ARTISTS, ART SHOWS AND GOODBYES

Sunday was a very busy day for me. We attended early service, went out for breakfast with friends after the service as we always do and then I hurried home to prepare a gift for my little French friend who is moving to South Carolina in a couple of weeks.
My first art instructor, Maureen Brouillette arranged this gathering at the Upstairs Gallery where we all have painted together over the past 7 years.

Maureen is an excellent teacher and such a good artist. I was truly blessed to have started on my painting journey with her as my mentor. I learned a lot! She lives in Dallas now and continues to both paint and teach. You can find all about her on her website at Maureen Brouillette. artist & art instructor

Since it was also Ascension Sunday, there was a picnic and service at River Legacy Park here in Arlington. Frank went and represented the family since I had this previous engagement. It was so good to see everyone since I have been out of circulation for a while.
There were about 20 artists in attendance at the party and we all had a great time. Here are a few of us who were in attendance.

It was a bittersweet time for all of us however, since we really hate to see Corrine go. She will be moving to a beautiful part of the country and I'm sure will make new friends very quickly. here she is with more friends at the party as well as Margie Whittington (second from the left) who is also one of our teachers. She teaches on a regular basis at The Upstairs Gallery and is a good friend to all of us.

Corrine is such a darling girl with a great personality so I know she'll be fine. I'm really going to miss her and the fun times we had together, but hopefully she'll come back to Texas and visit from time to time. Here is a photograph of her with one of her dear friends, another precious French lady. Corrine is on the left.

I received a notice in the mail on Saturday that two of my paintings have been accepted in an art show next fall. The show is called Art in the Garden. The show and sale will be held from September 5-7 in the Deborah Beggs Moncrief Garden Center in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

The two paintings that were accepted for the show are entitled "Coat of Many Colors" and "Bartlett and a Bottle". The elephant is an antique artifact that I though would work well with the background that I designed. I really like it and apparently the committee did as well since they selected it to be in the show. Now let's keep our fingers crossed an hope that my two entries sell!

When I was a young girl, one of my favorite things to do was to go to the Botanical Gardens with my family and Zella, who took very good care of me, and have a picnic and feed the ducks.

It was always such a special treat! She was like my second Mother and worked for our family for 4 generations. She watched us all from the time we were born until we were grown. Here she is with my two older children when they were young. They would now be 52 and 55.

Zella came to live with us in the Quarters at my Grandmother's home as a young woman before I was born and stayed with the family until she sadly passed away. I have very fond memories of her getting me all dressed up in the afternoons to wait for my Mother to come home from a shopping trip or a meeting that she had been attending. We would sit on the front porch in the swing and count the cars as they went by. I still love to swing or rock and I give credit for that to Zella. This was a wonderful house and my Mother was born there. It is no longer standing and has been replaced with a medical building. Even though the building no longer remains, the memories will always be there.

Zella lived to see all three of my children and help take care of them. She was truly a jewel and I still miss her even though she's been gone nearly 40 years. Here is one more photograph of her with my granddaughter, Rachel. It's the last photograph that I ever took of her and it is very precious to me. She was a very special lady.

I have spent most of the past couple of days working in a commission for a client. Frank had an important meeting at the Diocese so that freed me up to paint. I spend all day yesterday in my studio and it was a real treat. I've really missed painting and am so glad that I now feel well enough to get back to my easel! I think that the new painting is turning out very well. I'll post it soon.
The weather has just taken a turn for the worst and it is pouring down rain so I'd better sign off and turn my computer off. I literally have thousands of images on it and I would NOT want to lose them!
Have a great week and I'll check back soon.
XOXO, Pcasso