I'm still waiting for some more responses on the painting di giorno from yesterday. So far the voters are in favor of leaving the painting as is, but it's only by one vote. So I'll leave it for a little while longer. Let me hear from you. To the left we have "Clam Shell, Quail Eggs and Blue Jay Feather". Another tiny 4"x3" oil on canvas, $35. SOLD.I bought the clam shell, (which had been glued together and polished) in Wrightsville Beach, NC last summer at a shell shop. The blue jay feather I picked up by the bird feeder. In the actual painting, the table top is not so red. Last night was a treat. I met a friend, Patty McIlhaney(sp?)that used to own Pat& Joe's Cafe in Devon--"Pat,Joe's" were Gabriel's first words--she makes the BEST creamed chipped beef. She has moved and renamed her place "PATTY MACS". It's on Lancaster Ave. in Berwyn. Anyway, we met at Georges' for dinner. She's so funny and has finally learned how to make potato salad the right way, just like my mother-in-law ;)She made and gave Jay and Celeste 40lbs.of it for their wedding reception. Now that's a good friend. We both had oysters and duck. I've never had oysters any better than at Georges'. Everything was so ridiculously good. We finished our dinner and had a mini family reunion with my cousin Nickie (he's also my godson) and Danny, Jay Jr., my ex-brother-in-law and then Jay Sr. came in. Erica was working behind the bar and she's like family. Then Jose' and Lisa came in and it was a party. How good it was to be together on a weeknight. Danny played a few of his favorite French cds, despite a customer complaining. I don't know what the problem is, it IS a french restaurant. Well, Bill Evans is playing "Elsa" right now, which is just lovely.

As I mentioned last night, I started a painting of more peeled lemons for the painting di giorno, limoncello series and put them by the wood stove for some of the medium to evaporate and dry. Well, Jay came down this morning to mess around with the fire and saw the painting and loves it. He doesn't want me to do anything else to it. It's VERY impressionistic. So, I leave it in your hands. Please tell me what you think I should do with it...leave it or add more detail and patches of lighter pith, etc.. You have your choice of emails: jeaniechadwick@yahoo.com or mamarazzi2@aol.com

Come on now, you can do it. What would you do to it? You've got to send an email to let me know. SOLD

Bill Evans is playing "I WISH I KNEW". He's clueless as well!

It was a really busy weekend. Karen (the Meyer lemon orchardess) and I had lunch together on Friday. It was so much fun to catch up with her again. Here is the painting di giorno "LET THE LIMONCELLO BEGIN". It's 6"x6", oil on canvas, $50. SOLD. The actual painting is brighter and more vibrant than this image. The real lemon peels are still steeping in the Ketel One Citron vodka. The color is leaching out and the vodka is becoming a beautiful, warm gold. It'll be ready for Easter. I worked on some other paintings on Saturday and then when Jay finished teaching, we went to the James Michener Museum in Doylestown to see the remaining Garber exhibit. It was just wonderful. His later works were definitely more vibrant, some even had neon oranges and greens.

My favorites were "THE PALING FENCE", "SNOW AT HARER'S" -his framer-and one that he inconceivably destroyed of Tanis, titled "UNDER THE WILLOWS". Go figure.

I was also very taken with a few other New Hope artists; namely Redfield with his big, bold, confident and erratic brush strokes that made perfect sense when you stepped back 10 or 15'.

George Sotter's work was lovely and serene and emotional and then there was Harry Leith Ross. Wow!

Jay and I have a game that we play when we visit museums. We have to choose three paintings that we would take home and have to live with. I could do it with Garber, Redfield and Scofield, but not Ross, I would have to have at least seventeen of his.

After, we had dinner at the "Knight's Inn". Not bad.

Saturday night after we got home, I made the "gravy" for my granddaughter Isabella's dedication.

They live in Maryland so we went down on I95 early Sunday morning. The snow wasn't a problem at all. Maryland was so ready for it. I believe they got more than we did. About four inches. The sermon was outstanding. It was a great day, with all of the kids, their spouses and the grandchildren. Jeanie and Derek have wonderful friends.

