First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you -- at least to those who are observing the holiday.

I've just started a new miniature commission of a single giraffe -- posted in my studio's commissions page. The piece is coming along very quickly, which is always nice. Both starting a painting and completing a painting are refreshing for an artist -- starting something new and the sense of accomplishment respectively, I suppose. I think that's why small pieces, such as this one or other miniatures, often (but not always) progress more smoothly than larger paintings. This piece is actually my first giraffe painting. I haven't painted many African animals yet, but I do plan to paint more of them.

I really enjoy painting a variety of subjects, at least when I am able to -- It keeps my painting sessions from getting too dull. It is a creative challenge, however, to paint the same subject many times and still find various way of keeping the paintings fresh. I think that both variety and repetition in painting can stretch the artist's abilities in a number of ways. I recall seeing work by one oil landscape painter that did an exquisite job of painting a large number of paintings featuring the same scene, each slightly different -- quite a challenge I would imagine.

My family and I visited several of our exhibitions and galleries before we returned to Minnesota. My Mom, Karen, and sister, Bonnie are showing work this year in the Society of Animal Artists' Annual Exhibition that recently opened in Oradell, New Jersey at the Hiram Blauvelt Museum. It was very nice to see work by some of my past instructors in the exhibition; and of course I am very proud of my mom on her winning an award of excellence this year. I was also able to attend the Patron's Preview of the Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers Society Exhibition at the Strathmore Hall in Bethesda, Maryland. It was a nice opening and I was very pleased to have sold my awarded painting during the preview. (Both shows are listed with more information & photos in What's New.) I also want to extend a big thanks to our galleries in New Jersey for their kind hospitality, as always! It was also nice to see some of our collectors again who stopped by to visit while we were in town. If you are in the area, there is now a fresh selection of paintings on display.