…or Why I Became An Artist!

Adele, age 10…U.S. Marshal!

I’m a dreamer. My parents taught me to dream. Their encouragement of my dreams and my “play-likes” will always be one of my fondest memories. My earliest dreams that I can remember were to be a:

1.  Lovely Indian Maiden: I loved my outfit: dress with fringe and a feather from our           chicken yard stuck in my head band. My teepee was ladder with a blanket thrown over it. I made pottery out of mud by our pond.  Slept outside……alone.

                        Problem: I would wake up on damp blankets and with frizzy hair and figured I                                              didn’t look like an Indian.  It ruined the image, which was no fun!

                        But my parents let me dream on!!

          2. U.S. Marshal: I loved my outfit: guns, badge, cowboy hat. I created play scenarios for my playmates, eventually arrested them all, put them in a play-like jail.                

Problem:  Soon there was no one left to play with me. My playmates got tired of  being arrested.                    

But my parents let me dream on!!

3.  Housewife and mother: They built me a playhouse and furnished it. I invited my girlfriends for sleepovers in the playhouse. I cooked over a wood-burning fire…minnows and French fries which turned out very soggy due to slow fire.

Problem:Too much work.

But my parents let me dream on!!

4.  Famous Broadway star: I heard “South Pacific” and was convinced I was a natural for the part of Nellie Forbush. My parents let me take dance class and took me to see touring Broadway musicals.

Problem: I would have to move to New York!

But my parents let me dream on!!

5.  Artist: Daddy was a professional illustrator and a fine art painter.  He gave me private     lessons and helped me get my first job in an art studio (at age 17). I thought this might stick and I guess it did.

                                    But I still dream.

Ephesians 3:20

“Now glory be to God who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we ever dare to ask or dream.”

In Dreams, Langston Hughes wrote:

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field, frozen with snow.”

Dream On, Friends,

Week Two

For some reason I like to do count-downs……. count the days until we go on vacation, count the days until Christmas, count the days until I’ll reach my goal-weight (no doubts there). I’ve even been known to count exactly how many tenths of a pound I need to lose per day to lose 10 pounds before our Grandson’s wedding in April. I know, intense.

But real fun is counting down the days until I’ve finished my “30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS CHALLENGE! So you’ll know…there are only 16 days left..i.e., 16 more painting subjects to select which is very hard to do; 16 more rough composition sketches, (change my mind on at least 7 of them and start over), and finally actually paint….16 more paintings.  Hmmmm! I’m not so sure how much fun it is to count those stats.

Now, it’s time to get back to the sketch pad, the easel, the paints and the blank panels. Ever onward!

“I don’t like work-no man [or woman] does-but I like what is in work-the chance to find yourself. Your own reality-for yourself, not for others – what no other man can ever know.”___Joseph Conrad

…Or Week One of my “30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS CHALLENGE” !

In every artist’s life comes the day(s) when they paint a really bad painting(s). My most recent day came this week which called for immediate action, lest someone drift into my workroom and actually SEE it. Fortunately, very few people drift into my workroom; my cats do, but they usually just want to be fed.

For years I’ve had a workable system for destroying my bad art;

I scribble over it with a giant blue marker…sneak it into the trash out in the driveway….in a plain brown paper bag….tied with a twisty..at the bottom of the kitchen garbage…under the coffee grounds.

I have a special marker at the ready for just such a moment.

After my bad art had marinated out there in the garbage can for a few days, it occurred to me that I really like abstract art and maybe I acted hastily. The wide blue scribbles might win prizes with some art show judges. But the odor of old coffee grounds might break the mood.

So I started over on another painting. Of course, any artist who paints with acrylics knows you can scrub it off with ordinary alcohol. But I paint with an “Impasto” technique (art speak for “thickly”) and it takes a long time to clean the panel and lots of alcohol….raising the price of the future painting on that panel (Time is money!) to at least twice the usual price. So I gave up that method and turned to my marker.

I pressed on and managed to create 7 paintings in 7 days, so I’m on track.

For information and a closer look at my Week One paintings please visit my website:

http://www.artbyadelebower.com

Now, back to the paint and easel. After all, today is Day 8. Another day…….another painting!