The drive home was long and brutal, but we had dinner at Georges', which was great and a lot of fun.

I don't know how much posting I'll be able to do this week, since I'm hostessing a memorial service this Sunday for my father, who passed away on December 28th. I still have my Christmas lights up out front because it feels like we never had Christmas. I don't know what I'm waiting for to take them down. They do look very charming and cheerful with the snow on the house. I think I should take them down after Sunday. Yep, that's what I'll do.

I peeled 24 of the Meyer lemons tonight that I got from orchardess Karen and am steeping the skins in vodka for about four weeks. It's a little tricky because Meyer lemons are very thin-skinned and you can't take the pith--white part--with the skin. It's actually zesting the lemons in sheets, not little bits. The pith makes the Limoncello bitter. I started a painting di giorno of one of the lemons and skin, but I couldn't finish it today.

So, instead, I'll post an old photo that I took of a swan at Eastern University about 10 years ago. It's romantic and reminds me of Valentine's Day.

I have two bird feeders hanging outside of my studio windows, where I can see them when I'm working at the computer. The other night when Danny had just gotten in from work, I saw some movement out there and feared the worst...a rat. Well it was a flying squirrel. They are so cute, with their short faces and huge nocturnal eyes. We used to have Southern Flying Squirrels when I had the traveling petting zoo. They were smaller and more brown than the northern version. If you have a canopy of trees near your house, smear some peanut butter on the bark of a tree. Make sure you put it where you can see it from the house with a flashlight (the window needs to be open if you're inside using a flashlight) then when it gets dark, every once in a while shine the flashlight on the peanut butter and eventually you'll get to see one. They're really fast, so don't make any noise when you open the window. If you have a tree near a spotlight, or outdoor light try putting the peanut butter near that light source so you don't have to open a window at all to see it.

Bill Evans is playing I Fall in Love Too Easily tonight.

Erica Brown came for a visit last night and brought me a book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. The book is wonderful, LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY AND LAURELTON HALL. It's about his country estate. She went to see the "Glitter and Gloom" exhibit. She was really impressed with it. Thank you sweet friend, Erica.

Another good friend to so many has gotten a diagnosis today of intestinal cancer. Her name is Jeanne Welch. She is the mother of three young men--one of them Noah, my web designer--and two little girls. This is in addition to the countless young people she and her husband Dan, have opened their hearts and home to when they needed a place to stay. My daughter-in-law Celeste was one of them. Please say a prayer for the success of her surgery tomorrow, as well as for full, cancer-free recovery. Her surgeon, Dr. Kripke, who was my Dad's surgeon also, is giving her a very good prognosis.

The painting di giorno on the right is titled "Hummingbird Magnet". It's 5x7, oil on gessoboard. $50.SOLD This was a 15 minute study that I did it last summer when this plant, which is a type of sage ,was in bloom. Actually it bloomed, literally, all summer until a heavy frost. I personally cannot get enough of hummingbirds. This plant is totally irresistible to them. It's an annual and won't survive the winter here in PA-zone 6. I had two huge cobalt blue pots of them right out front of my studio door, one on either side. The hummingbirds start coming in April and usually are gone by October. But this year with the warm fall, I saw one at this plant in November! I was thrilled and shocked. I am so ready for spring. Tonight Tony Bennett is singing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". The first time I heard it was on Saturday Night Live, being performed by Christopher Walken, so you can imagine how retro and slightly bizarre it is. Sorry I missed my blog last night. With Erica here and then Danny came home and we stayed up really late to discuss and solve the problems of the world so that you can rest easy.

Before I get started on the best Valentine's Day I've ever had, I'll post a painting di giorno. It's from last summer and is an oil on gessoboard, 7x5. I did a 20 minute study of "Mrs. Gamalinda's Dahlia" .The photo looks like there's some glare on it, making the whole image lighter.

