Exciting new discovery...

When you get to be "older", as in 44, it's not all that easy to be surprised about things, or to discover something fabulously new that you love, love, love. So I'm pretty psyched to say that I have done just that.

Bell, Book and Candle is the play I'm in that opens October 24. The set called for a "drawing of a Brazilian dancer" to hang in the apartment. George, the director, asked if I could "do something" about that. Sure. So, about 10 minutes before I left for rehearsal, I planned on just doing something loose to see if it was what he had in mind. I used black paper and wasn't sure what medium I was going to use to just sketch this thing in. I had a box of oil pastels sitting on my drawing table that I had taken to a yoga camp earlier in the summer for an art project. I grabbed them. OMG. What total fun! I did the whole drawing in about 10 minutes. It was loose, colorful and full of energy (in a dancer kind of way). I stood back and was just amazed - those of you who know me or my work know that I am a very TIGHT painter. Most of my paintings look more like technical drawings than paintings. Straight lines, angles, defined shadows, etc. This was none of that. Just a loosey-goosey thing. I was tickled, especially because a: it was new, b: it was QUICK, c: there was no mineral spirits involved, no smell, no mess on my hands except for my smudging finger.

I didn't take a pic of it. Duh.

However, I'm working on a poster for the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge and I'm doing it in oil pastels. It's going pretty well and I'm having fun with it - especially with the speed and ease. (see a, b, c above). I'll take a pic of this one when it's done and post it. Could be on to something.