First of all, I've come back to 133 spam messages. So please forgive me if I've overlooked your comments. I'll try to get back to you once I delete this spam stuff. Grrrrrrrrrr! Now...... Are you ready for this? In the last post, I told you that Jo came to the rescue and I was “on my way” to the artist workshop. Well! Not only did I get to attend the workshop, but I ended up bringing the teacher and his wife home with me. Talk about excitement.

You see, I’ve been so intimidated to even be in the same room with this guy. His paintings amaze me! Plus, he seems to be so connected with everyone in the art world. So, here I am, in introducing myself as a “this is my first workshop” girl. Surely, he must have thought, “Oh know! Not another painter, wanna be!” But, he was gracious and encouraging and very real. I had so much information overload. I didn’t know I had to think so much. Why didn't that supply list tell me I had to bring my brain too? My mind has grown quite rusty during these care giving years. Three long days of painting and three long days of thinking. I'm exhausted!

At the beginning of the workshop, his wife asked if there were any inexpensive (actually she said “cheap”) hotels in the area. I offered our house but thought they should know two things: one, I had a husband with Alzheimer disease and, two, I had Montana, the wonder dog. Once talking to Nancy, it turned out that her profession was as an Alzheimer caregiver. Dan even rolled around on the floor with the dog. Must have been destiny. Ya think? Thus, be became fast friends.

I brought home two major lessons. Number 1, you can’t be a good painter in one workshop! I think it’s going to take me a REEEEALLY long time. Number 2, “transparent”. The more transparent the layers of color, the better the painting will be. Not a bad idea for us humans, either. Just like I hope to be with this blog.