At this time of year I sit down and look, first, at what I was grateful for this year. And my list is always long! 

It is also time for me to look at the coming year and think about my goals and what I want to accomplish this coming year. Although I've spent more time on my writing and completing novels the last few years, I still have art goals that I want to accomplish. Most of them are focused on illustrations for other children's books that I've written. They aren't the same as my commissioned animal portraits or my regular fine art, but they still count, in my mind, as making art. 

Finally finished my latest commissioned portrait! It has been a very busy season as we are in the countdown to Christmas, but I always welcome a commissioned portrait. 

At this time of year I start my long winter friendship with the turkeys in my neighborhood. We can have anywhere from 6 to 46 turkeys on any given day. Sometimes two different groups show up and seem hesitant to approach the area where I throw the corn. I'm guessing they are 'rival' groups. One time I actually had to break up a fight between two of the larger males from the different groups; they were getting too close to my rhododendron and I could envision them ripping it to shreds. I wasn't going to allow that since I planted it from infancy and it hadn't yet given me any flowers (it did for the first time this summer!) And by breaking up the fight, all I had to do was walk out on my deck and they all scattered (the rhododendron is planted right next to the deck). 

I recently got a commission to paint a dog. It is a referral, which are the best kind of commissions to get. This means I did an animal portrait for someone and they loved it so much they told someone about me and now that person wants me to paint their pet. 

When I look at all the paintings I made over the years, there are a few that I wonder, why didn't it sell? Many of the ones I was most proud of have sold. But there are a few that, despite the beautiful composition and subject, just never did appeal to anyone enough for them to purchase it.