Moving On

Greetings to All,

In 2009, a small band of Painting Buddies decided to continue weekly paint-outs after Joan Downey's Outdoor Watercolor class ended for the season. As the leaves turned and the frosts came, a few of us stayed in touch by email to coordinate our late season outings. In the spring, Veronica, who had been our convener, was in the throes of a family tragedy.  For me, as one of the group of late season painters, it was a simple matter to keep the emails going and stand in for Veronica as convener.  As things turned out, after Veronica returned, she preferred to retire to an advisory role, and I stayed on as convener.  In 2012, we became CT Shoreline Artists - CTSA - and in 2013, with our nominal membership booming to over one hundred, we launched the blog to avoid the email complications.

Now, after five years at the helm, I need to move on. When I declared my need for a vacation back in July, I fully intended to return as convener in October. I felt I just needed a break to get a number of projects wrapped up and  have a little down time. If Sally had not stepped in (and so ably) I would have just picked up and gone on after the summer.  But watching how deftly she has kept things going, and knowing that I still have a full agenda of personal issues ahead, I have asked Sally if she would take over as official convener of CTSA. And she has accepted.

I am not dropping out altogether. I will be available as backup for Sally, and I intend to rejoin the group for this year's late season outings and then again next year. I'll also hope to share photos and thoughts with you on the blog.

For me, change is an important part of life. It's essential to staying fresh and vital. I'm looking forward to this change and to the little snippets of time it will give me to not only keep up with life in general but to help me to focus more on my art. Thanks to all of you who have been supportive to me over the past five years and especially to the original Painting Buddies who hatched the idea and then let me run with it. It's been a wonderful time for me, in large part because it gave me a platform for getting to know so many of you, but also because over that time, we became a group that is both cohesive and inclusive - with always room for the next person to join in and feel welcome. That has always been my goal for CTSA, and I'm pretty sure Sally shares that vision. I know you will appreciate Sally's energy and ideas, as CTSA enters its next phase under her leadership.

I look forward to rejoining you wherever we may be painting in mid-October.

/j