It was hard to believe we could have had even more visitors on the second Sunday of Open Studios, especially given rain that ended ten minutes before we were to open, but soon after 11:00 over a dozen people had already traipsed down Ed's driveway to join us. Several kindly offered to help Ann and me hang the paintings I couldn't put up until the rain ended! (Special thanks to Bob and Susan for their help!)

By afternoon, the clouds had parted, and we had a lovely day. My thanks to everyone who came to visit – and my special thanks to those who took some of my artwork home with them! I'm looking forward to next year.

If you'd like to see a few more photos of Open Studios, please take a look at my Line, Color, Paint, Joy blog, at my Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 - II post.

What a wonderful weekend! Thank you to everyone who came by to see what I've been up to, art-wise. Ed Breed and his wife Sandi, whose guest I am for Open Studios, are such congenial hosts! Ed brought his trailer over to my studio last week and helped me pack and cart, and then set up my display equipment outside the entrance to his glass studio.

Calistoga painter Ann Renard is helping me during each weekend, too, which has been a huge help. We've had a lot of visitors, and I'd be completely overwhelmed if she wasn't there with me, welcoming our visitors.

I decided I'd get out some of my soft block prints for Napa Valley Open Studios this year. This last year, I was printing on special papers, with a variety of patterns and colors, using different colored inks that I mixed as I printed. These were more dragonflies – although from a different block than the print in my previous post. I trimmed off the background off this block, and use it as a stamp rather than printing traditionally.

Most of these prints also use two printings of different colored inks, with a third solid color of either iridescent or metallic color between them for the dragonfly's wings and body.

I've chosen the twenty-two best prints from this series to bring to Open Studios. Each is completely different from the others – such as the three above. You can see another four different prints at my Line, Color, Paint, Joy blog, too - just click here.

It's countdown time already… with Napa Valley Open Studios only a little more than four weeks away.

This year, I'll be at the studio of Ed Breed, glass artist extraordinaire and this year's catalog cover artist. You can find us at Studio #9, 1734 Scott Street in St. Helena, on the last two weekends of September, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ed will also be giving demonstrations of glass creation during the weekend, too - it's a great opportunity to see a master glassblower at work!

You can find more about Napa Valley Open Studios at our website, www.NapaValleyOpenStudios.org, and our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/NapaValleyOpenStudios (I'm one of the folks working behind the scenes to put that together for you).

I'm honored that my catalog painting was chosen for the NVOS website slide show - in fact, it's the first painting you see. I'll have it, and much more, at Ed's studio in St. Helena. I hope you can join us!

Last Saturday's Painting Landscapes workshop was pure pleasure for me. What a wonderful group of painters to spend a day with! We talked color palettes, we mixed colors, we talked composition, we cropped photos, and we painted, painted, painted. You should have seen the work everyone had on their easels – what a delight it was!  I especially love it when people find the colors that make their hearts sing.

I was so busy I didn't have a chance to take photos to share, but I hope everyone will keep in touch – and have a wonderful time with your painting!  I'd love to see how your work develops.

I also finally decided on my catalog image for this year's Napa Valley Open Studios catalog – Hillside Vineyard (Tilted Heart). I painted it of the vineyard of friends, a beautiful spot high on the hillside far above their ranch house, and further above the valley floor. As it was nearing completion, I suddenly noticed that a shape in the tree branches looked like a tilted heart – hence the title. I had a lot of affection for this little piece (11"x14") throughout its painting process, so it seemed appropriate.