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Greetings Friends, 

I thought once again I'd give you another introduction of "me and my world". I'll be heading down to Georgia and Tenn. for a week so there will be no painting for me.  And, since most of this is new to all of us here, I decided it would be a great opportunity to allow us to get to "know" each other.    

Welcome to my world. I love art, love to create art for its beauty and the glory of God…and I enjoy getting into my work. When I began painting, back in the late 1980’s, I was a stay-at-home mom looking for something to do with my time while my kids whiled away their time during the day, being little kids. I began homeschooling them then needed an outlet even more. My “on-again-off-again” painting experience with acrylic paints was very slow and painfully self-taught. I desired to spend much time with it, but time was not what I had. I found myself begging God for the day when I could do nothing but paint. Well...that day has arrived. I am retired and love every minute of it. I find myself, some days forgetting what time it is because I am so involved in my painting. The styles I find I enjoy painting are landscapes and abstracts. Working with acrylics and oils are both very enjoyable to me. I enjoy Landscapes as well as Abstracts. Within the categories of abstract and landscapes, you will find me using brushes, pallet knives, my fingers and sometimes whatever I can get my hands on for a “good” look in abstract.

My Landscapes are created from actual places (I use reference photos) as well as a creation from my imagination. These Landscapes from my imagination are always fascinating to see how they come out. Abstract allows me the freedom to create beautiful paintings which are the expression of me, my emotions, my inner self, without the limitations of the boundaries of the space of “this is a rock” or “this is a tree”, etc. The paint does the painting along with my feelings for color that day. “What are my emotions?”, “What am I feeling?” when I am painting a piece, I will most often pray before I begin a piece, asking God for His guidance in my work and ask Him to glorify Himself in the piece. To me, when I do this, my work is “clearer”, it makes more sense to me.

When I began way back in the early 1980’s, I’d watch Bob Ross on PBS, devouring all he had to teach me. I’d translate his teachings into acrylics because I had young children around and didn’t want them touching, and thus destroying, my hard work. From there, I’d eventually devour any book from the library I could get which would teach me anything “art”. I also found myself “up close and personal” to many, many paintings “researching” their technique and brush stroke. There were many art museums I fond myself in that I had the security guards watching me rather closely. This was my Art School and still is today. I learn most by observation. I’m recently adding a few lessons from Wilson Bickford, a locally renowned artist in oil, to help me branch out in this area.

In November of 2018, I had 3 pieces accepted into the NCAC Juried Art Show in Watertown, NY. This was a thrilling time for me, as this was my first experience in a Juried Art Show.
In September 2019, I was priviledged to be in the St. Lawrence County Arts Council 2019 Remington Arts Festival which, is also a Juried art show. Again, in November of 2019 I had 5 pieces accepted into the NCAC Juried Art Show in Watertown, NY.

As always, If you have ideas for any art classes you'd like me to teach, if you live locally, or if you'd like me to paint something...feel free to ask.

God bless,

Brenda

Birds...Here's a tidbit of personal information to share:  you will always see a minimum of 2 birds in my artwork or you will see 2 birds in my signature 🦅🦅 when the artwork doesn't allow for birds. Why?  For me, birds flying are a symbol of freedom. The freedom is significant in my life for several reasons. First, is freedom in my Faith, my (some would say "religion", but I prefer Faith) I am a Believer in Christ who Saved me. To me, this is significant.

Second, the birds signify freedom from depression and suicidal ideation and loneliness...and of course the problems which follow these.

Third, freedom from my fight with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). Some people consider MS, when they first here the diagnosis, to be a "death sentence".  I did not.  I was extremely glad to receive this diagnosis.  I had fought for 15 years with "unusual symptoms" and medical doctors would give me all sorts of reasons for them from "It's all in your head", to "Fibromyalgia", to "Myofacial Pain Syndrom", to...well...others with more interesting names that really didn't tell me much and didn't really "fit" but got me "out of the doctor's hair for awhile".  So, not believing these diagnosis, I pushed on to continue my search for answers.  I hit on a Neurologist who "thought outside of the box" so to speak.  After more of the usual tests and a few others which were more than "the usual", he came back with the diagnosis of "MS".  Most people cry because they are upset with this news.  I cried because I was happy to finally be validated in my own suspicions as to what I had all along for many years.  While my Multiple Sclerosis is mild and considered stable right now, there are many people who do not have this luxury. I fight...and "fly on" with every painting I can do. 🦅🦅  Thus, another reason for the birds in my paintings.  When you see a painting that you think might be one of mine...look to see if there are at least 2 birds in flight ...or... in my signature 🦅🦅 

Greetings All, 

This is "Broken Fence". This delightful 8" x10" acrylic painting will be the subject of the class held in the Canton Free Library. Class will begin at 6:00 pm (to approx. 8:00 pm). Class date is Wednesday, January, 22.

If you are local to me, I look forward to your joining me.  Feel free to sharing this information.  You can find the information to access this class in the Facebook Events. 

My hope is to be doing painting classes off and on throughout the year, both in Canton, NY as well as in Gouverneur, NY.   

Again, if you have questions for me or comments, don't hesitate to ask.  I'm new at this and alays willing to delve into the new.

Take care, 

Until next time,

God bless, 

Brenda Maxson

Greetings Everyone,

Since this is my very first blog entry, I'm sort of playing it by ear, not really knowing what to do.  Let me first say to you, that I will be sending out these blog posts as emails. I hope to post approximately every 2 weeks.  I don't really want to crowd your mail box with a lot of nonsense stuff, so suffice it to say, what I will really be doing is just giving you is brief updates on what I'm doing and planning.  Who knows, if I can, I might even ask for suggestions for future classes.  What do you think?  (If you want to Unsubscribe, please let me know.)

Ok...with that out of the way...the first thing I have on my mind is this...

I'm planning another Painting Class.  Sound good?  This one is for those of you who are interested in Landscapes.

It will be held again in Canton Free Library, in Canton, NY, on January . I've not done the sample painting yet, but watch the Facebook Events page for my upcoming Event so you can secure your spot.  As it was last time, the class will probably be limited to 12 persons, please.  And you can pay through Paypal.  You do not need to have a Paypal account in order to be able to pay through Paypal.  I"ll provide my Paypal account information link on the event page and it is quite secure. 

So...Mark your calendars....

See you there,

Brenda