I'm now firmly situated in my new studio in the basement and so far it's working out well, except that a couple of times I've found it really hot down there.....but, the temperature has been in the 90's outside so I'm reserving judgement on that particular problem.

I have been working on this picture off and on for the last week, and after a few frustrating moments finally this morning it all came together. I didn't take the photo myself, but it is a picture of a waterfall in North Georgia.

This week has been busy here because I have made the decision to move my studio from the spare bedroom and relocate it in the basement of our home. I felt it was time to turn the room back into a bona fide bedroom so that a) we have somewhere to put guests should the occasion arise, or b) if we suddenly decide to move, there won't be a urgent need to do it then. This was sound thinking because it is taking ages to achieve and countless trips from the top of the house to the basement - quite exhausting!

The other event of note this week is that I have just sent in a CD to the Pastel Society of New Hampshire containing my images of three paintings which I am submitting for selection into a juried show of pastels in September. I won't know until the middle of August whether I got in and I think the competition will be quite stiff with entries from all over the States, so it's a long shot for a rank amateur like me.

This picture is from a reference photo offered by Paula Ford on West Canvas.com in one of the monthly challenges. The subject being spotlighted this month was Summer trees and this is a field in Tennessee.

This is from a photo I took of a beautiful medieval village in France when John and I were there a few years ago. It was a great place and we had dinner there in a really old building which looked out over the valley. There are hills everywhere in Provence and it seems as if each one has a medieval village perched on the top.

On a different subject I learned yesterday that I had received an Honorable Mention for a picture that I entered into the July 4th Art Show. I entered two pieces and the one that I expected would win something, didn't - but the other one, which I wasn't all that thrilled with did!!!! You just can never tell what the judges are going to look for in these shows.