Blogging is all about sharing, whether it is sharing knowledge of your chosen subject,  sharing a laugh with your friends, or sharing your trials and tribulations. So I’d like to take the time to share with you, all of the wonderful people and sites that I’ve encountered since I started blogging.

There is Leslie, an amazing watercolourist and teacher, whose paintings are always so vibrant and who always takes the time to stop by and leave wonderful comments and gives practical advice when I need it (which is often!).

There is Peggy, another regular commenter, whom I admire for her dedication to her subject and exploration of line and tone.   Peggy injects a lot of humour into her paintings and drawings with her adventures of MsKitty – a cheeky little cat who seems to have it all!

Pam, is a newbie to art, like myself, and she is on her own personal and creative voyage of discovery.  Pam injects a lot of humour into her blogs with her very amusing little cartoon drawings. I also wish to thank her for her regular comments.

Then there is Karin.  Karin is a beautiful person, and an amazing artist who also takes time to comment when she can.  Her artwork is very personal, and often documents her fight against cancer.  She is an incredibly strong and positive woman, who I am full of admiration for.

Other sites I recommend and visit daily are:

Carol Nelson’s Fine Art, where Carol is creating 100 oil paintings in 100 days.  All of the paintings are from portrait photographs sent to her via her blog, and done in her own style but they are incredible likenesses to the original. I truly admire her grit and determination.

Daily Painter’s Abstract Gallery where artists are invited to paint daily and submit their images.  There are some truly incredible artworks and artists on display here.  Brilliant if you feel your inspiration drying up!

Art Studio Secrets – does exactly what it says on the tin!  There are demonstrations of paintings and techniques, and you can sign up to workshops. There are tips and advice on a daily basis.  A great little site.

Creativity Journey – Myrna teaches art in a workshop environment and promises to create 2 paintings per week, specialising in figurative and portrait character studies. She also has another site which is dedicated to drawing a self portrait every day for 365 days.  An incredible workrate if you ask me!

M E Bailey Art – Mike is also a workshop instructor and imparts his vast knowledge on painting to his blog readers.  There is an amazing wealth of information on his site, and is a must.

The Altered Page, run by Seth, a mixed media artist and photographer. He shares his own work, while showcasing other artists.  Secret Sunday is a great article where other artists come together and share their secrets on everything art-related.  A truly wonderful site. Again, I’d like to thank Seth for his comments.

The Virtual Paintout, a fantastic site run by Bill Guffey, who came up with the idea to paint images from Google Street View. Each month Bill will post a placename, and artists must choose images from Street View to interpret how they wish.  A brilliant idea!

And lastly…The Screenplay…I wanted to leave this one to the very last, because I think it deserves special mention.   This site is run by Mark, a wonderful human being.  Mark is a humour writer.  There is no artwork, just his trials and tribulations in life.  His posts are always full of hilarity and is guaranteed to make me laugh out loud.  Mark lost his son Jake to Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in January this year, around his 20th birthday – not much older than my daughter. You can read about Jake in a dedicated post. What amazes me is that even with everything Mark was going through, he was still able to come by and leave lovely comments, just to let us know he was still around even if he couldn’t stop by more often.  He shared his feelings that he was blessed to have had an amazing son, whom he shared 20 years of his life with.  Mark and Jake are true inspirations to us all, and I feel humbled that I got to know Jake via his blog, even if only briefly.

I wish to thank everyone listed here for their regular input, continued inspiration and motivation.

In the spirit of sharing, I wish to share this blog award, given to me by Leslie, with all of the above people, and which you can pass on to others who inspire you or bring a little sunshine into your lives. Just copy and paste into your page.