BACK HOME AND BUSY....

We arrived home in Arizona just in time to get ready for our Fall Show in the Scottsdale Artists School.  Allan got two paintings accepted....

Little Yachts

Mt. Shuksan

I also got two paintings juried into the show....

Eucalyptus Morning

Blue Iris

And I also found out that two of my paintings were juried into the New Mexico Pastel Society's National Show in Albuquerque.  Luckily I did not need to ship the paintings because another of our members also got two paintings into the show and she volunteered to take them all there, if we would then pick them up at the end of the show.  So we will be going to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.  Then later on I found out that Cypress Gardens received an award. 

Lembert Dome

Cypress Gardens

These two paintings have been in several shows now....  As a matter of fact, we just picked up Lembert Dome from the Northwest Pastel Society International Show in Tacoma this summer.  
And just this week, I heard that I had a painting juried into the Best and Brightest Show in Scottsdale.  This painting has also been making the rounds.....

The Palms

Since we have returned home, I have been trying to start painting again..... it is always hard to do a proper studio painting when on the road and my plein air paintings leave a lot to be desired.  I now consider them to be nothing more than color studies, but even that is being generous.

However.... I did finish a painting that I started in the Spring.  It was from a photo that I took in Tecopa, CA while we were staying at Tecopa Hot Springs.  We always get up very early to go soak... and I took this photo as the sun was just coming up.

Tecopa Sunrise

Also I finished a painting that I had started in Yellowstone National Park....  no bison in this one, but I think I am going to try a bison painting this winter.

Yellowstone Evening

And I also finished another painting that was from a photo taken at dusk in Tecopa.  Tecopa is such a photogenic place in the morning or in the evening.  During the day... it just looks dry and washed out.  

Sunset in Tecopa

So I have been pretty busy with helping with the pastel show and also helping to set up a new web site for our pastel group.... check it out at Arizona Pastel Artists Assn.   And our show chair and I have been working on the upcoming spring show in Sedona which is going to be open to all pastel artists in Arizona.  This is a new step for our group and everyone is pretty excited about it.  Allan and I will be taking the rv up to Cottonwood next week where we will be meeting with eight members who live up in that area and have volunteered to help with the Sedona Show.  
Unfortunately for Allan, he has had quite a few home projects he has been working on ..... so not so many new paintings for him, but he is almost ready to get back to the easel.  
And some of the most exciting news of all.... we read the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories".... which is a compilation of all the research done over the last 100 years on fat.... and what causes it.  It is without a doubt a process driven by eating carbohydrates, specifically sugar and floury starches.  So in the middle of September, we both stopped eating anything that falls in those categories, i.e. no pasta, bread, potatoes, soda, rice, flour, etc.  We eat meat, dairy, vegetables (including those like carrots), fruits (but no bananas).  Allan has dropped from 185 to 174.... and I have dropped from 180 to 164.  Both of us have more energy, we feel more alert, we feel 20 years younger, well ok, maybe 5 years younger.  And we don't feel like we are missing a thing.  We eat dark chocolate, we have strawberries and cream for dessert at night, we are creating some fabulous salads and sides.  And we just had a medical checkup and all of our numbers are way down.  My cholesterol dropped from 176 to 123.  And our blood test was taken when we had only been on the diet for 3 weeks.  And in spite of eating all kinds of saturated fats from meat and butter and cream, our HDL numbers are up and the LDL numbers are down. 
So Life Is Good as the T-shirts say.....   
I will keep you all posted..... and thanks for reading about our achievements.  Have a great Thanksgiving.