My grandmother's lessons: In good times and bad times, live with joy

I've recently completed the painting, above, of my deceased grandmother. It's a gift for my grandmother's daughter, my mother. I hope she will be pleased with it. I'm delivering this large painting, about 29x32, this weekend to hang above the hutch in the dining room of her new apartment.

While I was painting, I kept thinking what a remarkable woman my grandmother was. I would guess that she was considered "poor" all of her life. Her own mother died when she was nine and her father did not remarry. Like many children of that era, she took on responsibilities that now we would consider burdens, an interruption of childhood. Still, it doesn't explain to me just how she grew up so capable with so much knowledge. My husband believes that little girls of her era had, by nine, learned all they needed to know to run a home.

My grandmother, Mama to all, married young and had seven children. She was an extremely devout Christian, of Pentecost faith, and strictly adhered to the teachings of her faith. She covered her arms, never cut her hair, never wore jewelry or make-up. She was completely without artifice in her grooming and personality. Mama was exactly as you found her - always Mama. If you were at Mama's any Wednesday evening, Sunday morning or Sunday night - you were scrubbed and off to church with her. If there was a revival going on, you attended those as well.

Mama sewed most of her children's clothing, including sweetly embroidered layettes for her sons and daughters and first grandchildren. She was one of many women who delighted when feed sacks began to be printed with small calico designs and made good use of them.

Her beds were spread with wringer-machine washed hand-ironed sheets and quilts stitched with her fingers. Mama was up early to milk the cows, gather the eggs and cook a huge breakfast for her large family and any of the grandchildren or friends of the family who might be visiting. She planted, worked and harvested a huge garden each year (a man-sized garden) and "put-up" the bounty, canning for the winter.

Mama was also the most wanted midwife in the country and pulled a many a calf. Honest, she was a marvel and all of her children just took it for granted that there was nothing she couldn't do and do well.

I painted her on the porch, trying hard to catch the radiance of this good woman, the twinkle in her eye, her relaxed, welcoming posture, her love of flowers, and her beautiful smile. The okra in her lap represents the fact that I don't ever remember her without work in her hands.

How I wish I had asked her where she learned to do so much. The lessons I learned from my grandmother, I hope, have carried over into my life to be passed on to my children and they to theirs - Live, Love, Work & Pray with Joy.






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Transform Your Family Photo Into A WOW Painting

Do you have a great family photo that you would love to turn into a huge personal painting for your home? Maybe that super shot of your hubby breaking the finish line in first place in the marathon, or granddad hammering together a wood rocking horse, or even a family shot eating hot dogs that you just love? Could be your rec room would be the perfect place for paintings of your little girl going through drill team exercises and your little boy hitting that homer- maybe your office would lighten-up if you had a painting of your baby in the tub splashing water up to the ceiling or your toddlers making wishes as they blow away dandelions. Would this make a perfect gift for someone special?

You could never paint something like this? Well, maybe you could... I did. It was like "coloring".

I'm so very excited about the potential of this paint - HD High Definition by Plaid. My artist's heart wept when I realized how much was possible with it. The paint is being touted as an alternative for oils and demonstrated used for traditional art. It is sooooo fine in its own right that I wanted to design to take full advantage of the dimension and texture it offers - plus take advantage of how easy it is to use. Amazing stuff...

It was so easy to completely convert this family photo of my grandson on playday to an art painting for his room.

I just tweaked my photo, sized it, printed out the numbered pattern, transferred the pattern with graphite transfer paper, selected my colors and started painting.



I had the " mdf canvas" cut at Home Depot, 24 x 36 . I primed it with shake and rattle Kilz, worked on printing the patterns while the primer dryed, and once the pattern was transferred, knocked it right out that afternoon. Though I blocked in some of it with Plaid acrylic matching paint, most was straight from the bottle HD paint. The squeeze bottles have a tip that can be used for fine detailing and effects or you can brush or apply this paint with a pallette knife. I did a little of all of it.

I let it cure for a few days and then sprayed it with a matte sealer cuz I don't like shiny - but, wow, I love this texture! Check out the beaded bracelet & dimensional sunglasses. Who could imagine paint could do that? I love it!

