Where has Karine been?

That break ended up being longer than I had originally planned. Sorry! I have missed you all terribly, and I hope to catch up with my fellow bloggers this week. I went to Colorado to visit my parents for one week. When I returned, Matthias and I were invited to go to Huntington Beach for the weekend with our friends, John and Nora. It was too good an offer to resist!! At last I am back home, and I am anxious to get back into the studio.

My visit with my parents was such a good one! I resisted the urge to try to get together with my many Colorado friends. Not because I don't love my friends. Of course I do. I just decided that I needed to have some quality "parent time." So that is what I focused on. I was fortunate enough to have my friend Sally Mather (a terrific plein air painter!) drive the 2 1/2 hours from Salida to stay one night. Other than that, I just hung out with the 'rents. I helped my mother plant flowers in her pots and in her flower bed. I worked in the yard. She and I talked. We ate dinner. I went for long walks in the morning. My dad even took a couple days off and we played golf and saw a movie together. The whole time, I kept thinking how wonderful it was to be there with my mom and dad, and NOT ONCE did I have to go to the hospital. For those of you who are new to my blog, last year my mom was in and out of the hospital all year long. We nearly lost her three times!!! It was an extremely difficult year for all of us. Now, my mother is so much better. She still sleeps a lot, but I can have normal conversation with her, her hair and nails are growing, and she has finally gained some weight. It is amazing. The doctors call her a "miracle patient." It is clear none of them expected her to recover in the way she has. It is hard to put into words how thankful I am that I could be there with the two of them, after everything we went through as a family last year.



My mother has these peony bushes that are about 20 years old. They bloom, without fail every spring. The flowers are so incredibly beautiful. Lucky me was there just as they had begun to bloom!!! Here you can see my parents, and my mom is holding some of her wonderful, glorious peonies.





Our weekend on the coast was just as enchanted as the time I had with my parents in Colorado. We went for long walks on the beach. We ate way too much food. We laughed. We shopped at Big Lots. Then, last night, our friend Esther Spezzano Shaw opened up a brand new art gallery in Long Beach. The Spezzano Art Gallery!!! We used the opening as our excuse to get away for a couple of days. It was a wonderful opening. Esther is an artist, so she had her paintings plus the art of three of her friends. It was a harmonious blend of art. If you are living near Long Beach, or if you happen to be visiting the area, please stop by. You will not be disappointed. The gallery is located at 133 The Promenade N, Ste. 109, Long Beach, CA.



Special thanks to John and Nora for deluxe accommodations and lots of laughter! (Nora is also a gifted artist, and you can see her work here.)