This month one of my favorite living artists, Francoise Gilot, passed away. Francoise was 101 years old and until the last few years of her life she was still painting every day. Doesn’t that make you smile so big?

I fell deeply in love with her work when my Grandma Jeanne gifted me one of her works almost 16 years ago. A piece by Francoise was also a gift to myself after my first royalty check arrived from my book The Painted Art Journal. My pieces by her are simple compared to her high priced paintings but they are true treasures to me.

Often remembered as the only woman to ever leave Picasso, her life and work was so much more than that.

I pray I live to her age and I truly hope I am painting the whole way!