I'm going to be painting in Paris, France (Luxembourg Gardens area) May 5-10, then in the Avignon/L'isle sur la Sorgue, Provence area till the 16th.  Heading to Venice for 3 nights and then traveling through the Le Marches,Italy the 19th-22nd.  Then will be in Orvieto, Umbria for the next 4 nights.  
I'm hoping to hook up with some other painters as I'm traveling with a non painting group and if you're a painter you know how hard that can be!  I'm really excited to be hooking up with plein air painter, Kelly Medford in Orvieto...but there are lots of other days :)  
Let me know!  email- marianna@mariannaduford.com
This is me painting in Valle di San Martino, Italy years ago and the studio painting that I did from my plein air watercolor!  Can't wait for new places and experiences! 

I made some "secret" goals this past New Years Day.  Secret as in I was afraid to say them outloud...but I wrote them down.  I've never done this before.
 
According to the experts of making good things happen in your life you need to visualize what you want.  You need to believe in what you want and most importantly you have to believe it's what you deserve.  In the meantime you also need to take deliberate steps to help these goals come to fruition. 

This is the good stuff that has happened since then!
1)  My paintings are moving in the galleries that are carrying my work.  
2)  I have a one person show hanging in the Summit County Commons in Frisco, CO.  
3)  I was accepted into "The Summer Art Market" June 6th and 7th at the Art Students League of Denver.  
4)  I was accepted into an art show in Salida, CO for July, (I had to decline the invitation as my family is coming to visit the same week!)...but it wasn't a reject letter!  
5)  I was selected to be one of 16 invited local and national artists to plein air paint for the "WILD FOR COLORADO" event held in July in Breckenridge, CO.  An art event that benefits the Continental Divide Land Trust of Summit County.  
6)  I just recieved an invitaion today to be one of 16 locally and nationally renowned artists to plein air paint for the "Capturing the Beauty of the Open Land" event for the Douglas Land Conservancy, Douglas County, CO.
7)  I'm getting to go to France and Italy for the month of May to paint, drink wine and enjoy life with 6 of my girlfriend "homies" from my Renaissance Festival days.

I do have a point, believe it or not.  Its been a long road since I started following my dream of being a full time painter, a road sometimes filled with doubt and anxiety.  There are over 4 million artists in our country alone.  How do you "make it" and how do you make it happen?  Where do you set the bar on what you consider success in your chosen field.  Most of society bases success on how much money you make and unfortunately many artists think you have to be poor to make your dreams come true.  I've been reading like crazy and attending seminars and listening to webinars and some of their advice is finally sinking in and I've finally started putting it into my daily life.  

It's a little like the children's story of "The Little Engine that Could".  The little engine is having great difficulty trying to make the top of a huge hill and says, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...I KNOW I CAN!  I'm turning 62, (jeeze), this year and my career in art is finally going somewhere.  I've stopped sitting in my studio waiting to be "discovered".

OLD HABITS DIE HARD and that voice in our head that murmers and fills us with doubt is hard to silence.  It's hard to stop giving credence to a lifetime of self doubt and to start thinking and making positive things happen.  The first step to making these changes is to write what you want to accomplish down and keep that list where you will see it often and then stop wishing and hoping and start taking affirmative action to help make the list reality.

I need to thank all of you that have been supportive and those of you that have become collectors of my art.  You have all been a HUGE part of this journey and hope you all stick around for the ride.  I even have to thank those of you that have had words of criticism as even that has helped shape my path.

Wishing you all a fabulous day and a fabulous life...I can't wait for the next good thing to come down the road!

I'll be posting paintings and blogging while on my trip to France and Italy, (when I have wifi) ...check in to see what happens!