Happy Holidays!

Hello, fine readers.  Hope you are enjoying a lovely December filled with holiday joy and friendship.  My husband and will be taking a nice road trip across the country to visit my family and meet the newest member, my great nephew!  It will be good to get away and it will give me the time to cogitate! I realize I've come to a crossroads and even as I search for a job these days, I am also rethinking what's happening in the studio and here on the blog.  My connection with you all is very valuable to me and I've been quite distracted lately, so haven't been here as much as I'd like.  I'm working a new focus and new ideas to begin 2012!  Anyone have any inspiring New Year's resolutions they'd like to share?  The new year is always a good time for reflection and we can continue to help inspire and support one another.  Once again, I want to thank you all for reading this blog and supporting me in my artistic endeavors.....your good cheer is always an uplift!

Our first snow of the season has long since melted and while we're happy to have no snow worries for travel, it does seem odd to have no snow on the ground in mid-December here in South Dakota!  The river is still beautiful and I'll sign off with a view of the sunset the other night from the back yard.  These are a couple of shots looking across the Missouri River to Nebraska.

Cheers and best wishes!

The Structure of Daily Rituals

Daily Drawing, October 20, 2011

Here we are on the verge of another weekend....December is racing by.....I've even turned another year older since my last post.  It never seems to end and as the years accumulate, I find it shocking that I'm not still in my mid-thirties!  In the flurry of trying to complete the Nocturnes, I had kind of forgotten about the "daily drawings" I was making in Wyoming.  I've just photographed another group of them, which are really a combination of collage and drawing and will share a few here.  I just added the drawing from October 21st to my Etsy shop and will continue to add the others over time. I started out numbering them, but have gotten myself very confused, so now will list them by their creation date.

Daily Drawing, October 21, 2011

These pieces make me realize how much better I feel and how much more productive I am when I have a real structure to my day....the repetition and the rhythm allow for all manner of rich possibilities to unfold. Contrary to what you might think, the daily repetition of tasks can keep you centered and in the moment. I had that kind of rhythm to my day while I was in Wyoming and at home, naturally, there are many ways I am thrown off the path.  Posting these Daily Drawings is a nice reminder for me to get back to the kind of daily structure in which I thrive.

Daily Drawing, October 24, 2011

Hope you have a fine weekend....see you next week!

Holiday Cheer and a Holiday Sale!

Hi everyone....hope all is well in your world.  Here, in southeastern South Dakota, we've had our first real snow, which came down most of the day on Saturday, creating a magical winter wonderland.  Something so lovely about the first snow!  The holiday season is quite upon us and as a way of saying thank you and spreading good cheer, I've decided to have a sale in my Etsy shop, so everything is 15% off through December 17th.  I'll be traveling during the holiday season and that will be the last day for shipping for most of the rest of the month....so please feel free to browse MissouriBendStudio and see if you'd like to take advantage of the sale...remember to use the coupon code at checkout: HOLIDAYS

I've added three more Nocturnes to my website in the last several days....you won't find these in my Etsy shop, but only on at robertspizzuto.com under the Artwork tab.  Everything on the site there is available for sale as well, but not with the discount at this time.  Here are the latest, Nocturnes no.3, no.4 and no.5....enjoy!

Nocturne no.3

Nocturne no.4

Nocturne no.5

Back to the studio for me...more works in progress!  Have a fine day and see you soon!

Midnight Alchemy

Happy Holiday Season, everyone!  Forgive my long absence....out of town family visitations and travel for the Thanksgiving holiday have set me back.  Trying to get back to a normal rhythm again, which is probably not going to happen for a while, with Christmas right around the corner.  I'm finishing up some more of the Nocturne pieces and will photograph them over the weekend, when the light is better. In the meantime, I have some nocturne cousins to share with you.  I'm posting these pieces in my Etsy shop....Midnight Alchemy no.1 and no. 2 are there already and no. 3 will be joining them tomorrow.  These pieces are related to the Nocturnes which I shared with you in my last post, but smaller (8 1/2"h x 5"w) and on panel, rather than on paper.  I've added silver and copper ink to the mix, along with some terra cotta and black, and the possibilities are pretty intriguing.  Lots of exploration ahead and many, many dots!

Midnight Alchemy no.1

Midnight Alchemy no.2

Midnight Alchemy no.3

Winter is fast approaching....no sign of snow here, but temperatures are a good reminder of what's ahead. I say, it's a good thing I forget from year to year, how cold it can be!  Hope all is well in your world and I promise to be back sooner rather than later this time. Cheers!