Home is Where the Heart is and the Twins Baseball Team!

(Son-in-law's beautiful backyard)

I told you I was heading for Northern climes, and here we are in Minnesota waiting for my husband’s first Great Grandson’s birth. 

The temperature’s are in the 80s with blue skies. Thrilled and delighted to be here. As a result, there’s not much going on in my art life except some incredible photos and “would be” paintings. I hope you enjoy!

Here is Katie with her soon-to-be-born son.

This is "Clarke" an Australian Collie with Katie.

I took some photos while I played with Clarke until the others returned. He's an absolute doll!

"I'll be really good if you give me a taste."

"Oh, come on -- I'm begging here!"

"See how patient I am?"

Tomorrow night we're going to a Twins game and so looking forward to it! There's nothing like an outdoor baseball game in the new stadium!

See the weather isn't too shabby in Minnesota, especially in June. 

On Thursday, we're heading out for Seattle to see my oldest daughter and her family whom I haven't seen in 6-7 years. So many new kiddies to hug.

"Fuchsia"

Here are some additional photos of "potential" paintings. Although I must do a painting of Clarke (above) who captured my heart.

My next blog will be written from Seattle with some brand new scenes. Stay tuned!

(Another scene from son-in-law's backyard)

"Begonia's in a planter"

To Coin a Phrase: It's the Children, Stupid!

"First Daffodil" 16x20 acrylic on canvas (now showing at Coconut Point SW FL Co-op Gallery)

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose our imagination. We bump into reality. We scrape our knees on expectations. We feel the slap of human adversity. Oh, that we could capture the awe of discovery as children do.

My three-year-old granddaughter mailed me a picture of a "person." The only recognizable parts were the round ball for the head and a robe for the body. Her mother wrote the caption: "This person is starting to grow feathers and turn into an owl." Sure enough, there were scribbles (feathers) where arms should be, and the eyes were round saucers with dots.

"With these Hands -- Hope" 16x20 oil on acrylic under painting

Children have a lot to teach us about letting go and about suspending belief, if only for a moment. They teach us to ask questions like: what if? Why? and How? Great thinkers and leaders of the past asked those questions, and today we reap the benefits. Spiritual leaders of the past asked similar questions and their answers renewed faith and restored hope in times of suffering.

For a short time, children are pure and undefiled. They are suspended in time, sheltered by a birthing cocoon. As Wordsworth penned, "they come trailing clouds of glory from God who is their home." If more parents recognized this fleeting, fragile period of blessedness, they might be more respectful of the life placed in their care. They might be more gentle, more tolerant, more forgiving of the crying infant flailing about in a new body in a strange new world; an infant "trailing clouds of glory" from its creator.

"Day Dreams" 11x14 oil on canvas

One of my favorite photos of my oldest son and daughter is titled: "The burial of an ant." The children are playing in the sand, and they spy an ant lying on its back. Recognizing the ant is dead, they proceed to cover it with sand. Their sadness over the death of one little ant made me smile. My lessons on respect for life had sunk in. Payoff, I guess, for all those baby birds we rescued, the stray dogs and cats we took in, my refusal to kill a mouse in our house that drove me scrambling up a chair for protection. If there was another way, harming any living thing was the last resort. In our house, we all became experts at trapping stray mice or lizards in a glass jar and depositing them outside.

"India Rising -- The Lost" 18x24 mixed media on canvas

This respect for life seems to be slipping away in our society. More people are using violence or murder as a means to solve problems. If they can't fix a relationship, or if it's inconvenient, they eliminate it. If someone gets in their way, slows them down, or makes life difficult, they wipe them out. Even greed plays a part in our society's lack of respect for the rights of others.

Children bring us back to basics. They force us to examine what's really important in life. Their wonder in discovery, their appreciation of simple things, their willingness to believe, simply because we tell them so is a remarkable testament of their faith and trust.