Mrs. Gamalinda's son Enrico works with my son Danny at Georges', and brought it for me when he came to dinner one night. This Dahlia was enormous and very beautiful. As a thank you, this painting will go to Mrs. Gamalinda.NFS

Valentine's Day--the good, the bad and the ugly.

We'll start with the bad--bronchitis-- and then the ugly. It was the lily that Jay gave me for Valentine's Day. The flower itself is beautiful and very fragrant, as most Oriental lilies are. This is the one I was painting last week. I did finish it and was photographing it and just pitched it right in the trash. The painting was ugly.

Now for all of the good.

I told Jay that I didn't want him to buy anything for me. I wanted a romantic evening. Well, as I posted before I did get the cards that every woman wants, chocolates, roses and lilies. For our romantic night Jay made reservations at The Pond close by in Radnor. Said was our server. He's a true professional and perfectionist. You want him when you go. Make sure you ask for him when you make your reservation. Trust me on this one.

We decided on the tasting menu which was phenomenal. Let me put it this way, we were there for four hours! We kissed Said and his wife, the hostess, Hadija goodnight and went to Georges' .

They were getting slammed, as usual, but we know the bar manager there (Danny) and he and Erica, PJ and Enrico took good care of us. The exhausted executive chef, Joe Frost came out and sat with us for awhile and we talked about his life and how Valentine's Day was treating him. Then Amber, a good friend came in and sat with us. We got home late, but the best was still on it's way. Now don't go jumping to conclusions.

Jay, fixed a Chartreuse for me, which is what we drank after the first dinner he cooked for me. Then he sat at the piano and played the most beautiful music for over an hour. Mostly Coltrane, some Bill Evans and Miles Davis. The job he did on "Soul Eyes" was so moving. Of course he played "My One and Only Love", "In a Sentimental Mood", Invitation", etc., etc.

He finished with "My Funny Valentine". It was my own personal concert of my favorites.

He did the same thing last night also.

Ladies, I almost didn't want to tell you all of this, because he really is that wonderful, but, just admire him from afar. You don't want to get whacked. After all, you can safely live vicariously through me by asking him what he's playing for me at night, or just reading this blog! I still love him like crazy!

I don't know why I procrastinate when it comes to painting.

Yes I do know, it's fear. I rarely paint with acrylics. I never paint on glazed tiles and I've only once painted lemons. I'm always worried that I have to paint a masterpiece.

Ever since Karen asked me to paint this tile, Ive been very uneasy. Now that it's finished, as usual, it's my best time as an artist.

There are littleflower buds right next to the lemon on the left. I love the lemon.NFS

I'm really happy that I waited to do it now, because this is an actual lemon from the orchard where it will be placed. So, it won't be for sale.

I feel really lousy today with the bronchitis, so I'll take the weekend off. Have a great one. Let me know what you think of this lemon--mamarazzi2@aol.com--thanx.

Well I don't think you need to worry about getting hooked on these babies just yet. They are really hard to make out. Sorry, I just took one quick shot and covered them back up. I'll explain what's going on here. When a mother-to- be rabbit is ready to give birth, she makes a nest of hay and then lines it with fur from her belly. The colder it is, the more fur she pulls. Her belly fur is the silver hair. There are five babies, but as you can tell they are hard to figure out which way is which. One reason is that their eyes are still sealed shut. This keeps them in the nest for about the first ten days, where they'll be safe and warm and fed.

Now bunny no.1 is at the top, just a profile. There is a light-colored piece of hay coming from the left, pointing directly to a little silvery thing- that is his ear. His nose is to the right of that. He, or she, is a butterscotch color. OK, directly below where it's chin would be is the head of another baby. This one is a mix of white and butterscotch. If you look close you can see it's nostril right in the middle of it's profile..it's facing right. Below this baby's chin is a dark bunny with a white belly. You can only see the top of it's back and white belly. All the way to it and the bunny above it's left, right up against the hay, is a barely visible baby hiding. It's sort of pinkish gray. The last one is visible. It is to the immediate right of the butterscotch and white one. It's a speckled silver, black and white. I can make out an arm right above the dark bunny on the bottom's bum. It appears that it's face is under the butterscotch and white baby's face. I'll take more photos of them soon when the weather is a little warmer.

