Wishing you all the best in 2015 and always.

I've really neglected this blog, haven't I? That should be one of my New Year's resolutions, to update at least once or twice a month, few enough that it might get me back in the habit. With writing book reviews, emails and Facebook updates, along with playing online games at GoldToken and doing my artwork when I'm offline, it's hard to get everything done, especially since I don't have a lot of energy to begin with. But surely I can find time for a monthly post here? I'm going to try harder.
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One of the most important things that happened this year was the sudden death of a close friend, Sue. She had a lot of health problems and a difficult family life, but evidently was sicker in her last few days than anyone knew and died during the night of Dec. 22/23rd. I'd known her for over 15 years and interacted with her online nearly everyday, so I'm having a really hard time adjusting to losing her. She had a tremendous number of friends, more than she realized and we are all upset and grieving.
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My sister and I did a lot of things together in 2014. We've gone to antique shows for years, but this year broadened our range to antique shops, as well. There's quite a few in some nearby suburbs and we finally visited some. There's still more we haven't, so hopefully, we can continue that in 2015. My sister also came with me to the Old River Arts Festival this fall, and was enchanted by the old buildings of the original shopping area still in use, the antique fire engine that we both enjoyed examining and the former railroad depot in the next street. It was fun seeing it all through her eyes.
The week before Christmas, she took me to a garden center which was filled with holiday decorations, the best being an area where giant plush dinosaurs, mammoths and woolly rhinos roamed through a forest of artificial trees lit with twinkle lights. I felt like a six year old as I walked through their Prehistoric Christmas display. My sister hadn't reminded me to take my camera, but she had hers & promised to give me copies of the pics she took.
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I produced quite a lot of art this year, trying a couple new mediums and allowing myself to branch out with subjects, doing small paintings of landscapes(mostly trees) or leaves and flowers. Animals are still my main focus, of course, and always will be, but these other subjects enable me to explore other shapes and colors, which will only improve my technique all around. I'm really pleased with what I accomplished art wise this year. I will post another entry soon with some of the larger works that I did.