Yes, it’s HIS birthday and no less than his 81st. Impressive!

For the entire month of February he has been invoking his privilege of being “The Birthday Boy” by bringing home from the store all his favorites denied him the rest of the year. (Don’t believe that story for a minute! He does all the shopping!) He has brought home brownies, iced with rich white frosting, ice cream, huge cinnamon rolls covered with thick white icing, large bags of roasted almonds and ordered Dominoes pizza delivered.  He even announced to me after a lovely dinner at Carrabbas, complete with a rich, chocolate dessert of some title, he was going to stop by the store on our way home. He came out with cookies, 100 in the package for only $10.

But the moment I began to feel guilty for having given up baking when our children left for college then got married…(all married within 9 months of each other, by the way! That will be another blog!) was when he brought home his”Birthday Cake” this week.

Hey, there’s nothing too good for my husband’s birthday, is there? Actually, he bought them himself yesterday. I asked him why he didn’t buy the nonpareils. Our children will understand and laugh at that question. I used to bake and never failed to top off “whatever” with multicolored nonpareils. Done!

Nonpareils on everything was a tradition at our house as were artificial flowers. I learned early on that a bunch of plastic flowers or one or two alone, strategically placed here and there, could bring a certain élan  to our “They had the same furniture while in college” decor. Once I discovered a neat little hole in the sheet rock wall in our breakfast room. Our daughter said “Stick a flower in it, Mom!” which I did. Problem solved and with creativity.

Back to “The Birthday Boy”; I could not be more proud of him. Upon retiring ten years ago he re-entered Dallas Theological Seminary and completed his studies started way back years ago. In 2009 he graduated, walked across the stage and everything, at the DTS Commencement. When he received his beautiful Diploma in the mail a few days later he came running in to tell me he had graduated first in his class, With Highest Honors. He added the caveat, “But don’t tell anyone.” Who me?

Since March 2012 he has been diligently working many hours every day as an online Missionary for Global Media Outreach, teaching and counseling hundreds across the world. He is incredibly devoted to his ministry to our Lord Jesus Christ.

David is also a highly competent electronics audio/visual hobbiest, having worked his way through several years of college in the field, custom designing home systems. He keeps up with every new trend in electronics. (But I had an iPhone before he did! Ha!) AND he is our resident computer guru. When my computer acts up I just yell “David”. When he enters the room it corrects itself. No kidding. Ask him. I think my computer is afraid of him. He can be tough when needed, just ask our children and Grands.

I know my blog is advertised as an art blog, but David did pay for me to go to college and art school. Justified!

I could go on, but I need to go buy some nonpareils or I could send David to H.E.B.

Lately I’ve noticed that dust has settled in comfortably on my paint palette, easel and other art supplies. The  accumulated dust hasn’t gotten too deep because I brush by it with a flurry everyday headed to Facebook or Pinterest and it scatters some.

I didn’t think much about it until I noticed that someone had written “Paint Me” on a sticky note and stuck it on a blank panel sitting on my easel. Hasn’t he ever heard of painters block? Creativity is a fickle thing and comes and goes at odd times. Yeah, I’ve been told many times or read it somewhere that true creativity comes “in the doing” of the project, not in the “thinking” about it. I’m a good thinker and I’m a reliable artist…….IF I’m given a deadline to meet. I’m good at meeting deadlines and I’ve proven it over and over in my former life as a commercial artist. But give me all the time in the world and I procrastinate until all my paint tubes go dry and I have to make a trip to the art supply store for new paint. By that time the art market has changed and no one wants paintings of bluebonnet fields….at least not until next spring in Texas.

Which brings me to my new decision; I commit to do 30 paintings in the month of March. That’s almost one per day if there are still 31 days in March. For a week now I’ve tried to come up with reasons why I should NOT commit to such a thing. I even messaged a friend and asked her to talk me out of it, PLEASE! I thought she would understand and sympathize since she has done this 30-30 madness thing before but I haven’t heard back from her. I’m on my own.

