July Fourth Celebration

8.5" x 11"

pencil

The drawing today is a memory of how it was on one Fourth of July when I was growing up. Daddy really believed in doing a few fireworks out in the front yard by the street before going to bed. In this drawing, Daddy, dressed in his khakis and felt hat, is ready to set off a Roman Candle as he stood by the curb. Barbara, the brave one, is arranging a small string of firecrackers along the curb. She wanted to light them herself, but Mama fretted from the porch and said, "No! Don't you let that child light a firecracker!"

I'm standing behind Daddy, scared, but fascinated, as I hold a sparkler that he lit for me.

You have to understand that I was terrified of lighting matches and fire after my dress caught on fire when I was about 4. I was terrified of matches, after the incident. I had nightmares about my room catching on fire in the night. In high school, even, our homemaking teacher made me sit on the steps to the kitchen all day one day, trying to get me to strike a match and light the gas hot plate. In college, I was glad if I could get someone else to light a cigarette for me. Eventually, it got a little better and I could light a stove and strike a match. But I did it in a hurry and got away from it. So just holding a little sparkler was a big accomplisment for me. I was assured it wouldn't burn and the little sparkles that came off from it didn't hurt. So, I was okay with a sparkler, but not anything more explosive.

We didn't have the fancy, spectacular fireworks that we have today. Just small, or a little larger, fire crackers, sparklers, Roman Candles, and, if you wanted something more risque, there were chasers and some kind of small rocket with a stick on it. You could stick those in the ground or put them in a bottle and launch them. They didn't go very far, and usually just fizzled.

The last two were more expensive, so we didn't get to see those very often.

There were no big fireworks displays for a community or city. I'm not even sure where we bought fireworks. There were no big fireworks stands. I think you could just buy a few at the grocery store.

We had a wonderful bandstand that would have made a great place for a patriotic band concert, picnics and playing in the park on the Fourth. But, a lot of people went out to the Country Club for a barbeque, swimming, golf, and enjoying the little lake with its lily pads and swinging bridge. Some families had their own celebrations with picnics, watermelon on the lawn, maybe lemonade and cake on the lawn or the porch late in the evening .

I don't remember that anyone barbequed or cooked out at home. You could go to the roadside park, after they built one north of town, and roast weiners on the barbeque pit, or have a picnic.

In my picture, you can also see the two story house across the street and part of their driveway. On the left side, you can see the park with the peak on the bandstand, and a street light in the park, glowing among the trees.

While we didn't have any big community patriotic celebrations on the Fourth, we did have plenty of patriotic feelings and observances at school, downtown, and at the churches. In small groups and large. For this was the time of WWII . We lived, believing in this country and our way of life, and thought that it was worth fighting and dying for. We thought that anyone who disrespected our country, our flag, our service people, our symbols, or our way of life, was sure to be hauled away to never be heard of again, and, at the least, shunned by the rest of the people. A flag that touched the ground, accidentally, had to be burned. Other than that, we cherished it. We wouldn't have even thought of not participating in the daily flag ceremony at school or any other place.

One time, a few years ago, I had to sit at the end of the football field during high school graduation. Before the program started, I was visiting with the lady who sat next to me. We couldn't hear the loud speaker at all from where we had been seated. Apparently, the people around us couldn't hear either. Suddenly, I realized that we had missed standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, and the people on the other side of the field were sitting down as it ended. Even at my age, I thought that was a terrible thing! And I was so embarrassed, to think that I had sat through the Pledge and not participated! What a terrible example.

Well, I did have the excuse that my knees were not letting me get up and down very well, and, above all, we couldn't hear what was going on at that end of the field.

Even at home, when I am alone, or when I was in my classroom and no one was there for morning ceremonies, I would stand up and participate during the Pledge and the prayer. I never was sure if I was supposed to or not, but I thought it would be the thing to do. It isn't for an audience, but reaffirms our beliefs and our dedication. No matter who is there.

In these times, we certainly need all the patriotism that we can get. I hope that you will be out celebrating, and thinking about why we observe this day. And pass it on to future generations.

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Some observances here include a neighborhood celebration at Heritage Park.

