The Birds, Ladybugs & X-ray

 Ladybug Green

6" by 8" acrylic on canvas board

April 19, 2013

Butterfly on Magenta Flower

6" by 8" acrylic on canvas board

April 22, 2013

Hummingbird Lane

6" by 8" acrylic on canvas board

April 24, 2013

Here are a few little animals.  I guess I could have put them on one at a time, but they just seemed so lonely by themselves.  Funny, until I labeled them, I didn't realize they were all 6x8 canvas'.

When I started painting in 2009, I thought I'd paint daily and use the 6x8 canvas as my go-to size.  I bought a box of them, 125 I think.  Well, I have about 122 of them left!  Ha! Ha!  Not really, I've used several dozen of them, but there are still plenty, plenty, plenty.

Frankly, I don't feel like I've painted well unless I paint on a 9x12 or larger.  My favorite is the 11x14.  I also like the 12x16 and 14x18, 16x16 and 20x20.  Nothing bigger than that.  I did paint on a 12x24 and could barely handle it!  Last week, I got out a 20x30 and really couldn't handle that one anymore.

When I first started painting in 1984, I painted on 16x20, 20x24 and 20x30.  Once I even painted a 30x30.  That one is here in my living room and I love it, but can't imagine painting that large again.  I use it to mentally measure large sizes.  For instance, if I see someone has painted on a 36x48, I look at my 30x30 and mentally add the other inches then say "WOW"!

OK, enough about sizes.  Reminds me of X-ray.  When we would get ready to do a certain exam, we'd tell our student "Get me 2 11x14's, 1 14x17, 1 8x10 and 2 7x17's.  What ever!   My first weeks of school were like learning a new language spoken in numbers.  The cassette sizes, the room numbers, the MA, KVP and time all spoken in one or two sentences leaving out all the words.  I remember one night at dinner all I could do was recite numbers.  But I learned well.

When I spoke yesterday of being good at something, there was a day when the students asked me to teach them how to take sinus x-rays.  I said, "For heaven sakes, get one of the big girls to teach you", they responded "You are the best".  I will never forget how I felt that day.  I was one of "the big girls".  Something I never expected to be.  It changed my life professionally.  I became good at what I did and secure in the knowledge that I could do it.  I was finally good at something!  That was when I had the courage to go to Nuclear Medicine School and truly found my niche.