I'm working on the Valentine Lily which is a challenge for me. It should be finished by tomorrow.

I meant to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day yesterday. Hope it was very romantic and loving.

Jay opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, when he got home last night. We had it with some of the wonderful handmade chocolates from Aux Petits Delices here in Wayne. They're incredible. We just took little nibbles for a tasting. Wow! We're going to The Pond on Saturday for our Valentine's night out. We'll do the tasting menu. That's always an amazing experience. Can't wait.

The image today is not mine, nor is it a painting. It's the photograph that won Gabriel first prize in his school's art contest. He's seven years old and attends a christian school. This was totally his idea, but I'd say the kid's pretty shrewd choosing a bird house with a cross on it for his subject. The birdhouse was given to me by my friend Penny Bird...yes, the hydrangea lady.

I got the one-two punch by bronchitis last night, so I was in bed until 3:30 this afternoon. I did got out to feed and water the rabbits, but I didn't take any photos because it was too cold and windy to uncover the babies.

I'm going to try to work on a painting of some of the Valentine lilies that my husband gave me. He also got me the fragrant, peach-colored roses that are one of my favorites. My Mother loved these roses too. Of course I'm listening to Coltrane and Hartman's "My One and Only Love" tonight. The roads are bad, but Jay is out teaching. We got the snow and ice that was predicted, but despite that the lemons arrived from http://lemonladies.com today. That was a very speedy delivery. They are just beautiful. Karen, the orchardess included a branch with flowers on it. I will be painting the flowers, leaves and branch along with the lemons within the next couple of days, depending on how I feel. I'm thrilled with the lemons.

I found a small Pochade or Artist's Easel box on eBay. It's not finished and beautiful like Garber's, but it will be very functional. It's only 9x7x2 and holds panels that are 5x7 and under with adjustable brackets. Another nice thing is that it has a mounting plate on the bottom to attach it to a tripod. The man that makes them is from Canada. I got the box for $9.99 and shipping for about $15. He custom-makes these boxes in various sizes along with wet panel boxes. Just type in "pochade box" on the eBay search and you should easily find him. I'll let you know how I like it when it arrives.

" Penny's Hydrangea, Art Glass Egg and Quail Egg". 6"x4", oil, on almost, 1&1/2" deep, gallery wrapped canvas. $50. SOLD I love these art glass eggs. They're very challenging to paint, but I have it down to a system now. For this painting di giorno I sprayed the egg with water. It gives the egg a shine and makes the rainbow of colors in it, more vivid. Doesn't it look like an opal? I have about nine of these eggs. I found them in North Carolina at the art museum in Raleigh. We always made sure to visit the museum when we went to see Jay's Mom. Since she passed away at 92 this past August, I don't know when I'll get back there. I've also seen them in a catalogue. We had five bunnies born over the weekend. The father, "Chimay" is a Flemish Giant and the Mom, "Stella Artois", "Stella" for short, is an English Lop. I don't even want to get started on how cute this mix is. If you've ever seen an English Lop, you'd know they have the longest ears you've ever seen. They are unbelievable! Both breeds are considered giant breeds and that's no exaggeration. They look like toddlers when they sit upright. They are amazing and so friendly. Chimay is the amber color of the beer he is named after. When Jay and I first got married 30 years ago, we went to The Monk's Inn and there was one hopping around loose in the courtyard behind the restaurant. There were tables and chairs out there for patrons and he would just go up to them and visit. He was so enormous, it was just surreal. Stella is black and white, just a random, spotted pattern that is called broken. She's like a puppy she's so ridiculously friendly. The babies will have ears all over the place. Up, down, out, sideways and possibly all of the aforementioned. I'll try to uncover the babies and take a photo of them tomorrow for you to see. If you're a sucker for rabbits, I recommend that you don't look. Honest, you'll be hooked!

I've had several people ask, and I'm sorry that I forgot to mention again that these small daily paintings can be paid for using your Paypal account if you have one. If you don't they are very easy to set up and very convenient to use. To pay for a painting di giorno, just go to Paypal and click send money and then type in my email address for this site, which is, mamarazzi2@aol.com They are all $50. each, except for the 4"x3" paintings which are $35. each. SOLD. There will only be three of these 4x3's and then no more. All art includes free shipping Today's painting, titled "PENNY'S HYDRANGEA & QUAIL EGGS" is only 4"x3", oil on canvas, $35. Penny, is another 40 plus years friend, who brought armloads of these flowers for my son Jay's wedding in September. They are Pee Gee Hydrangeas, which are sort of like trees instead of more rounded shrubs. I love hydrangeas in general, but these dry so perfectly with their warm, antiqued colors, sometimes with a remaining hint of green or a faded blush of rose. They could last at least until next year when the new crop is ready to cut. They're wonderful. The grandchildren have been returned to their parents and the TV is black once again. Dora and Diego are not asking for help or for an animal to be rescued tonight. My youngest son Danny took Jonah to the Tweeter Center yesterday to see Diego. It's a great story about how he found out about the show, but anyway, he told Jonah they were going to the store, so he could surprise him. When they got there Jonah thought they were at the movies. Jonah will never forget it. He was REALLY surprised! However; I just can't imagine what the producers were thinking by having a 30 plus year old actor as Diego...even Jonah couldn't figure out how Diego got to be an adult. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the bunnies.

I'm happy to finally be able to introduce the painting di giorno "3-WAY CONVERSATION-MEYER LEMONS & QUAIL EGG" 6x4 oil on 1&1/2" deep, gallery wrapped canvas.$50. SOLD To me it looks like the quail egg is doing all of the talking and the lemons are very attentive. What do you think?

So it's Jonah's turn to be sick today. He at least makes it to the bathroom We're expecting baby bunnies any minute. Can't wait to paint them.

No image again today. Blogger.com has a problem and I have no idea when it will be fixed. Soon, I hope. I have the three grandkids here as I said and today was very exciting with them, especially with Isabella throwing up all over everything and body. Fortunately, Isabella is probably too young and won't remember this day. I am the worst caretaker when it comes to vomiting people. My kids can tell you very embarrassing stories about how I used to make a bed for them in the bathtub so that they'd be right next to the toilet and could hardly miss throwing up in it. I couldn't deal with a bucket. Of course there were the times when they'd have to wash their own sheets and clothes. Needless to say, I have a very weak stomach. Speaking of which, I need to change the subject now. Have a great weekend. I'll be back when I can upload photos of the paintings again.

Well, I'm still having the same problem trying to upload the image of the Meyer lemons painting. I don't know who the external host is that keeps timing out, but that seems to be what the problem is. In any case, I ordered seven pounds of Meyer Lemons last night from http://www.lemonladies.com Karen Morss' online Meyer lemonade stand. I'm very excited to have some homemade Meyer Limoncello, Meyer lemon curd and, even though it's bitterly cold here, as in a chill factor in the single digits, maybe some Meyer lemonade. Hmm, I'll bet a hard lemonade would warm things up. Meyer Canarino would also be nice and warming. I'll let you know how it goes. I don't have any music on because I just returned from Maryland to get three of my grandchildren. Gabriel---the artist and photographer-yes, he remebered his camera-see previous posts---Jonah and Isabella. They are Jeanie Jr.'s children. They'll be here until Tuesday while Jeanie and Derek visit Derek's Dad in Utah. So if things go semi-smoothly tomorrow and I can get images on this blog, you'll hear from me then. Stay warm.

