Wowza. It will take me a bit to catch up. This is mostly from you all. Our beautiful community. I rarely post personal things in social but you guys have gotten in my heart. I wanted to share with you the adventures that I was on every day while my family was here. Fishing, floating and fun. Did I mention ticks? Oh ya. Lots of those too. But yall….. 248 notifications is gonna take me a bit. Lmao

One of the folks I follow on social media posted this pic from his vacation to Norway. Photo courtesy of Cynical Publius on X. He described it thus: This shot is in one of the fjords in the Lofoten region of Norway. Fujifilm GFX100RF (I splurged and bought this medium format camera just for this trip, I'll have some thoughts on that camera soon too), 35mm fixed lens, handheld, ISO 80, f/5.6, 1/450th. Obviously, he knows his way around a camera. Posting it for your viewing pleasure and also to check my learning. I'm thinking this is a spectacular example of good composition, yes?

Just came out of the eye doctor. Waiting for my eyes to undilate a little bit. For the first time in I cannot remember how long, I did not have to get new lenses! I have retinas that are kind of spectacular. A new eye doctor always is amazed that I can be corrected to 20/20. And they often call other people in the office to come look at the pictures. Yeah. It's like that. I find it amusing. Thankfully they have been stable for a long time and they still are stable. The one difference is I have the beginning of a cataract. Now normally one wouldn't be excited about that. But they can put corrective lenses in now and I may only have to wear reading glasses then. That would be wonderful. I always ask about the current cost. He said well insurance will pay. I said well I don't have insurance. He said well by then you'll probably be on Medicare. Oh. Yes. I guess I am getting to that age. There's always a silver lining.

this is a fun group to be in, we are wildly different yet we are all exactly the same….. we are all artist at some level with all the insecurities that go along with being a artist. I am here at Michelles request to help with all things skills and color related. In other words ask me any questions that you may have about light source, texture creation, color , contrast and most importantly connecting your work by creating work that touches emotions. No question is silly or stupid…… it is only silly if you don't ask. Yes, I draw in black and white but II retired after 47 years as a automotive paint rep. For 47 years all I did revolved around color and color matching. After 47 years you learn a thing or two about color. I am a open book guys, use me!! Now, back to this 4th of July follow challenge. It takes about five minutes to go to the members section and go down and follow everybody that is a member of this group…… that way we all see each others post and can each respond. We all have something to offer each other but it works best if we follow each other. I personally check every couple of days and follow all new members……last time I checked, three of you follow me and one is Michelle…… so…… lets all meet each other!!!

The classrooms and reference images are set up and ready for inputting the demo videos starting on Sunday. You will need these if you want to PAINT ALONG with me. I am so excited!!!!!! I know that there have been some challenges in the past for printing the reference images out the correct size. I have written instructions that I believe have resolved the problem. I know it works on Apple products. If anyone is PC, please let me know if these instructions work properly. I would appreciate the help here.