Thursday, November 28, 2013

Abundant Blessings

Created on an iPad by S. Glerum
Drawing or painting a cornucopia is straightforward and relatively easy. Outline a crescent-shape, fill it with color and roundish things, and "voila!"

Each class day, my Saturday art teacher, Della Bushnell of Aberdeen, Wash., assembled an elaborate still life for us, her middle-school and high-school students. Mrs. Bushnell's medium was oil, so the still life remained in place for many weeks--until all her students hit the mark she set for each.

Last year's cornucopia, also created on an iPad


In November the subject matter would always be the same: a large cornucopia (that had seen better days) filled with winter squash and embellished with other produce that she would keep in her fridge and add back in during the next several lessons. (Grapes were a favorite--she loved showing us how to add the little highlight to make them look delectable.) When she pronounced us finished with our oil paintings, we were free to draw the same subject in pastels. Hearing Mrs. Bushnell say, "I think you're done--I like it!" was a little piece of heaven for the budding artist.

Maybe it was those classes that made me love the image of a cornucopia--abundance spilling forth onto a metaphorical world of plenty. Lucky us if we can relate to that. And lucky us at our house this year. We have many blessings, the biggest of which is Hubby's return to good health.

Below is an excerpt from an e-mail received this morning--from one of my kids to whom I sent the iPad painting.

I love the cornucopia as an image... I very much associate the image with you and love that it speaks to you and that you passed your appreciation of it on to your children...

Yes, feeling appreciated and loved might be the best blessing of all. Happy Thanksgiving!


Monday, November 25, 2013

Before the December holidays hit . . .

Tiny vs. Huge
I've been remiss in adding new posts this month, but before November is over, I must share this photo.

No one but residents of the Pacific coast would believe the size of the leaves of our native bigleaf maple trees. Just for fun, I put a tiny found leaf (I don't know what species it is) next to a leaf from the bigleaf maple on a bench while I was walking along the Sammamish River Trail. Here is the picture I snapped.

Years ago, a midwestern visitor looked at the trail of leaves shed by the mature tree on the hill behind our backyard and nearly fainted. "Heavens, dear," she exclaimed, "you really have to own a big rake out here in Washington!" 

 

Monday, November 4, 2013

A branch of scripture . . .



"And I only am escaped alone to tell thee."
Job: 1:15
As Hubby and I walked along the Sammamish River Trail in Bothell on Sunday after a severe windstorm Saturday, we came across a small tree that had been blown down across the pathway. 
One upright branch on a fallen tree made for a visually stunning image. For whatever reason, the Book of Job came to mind and I could hear the messenger's lyrical and heartbreaking statement to Job, "And I only am escaped alone to tell thee."