14. Potpourri

POTPOURI Gift Catalog contacted me and my husband about doing a cover with our wooden carolers. "Of course!" we said (who doesn't want their art on the cover of a major Christmas catalog?) Then the order came- 3000 pieces, to be completed in 3 months! They called to make sure we could complete the order: could we hire more employees if needed? I said I would check the computer. I had no computer (or employees) but assured them that we would get the order done in time, which we did.

We worked every day except Thanksgiving and I swore I'd never paint another caroler again. But then a store in Connecticut called in a panic. Could we please send another set to them ASAP! Apparently, Jim Henson of Muppets fame bought a complete set of 13 and asked the storekeeper to hold 2 weeks until he returned to England. An uninformed clerk then sold them to Ron Howard, the film director, by mistake.

13. Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins

NADI CO. was a business my husband and I had for 15 years. Back in 1990 Halloween items for the home were called "decorations." We created Halloween "art" - the only booth that year at Beckman's Gift Show in Los Angeles to do so. We were swamped with orders. At a craft show in La Canada, people lined up to purchase and we sold out.

THIS PUMPKIN was our best seller. A big chunk of my life was spent making hundreds of them. I kept the pattern (above). It fills me with joy, partly because they are laughing, but mostly because it was a special time.  I could work at night when the children slept, so I could be with them during the day. It was challenging. And I realized I could make a living painting.

EVENTUALLY,  I gave up working in wood and switched to watercolor paintings. Still, I occasionally create pieces cut from wood. I've been working on a show for 2 years now, called "Cut From the Same Cloth" in my spare time. All the pieces are cut from wood. They are more sophisticated than laughing pumpkins and I have more skill now. But the joy in making them is the same. It just feels too good not to.

12. A Good Start

I'VE BEEN MEANING to frame this for 43 years. It just keeps getting put on the back burner. (Or maybe I should say hot plate?) This was my first ever home. I had met the man I later married and we shared the single bed on the right. Craig, who would be the Best Man, slept on the bed on the floor. Boogie, a hamster I inherited from a previous roommate, slept in the third drawer down.

MEALS were cooked on a hot plate, and an ice chest served as refrigerator. Tye-dyed sheets supplied by Yosemite Park & Curry Co. We had all the necessities – heat, food, music, art and love.

IT WAS a good start.

11. Animal Pancakes and Elton John

IT'S 1970.  I left home. I'm 18 years old. And when I say "left" I mean running down the driveway, chased by my Dad, jumping in the bed of my friend's truck, and watching Dad grow smaller and smaller. And when I say "left" I mean jumping scared with both feet into a world of possibilities. I spent that night on the floor of Tina's bedroom, staring at the ceiling, never happier.

I STAYED with Tina's family until I graduated from High School a few months later, and then, having just painted a mural in the school gym for the large sum of $150, I finally began my journey by answering an ad for work in Yosemite National Park. I spent half of my total net worth on a pair of desert boots and a brown corduroy coat to match, confident that I was armed suitably for a new life.

MY FRIEND Janet drove me to the park. Neither of us had ever been there.  We pulled into Inspiration Point and looked at each other, speechless. As we drove towards Camp Curry I knew better than to hope- it was too good to be true. I could be living in the most beautiful place in the world. Then my first interview– I was told that if I could be back by tomorrow I could have the job. I was screaming before I got out the door. Janet and I held hands, jumping up and down, laughing and crying and hugging.

I MEANT to spend 6 months in Yosemite, but it turned into 2 amazing years. I learned about snow, animal pancakes, Elton John, friendship, and love. And, oh, I painted. Every chance I got. Living and painting in Yosemite ignited something in me that has burned for many years. Having experienced magic in the world once, you can never go back to a life without it. 

10. Just Start

I CAN procrastinate like a pro! I know I'm doing it, I know I don't like to do it, and I even know how to stop doing it. Most times I shrug it off; I'm good with deadlines. But occasionally, and usually with a person portrait, it can go on for a tad too long for my comfort.

THAT'S WHEN I have to close my eyes and visualize this painting, called Lion Reading, which hangs in Kaweah Delta hospital, in Visalia, CA. I painted it 16 years ago, in 1998. I was still struggling with making my living as an artist after a divorce, and also raising a 7- year old daughter, Bronwen, no money, not sure when the next commission would come. So I designed this 8'x8' painting, to present to the hospital in hopes of selling it.

I GOT a good part of the painting done, but when it came to painting Lion's eyes I froze. He's telling an exciting story so his eyes needed to be bright and opened, but NOT crazed. He's not going to EAT the young animals! 

A DAY went by- then another. A week. Finally, frustrated by my lack of confidence, Bronwen came up to me, handed me a paintbrush, fully loaded, with that look on her face that meant I know all things, and said "Just start. You'll figure it out." Yeah, that's my girl. 

I DID start, I did figure it out, and I sold it to the hospital for a whopping $5000, enough money to allow me to take a breath and go forward. And today, right after I post this, I am going to get up from the computer, load a paintbrush and "just start."

9. Why I Use an Orange Ground Color

YOU THOUGHT I had artistic insight and esoteric jargon to explain why I use orange as a base color. Maybe you hoped to learn about color theory or how color conveys light.

I COULD SAY it's because it creates movement in a painting, or that it suggests a wood-block or stained-glass feeling. I could say it makes the other colors pop, or that it directs your eyes around the painting.  I wouldn't be lying.

BUT THE straight-up truth: I have, in my whole life, never loved a coat as much as I loved this one. Whenever I wore this coat, I felt like I was soaring above the trees on my way to school.  It was my Superman cape, my butter on toast, a puppy hug.

NOW, 50 years later, I paint in clothes covered in acrylic paint. I have a closet full. But, once in a while, I'll be pushing green paint along an orange canvas when a little jolt goes through me and I'm wearing my magic coat. And I'm soaring.

8. I Have White Hair Because I Have Dogs

Watercolor painting by Renny Spencer

I HAVE white hair because I have dogs.

WHEN I was much younger I dreamed of having EVERYTHING. To be an artist- to have a family- to own a house with a picket fence (a brown one though) with lots of dogs. So I went out and got them. At one point our house held a husband and me, 7 children (3 of them foster kids), 2 Bullmastiffs, a Samoyed, a Dalmatian, a Papillon, and 11 cats.  I joined a Canasta group, made Halloween costumes, and ran a home business selling woodcraft. I bought boots and make-up and hair color.

AS TIME went on, I tweaked the details of my dream. I had to choose between my art and my husband, and (after 20 years deciding), chose my art. I exchanged the mortgage for monthly rental in a series of small but charming homes, and struggled to keep on top of things while raising 4 daughters. I started giving up things that weren't important. Who needs TV?

THE GIRLS eventually left home, and my career and my dogs kept me busy. I felt I could finally get a studio away from home and found the perfect spot. It was September 1st, 2001. I took the plunge. Two weeks later the bombing in New York shook the world, the recession hit and I didn't have a commission for a year.

I KEPT my studio. But I gave up everything that wasn't home, food or vet bills. I stopped driving to other places- gas was too expensive. I gave up wearing make-up and finally, I stopped coloring my hair.  I don't miss any of it.

RECENTLY, I've switched my focus to dog portraits, and business is booming. I paint every day. Two of my daughters are living here in town, and I have a grandson. I still don't have television or a cell-phone, and I walk to work. I love my family, my friends, my dog, and even my white hair.

LIFE has weeded out the nonsense and left me with the stuff of dreams.