Hathaway Family Tree

Not long ago I told you that I missed my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Well, sort of.  I started working on this the DAY OF their anniversary, and finished it about a week late...and then my sis went and had it framed...and we just gave it to them last Sunday.

It was great fun to do.  Although, this is the third attempt, I think.  The first one had everyone's birth dates squeezed in, and I decided it was too crowded.  So I started over.  The second one was looking great until I realized that I had smudged the ink up by Caleb's name.  So I started over again!  The third one was accident free!

I think my parents liked it.  Fifty years is a beautiful thing, and I'm thankful to God for His faithfulness throughout the generations!

Happy 4th of July!!

I know I've posted this before, but I couldn't help myself.  It fits the day!

Just today I was thanking the Lord for the wisdom and courage He gave our founding fathers.  This nation is a beautiful place to live, and I am thankful.  Happy July 4th, my friends!

Happy Anniversary Scott and Hermine!

A friend recently asked me to do an inked piece for his wife for their anniversary.  He supplied me with pictures of each of them in profile, along with her favorite hymn, and some words that speak to who she is.  It seemed a touch out of balance, considering it was an ANNIVERSARY gift.  It takes two to make one, right?

So, I called a friend of theirs and asked for more info....where did they grow up?  What were their parents names?  Where did he propose?  Where did they meet?  The final result was a delightful mix of two lives, intertwined into a beautiful whole.  He called it a "home run"!  Yea!!

From the Archives

Believe it or not I found inspiration for this painting in the Burger King Drive-Thru.  There I sat, waiting in line for my Fake-Food-In-A-Bag, and looking out my window there was this bedraggled little bush in a scantily covered rock bed.  Not pretty.

But the color contrast was very appealing!  I might be the only person that has taken a picture out my car window behind the Burger King.

Of course, I tweaked it for the painting!

Finished!

I'm done!  I pondered filling the background with...something...but then decided that it would compete with the wire cage, so I left it.  The guy's belt is cracking me up.  Along with his torn tail covering.  Perhaps he thinks he's a tough guy?

In Process

After doing pages and pages of inked drawings on tiny paper in a cheap Moleskine knock-off, I'm trying to be brave.  This is much nicer paper, so smooth, so stiff.  And it's much bigger (I think it's 12" x 12"?).  And because it's nicer and bigger, for some reason it seems more important.  And for some reason it will be a huge let-down if I choke!

I'm combining two reference pics here.  I was in NC last year and took this pic off of my cousin's deck.  They're delightful blue-birds.  I'm probably not even half way done.  There's still a background to add.  I'll post another pic when I'm done.

On a side note, for all of you out there that bother to read my meanderings: thank you.  Really, thank you.  It's been a little surprising the interest you all show, and your comments are always surprising and so kind to me.  THANK YOU.

Calligraphy

I dearly love old time, ancient looking calligraphy.  Back when the English language had greater flair (and I didn't know what 1/4 of the words meant!), and the lettering itself had tremendous beauty.

I think this is the 5th attempt at lettering these verses.  It's nowhere near as beautiful as the lettered text in my head, but for some reason I can't seem to get what I'm picturing FROM my head TO the paper!  Alas and Alack!

As a church-going kid, I probably memorized these verses in Vacation Bible School when I was maybe 9 years old.  Then I heard them repeated over and over, and preached on over and over, until they became flat and boring.  Just recently I was looking up verses dealing with fretting....and I ended up in Philippians 4 re-reading those oh-so-familiar words.  Except now that I'm MUCH older, they're no longer flat and boring.  God has made them FULL of meaning.

A Cheerleader in my Court

 

This is my grandfather, standing in front of the OOOLLLDD woodburning stove that he heated his house with and cooked his meals on.  He was possibly the most fascinating man I've known.  And an artist.  But that's an insufficient description.  He was brilliant in many ways, and everything he did had a unique, artistic flair.

For most of my life he was a sculptor.  My house, and the houses of the rest of our family, are filled with beautiful pieces that he made.  If you go to the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs you'll see a ginormous buffalo that he sculpted.  At a stop-light in Woodland Park there's a landscaped area with two stylized bass clefs that are his.  There's an indian-style bear in front of the swimming pool in Manitou Springs.  He was prolific, to say the least!

And he always cheered my attempts to be creative.  He payed for at least two art classes at Bemis (a small art school in the Springs), and loved when I drew on the blackboard in his shop.

After he died I was delighted to receive a flag pole that he built with an eagle on top.  It's one of my favorite possessions, so of course I had to paint it!

FYI, the photo of Grandpa was taken by my cousin, Barry Hathaway.  He's got the creative gene too.  You can check out his website at barryhathaway.com