Acrylics.

Cowboy in graphite - artist unknown to me

I grew up on a beautiful family farm in eastern Oregon. My parents homesteaded and made a descent living for their family by working the land, and being frugal. We never wanted for anything. This picture in graphite reminds me of my handsome father. He loved horses and worked the farm with sturdy workhorses. He also was a cowboy in the Sand Hills of Nebraska before he married my lovely and talented mother (who taught in a one-room school house). I really enjoy seeing western life depicted in graphite art. Artist is unknown to me but he did a very good job.

Graphite sketch of three marching penquins

Graphite sketch of three penquins...... exhibited and competed with this one..... Award given: First Place

Gulls and Sand

Graphite, my favorite medium to work with. I won't get to visit the Oregon coast anymore because of my arthritis and restricted income, but I love remembering....... the sound of the ocean as it roars, the coarse sand  - abrasive but welcome to my old bare feet, the scream of the white seagulls, the cold of the wet sand and the early morning fog..... the rampage of fantasy that takes over my mind... haunted lighthouses, star fish, tide pools, early morning fishing boats as they bounce atop the heaving ocean, wondering when the next high tide is, dreaming and hoping to see a really big ship in the distance, etc.

Being raised on a family farm in eastern Oregon, I love the outdoors and western life style. We raised everything on the farm, because it was a self-sustaining beautiful place. Mom and Dad were terrific in keeping us busy and teaching us how to work and appreciate family. In 4-H I raised calves, cows, bummer lambs, etc. My siblings did, too. We also learned all about cooking, canning and keeping a home from our 4-H Leaader mother. For recreation we would enjoy sleigh rides behind the car or tractor, ice skating on one of the ponds on the farm, swimming in some of the many water canals on the farms, etc. I was a very lucky girl. I'm trying to learn how to depict farm and ranch life. This is my first attempt in acrylic paint.

Pastel on black pastel paper. 6x10 inches. Enhanced and framed using Elements.

While sketching in our quarter acre of gardens in Boise, I found this bird's nest. Probably from a robin. There were lots of them in the old loctus and pine and spruce and walnut trees in the yards.

One interesting thing that happened in that gorgeous yard, birds of all sorts were attracted. We had squirrels hopping around while the robins happily pulled big fat worms out of the grass, momma ducks strutted confidently in front of their little flock of babies. The flood irrigation that we did over the front and back yards were a magnet for them all. I loved sitting in my old chair contentedly sketching while all this activity was happening. From my secret gardens at the very back of the yard, I could observe so many wonderful things. Ducks loved to swim in the flooded yard, and the squirrels loved scurrying around looking for treasures.

While "acting" art instructor at the Senior Center, I did some oil and some gouache painting. I used to do huge paintings in oils and really enjoyed it. This is my first attempt in about 45 years. I love poppies and their delicate petals and drooping buds.

Pastel on black. I planted and grew this gogeous peony-flowering tulip in  my secret garden in Boise. This is taken from a photo I took of the beautiful tulip as it opened.

Brandy HT Rose

One of the most beautiful roses that I grew in our raised French -style garden.

Favorite Rose - Nancy Regan

In my french rose garden I grew over 100 roses: standard (tree) roses, hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers, ramblers, musk, and miniatures. One of the most beautiful and abundant in hugh blooms was the Nancy Regan rose What a beauty! Everyday there was a heavenly surprise of gorgeous blooms.

Sad Day today

A dear relative had a stoke and passed away today. I feel very sad, because she was a beautiful, thoughtful, and fun woman. We've been friends for over 50 years. She is a sister to my precious late-husband. We had fun times together. Now she gets to see him. I am even lonelier.

Hollyhock and Balloon Flower

Spring! Gladens my old heart. Promises of flowers and sunshine and leisurely walks around the neighborhood. MYtime of year. The daffodils are dark green in the brown earth, the muscari leaves are bursting from the soil and promising the first blue blooms of the year. Violas in the neighbors yard are blooming - gotta love them and their eternal promise throughout the year. Found some of my pictures of the hollyhockk and balloom flowers that I grew in my gardens in Boise.

