"White Poinsettia" -- oil on canvas -- 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

If I hadn't had a mole removed from my leg in October, this painting wouldn't have been done. I had been watching the scar for 2 months and thought it might not be healing right. Went in to get the doc to check it out last week, just to be on the safe side. Whew -- all is fine, she said. When I lived downstate, I'd usually treat myself after a doctor's (or dentist's) visit by going clothes-shopping. Up here, my need for clothes has changed. Dressing-up up here in the hinterlands, according to my realtor, means "putting on clean jeans and your newest boots".

Instead of hunting down a new frock, I went to the grocery store and bought a filet mignon and this pretty poinsettia. I'm one of the world's experts at killing poinsettias, however. I knew I'd have to use it in a painting -- and paint fast!

See the Christmas-patterned tablecloth? I quickly learned to regret having chosen it. It was quite the bitch to paint. I hope I gave the illusion of receding space, although I might be tinkering with it later.

I love gnomes and wanted to feature this guy. How he survived the move from Farmington Hills up to Eastport I think is some kind of miracle. That flower flute he's playing is quite fragile.

That poor poinsettia! Not only was it doomed in my care, but it also was beseiged by my 2 little kitties, who took great joy in battering it when they had the chance. I had to set the plant up on a high cabinet when I left the studio for the day.

Winter here along the NW coastline of Michigan is typically overcast, with lots of lake-effect snow. I think we had one sunny day while I painted this. I really prefer strong sunlight, as it gives good patterns of sun & shadow. Alas, it was lacking most of the time, so the lighting in this painting is softer, with less defined shadow patterns.

Yesterday morning I came into the studio and decided to add the plate of cookies. I had plenty of plates, but no cookies. Did I stop and mix up dough and bake cookies? Hecky, no! They're totally invented. Not on my diet, anyway.

Was glad to get this one finished, as my bi-color amaryllis just opened up. Stay tuned for an amaryllis painting.....

"Gnome for the Holidays" -- oil on canvas -- 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

People always ask me what my inspiration for a painting was. In this case, it was the ancient accordion I happened to see high on a shelf in Petals, a flower shop in Charlevoix, MI. The woman told me she used to play accordion (me, too!) and she'd found this old instrument out in a Las Vegas pawnshop. Reminds me of "Accordion Crimes" by Annie Proulx -- one of my favorite novels, by the way.

I thought this was such a cool accordion. I dared to ask the woman if I might borrow it sometime to use in a still life painting. To my utter surprise, she said yes. She'd never seen me before, but was willing to let me whisk away her accordion! This would only happen in the rural Midwest! As a thank-you, I bought a bunch of lime green fuji mums, which I managed to incorporate into this painting.

My friend Ev had been suggesting to me that I should paint a musical instrument-themed still life. Now that I had the piece-de-resistance, I could build the rest of the setup. Ev loaned me the cornet, guitar and violin.

I had the gnomes. This big one in the center is from Meijer's garden department. Usually it's stationed right inside my front door, greeting all vistors in its namaste pose. The other gnome in the back I brought up from my old digs in Farmington Hills. How it survived the move without being broken, I consider a minor miracle.

Found those great, old vintage poinsettia glasses in Consign Design, in Charlevoix. I love old schlock like that! The poinsettia tablecloth was from my "early garage sale collection".

For reasons I can't really explain, I had to set everything atop a tropical print with turquoise and golden palm leaves. Maybe it's locked way into some subconscious fantasy about spending Christmas down on a desert island.

The cookies are entirely made up, from memory. The miserable grocery stores up here have the nastiest, most pathetic cookies you could imagine! I'm trying to cut the carbs, so I didn't want to bake any. Plus, I'm too impatient to stop & bake cookies when I'm inspired to start a new still life. But I do remember how Christmas cookies USED to look. They're sitting on a Depression glass plate I inherited from my mom.

Swirling around in the back are branches from one of the neighbor's bushes. They sure look like some kind of cranberry to me. By the time I finished this, they were dried-out mummies.

What was the hardest part about this painting? Painting the musical instruments! Unlike a squash or apple, they have to be ACCURATE. And those accordion keys -- oy vey! Early on, I'd painted in the accordion, then when I came into the studio the next day I saw it was all skewed. I'd stood close to the canvas, looking down on it. It looked OK at that angle, but from across the room, it was very much "off". As usual, I did LOTS of wipe-outs on this. But I'm pronouncing it done!