New paintings, hot off the easel, and some thoughts on art and life ...

Here's one of my newest paintings, and I call it "Life Is Short." That's a phrase we hear a lot, but I've always thought that life is long. Long enough, really. It's true that sometimes life is cut tragically short, but for most of us there's time enough to enjoy life. There's not only time enough to smell the roses, there's time to plant them and nurture them, time enough to paint them even! There's time to find love and happiness. There's time enough to forgive and forget, time enough to make friends. Time enough to be young, and then, time to grow old and maybe a little bit wise.

But roses - well, for roses life truly is short. These were fading fast on the day I picked them and set them up to paint. They were only a few days old, but they were already past the peak of youthful rose-beauty. Life is short for roses, but thankfully, people are not roses. Live long!