Call Me.......

Call Me....

Well I looked it up and push button dial phones were introduced in 1963.  My early childhood was in the mid to late 60's and we still had a rotary dial phone, very similar to this one.  When we would go to other peoples houses, and if they happen to have a push button phone I would think to myself, "Wow...they must me rich!"  I  remember at one point we even had a "party line."  I know it sounds like a fun time but it just means that we shared a phone line with a neighbor's house.

When my kids were just a few years younger than they are now they would ask me questions like,  " How old were you when you got your first cell phone?" and I would reply,  "I was in my 30's."  They gasp..."Why wouldn't your Mom and Dad let you get one when you were young?"  Hahaha.....because they didn't have one either, no one did!  

My children simply can't imagine a life without cell phones and internet.  I do remember life without it but I would be the first to admit how much I love my iphone and how I never go anywhere without it!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Critters

Collection of Critters

What would children's illustrations be without critters?  Well not nearly as "cute!" Here are some of my favorites over the past year and a half.  Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Little Blue

Little Blue

"Little Blue" is so very close to my heart!

I think in life we all bring our own unique influences and experiences to whatever we are doing.

In artwork,  these influences and experiences can be especially evident.

Take "Little Blue" for example,  now I believe that "red" is the standard color when it comes to little play wagons, but no, not for me, mine was a light blue Radio Flyer.   I don't even think I have ever seen another Radio Flyer Wagon in that color, have you?

 I can't bring myself to paint a little wagon any other color than blue...it just doesn't feel right.  LOL

My best guess is that my blue wagon was a Christmas gift from Santa in 1969.  Here we are on that very special day......

Clearly "Little Blue" was special to me because after completion of this illustration I realized that my wagon has been featured in not ONE, not TWO, and not even THREE, but rather FOUR of my illustrations.

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time I bet you can at least think of one them.

Here they are.....

........no "little red wagons" to be found.  

Work in Progress

Summer is over and Fall is here!  Kids are finally settled in school with busy schedules and the lazy days of summer are becoming just a fond memory.

Even though you have not been hearing from me here in the "blog-isphere," I promise you I have been keeping extremely busy.  My first and foremost priority has been working on a book filled with many, many short stories.  My authors have been emailing me new stories every few weeks and so my days are filled with researching and sketching these fun stories.  A little bit like I do for my blog sometimes but only better.....getting paid is always better!  LOL  I simply can't wait to share more of that project with you but that will come later.

I can share with you some other "work in progress."  I have decided to work on getting together an official website.  I am working on some spot illustrations specifically for this site.  Here is my work so far....

My daughter says the girl in the wagon looks like her.......not intentional, so I added some freckles and you know what......I think she is right!   Enjoy!

Harry & Gladys: Upstair Adventure - continued

Well last week I surprised you with yet another Harry & Gladys illustration and left you with a little "cliff hanger."  So here it is folks...this series has been a lot of fun and I hope everyone has enjoyed it.  I sure did and it was awesome to relive a lot of old memories that have been tucked away for quite some time.  For those of you wondering, the blonde cousin who has been in several of the H&G illustrations is also one of my BFF's, Dana.  Our friendship has truely spanned our lifetime.

Harry & Gladys: Upstairs Adventure

Harry & Gladys: Upstairs Adventure

Are you surprised?  I know you thought the Harry and Gladys series was done and so did I but it turns out I had one more story to tell.  It wasn't like I just thought of it, I actually had it on the original list of illustrations,  but when it came time to sketch for this series I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to illustrate this story and all it's parts.....so it got scratched from the list.

This is a story about all the fun we used to have in the upstairs of Harry and Gladys's house. This story had so many parts to it. Sure I could have illustrated one part of the story and blogged about the rest of it but what is the fun in that I ask. This illustration helped me stretch my creative muscle and I'm really happy with my solution.  Just like every good adventure story there is a "cliff hanger."  LOL  You will have to show up next week to hear the rest of the story.

Harry & Gladys: The School Yard

Harry & Gladys: The School Yard

This series would not be complete without the mention of the school yard, most famous for the landmark "giant rock."  Many, many days were spent playing there with my cousins, almost too many days to count really.

In this illustration I really wanted to include the large rock but honestly we probably spent more time on the playground equipment.  And then when my younger sister wrote down her school yard memory I knew I needed to show us coming down that slide without any "blood shed!"  You will understand if you just keep reading.

