Happy Thanksgiving, 2007!

Smaller Turkey?? ... or Bigger Dutch oven??
Acrylic on board, 11 x 14 inches
Private collection

I have been trying to decide what to post for Thanksgiving and went to check out what I posted last year. I am pleased with the message so here it is again. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

My Dad's first paying job was as a cook on a cattle drive. I used a photo of his campfire for the fire in this painting and the cook could be a little like my Dad, Dutch. I don't think he ever cooked a turkey in his dutch ovens, but he sure did make a fine meal. Sour dough biscuits, potatoes, steak and cooked apples or some fruit. Beans and chili, too. Makes my mouth water. My parents always cooked Thanksgiving and invited whomever happened to be on their own in town. We always had a houseful of people on that day. There were Salty Dogs to drink while they cooked, music and fun. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. My Mom, Alice, made rolls, pies, dressing, sweet potatoes, and more. Dad cooked the turkey and gravy.

There is so much to be thankful for. Family, friends, our freedom and country. Remember all our military that are eating MREs while we eat turkey and the police and firemen that are on duty. Thanks to all. God bless America!

Pumpkin and Then Some
Pastel on sanded paper
11 x 14 inches
in private collection

Word of the Year and other notables from the newspaper

Gene, my husband, loves to read and really likes to get a newspaper to peruse every day. There were some days in Canada a few years ago when we were so far out in the country that the paper would come a day late about noon. He would have to buy it and read it the next morning with coffee, making it two days late. Ahhhh.

In Silver City this past summer he would get the daily Albuquerque Journal. It was published in Albuquerque in the afternoon for the next day, so it was like reading a day old paper as well, especially any breaking news or late sports. Here he reads the Austin American-Statesman for a daily read. We also get the Bastrop Advertiser, twice a week.

I just got an e-mail from him (all the way across the room) that I would like to share with you:

"Locavore has been named the 2007 word of the year by The New Oxford American Dictionary. I somehow missed it and if you are like me and missed it as I suspect you might have, I will tell you what it means. It is a word for people who eat only food grown locally (usually in a 100-mile to 150-mile radius). This invaluable information was Food and Life section of the AAS yesterday.

Two more interesting things I learned in the same paper:

1. The Green Bean Casserole was developed by The Campbell Soup Company in 1950, I was only 9 years old when it was developed.

2. In Judeo-Christian tradition, graves are usually aligned on an east-west orientation, with the feet facing east, which would allow the dead to rise on Judgment Day to face God. Rayne, LA, claims to have the only cemetery in the Judeo-Christian world in which the graves have a north-south orientation. The city does not know exactly why it happened but says the most likely reason is a mistake by a gravedigger. The cemetery is included in "Ripley's Believe it Or Not!"

So there you are then.

Gene"

I would like to share Leslie's answer as well:

"So what you’re saying is, if I die because I don’t stick to the locavore eating pattern, and have funyuns on my green bean casserole, when I’m buried in Rayne, in a north-south orientation, I will not see God, but I will make it into Ripley’s?

Guess what’s on the menu…

Hope you guys have a delicious Thanksgiving!

Leslie"

Hunt Sketches - Night light, album, wet

This is probably my last sketches for this Scavenger Hunt. It ends tomorrow. My hosting is over for some time. I may cut back a little on posting on wetcanvas.com and work on painting. I end up putting in an hour or so just posting and commenting and I could be painting. Of course I post at night, but I could be working on my web page or this blog which I need to do. I will see how it goes on my goals and time.


#11 Night light, a pottery one from New Mexico. It is about 4 inches high, the light shines through the doors and window, the eye and the round holes on the breast and of course from behind it. Desert colors. This is with one of the Micron 005 pens in my NY sketchbook, about 15 minutes. No pencil drawing or erasing.


#12 Photo album, actually a photo stand with family photos hanging on it. #13 Something wet, the white wine and the condensation on the glass. That is hard to depict with ink, at least quickly. It would look better in pointillism, but that would take drawing with a pencil first for me. The same pen and sketchbook about 20 minutes.

Sketches for Scavenger Hunt - Corner, frypan,sharp,stripes

I did a few sketches for Scavenger Hunt 63 while watching Monday Night Football. Something I rarely do. Tonight it is the Broncos, Jennie's favorite team, and the Titans. We have been checking in on the Titans when we can see them, as Vince Young, the quarterback, is from the University of Texas and is such an exciting player to watch. Tonight Michael Griffin and Bo Scaife to watch, too, for the Titans and Selvin Young playing for the Broncos, all played for Texas, too. The Broncos are winning, but the way things are going lately, you just never know. Professional sports have lost my interest in general. They make so much money off of fans and then snub them. Charging for autographs and charging such high ticket prices, etc. What fools we are. TV and movie celebrities are even worse. Why do people fawn over them? Oh well, back to art...


#6 Corner of room with floor, closet door and step to dining room, pencil, 10 minutes (sorry for the dark spots ink bled through the paper.)




#7, Frying pan, Challenge drawing it upside down, looking right side up. As Joan said, very difficult. Micron 005, 10 - 15 minutes



#8, Something Sharp, F and C on the treble clef. A few minutes, Micron 005
#9, Something starting with "P", pencil, 5 - 10 minutes, Micron 005




#10, Something with stripes, coin purse, black leather and Bolivian cloth. 30 minutes with Micron 005 and colored pencils.