Last September I actually did paint 30 paintings that month and had planned to participate in the January 30-30 Challenge, but decided to go to Disney World for a week instead, right in the middle of the month. No artist could catch up after all that time away. Right? But as some of you know, our son ran the Disney World Marathon and we couldn’t possibly miss that. When we got home my husband and I felt like WE had run the marathon, also, and promptly came down with respiratory ailments which took weeks to go away.

Here is a stack of my 30 art panels…all blank and ready to be made gorgeous with my wild acrylic colors.

You have my permission, in fact, I invite you to talk me out of it, but otherwise I’m committed. I love deadlines.

Me? Oh gosh no, not me….our son ran the DW Marathon on January 12. But we were there….as part of the “ChEAR” Squad. (Note the spelling: Never forget you are in Disney World where ears are big!).

Months ago when Keith told us he had registered to run, we knew we would be there. After all  he has been training for a year and has run a few 10Ks and 1/2 marathons, but this was a first full marathon. We didn’t take it lightly.

David and I arrived at our destination, Port Orleans Riverside Resort in Disney World on Thursday, January 9 in the early afternoon. It is a lovely Resort made up of several very large Southern style mansions situated on a very large land area along a beautiful river. We soon discovered that our room was “walking distance” from the lobby/dining rooms/gift shops, etc. I should have had a pedometer on me, but my guess is it was about 1/4 a mile from the lobby. David says “Maybe!” Of course, he is a walker. Keith and his wife, Julie arrived in the evening and we all met for breakfast the next morning. Later, Keith quipped that next year the Marathon was going to be run at Port Orleans Riverside  from our room to the lobby . Ha Ha, you’re funny, Keith! But not a bad idea.

Friday morning, Keith and Julie were soon off to pick up all his necessary papers, and other important things the runners needed. David and I boarded a park bus to Epcot and spent the day there enjoying gorgeous weather. We had lunch at the Rose and Crown Pub in the United Kingdom section of Epcot.

That evening we met with Keith and Julie at the “Pasta in the Park” giant buffet dinner in Epcot, for runners and their friends/families/supporters, etc….(for a fee paid in advance, of course!) It was held in a huge ballroom with literally thousands of people in attendance.

After the buffet, the runners (and us)  had a special location set aside for us to watch Epcot’s evening “IllumiNations” fireworks display on the Epcot Lake. Stunning and magical!

 Saturday morning we all took the park bus to Magic Kingdom where we managed to see Philharmagic, and ride the tour of  the Haunted Mansion all before lunch. The Philharmagic is enough to make this artist green with envy…with its outstanding concepts, design and craftmanship. Wow! Disney never disappoints. The Haunted Mansion bothered me for several days. Hmmmm! And that was about the 6th time we’ve been on that ride. After a big lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern we did Pirates of the Caribbean and a ride around the Park on the train. Dinner was at our Resort in the Boatwright Dining Hall. Super!

The next day dawned very early for Keith as his race began at 7 after all was said and done, but he had to be there at 5. Julie, David and I arrived at 9 and had a wonderful buffet breakfast (“ChEAR Squad privileges!) while we watched the race on big TV monitors all around the large tent. Julie was notified of Keith’s progress on her phone  every so often…amazing technology. We were all so glad to see him after the race. Julie actually saw him cross the finish line, but we missed it on the TV. Oh well! I was a happy Mom!

Since Magic Kingdom is probably Keith’s favorite place in the world, after a rest we spent the afternoon and evening there. Yeah, we even did the Buzz  Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I made a terrible score. Of course, David was a Galactic Hero and I was just a Star Cadet.

Later we had dinner at a small restaurant close to Cinderella’s Castle and watched the fabulous fireworks display.

After breakfast together Monday morning we all sat in the Resort Lobby and reminisced. We had a very interesting conversation about being “goal oriented”, as Keith certainly is. He earned his Ph.D in the Philosophy of Mathematics while working full time….and the other side of the coin…a person who operates without goals but accomplishes much and does all really well, i.e., Julie, his wife. Congratulations, Keith for a job really well done and to Julie for being a patient, runners wife.

