My September Challenge

Black and White and Gray all Over

_{^{After three days, the rain stopped and the Texas Heat was subdued.}}

My September Challenge with Strada Easel (see Instagram account) has been to focus on the Element of Value. I am using only black and white, as I look for the range of dark to light values in whatever I draw or paint. I am keeping it simple by not adding any color. So today, I walked out into the pasture, surrounded by Snow on the Prairie wildflowers, and looked for a spot to sketch.

I was sure missing those colorful oil paints! And without toned paper, I could not capture the white flowers.

So, I went back to the studio to gather plein air gear. I dumped out all the colors of paint, and packed black, white and Gamblin’s Portland Grey. (That sure makes a lighter backpack!)

As I settled back in my spot, and studied the soft creamy grays of the overcast day, I realized I had failed to slip my brush case into the backpack! Not wanting to waste time trudging back to the studio ( in my mud boots– remember it has been raining for three days), I scrounged through my backpack and found a tiny scriptwriter brush (dried stiff), a palette knife (hallelujah), and paper towels that can be used to spread paint in a pinch!

I accepted the challenge to move ahead and begin painting. It was a challenge to grow, to work in not so perfect circumstances, to use what I had and make it work, to exist without colorful sprinkles, but to see beauty in the basics.

And as I paint, analogies usually are formed — It was much like the challenge we face in our lives today! And more specifically, like the challenges our teachers (near and dear to my heart) are facing these days! It’s the challenge to exist without colorful sprinkles on top, but to see beauty in the basics.

I’m looking forward to using color in my paintings again. I’m hoping for the day when teachers can use a full spectrum of teaching resources again. Until then, we will seize the day, make do with what we have, and live on!

August 22, 2020August 21, 2023

Clouds and Hay Bales

On a windy day in central Texas, one will notice the fluidity of clouds, the constant change in the sky, the light and dark, the subtle shifts of color and shape, the strong gusts, the temperature rising, and the temperature drop, which happens when the sun goes down. When I go outside, I never know what kinds of clouds will appear that day. It’s entertaining, brings beauty, but can be frightening when the winds come on us too strong!

I’ve been thinking about how I rather like the constant state of the hay bales. The weighty strength of just sitting there in a tidy package, unbothered, immoveable, seemingly content. They shine like gold in the heat of sun. They have promise of being useful one day.

I have begun to compare myself to these bales, when I ponder the state of flux in my world in 2020. When I look at news, scroll Facebook, and listen to conversations around me, I can get swept up in a gust or two, I can jump on a bandwagon and spin around, or I can change from light to dark in a matter of minutes, just like clouds. But thinking about these hay bales… I find more peace in just hiding under them, just staying grounded in who I am and the God in whom I trust. He is grander than hay bales or clouds of confusion.

I pray the winds of change, discord, frustration, and confusion will become calm when the temperature drops. I have never seen this country so divided and volatile, so explosive and angry, so hurtful and selfish. I am ready for the winds to blow over, in God’s timing and God’s ultimate will. Until then, I will hide under these mighty hay bales and look for beauty.

June 30, 2020August 21, 2023

Can you tell I used the same color palette?

Three new paintings – 20×20 oil – inspired by the land on which we live.

The black and white cow, Muncher, entertains us when she comes by to be hand fed in the evenings. (If you know me very well, you know that it is not my hand that feeds her!) Nevertheless, I enjoy her personality, complete with her fancy earrings!

Bovine Beauty or Do These Earrings Make Me Look Fat?
SOLD

The white cow and her baby have been moved to another pasture. But we have watched the calf grow from hours after she was born, as we watched the mother care for and protect her offspring.

And the third piece, the landscape, was painted with the same palette of colors. In my mind, it was the first painting, as the pink sky on that Pink Morning is what inspired all three in this series. Pink color to tie the three together – the land and the cows – my surroundings. (And they could be your surroundings, if you want to hang them on your wall, as a group or not.)

June 19, 2020August 21, 2023

Coming Out of A Storm

Maybe it’s because there were always trees in Georgia to buffer storms and hide the angry clouds. Maybe it’s because I have never lived in a house with a metal roof before this one, and couldn’t hear the pounding of rain. Maybe it’s because there is so much BIG sky in Texas! Whatever the reason, I have seen and heard a variety of powerful storms during this year and a half of getting settled into life in Central Texas.

We had a storm, a few weeks back, that caused aqua, purple and green clouds to twist and churn across the area. I happened to be traveling from one side of Waco to the other. As the clouds chased me in the rearview mirror and circled my car to whip around on my right side, I raced toward blue sky as fast as the 75 speed limit allowed. All was well. I arrived at a safe location. And later, as I rode back home, I was relieved to find that the storm had passed, the sun was shining, and there was only a trail of hail that had been left behind on the sides of the road.

As I worked on this big painting from my own photo, I struggled. I painted and repainted. The clouds seemed to shift shapes on the canvas as much as they do in real life. I would come back the next day and see something else to fix.

We all come through so many storms, some larger than others. Often, they don’t pass as quickly as a summer thunderstorm. Often, they are problems we struggle with for years. Often, they are so heavy that we have to stop and rest. Often, we have to release them to One with more power than we have to pull us through the pain.

Can you remember the biggest storm in your life? Even if you have come through it, it may be helpful to think back and be amazed at the light, the joy, the relief that broke through when you reached the other side. There is hope. While we are still in the storm, we keep traveling toward the light sky… and pray for breakthroughs to happen!