Instead of a frame, I've chosen to hang this with exposed industrial hardware clips that can be painted bright colors or left silver. I'm going to leave these silver, I think.

My grandson is the little fellow in the center. I think this will be great for his room. Hope he likes it.





NOTE: I'm receiving many questions about transferring the pattern so I'm following up with additional pattern information.

I sized the " photo pattern" and converted it into actual inches that would work for the art piece. With a software ruler snapped to the resized and tweaked image (now grayscale, more than a line drawing but less detail than the photo) , I sectioned the big pattern into appx blocks of 8 x 10 so my printer could print them out. I numbered the pages so I wouldn't get lost. Printed each page of the pattern out, taped the pieces together so that all of my lines met, covered my board with sheets of graphite paper, placed the pattern over it and traced over it with a ballpoint pen, pressing pretty hard, to transfer it.

It took longer to transfer the pattern than to paint it, I think. And I could have done a better job if I had been precise in my transferring of the pattern.

Hope this helps. If not, it's really ok if you use the email link below to contact me. I'll try to help.

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Putti; Cherubs; Cupid: What's the Difference?

Cherubic art has winged its way to our hearts and our shabby cottage chic decor. Although the terms putti, cherubs, and cupids are each synonymous with pudgy round little winged motifs, mostly boys - the artistic rendering in subject matter and meaning are decidedly different and should never be confused.

Because I often paint cherubs; and I wanted all of my cherubs to be innocent and sweet, I've exhaustively researched the finer points of cherubic art. How does one know the difference?

Putti - meaning "children" in old Italian. Compositions with emphasis on profane, cultish ceremonies of abandoned revelry often pairing putti with females in different stages of dress or nudity. May also be with just one female, either nude or dressed. The facial expressions of putti generally lack the innocence of cherubs and cupids. Rule of thumb: If there is a female in the painting, it's generally secular and considered putti -not an innocent cherub. An example of putti may be seen here.

Ancient Cupid of Roman Mythology: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Ancient Roman god of love in all its varieties, identified with the Greek Eros. Cupid was the son of Mercury and Venus. He was usually represented as a winged infant who carried a bow and quiver of arrows, which he shot at humans to inflict wounds that inspired love or passion. He was also sometimes depicted as a beautiful youth. Though generally considered beneficent, he could be mischievous in matchmaking, often at his mother's behest.

Most of us are familiar with reproductions of the above painting, L'Amour et Psyche, Enfants, 1873, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau . It is often cropped so that the emphasis is on the kiss, deemphasizing the nudity.

Modern Cupids: Sweet little baby-faced figures with bow and arrows often used for Valentine Day card illustrations. Especially appealing in vintage valentines as shown below. Certainly secular, but there isn't anything in the sentiment to cause unease.

Cherubs: Cherubs or cherubim are the first angels mentioned in the Bible and are said to stand next to the Throne of God. In the Bible, they are described as four-winged creatures - a far cry from the baby-like cherubs with which we are so familiar. Since the cherubs did not appear until Adam and Eve committed the original sin, many feel the cherubs represent Adam and Eve - naked and innocent - in the Garden of Eden. It follows naturally that cherubs are often cast as guardians in garden settings, surrounded with florals, busy with their work of tending to nature, protection and adding to the beauty of gardens. Many are used in outdoor statuary and fountains. Their expressions can be sweet or fiercely protective. Cherubs have become symbolic of wee guardian angels in our homes.

My Paintings of Cherubic Art: Below, two of my original paintings, each of cherubs, spotlight two different "looks", each designed to convey an essence of guardianship. The first painting, shows motion of a determined garden cherub or angel protector, not near as babyish, with what I hoped to depict as a serious expression of being fully on guard for danger to those for whom he is responsible. He is carrying a dipper of water, evocative of his role as provider for the area and those under his care.The second cherub is descending - curious about a new nest of eggs. I reached for an expression of sweet wonder on this cherub's face. I tried to show that the birds were comfortable with the cherub , unthreatened, without the instinctive need to protect their eggs - they know this sweet cherub intends no harm. My goal in composition and design is to always strive to capture the purity and innocence of cherubic art, never putti; because there is a big difference...

Click Photos to enlarge

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