Lily

How could I forget this little face?

I painted her a long time ago... back when I was just beginning and learning about teeth and hair and folds in clothes and wrinkles in skin and shapes of eyes and making arms look round.

Somehow she never got to star in her own blog post... 
Better late than never!
What a cutie!

:) My Marcia

My Marcia...
My sister-in-law... my sister-in-heart...
My biggest fan...
My biggest supplier of inspiration...
I will miss you so...

My first Etsy sale as WordWeaverArt... sits in your kitchen window...

My first attempt at a painting a baby... your sweet Abby...

My first attempt at painting folded cloth and adding shaded areas... your sweet Eve...

My first attempt at glass... you said its colors were perfect... it needed to hang in your bathroom...

You loved your giclee for  over a year... Then you saw the original... We traded... I sold the giclee instead... 

That first baby growing up... Your Abby

A housewarming surprise when you moved to NW Arkansas...  Listed as "Feeding the Ducks,"  but I wanted to call it "Celebrating Life" for the good times of enjoying life after chemo...Memaw with her Eve...

Just down the road from you...hung in your living room all year round even though it had Christmas stockings

Your Jacob...

Wearing your favorite blue... bigger now... your Eve...

Although it's still "for sale"... it hangs on your wall while it waits... your Jacob...

Pretty little flower girls... just did it to sell... permanent loan wasn't enough on this one... sold several giclees... original in your living room...

A big surprise... it was supposed to be about the little one... you made me go back and 
un-fix Anthony's pointer finger to paint it with the crook... your Gideon...

Your Leah...

Your Stephen...

Painted once for me... again for her mama... again for her Memaw...Your Leah...

Your Leah...

The picture you always say is your favorite... that you hope doesn't sell for a long time... that you refuse to take home with you because you like to see it when you come here...

How blessed are we to have had you for a sister...

Three Silly Goats Gruff

What made you smile this week?

These goats, especially the guy on the end, have made me smile every time I looked at them.  Once that one, Percy, was finished, it was hard to concentrate on the other two.  He just kept grinning at me and my paintbrush.  He's become my friend, and I just may have to paint him again!

Hmmm... What else...?

• Painting with my Tuesday-night painting friends... It's the best thing ever to have friends who paint together, encourage each other and laugh a lot.
• Watching my 10-year olds work so hard on their state tests... They couldn't have tried harder, and I'm so proud of them!
• Going to our church children's choir spring musical... 
• Seeing the daffodils by the driveway that finally got to bloom...
• Taking a selfie with my momma.
• Seeing the Facebook post of my nephew hugging his little girl on his return from Afghanistan.

A big thank you goes out to "Southern Gal" for letting me paint her goats, Gabby, Gladys, and Percy!  Visit her blog to read about and see more pictures of these goats and their babies.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

To Church We Go!

Do you ever paint your family?

All the time!  It's just that I have all these good looking brothers and sisters who've provided me with all these beautiful nieces and nephews who have given us all these adorable kiddos!  

The pop here just happens to be "Little Curt"... only a little older. :)
And the big brother was the star of "Mama's Kiss" a few years ago. :)

This is another example knowing I wanted to paint this from the first minute I saw it.  When my niece posted this picture, I immediately told her how much I loved it.  She told me the picture's story which was even better than I'd imagined.  They were on their way to Christmas Eve services.  My reaction?  "Oh, Katie!  I love that... but do you have to live in San Francisco!  Could we pretend you live in Wisconsin so there would be snow?  Maybe your church could be a little white wood building with a steeple on top? And, there could be twinkling lights in the trees?"  But, no... that's a different story.  I love this one just the way it is.

This is also another example of me getting myself in trouble by trying to change things.  There was originally a large space between them; the nana and the little one were actually quite a bit further behind the other two.  I knew I'd have to deal with the shadows, but I didn't think further.  By moving them closer together, it messed up the placement of where the trees fell. Although unexpected, that one wasn't too hard.  The big problem came after I realized that the two in front were smaller because they'd have been farther away.  Unfortunately, I didn't catch that little issue until after I was quite a ways into the painting... Anyway, after a little time of depression over it, I got back to it.  Some things are worth the trouble.

Although I've never seen this little church, I am so thankful for it.  It welcomed my own "little one" into its open arms when he moved to California last year. :)

[SOLD]