And, of course, the big celebration over at the George Bush Library. That's always very special with a day of touring the museum, seeing people portraying historic characters, games for the kids, ice cold watermelon, vendors with treats like sausage on a stick, bands to entertain, a military plane flyover, concert by the local symphony to accompany the big fireworks finale. Downtown, a new place is opening with a band to entertain.

Some people will head for the lake, or enjoy a backyard barbeque or picnic.

With gas prices and everything going up but incomes, I imagine that a lot of people will be staying at home and watching the fireworks on tv.

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Dry conditions here make it very unwise for people to do individual fireworks. Leave that to the professionals who do the big displays for special events. Enjoy one of those.

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I hope that you are preparing for a wonderful, safe Fourth, with many happy memories, and mindful of why we have this holiday.

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Sketch Crawl Today

Brazos Bankful

sketch

8.5" x 11"

pencil

This is it. The day when we all need to be out drawing things around us-all over the world. The 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl has arrived.

Here's the plan for Bryan:

Meet at the Frame Gallery in downtown Bryan about 8:30 or 9:00. Sign in there so we will know who is participating.

Those who need coffee and may want to get together as a group, might meet at the LaSalle Hotel. There, people can decide where they want to work.

Spend the morning and afternoon sketching. Some may want to stay in downtown Bryan where the Texas Reds Festival will be going on. Others may want to spread out in other areas of Bryan/College Station, or across the Brazos Valley.

At the end of the day, those who want to may like to meet back at the Frame Gallery to discuss experiences and share their work. Since entertainment will be going on, some people may like to stay on and sketch the rest of the Festival.

In Calvert, people can meet at Mud Creek Pottery to check in and decide where to work for the day. They could meet back there at the end of the day to share what they have done during the day.

I'm anxious to do some work, and to see what everyone else sketches tomorrow. Hope that everyone has fun tomorrow.

I tried to get the word out to others in our area through press releases to newspapers and tv while Greta Watkins appeared on "Brazos Arts" on KAMU fm radio.

Hopefully, the weather will be beautiful and everyone will have an enjoyable and productive day.

The sketch above is one that I did last year while we were going for a drive in the area of the Brazos Bottom. The Brazos River was full to the top of the banks and there was concern about flooding. It didn't flood at that time, though.

So far, this year, it is hot and getting really dry here. Thankfully, we have not had the bad flooding in this area like they are having in the Midwest, since they built the dam on the Brazos at Waco. We did have one bad flood back in the spring of -04, but that was more localized after around 20 inches of rain-15 of those in about 3 hours time. A couple of earthen dams broke, which made things worse. I hope that we never have those kind of problems again. And I am really sorry for what is happening to the people and the land to the north.

The above sketch is a plan that can be used in something more finished later.

Get out your sketching things and join us in drawing something today!

And if you are near downtown Bryan, enjoy the big steak and wine festival. I was hoping to see Big Otis who is one of the performers, but I realized as we were eating supper, that he was appearing on Friday night, not Saturday. But there will be lots of other things going on.

Have a great weekend!

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Happy Father's Day

Indianola Courthouse at Sunset

Family Photo

We don't really observe Father's Day in our family anymore. The fathers all seem to have died. I don't recall that we ever celebrated that day very much. We would get the fathers a card, and a gift like pajamas or a tie. Sometimes we would make something, which really wasn't appreciated. Gifts were taken, with thanks, then put away in a drawer to save for the possibility that they might have to go to the hospital, or if they happened to run out of their closet full of ties.

We often had our special meal of red roast and red gravy, with some of the men being served their favorite, fried oysters and oyster stew, with crackers. Most of the ladies and the children were not going to eat that!

Of course, there was church before that Sunday Father's Day meal.

We had a lot of men in our family who were not fathers. Many, who married, didn't have children. And, many didn't get married to begin with. It took them all to help raise the children, of those who did have families.

In later years, Daddy liked to barbeque, then take a nap before going out to check the cattle. He would put a little stool beside the barbeque pit outside the back door, put a lot of lighter fluid to get the fire going, then put on the chicken, weiners, or hamburger patties. They always were black and tasted like lighter fluid. But he loved to do that. He would sit in the hot Texas sun, tending the fire, and sipping cold "sky juice", as he called water. That was from his Aggie days.

