A friend of mine from Mexico sent me an email the other day - no posts since June 9th- unacceptable !! Guilty as charged. I have been consumed with fishy business. My garage is no longer a place for cars and garden equipment but is rather an aquarium full of 4-foot fanciful and very creative fish - this year's Art Drive School of Classic Cod. Happily, the fish are now all photographed, found their way onto the poster and soon will go to their display locations in Dartmouth, Westport, and New Bedford. For more details about their whereabouts and the auction where you can buy a Classic Cod check out www.the-Art-drive.com or go here and buy your very own!

In addition to all the fish stuff, I have been taking a class in Advanced Photoshop- Speed Painting. The work I did on Entangled made me want to learn more about using the brushes in Photoshop so when I saw this class advertised at RISD I thought it might be a place to start. I emailed the instructor and he assured me that it would, and the fact that I am not already a painter wouldn't be a problem. So with some trepidation, I took the plunge. Perhaps free fall off the 10 meter diving board is better description. For starters, I am at least 30 years older than everyone else in the class and the only person without a solid background in painting. But as promised, I am learning a huge amount and loving the challenge. In a few short weeks I am supposed create a whole world complete with different weather and lighting. ...whew.... Given the oceanic theme of my life these days, it is no surprise that my practice exercises on clean rendering, creating custom brushes from inkblots and masking techniques all have an underwater look.