When Animals Mean A Little More....

A friend recently asked me to do a painting, which she planned to give to her mom as a gift.  There were several themes that she wanted included, all of which had strong symbolic meaning within her family. A dragonfly, lady bug, grasshopper, and black lab--along with playing cards.

The 2014 ARTZ Benefit

Last year, I donated a painting to Creative Solutions as part of a benefit for ARTZ, which you can read about here.  Maggie Barnes, the organizer has some inspired ideas for how to get artists to make art. This year, she provided a creativity kit, which contained a chocolate (bonus) and words. I was supposed to choose three words as prompts for a painting.

I let my 11yo son pick the prompts, and he chose strengthen, participate, and enrich.  I was trying to channel those words, but I'm not sure a lonely church is quite consistent.  I still like the painting, though-- it's moody and looks great in the frame.  (I'm feeling especially modest this evening.)

The painting is 5.5x8 inches, watercolor except for the church, which is overlaid with Caran D'ache crayon.  It is matted and framed to 12x16 inches.  The ARTZ benefit is March 1--that's coming fast.  If you've had a family member affected by Alzheimer's, think about joining us.

Field Oak.

This painting reminds me of Oklahoma.  (And, of course, it contains a tree.)  It can be really tough for the trees in Oklahoma--drought, ice, heat, and high winds.  We planted several trees on our property there--three burr oaks, for example, grown from acorns from trees on my father-in-law's property in Missouri.  We've also planted a burr oak here in Ohio.  Our Ohio tree has added several feet of growth over the last few years.  The oaks in Oklahoma?  They gained about six inches over years.  If you were feeling generous, you could have called them scrawny shrubs.

Barn & Fence, aka What Paintings Does My Husband Like?

My husband likes very little of what I paint. I'd say he runs about 10%. A strong compliment from him would be, "Nice."  If he doesn't like the work, there's usually a long pause, followed by, "Interesting."

Edit:  I should add, he's very supportive of my art, he's just particular about what he likes!