represent me.  But it’s a good possibility to keep in mind for the future.

Then, I went white water rafting in the New River Gorge, which I did last year and just had to do again.  This time we opted for the “High Adventure” option, and I fell out of the raft several times, which was very exciting.  We even capsized completely, twice.  (Only once on purpose.)

I’ve ordered my copy of my 2009 Calendar, and I can’t wait to see it.  A friend of mine wants to sell them in the pet supply store where he works!

And, I have several new paintings done that you’ll see as soon as they’re photographed.  And, I’m working on building several large canvases–the plans for several spectacular large paintings are currently percolating in my mind.

What an honor!  I have been selected by a fellow artist, Dean H., for this award!  This is very much like Tag. It helps us to become familiar with previously undiscovered blogs.

The rules are that if the person receiving the award decides to participate, he or she must:
1 – Put the logo on their blog
2 – Add a link to the person who gave them the award
3 – Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4 – Add links to those blogs on yours
5 – Leave a message on each of the blogs nominated.

My nominees are:

1. Morgan aka The Paint Eater

2. Karen Yee

3. Heather Brown Truman of Bad! Kitty Art Studio

4. Corrine aka Jafabrit

5. Melissa Fallon

6. Varvara Harmon

7. Lauren Mitchell (a food blog, not an art blog, but I had to include this one!)

Thank you, Deano, for the honor!  It is always so nice to connect in this way with other artists–to be recognized by others and also show my support for others.

No new work to show you just yet.  But I’m working on a painting I’m really excited about, and have lots of plans for new artwork.  My constant traveling this summer is really making a dent in my productivity.  I promise I’ll make up for it in September.

Speaking of which, I have a show coming up next month at Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, MD.  Details are forthcoming.

My garden, as always, continues to amaze me.

The only other big thing that’s going on with me right now is that my sweet 3-year-old black lab, Clara, is very very sick, and I’m having a hard time with it.  Click here to read more.

I’m thinking about maybe becoming a “daily painter.” There is a whole community of daily painters online–artists who complete a small painting each day and post a picture of it online for sale the same day. I don’t know if I could do this–I guess the idea isn’t so scary if I’m working on a small scale, so I might try it and see how it goes. It would be cool to have something new to show everyone every day. Right now it’s just an idea that I’m entertaining.

If I become a daily painter, I’ll have to make sure I still have time to simultaneously work on my larger paintings. Do you remember the 2 landscapes I did last month, on multiple panels? I’m continuing on that idea of multiple panels. I have lots of ideas but I need to work on actualizing the things floating around in my mind. I’m feeling generally challenged and frustrated, like I’m in a total rut. I’ve done this long enough to realize that my “rut” is probably a sign of artistic growth, and I need to push through to the other side, where my art will eventually be richer in meaning and more polished in execution.

We’re in the process of moving all our clothes, furniture, etc. out of the bedroom so we can paint the walls a steely blue, install new baseboards, outlets and switches. We’re considering knocking all the shelves out of our closets and replacing them with large wardrobes. I’m going to paint over the ceiling mural above our bed:

and maybe replace it with a cooler ceiling mural–I’m not sure yet.

We bought our house when I was 20–I was recently looking at pictures from the time when we had just moved in. It’s amazing how drastically our home has improved over the past 6 years. I’m glad we’re the type of people that take a hundred photographs of every mundane detail of our lives. It makes it really obvious how much progress happens through the simple passage of time. Sometimes I need that reminder that if I just keep working, good things will definitely happen.

For example, here is what my “studio” looked like in 2001. (I’m not kidding.)

And here is my studio today!

I’ve started my belly dancing classes and I’m kind of excited about it. I bought 2 jingly coin-belt hip scarves on eBay, one black and one crimson. They’re not here yet. I can’t say I’m anything close to graceful at this point, because we’ve only had one class and we’re just learning how to isolate certain muscle groups and control the movements of our ankles, knees, and hips. But even if I never get good at it, it’s still fun.

I’m making a list of galleries I want to check out as possibilities for new places to sell my work in the coming year.

We decided to take our dog to a holistic vet. He told us a lot of things that I already knew intuitively, but needed to hear from someone knowledgeable. Now I feel much more confident about taking good care of my dog. He advised us to change her diet, so now instead of dog food, she eats mostly free-range chicken, beans, rice and veggies. She eats better than a lot of people I know! We’ve only been doing this for a little more than a week. The vet says it will help her maintain a healthy weight, give her more energy and a shiny coat, improve her overall health and extend her life by years. She sure is happy at dinnertime these days.

Buddy 16″ x 12″ Acrylic on Canvas

It’s a sad fact of life that dogs don’t live as long as people…they are such good friends to us and it is so hard to lose them when they die. But for the time that we have them with us, they make things better in so many ways.

On a recent trip to WNC (Western North Carolina) to drop off new artwork at my gallery in Waynesville, my husband and I took my little brother and sister and some of their friends camping for a night. My husband took this photo of my youngest brother (16 years my junior) with our dog, Clara.

How could I not be a dog person?

I want to share one more picture with you. I worked for a jewelry company for many years before I went full-time with my painting, and I still design a lot of my own jewelry. Here is a necklace I designed for my friend Leann, to wear on her wedding day. It’s made of freshwater pearls, garnet, black onyx, swarovski crystal, and sterling silver. (Her dress is going to be white with black and red accents.)

September 20th will be the 10-year anniversary of the day I met my husband, Kevan!
And the 23rd is the autumnal equinox!

It is really starting to feel like autumn now, where I live. The air has been cool and clear, the sun and the blue sky have taken on that crisp, intensely bright quality, and more and more trees are starting to change color. There’s been a cool breeze, and I’ve been listening to my wind chimes. Change is literally in the air.

In anticipation of colder weather, I did a little research and discovered a new & superior way of making hot chocolate. You won’t see me using any of those silly cocoa mixes this winter. I’ll be getting bricks of high-quality dark chocolate, grating them, and melting them in a pot of milk (or soymilk) with cinnamon and a dash of cayenne for that Aztec punch.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately…I’ve been seriously neglecting my blog. The combination of a business trip, automotive woes, home improvement projects, re-evaluation of finances, and hosting of a party on top of all my usual work & home responsibilites has put “updating my website” on the back-burner these past weeks. But it’s temporary. (I think.)