REUNIONS, A BLACK AND WHITE GALA, A CLEAN SWEEP AND ONE BAD APPLE

I have had a very busy past few weeks. I have not been posting things to my blog and now I'm a little behind.

Frank's graduating class from Baylor University College of Dentistry celebrated their 50th anniversary in Dallas. It was wonderful to see all the faces that we knew back then and sad to find several of them missing. Once you reach the half-century mark, you realize how much so many things have changed in your life and the lives of others.

The meeting was at the Dental School but the social events were held at the Adolpohus Hotel in downtown Dallas. It's a lovely hotel and a wonderful place for a gathering such as this as you can see.

We spent the night in Dallas and stayed at The Mansion on Turtle Creek. We have stayed there before and it is always such a treat. It's a wonderful small hotel that's top drawer and you are treated like royalty from the time you drive up until you leave.

You are greeted at the entrance by a staff person and they know your name when you drive up. Since they didn't know what kind of car we were driving, I have NO idea how they knew who we were. Just smart people, I guess ;-)

The Mansion was once the palatial home of a Texas cotton magnate and Caroline Hunt has turned it into one of if not the finest and most prestigeous hotels in Dallas. She's head of the Rosewood Corporation. Our room was magnificent and every small detail was taken care of, even to fresh cut orchids in the room.

I'm just sorry that we couldn't stay there a month! I can get used to this luxury very quickly. I love to be pampered, don't you ?

It is with a heavy heart that I regret to say that I have severed my business relationship with Canvas by Canvas. That's all I can say at present, but at least I'm out of a very stressful situation.

I cannot tell you how much this saddens me. It has broken my heart to have to do this as most of the women in this group mean the world to me. I couldn't wait to get together with them to laugh, sometimes cry, act silly on our paint-outs and live life in general to the fullest. That now will be taken away and there will always be a void in my life because of it, but this is my choice and I am truly sorry that I cannot remain a part of this group of loving and talented women. I will continue to paint on my own and hopefully grow with this amazing talent that God has given me at this late stage of my life.

And speaking of painting AND photography, I have donated one of my photographs that I took in China to the Arlington Museum of Art for auction at their annual Gala this coming weekend. We will be attending this wonderful event with friends as we have for the past several years. The proceeds from this gathering go to support the Museum and it's such a worthwhile cause. This year it's called "Black and White", so I thought this black and white photograph would be appropriate.

The title of my photograph is "A Clean Sweep" and it just dawned on me that by resigning from Canvas by Canvas, I have made a clean sweep and will have a fresh start with my art. Is this coincidence or what? It never occurred to me at the time I entitled my photograph and gave it to the Museum for their fund raiser. The Lord works in mysterious ways!

I have submitted a piece of my work in a competition at the Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas that is entitled "One Bad Apple". The event this year is called "Beginnings", and the paintings that are entered are supposed to represent something from the first 3 chapters of Genesis. I selected to depict my interpretation of the Fall of Man with this painting.

I was required to give a description about what I was representing in my painting and this is what I wrote. "Satan came to Eve in the form of a Serpent. I have used the apple to represent Eve, though the scriptural verbiage was fruit, not an apple to illustrate that it only takes one rotten apple to ruin the entire bushel. Satan tempted Eve with the fruit, and she, in turn tempted Adam, which was going against the word of God ... hence the fall of mankind." Please keep your fingers crossed that they will accept my entry in this competition.

I want to thank each of you so much for supporting me in my journey that I am taking down this path in the art world. You are each very special to me and I thank God for your friendship.

I am still in the book and Bible study at my church and learning so much. I am thankful for the priests there and the guidance that I get from them.

I will continue to post here when I have something to say. I'm very involved with church, family and art, so I'm sure I can't stay away from these writings very long and I enjoy sharing with you and hope you enjoy reading them.

Have a wonderful rest of the week. Until then ....

XOXO, Pcasso