Painting for Memories

I teach my students that one reason for making art is to remember.  I did these little pieces to remind me of our incredible trip to Orange Beach, AL.  We got our limit of both triggerfish and amberjack.  I discovered that amberjack are called ‘Sea Donkeys’ because they’re known to be one of the hardest fighters in the Gulf.  Let me tell you, I was sore for THREE DAYS after fighting with those sea donkeys!!  Precious memories of that very special moment in time.  

Used here, Pitt pens, my awesome Custom-Cindy-Designed paintbrush and Golden fluid acrylics, along with Golden’s  inference colors for that sparkly pop.

The triggerfish we caught were all I think between ten and 15 pounds.  They are SUPER YUMMY!!! I had no idea they were so tasty! The amberjacks were all between 40 and 50 pounds.  Those donkeys!!  When I paint to preserve my memories it’s always very special.  If YOU have memories you’d like me to paint, just ask.  It’s what I do.

Painting of Memories

This chickadee painting, done several years ago, is a tribute to my parents. If you look at the closeup at the end, I collaged in events they enjoyed from their weekly calendar. Rummikube. Never missed that with good friends. Wii bowling; precious memories of all those times we had together with them beating our pants off. Bingo; man, that game bores the crazy out of me, but they loved it. 

They 

were in the Teeny Weeny Theater group too, and put on hilarious plays! The plays would begin like this:

“Well, we’re too old to remember our lines, so we’re going to read them.”

“We’re too old to act and move around a lot, so we’re going to sit in our chairs to do this.”

“We can’t hear very well, so you guys are going to have to be really quiet so we can hear each other’s lines,”

“We can’t speak very loudly anymore, so we’re going to pass these microphones around...”

The comedy was always a delight, and dad, of course, was the star of every show.  I remember one show where all the widows were after him and he liked them all. 

And of course, the black capped chickadee, my dad’s favorite. They instilled a love of birds in me, with their feeders and field guides. Right now, Gary and I are sitting outside celebrating the fact that we just saw a hummingbird and a woodpecker.   So many good memories. All wrapped up in one little painting.

Mom and Dad, I loved you well.  I don’t know how you did it, but you loved me through all those unloveable times. Today, I am thankful.