The picture above is one of my favorites. It shows my father, carrying my son, on the old foundation of the courthouse at Indianola, about sunset. This was probably about 1965.

If you are a father, I hope that you had a wonderful day!

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It's just around the corner!

The 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl is Saturday!

Click on the Sketch Crawl logo on the top of the page, for more information and to go to their website.

I hope that you will join in! Remember, it's free, its' worldwide, it's for everyone, all ages, all levels, all media, families, groups, or individuals-just everyone, all over the world, all at the same time, drawing/painting/recording their surroundings through art.

Locally, we will meet at the Frame Gallery in downtown Bryan to register, then gather at the LaSalle Hotel, if anyone needs coffee and such! From there we can see who is working and where they want to work. Then we will spread out and start drawing the Brazos Valley.

We'll spend the morning and afternoon sketching.

Lunch is on your own, or a group could go together, if they want to. The Texas Reds Festival will be going on downtown Bryan, so there will be plenty of food to eat at the festival or at local restaurants.

After working, people can get together at the Frame Gallery to share experiences and their work.

There will be entertainment downtown, so, if people want to hang around and do the festival, they are welcome to do that.

After the Crawl, participants can either post their own work on the Sketch Crawl website, or they can add it under my listing for Bryan/College Station. They can also add it to their own website, blog, or places like Flickr.

People in the Calvert area, can do the same thing, but meet at Mud Creek Pottery on Main Street. If anyone is partial to kolaches, they might be sure to check out Zamykal Kolaches on Main Street, to start the morning. There are other eating places, there as well.

Hopefully, people in other communities will start their own Sketch Crawls for their areas, or they can work on their own, if they want.

Let's draw the Brazos Valley while other people are drawing their part of the world! I think we have plenty of material here to choose from.

Let me know if you need more information, or if you would like to join us in this area.

I would love to see what you create!

So get out your pencil and paper, or watercolors, markers, pens, paint, or whatever you want to work with and join in on Saturday.

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Texas Scottish Festival June 6-8, Arlington, TX

World Champion Gregor Edmunds

Participant in World Highland Games Championship

Texas Scottish Festival

June 6-8

Arlington, Texas

http://www.texasscottishfestival.com/

That exciting time of year is here, when people are busy getting ready for the Texas Scottish Festival and World Championship Highland Games to be held at Maverick Stadium in Arlington. This is the University of Texas at Arlington stadium. People are coming from all over the world to participate and to enjoy this festival. It sounds like a really interesting and fun weekend.

While it has a Scottish theme, this event is for everyone.

I've added some links in the sidebar to the Festival, to some of the vendors, and to some of the many outstanding musicians who will be performing. Look under Music to find the Musicians. I thought you might enjoy hearing samples of some of their music.

Gregor Edmunds, shown above, is going to be the "prize" date in a version of "The Dating Game". Single lassies, ages 24-35, are eligible for the Scottish Dating Game. (Be prepared to answer questions!) The lassie who is the winner of that competition will win an escorted dinner date with the 6' 4 1/2" , 31 year old athlete from Scotland. You can read more about that on the TSF website. I also wrote about it previously on my blog.

Festivities get under way on Friday night with the Calling of the Clans and a Ceilidh (party).

Look over the page of activities on the TSF website and you are going to find things for children including a rock climbing wall and a bungee-strap kind of thing. A ren faire type of group will do a sword fighting demonstration, there will be coloring, a dog show, and opportunities to learn more about Scotland and family history.

Clan tents will offer things from fellowship, to help with locating your clan and ancestors, Gaelic, and, of course, there will be plenty of music and a Highland Dance Competition.

Speaking of contests, another opportunity to compete will come in the photography contest.

Saturday and Sunday will be filled with food, fun, and competition.

On Sunday morning, there will be a special kirking (church service).

Some of the food that will be available will include Heilian Coo Burgers from vendors Oz Highland Farms. They raise their own special Highland cattle. You can check out their website at http://www.ozhighlandfarm.com/beef.html .

Caledonian Kitchens is another vendor that will be there. This year, they are adding fish and chips, Scotch eggs, corndogs, Irn Bru, and hotdogs to their other food items that include their own special recipe for haggis and Irish Stew. Check out their website at http://www.caledoniankitchen.com/.

