Julia & Me, B.F.F.E

What a pleasure it was to be asked to paint this picture!  

Those two smiling little girls... what a carefree, joy-filled, happy childhood they shared.

My last name was POwell, and hers was REeves. On the first day of first grade when the desks were lined up in alphabetical rows, she was right behind me. That was where it all began. 

We got our first at-school spankings together. (Swinging double wasn't allowed.)

She was a town kid and I was a country kid, so we loved going to each other's houses... walking to hers, riding the school bus to mine.

Dozens of slumber parties where we stayed up all night.

Hundreds of cartwheels and round offs across the yard.

Thousands of flips on the monkey bars on the playground. 

Millions of antics that are just to silly to explain.

That's us in white shirts doing the splits.

My excuse for the pants would be that it was 1976, the Bicentennial year, and everyone was crazy for red, white, & blue; however, when I look at our first grade class photo (I'm front & center) I see that my choice of pants wasn't much better. 

Julia's in the back of the third row... same haircut as me. (I assume that sitting near each other didn't last long as we were talkers!)

My family had a lake down the hill from our house.  I'm sure we'd spent an afternoon on the bank or in the boat. And, I'm also sure that we didn't wear life jackets or have an adult watching us, or carry a cell phone... How did we survive!

As for the fish... I believe we took a butcher knife (as you do as kids...) and cut the top off a milk jug, filled it with water, and she took the fish home where it lived (for a short time, poor thing) in her swimming pool!!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Willowing Arts: A Year of Light (July)

Another month, another batch of mixed media lessons from Willowing Arts: A Year of Light.

I Like... (7/25)

Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like the way this flamingo plant blooms.

I like that my houseplants get to spend several months outside.

I like garden tomatoes.

I like working on my computer or reading outside.
Forest friends always stroll by and take my attention.

I like my row of flowers.

I like watching a mama hen teach her little ones how to be chickens.

I like squirrels... when they are in storybooks or parks...
not when they're in my garden pots.

 I like marigolds.
They're a humble little flower, but they add color to the garden all summer long.

 I like this cute little ugly stage that the chicks are in as their feathers are growing in.
  

I like... wait... Zoom in!!! Do you see him??

I like going to my small scrap (nearly worthless) scrap box,
putting pieces together, and making something from those scraps.

I like growing my own colorful food.

LeeAnne's  conversation starter topics this month:

Could you hula hoop? Did you or a friend have one and learn to use it? What do you remember about them?  I have hula hoops upstairs right now!  My grandlittles love them. They're only 6,6,5,4,3,2 years old, so I don't know that they hula hoop the right way, but they love to drag them around, arrange things in them, and pretend with them.

I just saw recipes for Fudgesicles would you want a fudgesicle or orange creamsicle?  While I would be happy with either, I'll choose the chocolate one every time.  

What Dairy Queen treat did you like best? Do you still eat ice cream treats?  When we go to Dairy Queen, I choose a Blizzard.  It will always be either a Heath Bar Blizzard or a Snickers Blizzard.

When I was very small, I remember going to the Dairy Queen in our small town every Sunday night after church.  We could either get a 10 cent cone with a swirl on top or a 10 cent coke.  But, alas... the price went up to 15 cents, and we couldn't go any more.

Do you like amusement parks?   Of course! Which one is your favorite?   Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri is the closest to us.  We took the kids there often when they were little.  We also did Six Flags near Dallas, Texas. A few years ago, we went to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  We spent half of our time going through the wonderful Dolly museum. But, of course, once you've been to Disneyworld, every other one pales. We've loved Disney at every stage of life, but Disney as adults without kids just might be our favorite.  Do you like rides or shows better?  I think we need both.

Happy Herd of Handsome Hefty Hereford Heifers on the Homestead

The world lost a special man this week. He was an Oklahoma cattleman, a dear friend, and one who my mother (who just didn't even try to remember names after her stroke) called "that pastor that we like."  (That one makes me laugh since it made it sound as if she didn't like the others.)

Art can be therapeutic. I thought of him as I worked on this piece.  I liked to imagine that these pretty cows were looking at him as he walked toward them.  He would have loved them.

It has been a long time since I've done a big oil painting.  It felt good to get back to it. 

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "Paint Something that Begins with the First Letter of Your Name."  So... 

Happy Herd of Handsome Hefty Hereford Heifers on the Homestead

** I know, I know...  couple of Angus and a Black Baldy got in the bunch...They didn't start with H, but I liked them.

Funny that this was the challenge.  I participated in a creative journaling workshop this spring.  It was done in a different way, but the same prompt was used.  I had fun with that "H" project too. Here's the poem I wrote for that one:

Hollyhocks and hummingbirds

Happy hens and healing words

 

A Honey-baked ham, a hot chocolate mug

Hearing hallelujah, holding a heartfelt hug

 

Harvesting herbs and homey heirlooms

Helpful hints and hotel rooms

 

The hues of hydrangeas, hawks in the sky

Hot hushpuppies heaped up high

 

Hanging hammocks and holiday plans

Handsome husband and holding hands

 

Hope… home… health…

Huge breath in… hold… and… Hhhhhhhhh…

 

Thanks to pexels.com for a great reference photo.

Original Oil Painting on 22"x 28" Wrapped Canvas

Click On the Homestead if you'd like to purchase this one.  I'm going to enjoy seeing it on my own wall while it waits for its forever home.

 

Painting with Middle School Kids

This is what happens when you have two dozen middle schoolers, happy attitudes, and some paint. Terrific art happens!

 

I needed a second small project to have enough to fill our allotted time, so I asked my brother about getting some little wood scraps to make little blocks they could paint to go along with their paintings.  Of course he had wood scraps.  But, he wondered why we wouldn't make something useful.  If we drilled holes in the top, they'd be pencil holders.  If we tacked a thin board on the bottom they'd be book ends.  Brilliant!

**On a funny note, kids asked, "What are book ends?"  Oh, my! I guess they can put their Kindles and iPads between them!!!

Their art made perfect decorations for their music performance at the end.

Original Acrylic Paintings on 16"x 20" Canvases
Their paints are priceless, of course.  If you'd to purchase my example, send me a note.

Willowing Arts: A Year of Light (June)

My Willowing Arts: A Year of Light lessons from June.

Drawing...watercolor... collage... two-page journal page spread...  splatter... image transfer...

All art fun.

Every Sunday night around 7:00, I love to hear my phone ping to let me know that there are new lessons posted and ready!