TA, MY OTHER GRANDMOTHER

12x24 oil on canvas nfs

This was my grandmother, everyone called her Ta which is a nickname for, Letia (pronounced with a strong french accent Lee-Ta). She was a hard worker, loving, but firm...a no nonsense kind of person. I remember the "drop-in" company and how she loved visiting with her rural neighbors. Visiting with her friends and family on a daily basis took on significant importance in her later years. When I think of my summer visits, several things come to mind,  feeding the cows and chickens, picking eggs, and in the late afternoons, before I knew about plein air painting, taking my sketchbook out to draw and paint in the pastures.

ZIBILICH RESIDENCE

11x14 oil on canvas

This landscape is from our July '08 plein air paint-out.

WALDEN

8x10 oil on canvas

This is Walden a beautiful rescued Boxer.

LOLA OF LOUISIANA

8x10 oil on canvas sold

Meet Lola, a chocolate labrador. This was painted from the client's reference photos as a birthday surprise for her brother. I understand Lola has a loving and loyal disposition; with paint and brush I tried to capture her sweet  nature.

IN MY SISTER'S ARMS

11x14 oil on canvas nfs

I am hesitant to post portraits because I am not a portrait artist; however, I do want to learn, so what better way to learn. In My Sister's Arms was painted for our friend, Jay Abney's 50th birthday. Jay has been to Chad, Africa several times to help with an ongoing building project on a church and school. He gave me many reference photos to choose from, but I kept coming back to these two little girls because they were especially meaningful to him. Happy Birthday Jay. 

LABRADOR

12x24 oil on canvas sold

Typically I paint 8x10 pet portraits, but occasionally a larger painting will come along.

CRICKET

12x16 oil on canvas nfs

This was my grandmother; the woman whose face lit up when she spoke about Jesus. I have such beautiful memories of this precious woman and could fill up many pages writing about her. Mom-Mom loved her vegetable garden and you could find her in it from sunup to sundown; she could grow anything in super abundance and always shared her bounty from the garden. My grandparents were quite the gardeners, in addition to the overflowing vegetable garden, there were lemon, pear, fig, tangerine, orange, kumquat trees...and I'm sure many more types that I have forgotten through the years. 

She had a precious servant's heart and lived by example always putting others before herself. In her portrait, I tried so hard to portray the kindness and gentleness she always showed us.  I asked her one time how she came to be called Cricket and she told me that it was a nickname she was given because when she was little she hopped around all the time.  After she told me that, she shrugged her shoulders and said "That was a long time ago, I think that's why they call me Cricket."

I miss her.