Another vendor will be bringing sweet treats such as their own special toffee. Brown's English Toffee has a website at http://www.brownsenglishtoffee.com/ .

Many will enjoy the largest pub tent in Texas, and all the many other vendors bringing food, refreshment and wares to the festival.

Birds of prey, a medieval Scotland area, Scottish fiddle workshop, Scottish miltary living history encampment, a "bonniest knees " contest, Celtic harp workshop, Scotch ale brewing competition, shortbread contest, Scotch whisky tasting and seminars, and fireworks, and much more can be enjoyed during the festival.

If you think that you may have a bit of Scottish or Celtic blood in you, you will want to look up your clan tent and get involved. Even if you don't have a clan, or know your family history, there are people there who will welcome you and try to help you find your roots.

If you are already into your Celtic heritage, you will want to wear your kilts and sashes, and enter into the spirit of the festival. This is one of the largest Scottish gatherings in the United States and is in its 22nd year.

Some of the entertainers are Alex Beaton, Ed Miller, Margaret Gravitt, Smithfield Faire,Jed Marum, Hugh Morridon, Colin Grant-Adams, Needfire, Jiggernaut, Brian McNeill, Seven Nations, The Killdares, Scottish Rogues, Beyond the Pale, Seamus Stout, Clandestine, and the Quebe Sisters Band. This is not the whole list. You can find that on the website. These are the ones that I have found links for and have in my sidebar under Music.

I'm throwing in a link for Craig Ferguson as well. After all, he was a drummer in a band, and has performed with drums when he has had bands on as guests. I haven't heard that he will be there, but I just found his link on one of the musician's page. He's a funny fellow, and I thought you might enjoy seeing a link to his page. He's certainly Scottish, and now a new citizen of the U.S. I always enjoy his program and maybe you do too.

Hope that you will get out and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, if you can get to the area.

The weekend actually kicks off on Thursday with a Scottish Invasion at a restaurant. The lads and lassies will gather at a restaurant, many in their Scottish attire, for an outing before the festival starts. This is a very active group!

I'll be there, in spirit. I'll just have to wait for the pictures, all the e-mails from the group, and look at the links in my sidebar. It sounds like a really fun event, and the weather seems like it will cooperate with lots of sunshine.

Ticket information and times can be found on the TSF website.

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Artfest

on Friday

Downtown Bryan, Texas

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Get ready for the 19th World Wide Sketch Crawl . Let me know if you would like to participate!

Saturday June 21 Let's Draw The Brazos Valley!

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Let me know if you see something of interest to you. I do appreciate your comments and your support!

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I just have to mention the passing of Bo Diddley. I wasn't that big a fan until we got to see him here at Wolf Pen Creek Ampitheatre a few years ago. People called him and called him to come out on stage, while the warm up act played on and on. From our vantage point on a little hill overlooking the stage and the creek, we could see Bo Diddley, just leaning on the railing of the balcony behind the stage, feeding the ducks that floated around on the water. Once he started playing, finally, well, that was a blast! I never had an opportunity to go to those kind of concerts when I was young and Bo Diddley and the other musicians of that type were becoming really popular. So, that was really fun, to me. Except that the rest of the family kept wanting to go home, it got so late before Bo came out. We still talk about the time that we got to see Bo Diddley.

I always liked most of that kind of music, but my favorite had been Muddy Waters. Drove my parents crazy with my music. "It will never last," they said of rock and roll, and rhythm and blues. I think that I knew that it wasn't such great music, but it was fun, and it shocked the grown ups! They just about died when we did the Dirty Bop in the living room! And, of course, that made it just that much more fun.

I hated to hear about Bo Diddley. The younger generations aren't going to know what they missed by not being able to hear and see the old stars like Bo Diddley.

Now, I'm the one who says, "This racket will never last!" when I happen to hear the popular sounds of today.

I'm glad that we do have records, video, CDs and DVDs that will preserve those stars of the past and their work.

