She be here! Marjorie Ellen, chief tormentor of my youth, flew in from Norway yesterday. Today I drove down the hill and picked her up at the train station. The first thing we did, after the hugs and kisses, was hop back in the car and head to In-N-Out for a couple of burgers. I will NOT tell you how many burgers my skinny sister can pack away at one sitting. But I can tell you I am jealous–absolutely lime-green-with-envy-kind-of-JEALOUS of her metabolism.

After dinner we headed home. Home. The last time she was here was April, when Mama died. But the cottage isn’t Mama’s house anymore, it’s my studio again. A place where art happens. Smells like oil paint and beeswax. It’s messy with art supplies and cat hair and things of Mama’s that don’t know where else to be.

She started unpacking her stuff. It was like Christmas…bubble wrap, newsprint and ART! Gorgeous, glorious sister paintings. Etchings. Oh. My….. Photos tomorrow.

Meanwhile here’s a few photos of my own. Things I worked on today. This is new to me, COLD wax mixed with oil paint. I’m not experienced enough with hot wax yet to get where I wanted to go with the large panels, not with a show hanging on Monday. Actually I’ve got my fingers crossed that these will be dry by then.

Everyone, send some good dry mojo this way, okay? Thanks.

So this is what I did today.

Not this. (arrow pointing up) I did this last week, It’s the underpainting for (arrow pointing down).

This is after playtime with cold wax. It’s not the final photo, I straightened out the horizon but forgot to take the picture.

I’m REALLY liking the cold wax. Probably because it’s more in line with the way I paint. So it’s less of a learning curve for me.

Here’s another one. First, the underpainting, It’s 1’x3′ on plastered cradled board. Lots of fun with the texture here.

Starting the process. Just got to jump in and be bold.

And this is how it looks now.

Now it’s time to visit with Ms. Margie. YAY!