Janell's Memory

One of the best parts about going to grandma and grandpa's house was the fact that they lived one block away from the schoolyard. Now being the second youngest of the 19 grandchildren my memories are very limited as grandma and grandpa passed away when I was six. However, I do remember when we went to grandma and grandpa's we always used to get to walk down to the park. One time in particular my sister was in charge of watching me when I went to play and the instruction that was given was not to let me go down the "big" slide, to stay on the small slide.

Well, being the typical little sister I begged and being a good big sister she relented and let me go down the "big" slide. Needless to say I got scared and grabbed the side of the slide on my decent and cut my hand on a screw that was sticking out. It wasn't much of a cut but I was screaming so it was hard to hide from mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. While my poor sister was getting in trouble for letting me get hurt, grandma bandaged my hand, wrapping my whole arm in an ace bandage because I was fascinated with casts.

Thank you so much for following along in this series about my grandparents, it has been a fun trip!  If you missed any of it here are the links.  Enjoy!

Meet Harry and Gladys
Silver Dollar
Needle and Thread
Chocolate Cookies
Watermelon
Ice Cream Treat 

Harry & Gladys: Ice Cream Treat

Harry & Gladys: Ice Cream Treat

I remember spending most weekend evenings at the Mitchell house.  After the evening meal Harry would offer all his guest ice cream.  Each week there was always a different flavor but the one I remember most frequently was what I called "striped (Neapolitan) ice cream."

The truth is that Harry really didn't eat all that much ice cream, Gladys would always have to eat whatever was left in the ice cream carton, so as not to let it go bad.  I am not sure how much she even liked ice cream, but I think living through the Great Depression, Gladys could never let anything go to waste....she saved every twist-tie, bread wrapper, margarine tub, etc.  Now as soon as the ice cream caton was finished, Harry would go to the grocery store and buy more ice cream!!!  When I think about this little cycle it makes me laugh!

I asked Dana to share some memories about Grandpa.

Dana's Memories

My favorite childhood memories occurred at Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's house. When Jolene asked some of the cousins to share memories, it was hard to pick just one. So I picked two.

Grandpa Harry was a jokester, as has been mentioned before, and I remember a running joke about a giant lollipop that went on for months. However, it was a more tranquil memory that I love the most.

Grandpa always had to have an evening snack before bed and having lived through the Great Depression it wasn't fancy. He would have either bread (or crackers) torn up in a glass of milk with salt and pepper. Whenever I spent the night, I loved sitting next to him on his couch (Grandma and Grandpa each had their own couch) and having my own "Grandpa snack" with him.

Thanks everyone for reading this week.  One more painting left in this series.

Harry & Gladys: Watermelon

Harry & Gladys: Watermelon

Each and every year, at the close of summer, the little town of Montrose, Iowa gathers together to worship celebrate watermelon.  It is the same today as it was when I was a small child.  Free watermelon, free entertainment, and to my memory the best little carnival ever!

Here is an interesting tidbit......Did you know that my Grandpa, Harry Mitchell was one of the Watermelon Festival Founders?  I did not know that until a couple of weeks ago, so you could imagine my excitement as I was painting my Grandpa in an illustration about the very festival he helped create!  I couldn't help but think how "tickled" he might have been to see himself in this painting.

The Watermelon Festival is so much more than just a time to eat all the free watermelon you can, but it is really more of a "homecoming".  The adults bring their lawn chairs and gather around the bandstand to listen to the free entertainment and just sit and visit with neighbors, friends, and old classmates. Meanwhile, the excitement of the carnival and all it has to offer,  has the children buzzing at a much higher frequency.

When we were kids, we would really looked forward to the watermelon festival.  We would plead with our parents to let us spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa so that we would be close to the festival. The Mitchell's house in fact was very close,  we would spend our day running back and forth, begging for money to purchase more ride tickets and "yummy" carnival treats.  Turns out this was part of their master strategy, give us just enough money, but not too much, so that we would need to check back in at the house frequently.  Too think all these years I just thought we were really good at begging for stuff!

Thanks for reading this week!

Harry & Gladys: Chocolate Cookies

This was painted as a full sized illustration but as I was preparing for this blog entry I couldn't help but think about how this would be more appropriate as a recipe card. Somehow I feel that Gladys would have loved to share her recipe with you.