June 13, 2020August 21, 2023

This Moment of Happiness

This moment of Happiness was brought to you by the Septic Tank! Really!

Erma Bombeck said, “The grass is always greener over the septic tank.” Well, apparently sunflowers thrive there also. While I have volunteer sunflowers growing in several places in the yard, the best view of the flowers from the shade of the house is by the septic tank.

I had a lot of deep thoughts about this. Most of which have slipped away now that I’m inside. So, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, based on your own life experience.

And while I was painting, despite the septic tank, there was a moment of happiness in the yellows reaching toward the light. Happy thoughts developed through an hour’s worth of paint meditation. Then, sings my soul!

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020

Hunker Down at Home!

The Coronavirus of 2020 – Time stood still while we all hunkered down in our homes until further notice was given.

This painting is of our home. It is a solid, roomy structure for both my husband and me, with more than necessities inside. It sits on flat land, surrounded by pastures and the movement of cattle and birds. The sky is ever-changing! The wind blows at varied speeds. Even the ground changes when it rains! But the home is solid, stable, and constant in the midst of motion. For that, I am grateful.

As I paint and think about Sheltering in Place, I wonder about those who have no home, those who have a transient lifestyle, and those whose homes were recently destroyed by storms. I wonder about those who are packed into crowded quarters, and those who are used to different schedules in different places, and now, all together in one place. I wonder about those who live with abusers, addicts, alcoholics with raging tempers, and hate. I wonder about those who are bored with each other, finding new ways of ignoring each other. I wonder about the dynamics of strained relationships and quirky personalities. I wonder about the children. I wonder…and pray.

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020

Spring Comes to Red Gate Road!

Spring comes each year. It might be a “good spring” or a “dry spring” or a “windy spring.” But it comes around each year. Spring of 2020 will go down as the strangest spring many of us have ever had! Some of us may even ask, “Was it spring?” as the Coronavirus passes by.

When we moved to Red Gate Road, I thought it seemed so far from Waco – about a 30 minute drive whenever I wanted to go in for shopping, or restaurants, or art shows, or church, or meetings. But with Coronavirus days and Shelter in Place orders, I have realized being in the country has distinct advantages. And for this, I am grateful.

As I painted this one, I thought about the solitude and shelter of the road on which we live. I thought about the curve at the end, where one must slow and look for oncoming traffic. I thought about the light breaking through clouds on days when I need the sun. And I thought about the beauty of the flowers and the birds of the air. And it made me think of Matthew 6 in the Bible. (gonna cut and paste it below because, let’s be real – neither you nor I have it all memorized.)

Do Not Worry

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34 New International Version (NIV)

Hmmm. Thanks be to God. I needed that reminder. Did you?

March 25, 2020August 21, 2023

This Too, Shall Pass

It had been raining for about a week – a week of “social distancing.” As an artist, I’m very comfortable with being alone in the zone. But it was the lack of sunshine that was about to pull me under.

The fog was thick from the moment I opened the window blinds that morning, yet beautiful, in a peaceful kind of way. The fog hovered until mid afternoon. The weather forecast for the next week said plenty of sun and heat! I couldn’t wait. I knew that “this too, shall pass.” And I felt, hope.

I had heard the words before. “This too, shall pass” are reassuring words. Mammy had said them to me last week as we talked on the phone about the crazy state of things.

We are looking for reassuring words in these very different days. Corona Virus, Social Distancing, Shelter in Place, Essential/Non-Essential …have all been added to our vocabularies. But the reassuring words, the familiar, encouraging words, are the ones we all want to hear.

We know that this too, shall pass. We want it to happen quickly, suddenly, instantly, over and done. But most things don’t happen that way. The challenge for us is to hang on to the ancient words, the words of promise, while we wait for it to pass. Words like trust, faith, abide, prayer, encourage, redemption, eternal. These are the words we cling to and share, as we wait…with hope.

March 4, 2020March 4, 2020

On This Road Together

The huge bare tree in the stark winter landscape filled the sky in larger than life proportions. When I took the photo in a Texas State Park, I noticed how small my grandsons looked in comparison. Although these brothers argue and fight like any siblings do, they are walking in the same direction on most days, looking out for each other. It only emphasized the message that jumped out at me. This road we travel in life can be spooky at times. There are huge obstacles growing before you that seem unsurmountable. The shadows seem to come out of nowhere and cast gloom on some days. We can’t always see where the journey is leading and it takes courage to keep going around that corner to the unknown.

May there be someone to walk with and talk with on the journey, someone to keep you company, and someone to love and love you. We are on this road together!

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

February 13, 2020February 13, 2020

Titled “Redemption”

It had been the kind of day that makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and watch tv. The cloud cover and fog made it hardly worth looking out the window. And the damp cold did not beckon one to go anywhere on that January day.

But, about sunset, on the day when I thought the sun would never shine, the wind began blowing the darkness away, the clouds broke open and the light burst through! The beautiful, multicolored, warm light, made my spirit soar! I posted the photo on social media and remarked that “the day had redeemed itself!”

With that in mind, the title, “Redemption,” is placed on this painting. The day redeemed itself so that I didn’t strike it off the calendar as meaningless. My attitude was redeemed by recovering from dreariness. And I was reminded of how beautiful it is when a wrong is corrected, or when things are made right.