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Hello!!
Welcome to my Art Studio!
I've been expecting you!
Here's your
"Lets Pretend" hat. It's a gift from me!
Put it on and then take it with you to wear occasionally - just for fun!
Now, how about a cup of tea while you browse?
The teapot is
singing, so choose a teacup and we'll tour the studio.
Let me turn the music
down just a little...
I'll use this Joy cup
again!
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I'd love to
show you my latest treasure, this teapot. Do you like it?
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“Brewed with Blessings”
While searching a thrift store for a teapot to pose for a painting,
I found this beautiful, delicate -- but broken one.
The handle was missing so it had been shoved to the back of the shelf.
My heart whispered,
But you can paint a handle on it and it will look like new!
After I finished this painting, I carefully placed the broken teapot in my china cabinet.
Each time I look at it I am reminded how
God can take a broken life,
mend it with His love,
and then use it
to pour out His Blessings to others.
May I pour? Here's a pretty napkin for you.
Cream or sugar?
Since the disaster of 9/11,
many of us have felt the urgency of doing today the small,
simple things we might otherwise put off until tomorrow.
Time spent with those I love is so important.
That includes "Doing Tea" with Lucy, my little granddaughter.
This is an
EVENT!
It slows me down and causes me to notice the beauty and the love all around.
Also, it says,
THIS IS A SPECIAL TIME!
One of these tea parties turned into something memorable.
I handed Lucy a big hatbox filled to the brim with lace trims that I have collected.
I immediately put on my "Let's Pretend" hat.
"Oh, Gramma! Will you do me into a wedding?
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To The Sound Of Music, I draped her tiny figure with yards and yards of lace,
covering her from head to toe while she giggled and twirled and squealed!
Then I placed a silk ivy wreath on her red curls and handed her the fresh flowers from our tea tray.
In an exaggerated tone and gesture,
"And now, my Dah-ling, meet the lovely bride!!”
Just as she turned to the full-length mirror, glowing within her own beautiful imagination,
I snapped her picture.
She stood motionless,
in disbelief at her transformation,
and then she danced and sang and jumped with joy!
After she calmed down a bit I folded her little hands in mine and kissed them.
"Lord, please keep Your child from harm’s way until that beautiful day…"
It’s a shame, isn't it, how we grow older and lose the capacity
for childlike joy and delight!
Trust me, your “Let's
Pretend”
hat will help in that department!
Lucy and Gramma always have music with our tea.
(Music keeps me going when life gets hard!)
We set a pretty tray with flowers and napkins and the cookies of her choice,
then plug in a candle. A tiny life-lesson is usually involved with each tea, such as, Live in harmony with one another.
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“HighTea In Edgewood Gardens”
Have I always wanted to paint?
I am so glad for questions! I've been a WANNABE artist for thirty years
and there's a whole lot of learning yet to do!
Each painting is an adventure as well as a challenge. And just as in life, I learn from each
Oops!
I fix it to the best of my ability at that particular time
and try to remember what I did wrong.
Not so with God!
If we ask, He will take our Oops! put wings on them
and fly them as far as the East is from the West,
never to remember them again!
And so we grow and we learn from life’s hands-on experience.
I expect my best painting to be the one I'm working on.
My favorite is the NEXT one.
Let me share with you the painting in progress on my easel.
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“Grandmother’s Delight”
You say you aren't gifted?
Oh, I believe we each have been given a gift.
It takes years of hard work to be considered "gifted".
Just depends upon how much time you’re willing to give to develop that gift.
We aren’t all artists and musicians, but we have each been born with
something special—
A gift for cooking, teaching and listening.
A natural ability for mechanics, carpentry, computers.
A gift for encouraging and consoling.
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"The Wedding”
I have been given a gift for "people painting."
Maybe I should say I have been given the desire to paint people
(especially children),
and a gift for getting a likeness--most of the time!
Getting a likeness can be learned.
There’s a special quality to a portrait that has a good likeness
PLUS that "certain something" that holds your gaze even though you may not know the person.
I painted a posthumous portrait for a local six-foot-four-inch
attorney.
Our City’s most fierce and fearful divorce lawyer brought me dozens of photographs of his deceased wife.
