Dickson Street II

It seems like I haven't posted a new painting in a long time, but I have been painting! A lot... Really!
It's just that this last one felt like 25 little paintings that just happened to be all on one big canvas!  
10 cars...15 buildings... and all the stuff that goes with each one of those. 

I love to do a great big complicated piece every once in a while.  
It's just that it stays in the ugly stage for such a long time!  First it's just a great big bunch of colorful blobs. Slowly each blob takes shape then becomes a car or building or tree or sign. Finally the canvas is covered, and it looks like what it's supposed to be... except wonky and wrong.  
The writer in me knows that the rough draft and major revisions are finished, so it's time to edit.
Ugh... shape up the perspective here... fix the shape of this... make that look like it's further back... straighten those... add some shadowing... make that flatter... rounder... redder... darker... thicker... lighter... thinner... change that whole section... get rid of those... liven this up... tone that down... wipe this off... change the shape of that
Then one day... I sit back and look for the next glaring problem that needs to be fixed.  I search each little part... step away and look back at the whole... and  finally... my furrowed brow relaxes... and is replaced by a smile. 
That's when I find the thin brush with long bristles and move the the bottom corner of the canvas for one last thing...

Ahhhh....

How about a few fun facts about this painting:

I wanted to show how big it is.

* I painted a similar version of this a couple of years ago for my friend Melanie.
*This one is for my friend Mona.  The red Mustang at the center is hers.
* I asked her, When you think of me to you think of me in the red VW I had for 10 years or in the green one that I have now. The red VW bug about halfway down the line is mine.  
* Her husband's red truck at the far end of the line of cars has actually appeared in another painting.
* They're big Razorback fans, so "Go Hogs."  I like that better than a big Budweiser sign anyway.
* Finally, there needed to be something put on the signs on the fronts of the buildings, so why not the names of her grandchildren. I hope they each like their buildings!

Original Oil Painting on 24"x 36" Canvas
[SOLD]

When it Rains...

It started out to be a pretty relaxing Saturday.  We sat on the back porch and enjoyed watching the rain.

But the rain kept falling...
... and falling...
         ... and falling...

He'd been out there in the lightning pushing piles of leaves to let the water get across and over the road.

Then we just watched...

That's my garden. At this point the border has kept the water out.

** Spoiler alert... It gets completely covered.

When the neighbor's pond across the highway overflowed, our ditch became a river.

The Girls were my companions. I'm like the Pied Piper, they just follow me where ever I go.

That whole area is supposed to be green, and that line in the back left is has a road under it.  
The hill on the right is actually our pond... which has never overflowed... until yesterday...

Meanwhile, on the other side... that's a little scary.

What a helpless feeling...

The foundation is pretty high, so it didn't get inside at all... so thankful!

 If this was just a picture of a river, it would be really pretty.
But considering I was standing beside our garage...

That's Ron's little shed. It's plastic and just has lawn mowers and stuff like that.  It's okay.

During the afternoon we had a break in the rain and lightning for about two hours when there was only a light sprinkle.  The water left the front yard, and the chickens had a worm feast!

Ron went back out got rid of downed branches and limbs that were impeding the flow, cleared the gutters, and just looked around.

When the water comes over the top of your rain boots, there's not much point.

Then the rains returned... all... night... long...
No cable, no internet... just the phones telling us that we were under a flash flood watch... ummm.. got that message pretty clearly...

I heard we got 12 inches of rain.  
That's an awful lot of water.
Today the sun was shining.  It was a gorgeous day.  All is good.

Bikes, Blues, & Barbeque

Fun Weekend in Northwest Arkansas! They say 400,00 bikers roar into town. I don't know who counts them, but I believe it.

It is so fun to be in the middle of it. I love our town.

Dickson Street

"I want something 'Fayetteville-esque."
Oddly enough I understood what she meant.  
So... this painting is Fayetteville-esque.
If you've ever lived in or loved my city, you get it.

What makes it Fayetteville-esque?

... There's Old Main in the background. 

... The trees from the University lawns are in their autumn colors.

... That must be a Razorback license plate on the blue car.

