Well, Lola has been as crazy as ever lately. Yesterday my husband and I decided to go for a drive in the mountains. We wanted to take Lola but we didn’t want her to leap out to her doom again so we chained her in to the back of the truck. Mark made the chain just long enough that she could look over the side but not jump out. We drove up into the mountains and then saw a really beautiful spot to stop and take some pictures so we got out and started walking away from the truck. I looked back (thank goodness) just in time to see Lola leap out of the truck and dangle by her neck from the side of the truck! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I about had a heart attack! I ran to her and lifter her and as fast as I could unfastened the chain that was attached to her collar. She bounded off merrily towards Mark tail wagging away as if nothing had happened at all. That dog is insane.

She was awesome today though. I took her for a run after dark and as I was jogging along a dog came charging at me from the side snarling and acting like it was going to attack me. Lola, who had been ahead of me suddenly turned and bolted at the dog, snarling and barking right back. I couldn’t tell if she actually bit it or what but it ran away yelping and whining. YES! GO LOLA! She is such a good friend. I love her. Even though I did trip over her and scrape my knee when she ran at the dog. She’s my girl. Yah!

The creation of an art piece is a unique experience. It’s very personal. When I’m submerged in a drawing the only things that exist to me are the pencils, the paper, the subject matter, and my thoughts.

My thoughts tend to flow pretty freely while I’m drawing so later when I look at a finished piece, even if it’s been years since I completed it I remember what I was thinking about and how I felt when I was drawing it. I even sometimes remember exact phrases of thought that came to me when working on a particular part of a painting.

While I was drawing my sister in alone again memories of times that we’ve spent together, good and bad kept coming into my mind. She’s one of my best friends and has always been there for me no matter what and now when I look at the painting all of that comes back to me. So to say that I put myself into my work is to speak quite literally.

It’s an interesting thing to give something that is so personal to the world. It’s strange to lay it before their eyes and let them judge it as they do. Whether they like the piece or not, either way it feels strange. An artist has to learn to let go of a picture that is finished and embrace the one that is before them. It’s actually kind of nice, rythmic in a way.