First Norther

First Norther
Image Size 9"x13"
Paper Size 10"x 14"
watercolor
Early Monday afternoon, the summer-like skies turned to gray. We heard reports of heavy rain and flooding to the north as a cold front rushed across Texas. I haven't heard this particular front designated as a Norther, but the wind did come from the north, and the temperature dropped considerably. However, there were storms as the front raced south and I'm not sure that there is rain, thunder and lightning with a true Norther. They may just include those fronts that are dry with strong winds and a big temperature drop.
We kept the news and weather on tv and the computer, to watch the progress of the storms.
I've been wanting to paint a Blue Norther for about 20 years now, but we haven't had one, that I've seen. I even asked the local weatherman, "Whatever happened to Blue Northers?". It seems that we now have fronts come in, but they either happen at night, with storms, or, in the daytime, they arrive as storms. (That doesn't happen with a Blue Norther) I think that we have had maybe 3 Blue Northers since I got the idea, but I was in class and couldn't paint then. I thought that, surely, one would come along on a day when I didn't have to teach. After all, I've been seeing them all my life. It hasn't happened, so I guess that I will just have to paint this as one of my memories, if I am going to do it. I really wanted to paint one, and get the colors and the feeling, as it happens.
Through the north side windows yesterday, there were gray clouds, then spots of rain. I took my clipboard to the south side windows and sketched the interesting clouds that were forming there. As fronts from the north go over us and head south toward Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast, the cold air, hitting the warm coastal air probably create these boiling clouds. When there are storms and floods in the Houston area, 100 miles away, we can usually see big thunderheads from our south windows.
I wanted to paint a Blue Norther, still, but this looked like the closest thing I was going to get to one, for now. I took my paper to my drawing table, and did the watercolor above.
Of course, as I started to paint, the electricity went off. I opened the blinds to my wide , north windows and kept painting. So this one was painted, basically, in the dark.
I like to paint when it rains. I seem to have more energy in bad weather. I think it has something to do with the barometric pressure, or it's just the way I am. I get sleepy when it is sunny, wide awake at night and in bad weather. Or maybe it has something to do with the need to be alert for self-preservation.
I may have painted the tag that hung from the bottom cloud a bit heavier than it actually was. My grandson thought it looks like a tornado. It wasn't a tornado, but it was a part of the cloud that looked like one, with little puffs trailing .
"First Norther" shows that time when the cold air from the north, collided with the warm air to the south, with hints of thunderheads and blue skies above the distant trees. Cold, yellow light peeked through the dark clouds. The security light shone through the darkened trees around the neighbor's house and shed. The weeds and grass were still light green and brown. The rain had not started.
Once the heavy rain started, however, the ditch in front of the house filled quickly.
You can't help but be a little on edge about nature when you live in a mobile home. After the lightning strike nearby a couple of weeks ago, we're still a little more nervous than usual when bad weather threatens.
With that big crash, one of my windows cracked and the shelves in my closet, next to the window, fell. We were watching tv when that lightning bolt hit. I saw all the pictures on the wall, fly out from the wall. The hooks held them, but every picture in the house was crooked. I'm just so glad that it didn't hit the house. The family thought it had and went outside to look for damage. My poor, elderly cat, Bitsy, was scared to death, as she always is when it rains. (My weatherforecaster!)
Hope you enjoy this one. "First Norther" was painted with Winsor Newton watercolors on 140 pound Arches watercolor paper.

To see more of my posts on Macular Degeneration, look in the Archives or under Older Posts. Those are all prefaced with the word "Vision".
Also, check out http://www.gretawire.com where there was a conversation on Macular Degeneration. She has an interesting blog, anyway, but I was glad to see the comments on AMD. That would be in the older posts, now.
Enjoy the links on my sidebar.

Some things coming up:
Brazos Valley Art League Show College Station, Texas Entries due Friday Oct. 19
Calhoun County County Fair Art Show Port Lavaca, Texas (entries were due yesterday)
"Last Year On The Farm" show of Virginia Vaughan's recent works Manor, Texas Oct. 20
Chemistry Department Open House and Demos Texas A&M University Oct. 20
(That should be fun and educational for the family)
Downtown Art Auction Bryan, Texas Entries due by Oct 19 Auction Nov. 2
Arts for the Parks National Competition Entries due by Nov. 30

Thank you for your comments and support. Let me know if you see something of interest to you. And thanks for sharing my work with others who might be interested.