This painting was intended to be an heirloom for his family.
I felt a little apprehensive about doing something to please someone so "big" that I believe I s-s-s-stuttered once as we discussed the details of the painting!
When he came to view the finished piece, he immediately pulled out his handkerchief and sobbed.
My first thought was,
"Hmmm, I don’t believe he likes this…"
No, he was emotional partially because of his recent loss,
and also because I had caught that "certain something", or the
spirit of his wife in the painting.
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“Mrs. Fierce A. Fearful”
This experience taught me a lesson: There are no BIG people.
No matter how successful and powerful people appear, there may be dark agonies in their souls.
They are just people with problems and emotions much the same as our own. We are here to reach out with a hug, or a word or a pat on the shoulder
to encourage and comfort.
Where do I start?
For me, a painting might begin with an idea. With a portrait it may be an idea for the pose.
Eventually there comes an uncontrollable urgency to paint it!
It may not turn out to be exactly the way I first imagined, but that, too, can be exciting!
Sometimes we need to leave ourselves open for the "happy accident”
that can make the good even better!
These happy accidents occur all throughout our lifetime; however,
I believe many times they come from a
Divine Plan,
with an accidental front!
Some "Happenings" might even be considered little miracles!
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“Mary's First Easter”
Shall we visit the GALLERY now?
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ART GALLERY
What's my philosophy of art?
Oh, that’s very simple--nothing stilted.
For me, Art must beautify, never distort, and should evoke an emotion.
Of course, there is beauty in music and beauty in the mundane.
There’s also beauty in youth and beauty in age.
Whether my subject is a sunset or a weathered face, a stuffed animal or a seascape, a child or a rose,
if it is to be considered a successful piece of art,
it must warm the heart or bring a smile.
Meet my nephew-turned-Bible-character!
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“Coat of Many Colors”
We’re now entering the
QUIET ZONE
of the
LION
and
LAMB
gallery!
Some of the animals are sleeping, some are reading and some are praying.
Some are just ”hanging out” waiting for you!
There's 12 in the series and each one has a page of it's own.
I painted these, one at a time, over a period of
five years.
(see link below)
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“PEACE”
"And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation,
and in sure dwellings,
and in quiet resting places...”
Isaiah 32:18
My stuffed animals posed for this first one of the series
before Christmas 1994.
When a painting is finished
I take photographs before it is framed.
These photos become note cards, and in this instance
the family Christmas card.
24”x30” - 1994
Collection of Jim and Michelle Mayer, Indianapolis, IN
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“LIGHT OF LOVE”
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another."
1 John 1:7
After the first painting sold, I felt the urgency to begin a second one.
The Lion and Lamb posed for me in a different setting, prepared to tell a different story,
the emphasis being the lighting.
This painting was donated for an Art Association fund-raising project.
20”x24”- 1995
Collection of Brenda Crume, Burlington, IN
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“LOVE ONE ANOTHER”
A friend loveth at all times…Proverbs
17:17
People respond warmly to this painting--
men, women, and children alike.
When it sold, I posed the animals for a fourth painting,
telling yet another story.
24”x20” - 1995
Collection of Bill and Katherine Livengood, Northville, MI
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“GIVE THANKS”
"Giving thanks always for all things...”
Ephesians 5:20
The lesson in this one is obvious.
A local attorney purchased it for her little daughter's room.
30”x24” – 1996
Collection of Monica Humphrey, Atty., Kokomo, IN
My
prayer is that someone will
SEE THE ARTWORK
and
feel inspired--
maybe to pick up their paintbrush again,
READ THE WORDS
and be encouraged to
"neglect not the gift that is in thee",
HEAR THE MUSIC
and
feel refreshed,
PUT ON THE "HAT"
and
feel child-like JOY
again.
Only HE
can
make that happen!
I’ll leave you now to your browsing…
What a Blessing and a Joy to share my paintings with you!
Visit again soon and bring a friend!
Be a kid again from time to time
with your “Let’s Pretend” hat!
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(Go to Lion and Lamb Selections Page!)
More ART for WANNABES!
Lessons and Tips - including portrait demo. and solo
exhibit/reception.............