I said the very first week in my introduction that Gladys was famous for her chocolate cookies.  Now honestly I have no clue if she was the creator of the recipe, but even if she was not, she made them her own by blessing her family with their tasty goodness over and over again!

Now with permission from my Mother I will reveal her secret ingredient........bacon drippings!  Yes, yes, you heard it here folks. Warning!  Please check with your cardiologist before beginning this recipe.   If you decide to err on the side of caution and use shortening,  you will still love their deliciousness.

This week my cousin Dana shares her memories of baking with Grandma.

Dana's Memories

My memory of Grandma involves baking.  Just like all my cousins, I make and love her chocolate cookies, but I was fascinated when she taught me to make a pie.  She let me cut shapes out of the extra dough and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on them for a special treat just for us. Grandma had a way of making every grandchild feel special and as if we were the center of her universe. She was never to busy to give you a hug and a kiss-or teach you to make a baked treat.

Thanks again for reading this week.  My gift to you this week is a free recipe card download. Make sure after you download the pdf, you set the size as 100% or "actual size"  If you just click "print" it will print it at 155% so you might want to adjust the size according to your recipe box.  Enjoy!




Gma choc cookie recipe card

Harry & Gladys: Needle and Thread

Meet Harry & Gladys
Silver Dollar

Needle & Thread

Gladys always seemed to be keep her hands busy.  I loved watching her work and was especially fasinated with her hands.  The skin on the back of her hands looked almost translucent and were silky soft to the touch.  

She made all sorts of things but my memories are of baby doll quilts and doll clothes.  I still have my doll quilt that is pictured above.  My daughter used it with her baby dolls and maybe one day her daughters will also.

My sister Julie and cousin Dana share this week: 

Julie's Memories 

"Grandma Mitchell taught me the basics of sewing when I was nine years old. We gathered in her warm kitchen to construct a winter woolen cape with bright red braided trim. We recycled a worn out wool coat of Grandpas and fashioned it into a smaller outer garment for me. I watched mesmerized as she powered her treadle Singer and seams magically appeared. She patiently answered all my curious questions. 

Over the years, she gently instructed me in sewing on buttons, hand piecing scraps of fabrics, and the lost art of tatting with fine thread and shuttle. She also taught me hand embroidery and fundamentals of crochet. I never saw her without a project in her hands.

She generously let me filter through her needles and hooks, threads, fabric and a fascinating button collection. She passed on both the love of sewing and the habit of always keeping my hands busy. Her patience fueled in me a passion for sewing and needlecraft. Little did I know at 9 years old she was giving me a gift that would span a lifetime."

Dana's Memories

"Grandma was fun to snuggle up with on her couch. She attempted to teach me how to embroider when I was older (it didn't take) and allowed me to play with the wrinkles on her hands when I was small-I loved to pinch her skin gently and was fascinated when it stayed that way."

Thank you for reading this week!

Harry & Gladys: Silver Dollar

Meet Harry and Gladys

Harry & Gladys: Silver Dollar

Can a silver dollar really buy you happiness?  I remember the days when it did.  Harry always seemed to have plenty of silver dollars jingling about in his pockets and he was always willing to hand them out to what ever grandchild might be visiting that day.

It was a great day when Grandpa would give us each a silver dollar and send us on our way to Smitty's to buy candy.  Smitty's was a little family owned grocery in Montrose.  They had an amazing assortment of "penny" candy.  I remember we would place our silver dollars on the counter with the cashier and then we would carefully select our candy piece by piece. The candy would then be placed in little brown paper bags and then we would be off and on our way.

The walk back to Grandma and Grandpa's always took a bit longer since we would have to stop several times to stuff candy in our mouths.  Once we arrived back at the house Grandpa would be at the picnic table waiting to see our sweet selections.  I think he really just enjoyed seeing our excited and extremely "sticky" faces.

Thanks for reading!

Fun Fact : Gladys had one of the prettiest and most fragrant yards in the neighborhood.  She had a long row of pink and white peony bushes that lined one side of her yard.  You can see them in the background of the "Silver Dollar" illustration.

Meet Harry and Gladys

Harry & Gladys Scrapbook Page

 

My grandparents, Harry and Gladys Mitchell,  lived in the small sleepy town of Montrose, Iowa just a few miles away from my Powdertown home.  For the first twelve years of my life, I don't think a single week ever passed with out seeing them.  In the pecking order, I am number thirteen of nineteen grandchildren.  Harry and Gladys were taken away from us the year I turned twelve.  Even though they have both been gone from my life for thirty-seven years, I have never stopped loving or thinking about them.


I will be telling their story, not just for me, but for all of us who loved them and called them Grandma and Grandpa.  I hope you will stick with me for the next several weeks as I tell the sweet "love story"
of grandparent and grandchild.
 

Thanks for reading!

Powdertown: The Road Home

Powdertown: The Road Home

The end of this road leads to home, just as this illustration leads to the completetion of this series on Powdertown.  It sounds so poetic and orchestrated.  I wish I could say I planned it, but it is kind of cool how it worked out just the same.

There was one road that went straight through the settlement. It was lined with houses and ended with beautiful Chatfield Park.  There was no "through way" traffic so the road was perfectly quiet except for the hum of the everyday comings and goings of the neighborhood. Here we are heading home from the direction of the lake, passing by the apple tree and garden on the left with our house just beyond it.

My favorite part of this painting would have to be our cute little yellow tabby cat named "Mr. Chips." Mr. Chips was given to us as a little kitten and I'm not sure who came up with the name, put I am sure we all agreed to it.  I think it came from us all owning a "chip" of him, meaning he belonged to all of us equally.  That being said I think someone in our family took to him a bit more and treated him like her own special "furry" baby.  I don't think he minded being carried around as much as he minded being dressed in doll clothes!

Thanks so much for visiting.  See you back here in a couple weeks for my new series titled "Harry & Gladys."

Powdertown: Our Garden

Powdertown: Our Garden

The only thing that was longer than our extensive clothes line was our huge vegetable garden.  The garden stretched out almost the length of our back lot and was located behind Dad's workshop and adjacent to the apple tree.  The garden was massive and full of a variety of vegetables including: corn on the cob, green beans, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, but best of all red, ripe, beautiful tomatoes!  One of my favorite things to do was to pick the tomato off the vine and eat it like one would eat an apple.  It was such a treat and so readily available.

Here we are with my little blue wagon, the real "work horse" of my childhood.  The wagon was not only good for playing and for walks to the lake, but also for helping out with chores.  "Little Blue" was small enough to fit between the garden rows and large enough to carry the daily yield of veggies.  Once the harvesting of vegetables was done, my Mom would start the laborious task of "canning."

Dad worked that garden after working long hot days in a factory and Mom would stand over a steaming pot for days "canning" veggies in a non air-conditioned small house. They didn't have to do this, they just did it!  I feel immensely blessed to have grown up in my family.  My parents always provided for us, taught us about hard work, and most importantly,  how to enjoy the simple things in life.

Thanks for stopping by this week!

Powdertown: Wash Day

Powdertown:
Wash Day

Just like any growing family there were always heaps of laundry to be done, so really just about every day was considered "wash day."  Upon the early years in Powdertown, Dad made us a long clothesline that stretched the length of our side yard.  If the sun was out then so was our laundry! Part of our chores growing up was to hang out, take down, fold, and put away the laundry. That clothesline became the backdrop of my childhood! 

This was an ordinary, uneventful, routine part of our everyday,  so why even write about it?  Because there is something very special and precious about the ordinary routine of everyday life.  It is comforting to a child and reassures them that everything is right in their world, ask any parent.   I can remember it like it was yesterday..... a bright sunny afternoon, the cat is napping on the warm sidewalk,  kids are playing throughout the settlement, and I can hear the sheets on the clothesline flapping in the gentle breeze.  Yes, everything is as it should be!  Who knew you could pin fresh laundry and "contentedness" on your clothesline?

I think my Mom liked hanging out laundry because it is what her Mom did as well as many generations before. I'm sad to say that with my generation, the convenience of the dryer has made this tradition fade away.  I did have my Dad build me a clothes line when I moved into my own house,  but unfortunately it doesn't get used very often.   Sometimes when it is a sunny summer day and the mood strikes me,  I like to hang out a load of laundry and when I breathe in the fresh linen scent,  I can't help but think of Powdertown.

Would you like to read about more of my Powdertown memories?

