Finally, after waiting over 4 months for the sugery to take place I had my knee surgery, or PFR, which stands for PatellaFemoral Replacement. The pic above shows the implant on the femur, but the two screws were from a prior sugery which was an Osteotomy of my tibia. On another view, you can see the disc inside my patella, which will fit right on top of this round part, but I didn't post that picture. I have had 18 surgeries in all, and this has been the most frustrating by far. To start with, I came home to soon from the hospital and didn't get my pain undercontrol which affected my range of motion, and then I forgot that I wouldn't be driving for 3-4 weeks, which has me pulling my hair out. The sugery itself went great! It was the first of it's kind done in Mobile, because for one, this type of knee replacement isn't really done much, and second, it was a custom implant, built to fit my knee only. I am psyched thought because the statistical outcome his high for success and already I have no pain in the knee where it was. YAHOO! If you are thinking about having knee surgery though I would highly recommend staying in the hospital much longer than 24 hours and possibly going to Rotary Rehab to make your surgery the most successful it can be. My home health has sent my a great phyiscal therapist and she has motivated me to make great progress in the past 2 weeks, thanks Jeannie! So, I am still not sitting for long periods of time and wanted to give you all an update. As for the art world, I am one of four artists in the April show of Earth Tones, on the 13th at the Cathedral Square Gallery in Mobile during April, and I am attending the awards banquet for the VSA Arts Show in Birmingham on April 17th. (Cross your fingers!) I'll keep you in tune as to the knee progress and what art is going on. Once I cross this hurdle it clears the way to possibly return to teach in the fall, but we'll see. Peace, and God Bless! Ardith
I wanted to show you what one of the newer miniature paintings looks like that I give away each month. This one is my Abstract Flower, measures 5" by 7", and is done in watercolor and pen and ink. I usually give away paintings measuring 3" by 4" up to a 5" by 7". So, if you read my blog and visit my website, email me and I'll add your name to the pot. I would also love, love, love it if you would spread the word that I have this drawing monthly so others might visit my site and email me. In the meantime, my knee surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday, hooray! I'm excited because when I rehab this knee, my crunch will be gone and they have said that I can actually jog, eventually, which would be awesome. That is, if my foot drop and my arachnoiditis work along with me as well. Anyhow, the promise is exciting. I'll keep you posted as to how things go. In the meantime, I am trying to finish my painting to enter into the Eastern Shore Center art show in Fairhope, by Monday. Hope I can get this all done and keep my sanity, but as always, if it doesn't happen there is always the hope of tomorrow. Peace to all today! Ardith
He Loves Me
Little Cabin
My Grandma's Pears
Converging Landscape II
Converging Landscape I
Mexican Sunrise
Alabama Angel
Rainbow Fish
Here are 8 of the miniature paintings I have finished so far. They are being sent to other participants in the art card exchange through wetcanvas.com and I wanted to share them with you. I have 18 more to do by June. Wish me luck!
Greetings to all! It has been a slow few weeks here, recovering from a virus, or something akin to that, but seem to be on the mend. I have received 6 trading cards so far, one from Germany and Australia to name a few. They are each uniqe and beautiful, which makes me so glad I joinded the project through wetcanvas.com. I will send and receive 26 total, and so far it's like Christmas everytime I check my mailbox these days. The image above is a 2.5" by 3.5" minature watercolor painting using Holbein watercolors. My grandmother used to have these huge pear trees in her back yard, and gosh do I remember picking up those pears and eating a few. I named it "My Grandma's Pears" in honor of her. I hope the lady I'm sending it to enjoys it. I sent three paintings to Birmingham this past week to enter in the Magic City juried show by VSA Arts of Alabama. I won't know until April if they were accepted, but am pleased with what I sent. I'll keep you posted how that goes. I am still waiting to hear when my knee surgery will be, can you believe it? It was supposed to be the end of December, but the manufacturer has had problems, so I have had to be patient. I look forward to getting it over with and getting back almost full function of my knee, who knows I might even get to run again, at least a few steps. I must give a shout out to my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Lewis for putting me up for a night when I went to Birmingham. Every one needs aunts and uncles and fun and generous as mine, they make life simply delicious! My cousin, Lanie, has commissioned me to do a painting of her grandson, Brandon. It has been a challenge, because I don't do portriats, but this turned out to be as colorful and abstract, within reason, that a portriat could be so I am pleased. I will post it here after she receives it in March. Bravo to all portriat artists out there, it's takes a master craftsman to do it well and my hats of to you! This week is Mardi Gras for us. I'm not big on the holiday but am looking forward to school being out and getting together with my family. I hope to paint some as well, but we'll see. Peace and Paints to ya! Ardith
Well, I was excited, at first about this painting, but am quite peeved at myself now that it's finished. I wasn't paying attention to the pencil I used to draw my grid and accidentally used my grey watercolor pencil. Now, you might think that was a good thing because the color would wash away, but no, that pencil loves to grab the paper and never erases off. I did my best to wash it, over and over, but to no avail. I was hoping the paint would cover it, but no, it's still visible and it's the pits! I used a photo by a member of WetCanvas, Mustcreate, and I thank them for allowing me to use it. I have had some suggestions of how to fix it such as adding checks to the background or tiles, but I'm too mad to mess with it now, maybe tomorrow. The marbles are swell, just not the background. I guess we all live and learn!
I received my first ACEO card, "Blooms Floating", today from Jeanne in California and it's just fab! It reminds me a lot of my own style and the colors are just perky and fun. Thanks Jeanne for taking the time out of your day to make this for me, can't wait to get the other 26. Peace! Ardith
I must brag about my sweet husband, Bill. He knows I love roses, not the $50/dozen, but the Fresh Markets oh so gorgeous dozen for only $7.99. I photograph them often and they bring so much color to our house. So, the other morning he woke up early, snuck out, and came home with these gorgeous red ones, and I never buy red ones for myself. Thank you sweetie for taking time out of your day to make me feel special, I just love, love, love you! A
I have joined my first project at WetCanvas and it appears to be an exciting one. We will be creating 24 2.5" by 3.5" art cards to swap and send all over the world, which is simply too cool. I cut my cards today and cleaned off my table to get my ducks in a row, but I am not sure what I will paint. I'll try and keep you posted as to my progress here and you can also visit wetcanvas.com to see what others are painting as well. I feel a bit better today, but realize I can't spend as much time sitting in one position or looking down with my neck. Once again I have to adapt because of my body, but I just keep thinking about people who have lost limbs or are wheelchair bound for life. That keeps things in perspective for me. If you believe the news, then it's supposed to be the saddest day of the year for most people. It's not to me, too much to be thankful for I'd say. I've got the best husband in the world and a really phenonomal 15 year old son, so today, I am blessed, hope you are too! Peace, A
