The closing months of 2011, and indeed the beginning of 2012, have not been easy. I am struggling with a health issue (ongoing) that is severely limiting what I’m able to do, but it is being aggressively investigated and I hope there will be improvement in the coming months.

More sadly, our beloved dog BB, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, started deteriorating sharply in December. She made it through Christmas and New Year, but last week we made the choice to have her put down as her quality of life had become very minimal. Of course it was (and is) extremely sad, but she was 15 years old, a very good age for a dog of her size and breed, and she had had a good life with us, so we were able to do one final act of kindness for her. For the first time in 16 years, we now don’t have a dog in the house, and it seems very quiet. The three cats are not quite sure what to make of it all either.

A few days prior to BB’s passing, I started painting a portrait of her, determined to push through my own health issues. I was able to work on it for two days but I haven’t been back to it since. Luckily, this is not a problem with the Genesis paints! I am very pleased with the progress of it so far, but more than a little frustrated that my health is preventing me getting back to work on it. Here’s a photo of how it looks at the moment – it’s on a 20″x16″ canvas.

BB painting, work in progress

I hope you all had a better Christmas/New Year than we did, and I hope we all have a better 2012 than 2011 was.