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Happy New Year, my friends

Drawing by Carol L. Douglas. In a perfect world, I’d do nothing but draw every day.

Every year my repeating New Year’s resolution is to unsubscribe myself from all the mailing lists I’ve been dumped on over the past year. This year, I aim to:

  • Reduce my use of plastic. Most plastic-79%-ends up in landfills or as litter. Revoltingly, we ship much of it overseas, and then complain that third-world countries dump that waste into the ocean. There are many uses for which plastic is unparalleled; for example, plastic wrap has revolutionized food storage. But there are places where we use tons of it for no good purpose. Despite the bottle return on plastic drinking bottles in many states, 80% of one-use plastic water bottles end up in landfills. And nobody can convince me that water stored in plastic for months is as healthy as the stuff that comes out of my tap.
  • Practice scales. I used to sing-a lot. My voice went to wrack and ruin after my first cancer, and old age and lack of practice haven’t helped. But a little work will go a long way towards mending a broken voice. Now, to find the time.
Drawing by Carol L. Douglas

What are your New Year resolutions, if any? Whatever they are, I wish you a blessed and happy new year.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 framed.

As I look at this painting through the mists of time, I wonder when was the last time I stayed up until midnight on a New Year’s Eve. No matter what the text on the painting page says, it’s 35 years if it’s a day. Now, I’m frankly too old to party except with my grandchildren, whose bedtimes are not much later than mine.

Said grandchildren (and their parents) are here for New Year’s Eve. This weekend, my other children will arrive so we can celebrate Christmas and the New Year together.

The beads in this painting came from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, brought back by my friend Karolina. The hat and noisemaker were left in my studio by a student, then a teenager, now pushing middle age. And the purple velvet and feather boa? They are mine alone. As ratty as I look while painting, I do like bling on occasion.

My favorite part of this painting is the gold lettering on the hat. If I didn’t point out that it read “Happy New Year” would you notice?

This is the last weekend that you can take December discounts. They are:

  • 10% off any painting, with the code THANKYOUPAINTING10.
  • $25 off any workshop except Sedona, with the code, EARLYBIRD

Believe it or not, Sedona and Austin are right around the corner!

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025: