A Different Direction

One of my goals, especially as I've gotten older, is to keep growing as an artist and as a person. Landscapes are totally different subjects for me as is gouache as a painting medium. So when my sister sent me photos of their vacation in the western states of the US, I decided to stretch a little and try to paint one photo that was particularly inspiring. I also decided to paint it in gouache since I've only done a couple of gouache paintings so far. I know this isn't perfect but I'm especially fond of the sky and proud of myself for pushing beyond my comfort zone.

I want to do that as a person also. Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of my husband's and my wedding and I got to thinking about wedding vows. In this day and age, it's pretty common to go get a divorce at the least little provocation and for a marriage to last even a few years is getting to be very uncommon. Wedding vows, as well as other legal contracts, just don't mean much any more.

It takes a lot to make a marriage work. I'll admit I failed to hang in there with my first marriage. It lasted twelve years and fell apart when we left the support system and old-fashioned, small town values of our home town. We came from an area where we were expected to honor our vows and stay married no matter what. When we left that area, the pressure to stay married was also left behind. I won't go into the reasons for leaving my first husband, they were sufficient for me at the time, and I also don't regret it as I'm now married to a man with whom I'm far more compatible and with whom I share more goals.

But, even with the perfect mate (and no one has one!), marriage is definitely not easy! That's when you have to go back and remember your wedding vows, remember the words and also remember the solemn ceremony used to seal those words of promise.

Not only did we take communion at our wedding ceremony, but we also took a covenant of salt. Biblically, salt represents purity, seasoning and preservation or commitment. So, the words of our wedding vows were seasoned with commitment and meant to be preserved. That is not to say that a person should stay in a marriage that is damaging to them, but it does mean that you don't give up and run at the first little disagreement. It means you work together to overcome any obstacles and that you compromise to bring harmony into the home.

Fortunately, I have a husband with whom it's easy to get along! But mostly, it's to his credit that he puts up with me! He really is a wonderful man and I look forward to at least another 24 years should Jesus tarry!

Catching Up

copyright Jan Gibson

copyright Jan Gibson

I've been working lately so haven't had a chance to post here. It seems that if you're painting, then you don't have much time for anything else! Anyway, here are a couple of screen shots of a pastel pencil painting that I'm working on. I've signed on at a local gallery and need some art to exhibit there. Since I work mainly on commission, I don't have anything to show especially since the gallery wants animal artwork from me. So, I'm trying to get something worthwhile to show there.

Yesterday was my husband and my 24th wedding anniversary. Seems like only yesterday that we were married yet it also seems that we've been married forever. One of those paradoxes like time disappearing, I think! Anyway, I couldn't be married to a more supportive and wonderful man and I'm looking for many more years with him.

On top of our anniversary, the dogs got sprayed by a skunk again. This is one of those times when I wished we lived in town! Of course, I guess I don't really wish that - there are trade-offs and compromises there that I really don't want to make. But I do wish the dogs would leave the skunks alone when one happens into their area! Cleaning up 2 medium to large sized dogs is no picnic! Plus, no matter how many times you bathe them and how many "de-skunking" recipes you use, a slight skunk odor seems to linger for a very long time.

I do feel sorry for the dogs though. They get banned from the house until they're cleaned up and our male dog will rub his face on the grass until his nose is raw and bleeding. My husband sprayed some kind of animal deterrent around the outside perimeter of the backyard fence in hopes that the skunks will stay away. I don't think they are actually coming into the fenced area but are spraying the dogs through the fence. Neither dog was as odiferous as they could have been, thank God, so I don't think they're getting the full force of the spray. But, no matter where the skunks are, the dogs still end up pretty darned stinky!

Not only is it active season for skunks again but the spiders are weaving their webs in preparation for winter, I guess. All I know is that I've started carrying a long stick when I go out to the barn of a morning. There's nothing worse than running into one unseen web after another and having to pull those sticky web threads from your face and hair! (Well, it is worse when the spider happens to be in the part of the web you walk into!) Not only that, but the web sticks to my glasses and is almost impossible to remove without washing them. The walking stick is great because you can move it around in front of you and pull down any spider webs before walking into them.

Well, I think that catches you up on all of the latest happenings out here in the boonies! I'm going back to work on that cute little bulldog and I'll post any further updates I do on him. Until then, have a super life!