ON MY EASEL FOR OCTOBER 2026

I hope you have an abundance of joy coming to you this end of September and into October. Myself, I am looking forward to cooler temperatures and some fall foliage. Ok, looking forward to Halloween candy, also.

Art Contests

My current easel was actually a computer screen. The Huntington Museum of Art put out a call for a t-shirt design contest. I have not entered anything like that in years, and my Adobe Illustrator skills are not what they used to be, but I entered anyway. The theme is "Fly me to the museum" and needed to use a bird, or birds that are native to West Virginia. Here is my entry. It is a popular vote contest. I'm not expecting to win. LOL I am just happy that I made the art and put the design out there into the world.

That contest prompted our son Jacob, and myself, to hold an art contest at the furniture store for Hoot. Anyone that would like to submit a piece of art will be entered into the contest. The artist will be drawn at random on October 10. If you are interested please follow this link to the fb post for J.F. Lewis & Co. furniture store. Click for contest.

Art Journal Process

I am always talking about art journals and how fun they are to make. I made a video to show you how you can put together a journal spread with very few materials. A friend gave me a Splenda recipe book. Splenda is an ingredient I do not ever use, so I have used that book to make journal spreads. Journaling is a good way to recycle paper and boxes. I used the book pages as the substrate and took the June issue of Kentucky Living magazine and found some flowers and patterns I liked to use as motifs. I had some white, blue and red paint and some glue and put together a spread that made me happy to be part of Kentucky. This video is unedited, long, and very amateur. But here is the youtube link if you want to watch it. KY Living Journal Page

The Literary Ladies Book Club

We read Theo of Golden for our September book club meeting. How would we describe it..we were in agreement that Theo makes you want to do better and be better for your community. We try to do some type of art to go along with the book. We did watercolor portraits of each other.

Stampington's Art Journaling Magazine

I fell in love with the Stampington array of bookazines about 10 years ago. Each one is beautiful. They offer "Art Journaling", "Somerset Studio", "Bella Grace", "In Her Garden", "In Her Studio", "Greencraft", "Art Quilting Studio", and several more.

I had two journals selected to be in the October/Autumn quarter magazine! These journals are complete opposites. One is pretty and one is ugly. You know, the mood changes, the art follows sometimes. Having those journals published is a reason to celebrate for me!!! Here is a link to Stampington if you are interested in seeing their publications.

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Highlands Museum and Learning Center in Ashland, Kentucky

Last but not least, 3 of my previous journals that have been published will be on display for the last quarter of the year in Ashland, Kentucky at the Highlands Museum and Learning Center. If you are in the area, I hope you can stop in and see them.

Thank you so much for reading and suppporting local artists!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13