THE BEST WEEKEND

For those of you who know me, you know that I am crazy about cows and when I meet another cow person, I'm in heaven. My husband and I were the weekend guests of the most gracious host I think I have ever known. Not only was John happy to share his lake house in Corsicana with us, but he shared his cattle, as well.

John has a very impressive selection of longhorn, a variety of colors, hide patterns, and different types of horns. Just two weeks ago, one of his Longhorns gave birth to identical twins...the 3rd set of Longhorn twins he has had on his ranch...as I understand, this is quite rare. In addition to a variety of cattle, he also has horses and two donkeys. This was my very first time to see donkeys up close and pet them, what sweet beautiful animals. 

It rained almost the entire time we were there, but did let up a little in the afternoon for some plein air painting. Here we were guests in splendid cow heaven, enjoying ourselves immensely, and John surprised me by commissioning me to paint one of his longhorns...a weekend (for me) doesn't get better than that! :-) 

Some things to note in the photos: this longhorn is called a tiger striped longhorn, back view of the lakehouse on Richland Chambers Lake, and me and my husband...check out my polka-dot rainboots...absolutely the best $25 I've ever spent!

ADORE HIS SACRED NAME

11x14 oil on canvas nfs
Every morning we open our day with a morning assembly where we pledge, pray, and sing our hymn of the month. One of our teachers teaches all of us how to sign our hymns, so in addition to learning the lyrics we also all learn a little bit of sign language. This is Madyson, a Pre-K student, signing the hymn, Lift High the Cross. Madyson is signing the word, adore... Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore His sacred name! I am determined to learn how to paint hands, so there will be more of these sign language portraits to come. 

On April 1, Madyson ran up to me to tell me April is her birthday month, April 13 to be exact. Happy 5th Birthday Madyson!

I CAN TIE MY SHOES

10x10 oil on canvas

This is one of the paintings I worked on during my Spring Break vacation a couple of weeks ago. I am, happily,  very busy with pet portrait commissions, but thought I would, selfishly, fit in a little painting for myself. I try to have my camera with me at school so I can capture little moments such as Aaliyah learning how to tie her shoes. I have so much to learn, ugh those hands. So many of you paint such beautiful figures, please keep in mind I am learning, but aren't we all? 

Lemonade & A Passion for Painting Award

Two very kind and generous, not to mention, incredible artists presented me with The Passion for Painting & The Lemonade Award. I just recently posted things about me a few posts down, so I thought I'd take a break from talking about myself and ask you instead to visit these two rather cool artists, they are: Tom Pohlman, and James Parker. Tom is quick with the brush and makes his paintings look effortless with bold, crisp brushstrokes and just as effortless is James' quick wit with a pen and brush. Please visit their blogs; you won't be disappointed.