Vegetable Medley On It's Way to New Orleans

I learned a valuable lesson this week that I want to share with you. My painting 'Vegetable Medley' was juried into the Louisiana Watercolor Society Exhibition in New Orleans and it's time to ship it. It is on a full sheet of watercolor paper, 30 x 22, has a 3 1/2 inch mat and a 2 1/2 inch frame. making it 42 x 34. Therefore, it is to big for my 42 x 35 box. Not only was I going to have to buy a bigger box it was going to cost $140-150 to ship it one-way and I have to pay for return shipping too. The 42 x 35 box shipping rate is only $45. Now that's a huge difference! I had just about decided to not send it and take the penalty of not being in the show for 2 more years. Then I started thinking of getting a smaller frame but it's a custom size so no time for that. Then it dawned on me that I had a metal frame that I had taken off a painting because it had a dent in it. And then I thought "was that painting by any chance 'Vegetable Medley'?" I went to my storage room and brought it home and viola`it fits!! I think it's 1 1/4" wide. Now the painting will fit in my 42 x 35 box and only cost $45 to ship! I'm soooo excited! The moral of this story is 'check to see how much it will cost to ship a painting before you put a wide mat and frame on it'. Just a few inches difference almost cost me $200. Ummmm! Now what art supplies can I buy with that money! Now I will have a chance to win an award too!

Stages of new painting 'Appletini'

'Appletini' came about when I was trying to think of something unique to paint. I was thinking of different types of drinks but lots of people paint those. So I thought why not put slices of fruit in martini glasses and viola! I love using the text fabric in my paintings because it adds a French flair and a linear design.