Dr. Keith Bower

They were ready to return to Houston Monday but David and I stayed on until Wednesday to see if we could actually enjoy Disney World without the family….verdict…..a little, but it’s not the same.

“….Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” Hebrews 12: 1b

Before I even start writing this resolutions blog, I should step away from the device and go back to bed. You see, I’m still in the throes of some awful respiratory thing since Christmas Day. But, gee whiz, there is only one day that counts if you want to tell your resolutions for the new year with any impact at all….and that would be today.  So here goes.

1. I resolve NOT to dye my hair red.  I really like this watercolor I painted (from my imagination) but red is just not my color. So far brown has worked well, thanks to “Trisha, the Color Genius”, my hairdresser.

“Amber” Watercolor & Graphite Pencil on paper. Artist: Adele Bower

2. I resolve NOT to make even one resolution concerning what I WILL do in 2014. They have never worked before. Why try again now?

3. I resolve NOT to post on Facebook that I will do 30 paintings in the month of January or any month….ever again! How did I know I was coming down with this awful thing?

4. I resolve NOT to commit to anything or sign on the dotted line…ever….unless it agrees with my “all-time favorite dreams I hope come true when I grow up.”

5.  (Getting serious here!) I resolve NOT to send emails to anyone again who never replies. There! I said it.

6.  I resolve NOT to go to the gym and do exercises that make me limp for a week. I’ll go but I don’t even want to break a sweat. Is that asking too much, dear Personal Trainer? I don’t think so.

7.  I resolve NOT to eat anything I don’t like. Period.

8. I resolve NOT to watch any movie or TV that has anything to do with Christmas or New York City…..until very late next December.

9. I resolve NOT to tell even one more person ever again that my name is correctly pronounced  Ah-DAY-la (with the accent on DAY). Those friends who care, know how to pronounce it, don’t they?  So what if it’s an old family name from way back in Germany; for heaven’s sake I’ve had it myself a really LOOOOOONG time.

and finally

10. I resolve NOT to say “NOT” ever again.

Have a Happy New Year!

(Ah-DAY-la)

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful Christmas Eve….and hooray!….. Christmas is just one day away.

I wish you and yours the most blessed Christmas ever.

My very favorite Scriptures in the Holy Bible concerning Christmas are John 1: 1-2 and 1:14.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God

and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.”

John 1:1-2

and

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory,

the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

Now, that’s the Christmas story. Jesus Christ became “flesh” and dwelt with us on earth. Glory!

I  rejoice in what that means to me……..everything.  Then I suddenly remembered

an old hymn we sang long ago.

“Every day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before
Every day with Jesus
I love Him more and more.
Jesus saves and keeps me
And He’s the one I’m waiting for
Every day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before.”

Hymn by Robert C. Loveless

Make this Christmas and the coming year…..”Sweeter than the day before.”

……..Just stay home!

Yeah, actually those three words  are my best advice about Christmas shopping. Trust me,  I know these things! After sixty-one years of marriage and the age that implies, I have tested all methods of Christmas shopping. Of course, that was before online shopping, which I love. Back to the subject.

I love numbers. After my husband served 6 years in military service; after 5 years of his undergraduate studies; after many years of his graduate studies; after 3 children, (all this time with 0 discretionary funds), I finally began to notice a singular truth about my shopping: If I went out of the house I would spend money! That’s it! It was as simple as that! To  resist the urge to shop, I would make a cup of coffee, grab a cookie, and wait for the urge to pass….and it would pass. Yay! Just think how much money I saved today, I would think. Perhaps the thought of taking three little children along with my shopping trip had something to do with deciding to “…just stay home.” Maybe.

Fast forward to today with the convenience of online shopping at my fingertips. Remember I said that I love it. Well, I’ve learned something about that, too; If I fill out all the necessary information in the Shopping Cart…i.e. the mailing address, credit card number, on and on, I’ll probably make a mistake and have to delete the whole thing. I’m usually so aggravated and bored by that time, I go find something else more fun to do. Yay! Just think how much money I saved today.