Today's post (sorry about that awful font color yesterday) is going to be about my friend Karen Morss from Redwood City, California. The painting di giorno is related, except that for some reason it won't upload, so I'll put it on tomorrow night.I painted my first oranges last week and these are my first lemons. Meyer lemons are almost too beautiful to consume. They are more orange-colored than regular lemons, fragrant, delicious, smooth-skinned and so soft. They are excellent for Limoncello. This is where Karen comes in. I have known Karen for over 40 years. Karen is an orchardess; meaning she has and cares for a Meyer lemon orchard of 40 trees. Each tree is named after a female friend of Karen's. One, I am proud and honored to say, is named after me. Each tree will eventually have a ceramic tile with a Meyer lemon-themed painting on it, by the person it is named after. I say eventually, because my tile is still not finished. Now that I've painted my first lemons, I'll do it soon and post it when I do. I'd love for you to meet Karen at her lemon ladies site-http://www.lemonladies.com/ it's her online lemonade stand. I plan to buy a big order of her lemons to make Limoncello. I'm listening to "In a Sentimental Mood" by John Coltrane since Jay's already in bed and didn't play when he got home tonight. But Coltrane is perfect for a bitter-cold night.

This web site has been quite a project. I'm very proud of all of Noah's hard work. I appreciate your feedback and the kind and encouraging emails. It really means a lot to me. Please note-FREE SHIPPING applies to all art for the rest of this month. I've had a couple of requests to keep reporting on Jay Sr.'s musical activities. Well, on his way up to bed tonight he stopped to play something, but by the time I turned the volume down on Johnny Hartman, Jay stopped. I had to go back and hear John Coltrane play and Johnny sing "My One and Only Love". I will listen to it continually until after Valentine's Day. You listen to it. I'll just stop there. The "Weird Melon, Blood Orange and Quail Egg" 7x5, oil on gallery wrapped linen, $50. SOLD painting di giorno is very refreshing to me. It's a different complementary color palette and I love it. I didn't use the usual dark background. Everything was set up on my desk/work table. It's gray/green glass. The reflections were fun and surprising too. That melon wasn't fun to paint until the very end. I never got to eat it because it started to rot. I'll buy another one and do it again. I'll bet it's tasty. It's past 1 a.m., so I'll actually be posting twice today. Tonight I'll post the Meyer lemons and quail egg and tell you all about my friend Karen Morss, the "Lemon Lady" orchardess.

It's almost 24 hours later and now it's snowing. It has coated the ground, but it's very wet snow. It's still coming down. I can tell by the traffic zipping down the road that driving is OK.

Jay has started teaching until later on Friday nights so I'm listening to Nat King Cole singing "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You". He was amazing.

I love this painting di giorno of oranges titled "Blood Oranges, Quail Egg and Blue Camphor Glass", 7x5 on gallery-wrapped linen. $50. SOLD I've never painted oranges before. It was fun, which is easy to say now after the fact. I hope someone buys it soon, otherwise I'll have to hang it in my kitchen.

My daughters Jeanie and Krista are supposed to come up from Maryland tomorrow to just hang out with me. Have a great weekend if I don't get back to you tomorrow or Sunday.

I'm waiting for the snow. We may get up to two inches. Just enough to be an annoyance for tomorrow morning's commuters. So far we've only had flurries and a few squalls that have barely covered the ground. I love it. It's very inspiring and beautiful to me.

This painting di giorno is from the end of summer. Titled "Weird Tomatoes and Beautiful Pitcher" it's oil on gessoboard and 7x5. $50. SOLD

The weird tomatoes were from our garden. They were the result of cold/hot/dry/wet weather, but they were delicious. The beautiful antique pitcher was a birthday gift from my brother Pat. It was a real stretch for me to paint it. I'm getting more comfortable with looser, more free work, which for me means not including every detail and hairline crack and crackle in a painting. But this was months ago when I had just started doing daily paintings to break out of that tight detailed work that I was used to. I feel this little painting is better in person. One more thing, I need to congratulate my grandson Gabriel once again. This time for winning second place in his school's art contest-mixed media division. He painted a quail chick right after it hatched (including it's egg tooth) in acrylic and stuck the egg, part of the nest, some of it's parent's feathers, food and even poop on the wet paint. Talk about mixed media! He even did a color sketch of his plan before executing it. The kid's definitely got talent. I'm so proud of him. Way to go Gabriel!