The New Year is underway and Jan is busy painting up a storm. One never knows how the New Year will begin. Sometimes she has difficulty, creatively, when going back to painting after holiday break. This year is wonderful. When she’s on a roll, I do the dinner and assist all I can. Don’t do washing of clothes. Don’t know how. Think black and white go together. I do lots of other housekeeping chores and allow her all the support I can so she is able to paint. I am sure we will have a nice selection of paintings and gicleé prints for you to view at our new Spring show in Ohio.

We have decided that changes are due. We will drop the Boston Mills Art Festival after over twenty years of showing there. Changes have been made by management and changes in our ability to do shows have also taken place. We will be showing Jan’s work at the Cuyahoga Falls Sheraton Hotel, located between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. For details, see our 2006 Calendar. We will bring the photo books to the show and you can see the changes in her work over the years. I photograph each painting and we have five big books of paintings she has completed. We’ll, also, bring a couple paintings painted in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and the first oil painting she ever painted. It’s so nice to see the journey of an artist.

On January 28, 2006, we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. That’s a lot for most folks but, for Jan to put up with me that long, makes one believe in miracles. Our first house was a single garage made over into a house. I previously wrote about a funny event that happened there in these pages but a few women thought it too personal for the public, so we removed it from the site. If you come to the show I might tell you the story. Life can be so much fun if we allow it to be so.

I do thank you for supporting the career of one who is close to my heart.

Gil (with Jan’s approval)