Ta-da... a TMC!

Been caught up in this and that, including a weekend out-of-town trip to visit my son and his lovely wife, a visit to the state fair (lots of photo ops there), and various other things that can so easily fill up a day. So easy for me to get sidetracked. Hope you're more disciplined than I am :-)

To get back in the swing of things I did a quick *TMC (Twenty Minute Challenge) yesterday of a grapevine and berries wreath I saw at the state fair. Just can't resist those cheerful red berries entwined among the curvy woody grapevines. Felt good to get a brush in my hands and mix that yummy red paint!

On other fronts, I'm making menu plans for Thanksgiving (see, I'm not always a procrastinator). This year, to avoid the exhausting 2-days-in-kitchen-cooking-and-baking-all-day-thing I'm going to make the pecan pies (4 of them) and the sweet potato pies (4 of those too) ahead of time and freeze them. Both kinds of pies freeze very well so that will take a little of the load off. We have family staying with us for several days over the holidays so it takes quite a bit of cooking. I enjoy taking requests for their favorite foods and making sure they're on the menu. Sweet potato pies, pecan pies, blueberry pies, chicken salad, pimento cheese spread along with ham, turkey and veggies are pretty much staples... we'll see what else they come up with this year.

All this food talk is making me hungry so I'm off to fix some lunch ;-)

Two More TMC's

Two more TMC's that I've uploaded to the Twenty Minute Challenge blog.

You know, I like these 20 minute challenges. No hassle, no stress... except for the last minute or two when I'm not finished and the clock continues mercilessly ticking away :-)

There's such a freedom in doing these. I keep in mind that it's the process that matters here, not the end product. This allows me to have fun and learn without feeling like the result has to be on a certain level. With TMC's success is the doing, not the end result.

TMC: Pecan in Hull

After a busy weekend (is there any other kind?), and an equally busy Monday spent running errands, it was really nice to settle down at my art table today, turn on the CD player, and with the sound of ocean waves rolling onto the shore in the background, dip my brush into paint. Something about art that deeply satisfies the soul.

For the first time, this year the pecan tree in our yard has produced a pretty good crop. Only the pecans are not edible. Not sure what the problem is, but they're pale, instead of light golden brown, with a moist, almost spongy texture inside that's yucky. Plus, they have no flavor. Since we can't eat them, I might as well paint them!

This is my latest TMC (Twenty Minute Challenge) and I can tell these little paintings are making a difference. Having only 20 minutes in which to draw and paint, I'm starting to look at a subject and pick out its defining characteristics... distilling the subject down to its essence. I can see this being a lot of help in future paintings. Here's a link for the TMC if you'd like to take a look at it.

A big "Thank You" to Teri Casper of Painted Daisies blog for the time and effort she puts into moderating the TMC!