Splendor in the Grasslands

Splendor in The Grasslands

16 x 16"

oil on cradled panel
© Nicki Ault, 2012

I am happy to say that I survived the quick turn around! I returned home on Saturday from my week-long class at the Kenderdine Campus at Emma Lake, regrouped and planned the layout (as best I could in my living room) for the show at Calories which I had to hang bright and early on Sunday morning. I was up until midnight making lists, I.D. cards and figuring out my prices (it was time for an increase). When I finally went to bed sleep came very quickly! My Dad helped me hang the show and I'm so glad he did; it went so much more smoothly than if I had tried to do it myself. I think it looks quite good, the palette and themes of the paintings suit the atmosphere of the restaurant (in my opinion). The painting I am showing you today is one of my favorites in the show.

I feel like I have so much to write about, but I will have to pace it out over the next few days so as not to bore you!

In this post I want to acknowledge that the other day (August 19) marked my 3rd blog anniversary. In 2008, after I stumbled upon Abbey Ryan's art blog through her ETSY store, I had spent a lot of time discovering an entire art blog world I didn't know existed until then. I was intrigued, excited, intimidated, encouraged and down-right envious of all of these "real" artists. On the evening of my birthday in 2009 I sat at the computer with the kids in bed and my husband reading his papers in his chair nearby, and began going one step at a time through Blogger to set up a blog. I kept thinking I would run into something I didn't understand or know how to do, but I didn't. Before I knew it I had given myself a blog for my birthday and I shared this fact with no one for several days after it was set up. Little did I know how this one seemingly small decision would be the beginning of my art becoming a more and more integral part of my life. 

Many young people know what they want to be when they"grow up". I never really ever had a burning desire and ambition for anything specific; and I was really good at school- I could have done almost anything. I thought about it and went back and forth between many options: Teacher, Social Worker, Counselor, Doctor, Psychologist. I could never nail it down because deep in my heart all I really ever wanted to be was an artist and a mother. Who knew so many years later, decades even, that a blog would be a vehicle to help me find my way to one of those dreams?