Fleeting Beauty

My cholla cactus in my front yard treats us to some of the most beautiful, waxy-appearing blooms early in the spring. The blooms usually only last for a day or two, and then quickly disappear. I painted a couple of the blooms, and this is the result of my effort.

"Fleeting Beauty"...16" x 20" oil on linen.

This painting just received a "First Place In Oils" award at the Glendale Art Competition, 2011.

Heralds Of Spring

This is a painting of some daffodils, that I am calling, "Heralds Of Spring", since daffodils are usually the first flowers to appear after a long winter.

"Heralds Of Spring"...16" x 20" oil on canvas...SOLD

Homeland Security

This is a painting of my back gate, with its unlocked padlock, its rickety hasp, and peeling paint. An ineffective, "watch lizard" tops this painting off for a piece that I titled, "Homeland Security", a visual dope slap at Napolitano, our present czar of Homeland Security. Since she has ceased to acknowledge the true threat of terrorism by re-labeling it "man-made disasters" I thought a bit of sarcasm was in order.

This is a 16" x 20" oil on linen, for which I received a "First Place In Oils", and a "Best Of Show" at the Arizona State Fair this year. It recently received an Award of Excellence at the Peoria Fine Arts Association Spring Show, held at the Arizona Art Alliance Gallery, in Scottsdale, AZ.

Misty Rose

"Misty Rose" is an oil painting that I created on linen canvas. Linen has the reputation of having a bit more longevity than cotton canvas. I made use of Old Holland's Manganese Blue Deep for the sky portion of the background. It is claimed to be a multiple-pigment color, but I've never given that much consideration, as long as the color is what I want.

This painting received the "Merchant's Award" at an art show held at the Peoria School District Main Office, 2010. It also received an "Honorable Mention" at the Peoria Celebration Of Artists" competition in March 2011.

Peaceful Morning

This is another painting that I used as a demonstration for my students taking the oil painting class that I teach. This is 16" x 20," oil on canvas. I use a very limited palette for these demonstration pieces. This is to keep the purchase of oil paint very affordable for my students. I use Grumbacher Pretested Oils and place the following colors on my palette:

Ivory Black

French Ultramarine Blue

Thalo Blue

Burnt Umber

Cadmium Red Medium

Cadmium Yellow Light

Martin F. Weber's Permalba White

Chanty

This is a painting that I did on commission. The subject is a Shar Pei' show dog, who is now deceased. I painted this in oil paint, on a 16" x 20" linen canvas. SOLD

Country Life

This is a painting that is the result of my demonstration to my oil painting class. I teach a 6-week class, one evening a week. Each class period is 2 1/2 hours long. I enjoy doing that very much. All the students paint from the same reference photo, including me, and I use mine for demonstration. I am titling this painting "Country Life". It is 16" x 20" oil on canvas.

This painting received an Award Of Merit at the Art Show that was held at the Peoria School District Office.

Pick Up, and Hug Your Kid

This is something that only a grandpa would think of, I believe--or possibly another artist. Certainly, it takes an older person who is less involved with the daily work force to entertain such a thought as that of mine, which follows.

We babysit our two youngest granddaughters for my son and his wife about three days each week. When my daughter-in-law's van rolls into the driveway, I am almost always the first out of the door to greet my grandchildren. One little girl is now four, and the other about a year and a half. The little 4-year-old raises her arms to have me pick her up, and I pick her up while her mom unloads the car, (and the other little girl), and I hug her, while she snuggles her head on my shoulder. She is not a "morning person," and she usually likes to cuddle, pretending that morning is not really happening, I suppose.

The thought I had, today, while holding her was that kids grow up, and much too soon, of course. But, somewhere between her age right now, and, let's say 18 years old, there must be a specific moment in both our lives at which she is too heavy and big, and I'm too old to lift her up, any more.

I got to thinking how profoundly sad that really is. I realize that at some moment in both our lives, I am going to cease picking her up any more. The day before, I may have picked her up, but perhaps today I won't. That one day of picking her up and giving her a big hug when I did, may come to an abrupt end, without either of us having ever realized it. And, THAT is the really sad part.

It will have been the very last time that I picked her up, never to do so again, and that fleeting moment will be lost in the history of our lives, never to have been appropriately celebrated, or even acknowledged by either of us.

Personally, at 72 years of age, I plan to pick up, and hold my granddaughters as often as I possibly can, while they are both small and light enough for me to do it. I want there to never be a time when I won't do that, although I know for sure that time will eventually arrive.

And, when that saddest of sad times arrives, and passes.....neither of us will have noticed. Well, perhaps I will have; I'll be the one with a tear running down my cheek.

Pick up, and hug your kids/grandkids. You'll never get another opportunity.

Bill