Love Vibrant Day Lilies

Daylilies have got to be the world's best flowering plants. Such a magnificant show! I raised oddles of them in my garden and had such fun photographing them.

Ohhhh, the nostalgia of the dainty blue ForgetMeNots!

These grew under the ancient pine tree in our backyard. A delight to see, but sticky and funny to touch.... much sought after little angel-flowers.

I wish I had them planted over my precious husband's grave here in Utah.

I cannot not forget him.... every moment of my life he is here with me.

Hope he doesn't forget me.

White tulip, and Peach Melba tulip. I love these colors. Spring is coming and I'm looking through the pictures I took of the hundreds of tulips I raised in our beautiful backyard in Boise. Each spring the yard started to come to life..... the roses put out new reddish leaves, muscari came up everywhere, and the jonquils and tulips burst from the ground and took over...... what a heavenly sight..... a delight just to be there. Gardening is so rewarding. 

Utah Pumpkin

I think I will save some of the seeds from this pumpkin. It has a beautiful color, size, and just fits the season. Since it is snowing today, it seems like a nice idea to take its picture.

On to The Old West Town of Tombstone

Tombstone lives up to it's name. (giggling) Instead of green lawns there are replicas of tombstones in the yards. And dust, and weathered wooden fences, and dust, and hot sun, and dust..... And did I mention the soil is so dry that there is dust everywhere? We watched a staged "shoot-out" and cheered when the victim got up, dusted himself off, and went to the bar to wet his "whistle."

Flat, comes to mind when you try to describe this quaint little town. Dusty and flat. We got ourselves some tasty western hamburgers at a cute little western restaurant, then packed up our horses and got out of there. Fun place to see, though.

Grand Canyon to Kingman and Surprise and Phoenix City

We stayed in a nice motel in Kingman and liked it. The next day we drove on to Phoenix, .... but to our surprise and delight we passed through the Town of Surprise on the outskirts of Phoenix. Our daughter called and said she was tracking us on her map, and wondered if we had seen Surprise yet. I laughed and said Yes, as a matter of fact we had just driven through it.

We fell in love with the beautiful city of Phoenix. Hospitality was great there, no matter where we went. We visited the University campus, toured the Doll Museum, the Firefighters Museum, and the Police Museum. My husband is a retired policeman with BPD and so he loved seeing these. Driving through Phoenix (off the freeway, of course) we found lots of beautiful surroundings, plus the usual casual living areas in the downtown part.

From the Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon Skywalk

http://grandcanyonskywalk.com/
This is a neat web site showing a video of the famous skywalk. Fantastic! I loved walking on it. Awesome view and friendly folks there.
The drive to get to the west side of the Grand Canyon was a tree-lined dirt road. Lots of dips and not many cars. Very interesting drive.

So, on to Henderson, Hoover Day, and Lake Mead

See the men clinging to the work in the air?

This is a nice web site for the City of Henderson
http://www.cityofhenderson.com
If I were ever to live in a nice community in Nevada, Henderson would be among the top of my list. Sunny, quiet, clean... sunny.... (I like the sun better than cold cloudy days). Henderson is close to Lake Mead, (which was an eye-opener... when we finally saw it).... and the fantastic Hoover Dam. They were in the gigantic process of making the new highway over the dam when we drove through there. That project was a REAL "turkey-necker". But I got a few neat pictures.

As we drove through town toward Lake Mead, I could hardly believe my eyes. The water level was very low and there were no trees, or anything that looked inviting. I guess by the time water from the tributaries that feed into Lake Mead, was diverted for other projects, the inflow into the Lake is greatly diminished. What a horrible shame. The town is so inviting and pretty..... I almost could live there....

