In Memory Of

My grandpa passed away right before Easter weekend. So, in memory of him and all the fish stories he had, I painted two salmon. A Chinook and a Sockeye. As a commercial fisherman, he had endless stories about being on his boat.

He was the Grandpa that was always working. He worked hard for his family and even had his own business, Lee’s Appliance Service. If you’re wondering which washer and dryer to buy, always choose Speed Queen. Nothing that has anything digital. He would always want appliances to be simple because they didn’t need service as often.

As a kid, I played endlessly in his meticulous yard, on the amazing swing set, and in the bigger-than-life tree house. He would write us tickets for going too fast down his sidewalk and push us with an underdog on the swing set.

Whenever we were at their house, we would climb into their waterbed and snuggle, laugh, and he would steal my blankie and hide it.

He was a man who used his hands. He crafted that swing set that all of us cousins would play on, and he built the tree house. He helped us with projects at our first house, and he was the last to leave, usually after midnight, when my parents remodeled our entire house down to the studs.

He will be missed, but we are so thankful he is no longer suffering. Love you, Grandpa.

April Spring Vibes

April came with some warm weather, and I am soaking it in! A couple of weeks ago, when the robins started showing up again, I took a picture of a robin sitting on a rock outside our window. It was the fattest little robin I’d ever seen.

If you know me, you know that fat, stocky, short animals with tiny legs melt me. I think they are just so cute.

I also revisited Gerty Goose. I saved her coloring I had used on the previous Gerty. I mixed the colors up and did another Gerty.

This Gerty is gardening. She just got the flowers she’s going to plant and needed a shovel to plant them.

As I continue painting, I’m learning that I like looser strokes. Leaving some white background showing, and adding the darker contrasting color while that first layer is still wet. It blends better and more loosely.