... Of course, there's not an empty parking space anywhere.

... And... there are all the businesses that make Dickson Street... Dickson Street...

I put things into this painting that make it fun.

I spy... my red VW bug! the wheel of my husband's Harley! Melanie's SUV, DJ's mustang!

I think I spy...  Are those initials in the reflection of a window? Do those shutters look like an my own initials? And is that a letter on the orange building? Is that a name on the green car's license plate? How about on the red car's license? 

Could I also spy... Are those scribbles on the white sign, or does it have a message?  Is that a blur, or does it say something on the red dot sign?

Fun! Fun!! Fun!!!

She'll get to see it tomorrow morning! (along with my painting partners who want to be there.)  I hope she thinks it's "Fayetteville-esque!"  

I was pretty proud to finish this one.

With the frame, the bug won't hold much more. :)

Strawberry Ice Cream

I've never been an artist who chooses to do paintings based on a series, but I think I might be working on one right now. This is my second strawberry-inspired painting.  If I do a third, I think that makes it a series!

I wrote in my last post, that my strawberry picking adventure brought back so many long forgotten memories. It really did.  I know that I got my love for gardening from my mother; she the main gardener in my family. Being at her side as her little partner, she taught me so much that I never even knew I was learning.

I love the vegetables that I harvest, but my garden now is kind of... cute. My parents' garden was for food production; cute was never part of their plan.
We had long rows of corn, beans, tomatoes, and other vegetables along the side of our house, but in the back, beside the peach trees, we had a strawberry patch.  Every memory that comes to mind involves being bent over, (You do a lot of bending over in a strawberry patch.) I was a little thing, but I knew to put the runners back into the soil bed and out of the path.  I knew not to bother the little yellow and white blooms.  I knew that if I didn't bother the bees, they wouldn't bother me. I knew to gently check under the big three leaf greenery. I knew not to pick the almost red ones yet.  As I got older, I knew to walk slowly down the row with the water hose.  I knew to use a grapefruit spoon to cap the leaves off the top when we were getting them ready to freeze. I also knew how much sugar to pour on them. (But, I have to say that I have tried to un-learn that.)  And, I learned that the best way to eat a strawberry is when it's still warm from the sun... before it's been cooled or cut or washed... I know that horrifies some... a quick blow gets (most of) the dirt off and leaves 100% of the flavor.

I also remember that she often gave me a piece of Juicy Fruit gum to chew whenever we were about to go out and pick.  Yum!! That was always a treat... or... wait... was it a trick to keep me from eating the berries as I picked!

My mama is 89. Last week I sat on the porch with her one afternoon.  She rocked and I peeled peaches for about three hours. She asked me, "What did you learn when you were growing up with me?"  I thought of enough things that it pretty much filled the afternoon with conversation.

Thank you to Reagan Family Farms for bringing back such sweet memories.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]







And while you're clicking, check out my niece's blog, Adventures in Our Urban Landscape. She's the next-generation gardener, and I think she's found the balance between food production, beauty, and heritage. 
Imagine how much her kids are learning! 
I wonder if she gives them Juicy Fruit when they help pick... I'll have to ask. :)

The Square

Can you hear it?

Our farmers' market is so much more than a place to buy fresh vegetables and flowers...  It's an event!  We go on Saturday mornings whether we need anything or not.  It's not what's there; it's more what's not there! ... buy some fresh fruit, vegetables, or flowers... adopt a dog from the animal shelter... catch up with friends you run in to... look at the art...

I love to listen.  There are musicians - good ones and... not-so-good ones -  every few yards. They're strumming, singing, blowing, or tapping, dollar-filled cases open at their feet.    There's friendly bargaining, "How much are these?" And the seller always answers in a friendly way even though the price is marked if the buyer would have just looked at the sign.  Depending on the time of year, there are politicians who would love to have your vote.  And, rain or shine, there's the guy who proclaims that marijuana has benefits and should be legalized.  Most importantly, there is always lots of laughter - people who are at The Square are just happy.

There's so much to see, taste, and smell at a farmers' market.  But the next time you go, make it a point to listen. 

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