On to Smoggy Las Vegas

As we drove the desert highway southwesternly, to the famous Las Vegas area, we were fascinated by the numerous industrial mines and factories that we saw. I think they get a lot of the stuff that goes into concrete, etc. from those mines. Very interesting area. They dotted the high valley floor, and were surrounded by snow capped mountains.... These mountains didn't have trees on them..... just desert mountains that we love to see. Hiking and horseback riding come to mind when I see them.
Entering Las Vegas we just kept the "pedal to the metal" and drove straight down the freeway that runs north to south in Las Vegas. That's when we discovered there is a North Las Vegas, where the famed NASCAR race track is, and a South Las Vegas, where new developments are springing up all over. Side note here: My grandson's wife's (adorable woman) father drove his nascar in a race there and did pretty good a few years back.
Anyway, I snapped pics of LV as we zoomed through, and despite the awful smog, I got some good shots. Looks like a mad-man's nightmare down there where all the tall skyscrapers are. Some of them were colored "gold" (if you can imagine - shaking my old head). "Sin City" is a nickname for this spot, and I'm thinking it has honestly earned the name. (tsk tsk tsk) (giggling)
In South Las Vegas I began to see why folks from everywhere would like to retire there. Very pretty and clean and new. However, no lush green lawns like we have here in beautiful Idaho. Such a shame.
We drove right on through, to Henderson, NV. Nice place.

Traveling on to Mesquite, NV

An abrupt change meets a traveler when you get to the end of the Virgin River Canyon, and meet Mesquite, NV. The climate there is like Las Vegas, warm all the time. Lots of Utah folks like to go there in the winter. They say Mesquite is a nice town,.... could be.... we didn't see much of it. What we did see was ok, quiet, clean, and friendly. We stayed at a hotel by a casino.... The biggest change for us was all the great big expanse of paved and quite elaborate parking lots. I guess they get lots of big motorhomes coming in and like to accommodate them. Nice. We traveled with Toodles (our 4 pound toy poodle) and so the hotel put us in the "pet friendly" section. Our view was of the dumpy, trashed, weedy lot used by pet owners and their dogs. We kept the curtain closed. (giggling) (who likes to watch dogs going to the bathroom?)

March Trip, Virgin River Canyon Drive

I can't say that the Virgin River Canyon drive is beautiful, but I can say it is awesome! Until you've driven it in your little car, you have no idea what "feeling small" feels like. Gigantic rock walls are all you see...... period. But what a fantastic view it is. I love the rock formations that show the shifting of the rock plates over the centuries, the coloring of the rocks due to the various minerals, and the thought of the stupendous job that the highway crew had to do to make this area both a luxury to drive, and a "turkey-necker" to the folks lucky enough to travel it. Warning! It is a short drive, leaving St George, Ut, and traversing the uppermost NW corner of Arizona, and arriving at Mesquite, NV. (giggling) Imagine..... Utah and Nevada and separated by a whole 'nother state. (for a few miles, anyway)

http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/beaver_dam_mountains/wilderness.html

Arizona Tour in March

I can tell this is going to be a very hard month for me. Everyday I re-live the wonderful month-long trip Virgil and I took to tour Arizona. We went to all four corners, and everything inbetween. One day we were cruising along on an isolated smooth stretch of the highway in the southern Arizona desert, and came upon an even-more-isolated Chevron station. We stopped to enjoy a little picnic in the car, walk Toodles, and relieve ourselves. Guess what? The "outie") had no door and was absolutely filthy (hadn't been clean since it was built ages ago), and I thought I'd die (giggling). I didn't, but I didn't use the outie either. (laughing)

One very interesting place we visited was in the most south-eastern of the state, and it was the cutest little town, snuggled into the desert mountains...... Bisbee! We toured the Queen Mine and fell in love with this area. The folks running the mine tour are the guys who used to work the mine. I'm posting a couple web sites that will show the mine and that adorable little town.

http://www.bisbeemuseum.org
http://queenminetour.com

Waiting for spring

Help on Valentine's Day

Though most of my family has been called back to heaven, my precious daughters and their children sent me beautiful things for Valentine's Day. I thank them with all my old aching heart. It made it a nicer day to live through without my darling husband. Lots of beautiful cards, flowers, candy, and Krispy Kreme coupons. I love you all..... Kathy and kids, Laura-Russ and boys, Jessie and Janee and their husbands and families, Tyson-Krystal and family, and Chelsea.

Ahhhh.... the pansies...

Beading

The winter months are very long here right now. I got some beads and wire and have made a few jewelry things.

Pansies Orange and Creamy