Sertoma Arts Plein Air Group Show

The Plein Air Group Show at Sertoma Arts Center is now going on, and it is beautiful! There are lots of talented artists participating, with a tremendous variety of styles and media including oils, acrylics, watercolors and pastels. Show runs January 4 through February 28, 2015 at Sertoma Arts Center, 1400 West Millbrook Road in Raleigh NC.

© 2014 Tammy Kaufman - The Cove - pastels on Uart 600 10" x 8"

Happy Birthday to Me!

"Just celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had." ~ Magic Johnson

Happy Birthday to my Inner Child! This has been a whirlwind of a year, wrought with anxiety about growing older of course, yet still so much fun with many new and exciting adventures. Life happens in a series of moments, so to celebrate the last year of my "early" 50s, I figured I'd celebrate my birthday with a photo slideshow retrospective of just some of those wonderful moments from 2014. Looking forward to what 2015 has to offer!

If you are unable to view the slideshow in Flash, click HERE for the link to the photo gallery.

Into the Night

Since the weather was so nice today and the forecast is for cold and rainy tomorrow, we decided to go ahead and take the bikes out tonight, with Frylie by our sides of course.

Pausing for a quick drink of water

Ever the awesome trail dog, Fry says "Let's Go!"

Ready to Go!

Night riding is fun in its own right, but is even more so with my best buddy on my wheel.

Singing the Blues

Continuing with the "blue" theme, I discovered over the weekend that a bluebird couple has taken up residence in the bluebird house in our backyard! They were busy nest-building and making the little box their new home, and after having the box sit empty for over a year, it's such a joy to have them sharing our yard with us now.

Blue is a Beautiful Color!

Now that the 2014 NC State Fair is over, Steve picked up my art entry, along with its Blue Ribbon! Attached to it was the judge's critique, which reads as follows:

"Strengths:

• Focus
• Use of Color
• Attention to Detail

Weaknesses:

Additional Comments:
Very strong sense of focus on foreground - well done! Colors fade well into background & river creates great lines of movement in work. Congratulations on 1st Place!"

I'm beside myself with joy right now!

© 2014 Tammy Kaufman - Kaleidoscope Myst - pastels on PastelMat 7" x 7"

More Baby Steps

The WheelChix women's mountain bike club had another clinic today, and what a great day it was to be out on the trail! Having been only sporadically biking lately due to a combination of being overweight and very out of shape, plus being so busy with life in general, I really needed this beginner and beyond clinic. It was also a big boost to my currently failing confidence. Today's topics included, among others, basic body positioning on the bike, cornering, climbing,

Climbing

uphill obstacles,

Uphill Obstacle

descending techy sections,

Descending

and my nemesis, skinnies. Today was the first time I actually got up the nerve to ride this one, and I made it the entire way, TWICE, as well as the inverted V-shaped skinny at the end of the section too! Yay!

Skinny!

Thanks to Pryde and Steve for their help, coaching and spotting, and to Steve for the photos.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Nothing eases the sting of discouragement and disappointment like going for a bicycle ride with Frylie. He's my most fervent cheerleader, my shoulder to cry on, my rock, my Best Friend, the one who always knows how to bring that silver lining just a little bit closer.

My little ray of sunshine.