Playing with Hearts -Paint Party Friday

I have a full day ahead, so I'm posting a drawing from a few years ago.  My model for this piece is Rena.  She is every bit as graceful and lovely as this drawing turned out to be.

Thank you for dropping by, sweet Friends.  This time of year is pretty difficult for me. When you come by and comment, I am encouraged and inspired.  May joy and peace be yours, dear ones.   Happy Paint Party Friday!

Gathering Flowers -Paint Party Friday

I met Marissa at an Office Depot store.  She has been a great help to me since I've known her.  She is a dear young woman.  She will be married soon, so I offered to draw a picture for her.  This is the lineart version--I will be adding color to it very soon.

Above you see the lovely reference photo she sent.   It does my heart good to do something special for this precious young couple. 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Marry Me -Paint Party Friday

Tomorrow my sweet Friends Nathan and Jennika are getting married.  I am SO happy for them.  This drawing is their finished wedding gift.  I have known Nathan since he was around 12 years old.  Alan loved him and mentored him in drama and performing.  He is one of my "adopted" sons. 

Above you see my original photo of this lovely couple.  It is so wonderful to watch my young friends grow into adulthood.  My heart and prayers go with Nathan and Jennika as they begin this new adventure together.

God bless you dear ones!  Thank you so much for dropping by.  Have a lovely weekend and Happy Paint Party Friday!

Love's Eternal Kiss -Paint Party Friday

I attended the wedding of Tony and Melissa last week.  It was a beautiful wedding, one I will always remember.  This is my wedding gift to them.  It isn't finished yet, but when it is, I think it will be beautiful.

Above you see my reference photo.  Taking pictures of this lovely couple was SO much fun.  This is one of my favorites.

Happy Paint Party Friday, all you lovely artists and beautiful people. May God bless you, dear ones, with His joy and peace.  Have a lovely weekend and thank you for dropping by.

Marry Me -Paint Party Friday

This was a wedding gift for a dear friend of mine.  I am SO happy for Janet and her dear love Wayne.  The best is yet to come.  I've been married for over 30 years.  My husband and I have had such a great adventure--and the adventure continues. 

Above you see my reference photo.  What fun to work with these two.  They are such precious young people. 

The graphite drawing above is from my sketchbook some years back.  I was inspired by a postcard of a girl who's father was a photographer in the early 1900's.  He took many pictures of his family, and put them onto postcards.  My favorite photos are of his little girl.  She had such an amazing camera presence.  This is one of the rare pictures of her as a grown woman.  Sadly, in WW2, all of the negatives and information about the photographer and who he might have been were destroyed.  I just love this girl's face. 

Have a lovely day and Happy Paint Party Friday!

Birch Grove -Guest Heart Thursday

Now that the holidays are nearly over, I find myself longing for the tender green of Spring.  This is a drawing I envisioned last summer.  A dear couple who are close to my heart.  (No pun intended!  lol)

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.
 

Antony and Cleopatra - Guest Heart Thursday

The legendary romance of Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time.

It was said this remarkable woman was not a beauty, but that she was irresistible; the attraction of her person, the charm of her conversation and sheer power of personality was bewitching. It  was said the sound of her voice was like an instrument of many strings.

The Queen of Egypt's ability to slip from one language into another is legendary, as are the accounts of how she managed to gain the attention of first Caesar, then Antony.

The tragic love story of Cleopatra and Antony fascinates us.  I wonder what these two would make of the books, plays and movies written about them? 

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday!

 

The Grape Arbor - Guest Heart Thursday

My husband and I will have been married 28 years this May.  I was feeling romantic, so I created this pen and ink drawing last night and finished it up this morning--I had SUCH fun hiding hearts everywhere in the picture, that I lost count.  How many hearts can YOU find?

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

Lost Painting of Northwest Historical Artist Found

When my sweet Sis Clytie called to say she had found an original painting by our Great Aunt Martina, I was in awe.  The above painting by noted Northwest artist Martina Gangle Curl was found in a box of our Grandmother's papers--which would have been destroyed that very day.  Grammie was Martina's younger sister. 

Great Aunt Martina was an amazing lady.  In 1931, after years of following the harvest picking crops with her family, working as an art teacher and then managing a boarding house, she enrolled at the Portland Art Museum School in Portland, Oregon.  There she studied under legendary painter and art instructor Harry Wentz.  This lost painting has the date 1932 inscribed on the back, around the time Aunt Martina was exhibiting artwork at the Portland museum between 1932 and 1933.

You can see Aunt Martina's distinctive artistic style in the piece above, entitled Prune Picker.  Fascinated by migrant labor families and shipyard workers, she had a special love for the common man. 

It has been said Aunt Martina's attention to women and children conveyed a desire to “mother” humanity.  This is illustrated by one of my all-time favorites--the painting above entitled Clinic which was rediscovered at the Oregon State Hospital in the late 1990's. 

Through her artwork, Aunt Martina succeeded in dramatizing the beauty and aesthetic diversity to be found in the everyday settings of people living throughout the Pacific Northwest in those hard years.
 
I wish I would have known she was an artist--I would love to have talked with her about her life and how she saw the world--about what it was like growing up in those times.  She was not only a gifted artist, but was a wonderful person who deeply loved her family.   

I wish I could tell her how proud I am to be her great niece and how much I treasure those moments when she would lean over my drawings with a smile and an encouraging word. 

You can find restrikes of fourteen works of art by Aunt Martina for sale, at The Pathways Collection.  To read more about Martina Gangle Curl's fascinating life, visit The Oregon Encyclopedia and the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.  

Cleopatra and Mark Antony - Guest Heart Thursday

One of the greatest love stories of all time, is that of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.  This drawing was inspired by a wonderful photo of my nephew and his dearest love.  I thought this drawing perfect for Guest Heart Thursday!  Of course, there are hidden hearts everywhere--how many can YOU find?

For more heart art, photography and altogether fabulous heart stuff from around the world, visit Clytie at Random Hearts for Guest Heart Thursday.

Deep Sea Romance

This is number one in a set of various pieces of artwork dedicated to mermaids and merfolk in general!  I thought you would enjoy being the first to see them.  I just now finished the first two.

I love fish--I have a pond full of them.  I decided I didn't want a complex background interrupting the grace of the two merfolk.  Hence these happy looking fishies.  I was pleasantly surprised at the way the fish seem to glow, giving the piece an almost 3-D look.

With the kiss trembling between these two, anyone can see they are deeply in love--Theirs is the classic story of two kingdoms at war.  He is from one, she is from the other.  They will move heaven and earth to be together for the rest of their lives.  Their adventure is only just beginning as they seek to end hostilities between their homelands beneath the sea. 

I have this drawing up for sale on Ebay under Bethartworx.  I'm SO excited!

UPDATE:  This original drawing has been SOLD!  

Valentine Moon - Guest Heart Thursday

There is something so romantic about summertime with its hot days and warm nights.  I am sure should I kiss my darling the moon would turn into a heart.  After 27 years, his kiss still makes my heart beat faster and melts my knees.

Ah romance!

For more wonderful heart art and randomly found heart photography check out Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday!  You won't be disappointed!

Soul Mates

How rare and lovely it is when two halves of one heart find one another.

Daddy Update: The plastic surgeon and consultants have determined skin grafts will not be applied until Dad's broken neck is healed. Dad will be wearing a neck brace for five more months. The surgeons are sure the exposed bone will not heal over by itself. Since the wound vac has been removed, Mom and I have been changing the dressings each day. It seems to us that his head is starting to heal. I would appreciate your prayers for the broken bones in his neck to heal, and for exposed bone to grow new skin overtop. Nothing is impossible with God. Miracles happen every day! Thank you for your good thoughts and prayers!

Swept Away

When I drew this pen and ink picture, I imagined winter with her cold hold upon the world, being swept away by Spring's warm kisses.


Daddy Update: Dad did so much better last night and this morning. He visibly improves every single day. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Her Romeo

Her Romeo is a fella with wings. A sweet friendship indeed! This drawing is to honor my little Friend Pretty Boy--now in birdie heaven.

When I was in my early 20's I lived in Gramma Jenny's basement. Grammie and I had a little parakeet named Pretty Boy who was just delightful. He was stuffed with personality and quickly learned to speak.

He learned entire sentences! I taught him to say, "Praise the Lord, I'm an Eagle." Grammie said since she was no preacher, she'd teach HIM to be one instead. And she did. He would say things like, "Believe in Jesus and live with Him forever," and "Read your Bible every day."

He was the most adorable little bird. An old boyfriend taught him to say, "Beautiful Beth!" It seemed that Pretty Boy knew who he was taking about because when I would walk into the room, that bird would preen his feathers and say it nonstop!

I had a special little whistling sound I would make. Pretty Boy learned the sound and for years afterward, even after I'd moved out, whenever he would see me he would get all happy, chortle our special whistle, then chant, "Beautiful Beth," over and over.

It was a sad day when Grammie called to say she'd found our Pretty Boy permanently asleep in the bottom of the cage. We both cried.
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Animals are a great deal more intelligent than we know. I will always miss that little fella. And I'm sure I'll see him in heaven someday--perched on Grammie's shoulder.