• Feeding the Ducks (Chatfield Park)
• Fowler's Apple Tree
• Our Brown Chair

Powdertown: Brown Chair

Well this week marks the third week of my Powdertown Series and that means we are half way through the series.  Hopefully you have been following along and didn't miss out on Chatfield Park or Fowler's Apple Tree.  If you did go ahead and take the time and get caught up.

There is nothing that feels quite like home so much as a comfortable arm chair.  It welcomes you with soft silent strength and then quietly whispers, "home, home at last!"  Like any other home, we would have chairs "wear out",  and then they would be replaced. In my life there has been a parade of chairs,  and for what ever reason this "brown chair" has parked itself in my memory banks.

Powdertown Series:
Brown Chair

I remember every thing about it.  It's wide flat side arms that could serve as extra seating, the raised diamond textured pattern, the soft extra wide cushion that could fit two or three of us kids.  I remember curling up on it with pillow and blanket for afternoon naps while Mom would watch her "stories."  But perhaps my favorite would be throwing a quilt over the top and creating a tent which would mean hours upon hours of fun!  Tell me why everything became more fun under that tent.

During this series I have really only talked about imagery, and have not said much about my process, so let's talk "color schemes".   I wanted these six illustrations to have some unifying elements that would help say, "hey, we belong together" and I felt the best way to create that is through a color scheme. So before I started to paint, I went shopping for a color scheme.  Now I had to take a few things into consideration such as what colors needed to be represented,  I needed to include a coral for the drapery, brown for the arm chair,  a teal blue (you will see why in a few weeks), and a nice green for all of the outdoor scenes.  

Now you can shop for color schemes in many places,  a favorite painting, a photograph, or fabric.  My favorite place would have to be Adobe Kuler.  Kuler is an awesome site where you can can find thousands of color palettes or just simply create your own to use in your next design project.  Best part is that you can upload any color palette into your Adobe Creative Software and it will become part of your color swatch library...how cool is that I ask?  However, since my illustrations were not done digitally, I simply took a screen shot of my color palette and printed it off.  I kept it at my art table as a reference while mixing my pools of paint.  The color palette I chose is called "Everyday Veggies", look it up if you like.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.....I really do appreciate it. Take care until next week.

Powdertown: Fowler's Apple Tree

I have been on a journey of reminiscence lately.  Hopefully, if you are reading this week's post it is because you enjoyed last week's about Chatfield Park and you want to see some more.  If you missed last week, please take the time to read it now, I promise  I'll be waiting here when you are done.

Last week,  I explained how Chatfield Park was so much a part of every Powdertown kid!  It amazes me how one place can hold countless memories.  How there is no need of photographs to help us remember, as it is forever etched in our minds.  

One other such place would have to be our back lot which was centrally located in the settlement.  This was not the lot where our house was located but rather across the alley.  It was the "unofficial" Powdertown playground.  At the far end was a baseball diamond, marked only by the worn dirt paths that lead to each base. This lot also hosted my Dad's workshop and a huge vegetable garden.  

For me, the most memorable part of this lot would have to be our beloved apple tree.  You are probably laughing at me right now for speaking so affectionately about a tree.  I'm counting on at least a few of you to recognize the love one has for that perfect climbing tree from your childhood.  If I am right, your mind probably just flashed to it!  As I mentioned, no need for photographs as I could recall each branch by heart and am told, by my sis, that I got it just right! 

Powdertown Series:
Fowler's Apple Tree

Not only was this tree great for climbing,  but it also had this one branch that was perfect for flipping and hanging upside down.  It was way better than any swing set or jungle gym could ever aspire to be. We loved the green canopy of leaves, as it was a great way for us to stay hidden from any passerby or from the neighbor boys playing baseball. We all have our different reasons for loving this tree,  but one I think every kid in the hood could agree on is that it produced the most amazing little green SOUR apples.  Much to my father's dismay, no kid could ever leave the apples alone so they could ripen into sweet mature fruit!  Despite all of his pleas, no one could resist the tempting little sour apples!  So sorry Dad.   Anyway, the tree got taken down years ago and I do remember feeling sad when I got the news...I think I was in college.

So glad you took the time to read my blog this week.  Hope you take time this week to think of some of your own special "happy places" from childhood.  Maybe think of your own unique way to record these for your children, I know mine love to hear the stories.  Hope you come back next week to see the third painting in the Powdertown Series.