Smoky Mountain Stream

 

I'd love to spend some time sitting on a big rock right there. 

I think there are "beach people" and "city people" and "lake people" and "big-sky people"... Which one are you? I think we're "mountain people."

Ron especially loves stopping at creeks and just spending time watching the water flow over the rocks. Here are some photos from some time we spent in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee a while back.  I used one of them as a reference for this painting.

This pretty little stream is my response to the third art challenge with my friend Cheri.  This week's challenge was "Rocks."

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

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Old Barn in the Smokies

I love old barns... The old wooden ones with the rusty metal roofs... The one like my grandma and grandpa had... Barns that were filled with cows and hay and plows and mules and kittens and ropes and chains and buckets... 

Maybe my favorite paragraph ever is the one that describes the barn in Charlotte's Web.

The barn was very large.  It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure.  It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows.  It often had a sort of peaceful smell - as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world.  It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber  boots and of new rope.  And,  whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish.  But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft up overhead.  and there was always hay being pitched down to the cows and the horses and the sheep.

.... Sigh... 
Thank you, E.B. White, for painting such a beautiful description with words.

When I started looking for a picture of a barn to paint, I remembered this one that I took this a few years ago when we were in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

I painted it, finished it, and photographed it.  But, didn't blog about it because something wasn't right.  I just left it on an easel and avoided looking at it. 
Finally, I sucked it up and really looked at it to see what one little thing or two needed to be tweaked... ummmm... or seven or eight things...

1. The tree back looked like a lollipop.
2. The road made it look like the barn was sticking out its tongue.
3. The tree in front was too small and messed up the whole perspective.
4. The back field was too light and looked like a scum-covered pond.
5. The back row of trees was too green and looked like a giant inchworm.
6. The first mountain was too dark.
7. There was a lot of the same green going on.
8. The grass was boring.

Sometimes the painting fairies come in during the night and make a painting look better than I thought it had.  Sometimes I just have to do it myself. 

I love the final finished version.

I can just imagine all the work and joy and stress and daily routines and life that went on in that barn when it was new.  

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 20" Wrapped Canvas.
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Canoe in the Smokies

How often does something truly exceed your expectations?

We wanted a "grown-up" vacation, but we weren't  sure what that meant or how to go about finding it.   
So, we started with questions.  
Where's a calm area of the country?
Where's a beautiful area we haven't seen?
Where's an airport that doesn't block our free air miles on the days we want? (Actually, this is the one that trumped the others.) 
We settled on the Great Smoky Mountains.

It seemed like a good time to try a bed and breakfast, so I did a Google search, found one with a room available, clicked, and we packed our bags.
We'd stumbled onto a place called Berry Berry Springs Lodge. I"m not sure how to explain it without sounding like a paid advertisement.  

I can start with adjectives... tranquil, calm, peaceful, beautiful, quiet, lovely, fresh, charming, serene, romantic, pristine...
It completely exceeded our expectations.

This painting was taken at one of the ponds on the property.... sigh...

Enjoy a beautiful and peaceful Etsy treasury (collection of related art pieces and vintage items) that includes this painting.  It's called Gimme a Break.  Then click Olaces We Dream to Go then dream about going to those dreamy places!

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