Painting! Painting! Painting!

I'm afraid I haven't taken much time to blog lately because we went to Atlanta for three days and then I was so tired from the trip that I didn't do anything for two days! I've found that I enjoy painting more than anything else I've tried for self-amusement. Mostly, I work in oils, but while I was in Atlanta and part of the time in the hotel room, I decided to try to do something with pastels. I had taken some books with me and decided to try one of the paintings in the book but to change it some so that it's an original. After I finished that, we went to supper with our friends and the restaurant manager came to talk with us after we finished. It turns out that he is a very interesting person!! He told us how he used to "ride the rails" when he was younger and then later on decided to go to college and he studied Art there. He finally settled on graphic art and his love is calligraphy now. He took out a piece of paper and made each of us a calligraphy writing and wrote our names for us along with his name. I asked him if he'd look at the pastel portrait I did of an Indian Maiden and give me his honest opinion since he too is an artist. He said that he loved it!

Here is the pastel of the Indian Maiden that I showed to him:

He was so kind and pleasant, that I asked if I could take his picture and try to paint him! He agreed and also let us take pictures with him. I went back to our room and decided to do a pastel portrait of him.

This is the result:

And finally, this afternoon, I decided to get back to my oils and paint my husband and I from a prayer card picture we had done a year ago.

Here is the result of that painting:

I LOVE TO PAINT!!

I spent the afternoon painting again today. I did the same thing on Sunday afternoon. Oh how I love to paint. I'm by far not a professional artist and can't hold a candle to many others out there, but it's something I love to do to pass time and it takes my mind off of everything else! I find it to be very relaxing! I've prayed about many things in the past and being able to paint is one of the things I've asked the Lord to help me to do, because I love to do it so much. I want to be good at it but really can't afford to go and take lessons! So I bought a few books and am teaching myself. Here are the newest paintings that I did Sunday afternoon and today with my new art set! These are not originals, but were copied from an art book I bought called "Flowers Wet-On-Wet". They're done in oils. Now all I have to do is buy the frames!

I spent the earlier part of the day going through my pictures from my trip to Florida with 2 of my daughters and 3 of my grandchildren. I printed out the ones I wanted and now will put them into a photo album.

I'm not sure what I'll paint next. I think I might just practice more on flowers before attempting more originals. I want to paint our Boxer soon though. Here is a picture that I did back in 1999 of our companion and friend "Sam". He was a Sheltie and the best dog we've ever had. He died from cancer at the age of 12 1/2. We miss him still.

It's Been a While!

I just returned from a wonderful week of fun in the sun in Florida with two of my daughters and three of my grandchildren! We had a wonderful time swimming each day and looking for seashells on the beach!

I'm afraid I haven't been posting too regularly lately! It's summer, what can I say? :) I've been reading as much as I can, which I love to do in the summer time! Just yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a new Artist Set for an unbelievable price!! It has all the mediums in it you could want!! Oils, Pastels, Watercolors, Pencils and Charcoal! The wooden box it all comes in, opens up to be used as an easel! I haven't painted or drawn much in the past 8 years. I stopped when I began working full-time! I got the urge to get back to it the other day as I was finishing the unpacking of the remaining boxes left since our move back into our house! I unpacked some of my paintings and rehung them in my room and that started the old urge to paint again! As some of you know, we had moved when my husband accepted the position of a Camp Director back in November of last year. Well..... needless to say that did not work out and we ended up going back to our previous employer, who gladly accepted him back! Praise be to God for that! We moved back into our home downtown, which didn't sell, by the way! One reason to be thankful for the lousy economy as someone said!

I'm going to try to start drawing and painting again! I'm so excited and can't wait to get back to it!

Here is a picture of my new Art set!!

Pandemics

A Pandemic?

It seems that when we turn on the radio, all we're hearing about now is the "Swine Flu Pandemic". A pandemic exists that has been around since almost the beginning of time: it's called "Sin".

Romans 3:10 "as it is written,
THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

Just as the medical world is seeking to intervene and put an end to this before it gets out of hand and kills thousands of people, there is a God who saw the desperate condition of mankind and sent a "remedy": His Son, to die for the sins of the world, and ALL who believe and accept Him as their personal Savior, will live. Just like a flu pandemic, no one will be safe unless they receive the vaccine. So it is with 'Sin', all of our own efforts will prove useless before a Holy God. The only "remedy" is receiving the sacrifice already provided, the sinless sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sin.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (NASB)

The Joys of Spring

One of the things I love best about spring, is not only gardening, but watching the birds! After being in Chicago for three weeks, I came home to find this lovely little Mourning Dove had built her nest on top of the outdoor ceiling fan on my upper deck. She was undaunted by my presence and tenacious about staying with her nest! I read about Mourning Doves online and found that a Mourning Dove usually has two eggs in her nest and the nest is tended in the mornings by the male and then in the evenings by the female. It usually takes about 14 days for the eggs to hatch. I can't wait to see the babies!

On our lower porch ceiling, two sets of Purple Finches have been busy at work making their nests in our ceiling lights! Although I haven't seen them the past couple days, so I'm not sure if they've given up the idea of having their nests here because there is too much traffic!

In the meantime, I've been hard at work planting my summer garden and tending to that. Three years ago, my daughter gave me some of her Iris bulbs when she thinned them out and this is how they look in full bloom!

I love Spring!!