"Mother and Child" brush drawing in oil on panel; monochrome

Never Leave Home without your Camera

 Winter in Florida means a chance to see Manatees. They swim up the Orange River where warm water flows from the huge Florida Power & Light plant (FPL). A lovely park has been erected in their honor and thousands of residents and tourists flock there when the temperatures plunge to see these wonderful creatures.

At first glance, they look like humongous baked potatoes. Further scrutiny reveals a flat elongated tail and two dorsal fins closer to the snout. On females, a teat is located in the dorsal area where suckling’s feed after birth.

Manatees can stay submerged for long periods of time, so people wait expectantly for one to lift its large snout above water for a gulp of air. 

They can also be seen swimming up river leaving gentle swirls of water in their wake. A small patch of exposed back may crest the water as they move. Spotting an actual manatee swimming upstream brings squeals of delight from the crowd.

I’ve seen some beautiful paintings of these aquatic mammals, but I’ve never had the desire to paint them. On the other hand, I witnessed a flock of white pelicans that took my breath away, but I had no camera. These I would love to paint. I’m told that there are swans in Florida, but I’ve never seen one.

An artist should never be without a camera. If you’re like me, the times you have your camera, nothing happens. On the days you leave your camera home, wildlife is everywhere! I’m opposed to painting from photographs of others unless I have their explicit permission.

Final painting: "Bella Bellissimo" acrylic on 16 x 20 canvas

I have followers on Facebook from different countries. I was given permission to use their personal photos as they are not photographers or artists. I have done this for my India Rising Series, and for my African Series. When you can’t travel yourself, it’s the next best thing to being there.

Original photo of Bella
(I tried to make her look happier!)

If you use online photos or the artwork of others for inspiration, make certain you turn that painting into something uniquely yours. Change the pose. Change the color or composition. Don’t outright copy anything. If you do, you’re breaking the law.

I visited an artist blog recently where the author complained that someone had taken a photo of her painting and copied it authentically. If that were a writer, they could be charged with plagiarism. Copying old masters and declaring that you did is one thing. Stealing the ideas or paintings of someone else is downright criminal. If a person can’t fly by the seat of their own pants – they shouldn’t fly at all.

First drawing of Bella

Brush drawing, "Mother and Child"

Every December our church and some generous volunteers, put on an unconventional nativity titled "A Walk through Bethlehem.". The characters are asked to read the Christmas story as found in Matthew, and a script suggesting possible action and dialogue, and then they improvise before a live audience. You never know what the characters will say on any given evening. You never know how the touring audience of 10-15 people per group will react.

A hunched over beggar stands outside Bethlehem's walls. He asks for mercy and pleads for shekels. This year an adorable guest asked her father for money and then skipped over to drop it in the beggar's bag. Another child attending for the third year had brought a gift for the baby Jesus. The child approached the stable, tiptoed up to the manger, and wished the baby Jesus "Happy birthday." He kissed the babe's head, and placed his gift beside the swaddling clothes.

My first year as a volunteer, I played an innkeeper. My job was simply to complain that Bethlehem was brimming with people who were there to pay taxes, and that I had no room for anyone, especially these new visitors. After all, I had just turned away a mother with child, riding on a donkey.

That first year, I thought the presentation was a bit "hokey." A little too informal for my taste. After all, I had been involved in a real pageant with a cast of hundreds, and professional actors and directors. Surely, this little play by a local church could have no impact or make no impression on the community. But I was oh so wrong.

This year I was a greeter; able to listen and observe the adults and children who walked through the grass, past the wooden props of sheep and donkeys, past the wooden scenery that I had helped to paint a few years earlier. I saw the wonderment in the eyes of the children. I heard adults express their gratitude at how much they looked forward to their "Walk through Bethlehem" each year, how it renewed them and prepared them to celebrate the birth of their Savior. And I felt the spirit that can only come in a simple stable, with simple people who in humility welcome the birth of God's Son.

Merry Christmas everyone -- and Happy Holidays!

"Mother and Child" is a monochromatic brush drawing using Burnt Umber Oil on a 12x16 panel. The painting is available for sale at $249 including postage; giclees, prints, or cards are available at:
http://carol-allen-anfinsen.fineartamerica.com