Recently while  shopping online at a fancy store website, I came to the final bottom line stating the cost, it was really low….yes LOW! I thought how can that be? I just ordered some expensive items, jackets, sweaters, etc. I pondered this for a while and decided to start over by going back to the home page of the store. Oh! I see it now….in big bold letters it read “EVERYTHING 70% OFF TODAY.”  That answered my question and confirmed my growing suspicion that I am the world’s worst shopper. Yes, I started over and bought all the same things I wanted as before. Oops! I didn’t save any money that day.

You might also find it helpful to know that if you are traveling with all your children and you are on a tight budget……don’t stop the car.…..ever! It will cost you money if you do. I’ve tested that theory before, in fact, we’ve lived it. However, I’ll admit it is a little difficult if you are trying to get to Lubbock, Texas from Houston, Texas in one day. At last count it is almost 600 miles.

So Friends, that is the extent of my shopping advice gleaned through  hard-earned experience and a lot of fun. Get a cup of coffee and a cookie….and wait.

Merry Christmas!

Our tiny kitchen Christmas tree!

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory,

the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

Our startling adventure when we delivered my paintings to the art show.

It’s important for the reader to know that artists are very attached to and sentimental about their work.  Just to say we are careful with our paintings would be an understatement.

The evening before the art show I reverently wrapped my eight paintings and packed them into carrying cases in preparation for the two mile drive to the Art Show the next day.  Well, Saturday morning as we unwrapped the first painting at the venue ……it fell out of the frame; all the way to the floor. Dropping a painting to the floor is startling and nerve-wracking and just plain awful.

(I’m so glad I did this portrait of myself. I use it a lot!)

After recovering somewhat, we unwrapped another one and that painting also fell out of its frame. Why did that happen and at such a time? Here was clearly one reason I always get a headache when a glue-gun is mentioned! Thinking I MIGHT need it, I had brought some serious glue with me and we hastily began to do the repair. Meanwhile a volunteer stood waiting to hang them on the exhibit panels. She had a lot of work to do, which did not include standing around waiting for glue to dry.

David had to first scrape the old glue-gun residue off the back of the paintings before we could apply the new glue. As soon as I had completed the gluing and placed it back in the frame I wanted to press it down firmly for a few minutes. Instead, the volunteer took it and hung it on a panel…..vertically, of course. I had visions of arriving at the opening of the show and finding at least two of my paintings lying on the floor, glued to the carpet. The judge would probably not take the trouble to critique anything on the floor….specially if she couldn’t get it unstuck from the carpet. The glue would probably work perfectly then, of course, stuck to the carpet!

 We repaired the second painting and did a quick, nervous check of the other 6 paintings I had entered. All seemed tight enough. Fingers crossed here! We went back home to wait until the show opened at noon.

When we arrived  I was so relieved to find them all hanging with the paintings still in their frames, AND one was sporting a “Second Place” (Professional Category) award ribbon, titled “At Tharri Monastery-Rhodes”. Yay! All was well and lots of fun after all. Plus, one of the first paintings to come unglued that morning won the “Peoples Choice” Award later on that afternoon, coincidentally titled, “Congratulations”.

The glue episode made a good story to share with all my friends who came to the show…and to you, my blog-following friends!

You are probably wondering how in the world a painting can fall out of a frame and be glued back in. I used floater frames on five of the paintings.They are very good looking and well made.

 I order my frames from King of Frames in Costa Mesa, California,  http://www.kingofframe.com/Floater-Frames_c_19.html.  The frames arrive completely finished in the back. All that is needed is to glue your painting on its back and place it into the frame on front, of course. I first used the glue-gun because I thought I could pop the painting out in case it did not sell at the show and use the frame a second time for a different painting in the future. That’s not going to happen now, since I used the world’s best glue for repair. Those two paintings are forever together with their frame. I may rethink my frame choices in the future. NO glue-gun and NO glue!

None of the above has discouraged me from continuing to paint  in my little workroom/studio, creating yet another series of paintings for the next show. I’m just a wiser framer.  My plan is to begin a series of paintings of Santa Fe, New Mexico. A good idea.

“I want to meet a guy named Art. I’d take him to a museum,hang him on the wall, criticize him, and leave.”― Jarod Kintz,