The Return of Bailey

September 11, 2004, saw the return of Bailey to my home in Lancaster. A loving three-year-old Goffin's cockatoo, Bailey had spent the first two years of her life in my home, but had moved with her primary caretaker to Maine the summer of 2003. Due to the needs of hospice patients living in the Maine hospice house, CEDARS, Bailey has returned to her first home and we are so glad to have her back!

So, on Sept. 9, my son, Bryce, and I made a nice, though long, drive to Nashua, New Hampshire for the custody transfer. On the way, we stopped in Niagara Falls; Bryce's first time there. It was gorgeous weather, and both little dogs (Tyler and Jackie) along for the ride enjoyed the park. We stayed overnight in Albany at Red Roof Inn (all hotels in this line take dogs!) and had a great scenic drive Saturday morning through Vermont. Wish I'd had time to stop and paint! After a quick, hello, bird and assorted toys/food/carriers were loaded up and off we went back to Ohio. A whirlwind trip, but I hesitate to book an airline flight for myself, let alone a sensitive bird.

I will only briefly mention the e-bay fiasco with buying her a new cage (if you are in the market for a new cage, query the Yahoo.com african grey parrot group for recommendations and follow their advice, which I unfortunately did not do).

Bailey's best friend, Tyler the Pekingese is happy to have her home and they have resumed their trans-species relationship and the language only they can understand.

Ohio Plein Air Society

This past weekend found me in heaven! High on a hillside, overlooking rolling meadows, a sweet little pond, and a wealth of plant life in gorgeous colors: lavender, deep violet, burgundy, greens of all sort, gold, white... I was in Nelsonville,Ohio, painting with the Ohio Plein Air Society's (OPAS) 1st Annual Competition.

A month previous, I was walking around "downtown" Nelsonville... had lunch at a great little deli called Fullbrooks, and saw a couple working on a retail space, painting, etc. Asked them what was on the way and soon discovered Gallery 4, owned by Gayla Parks of Athens, OH, and a member of OPAS. She told me about the competition and once I visited their website, saw the quality of members' work, and that they would take the prodigal painter, moi, had to join. I haven't painted outdoors for about 15 years! What fun it was.

And, I was a lucky winner. On the Saturday, they had a wine and cheese party for the artists and sponsors. I picked the winning raffle ticket and came home with a larger than life-size book on Andrew Wyeth, 1968 version now out of print.

On Sunday, the 53 participants gathered in the town square on a beautiful sunny day, and with work on easels waited expectantly for the juror, David Mueller. If you have time, visit his site, DavidMuellerfinart.com and see his extraordinary work. I had a great talk with David and his wife, Lori, on Saturday night and it was inspiring to hear his story of artistic growth. Congratulations to David as he has recently added a NYC gallery to his resume and they will be showing his work in the coming year.

Finally, anyone interested in beautiful Ohio, might want to check out the work of the OPAS artists in The Land We Call Ohio painting project. Also, OPAS artists' work is online at the gallery page.

I spent Saturday and part of Sunday painting the beautiful rolling hills and pond of Fullbrooks Lodge. Check out their website for photographs and info on having a stay there.