More Paintings added to the Store 9/1/21
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Added to my store
I will be posting more this week and also working on a larger blog post about other events that are happening in our lives. I have lots of pictures to share.
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New: Art, Art Ventures and Art Shows
A new art venture I have added is having a rented area at the newly renovated old church in Columbia City. It is called The Shops at the Sanctuary and they also have a Facebook page The Shops at the Sanctuary. I will be putting art and also stitchery items in it. I am excited about this and now to get “makin stuff”. The Grand Opening is August 6th.
This last weekend was Art in the Park in Downtown Fort Wayne. I have never done this show with cooler weather before but it was fantastic. I was worried that it was going to rain a lot on Sunday but it held off thankfully, through teardown. My son, Kevin helps me put up the tent and tear it down, but the rest of the shows I am on my own. So I don’t take pictures. I would have liked to take some pictures of peoples t-shirts because there was such an array of sayings and it would have been great to do a collage. This was just my second show of the season and customers were generous and I met many new art lovers.
July is a busy month here at the Hawkins House, along with the art shows, we are helping our sons move and get established in a new to them home. Tom and I are going on a weeks vacation to Frankfort Michigan right on the lake and I have another show right after that at Covington in Fort Wayne. We are so looking forward to a little R and R time.
With the rain and humidity my garden is growing crazy, some things that are spent do need to be trimmed up and that will wait till that humidity floats away. The tree swallows babies have flown the nest and I think there is a new bunch of eggs, someone is sitting on it constantly. I hope that they hatch and we will have Mom and Dad and maybe Uncle or Aunt flying in and out and feeding them. We have a screen that we put down but not during this time, they become very agitated and we hate to rock the boat. I will keep you updated when we see their littles heads.
Take care till next time.
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Going Many Ways
I am really thrilled that I figured out why so many of my I phone pictures were not accessible for my computer. I have so many good ones but I figured it out and will be entertaining you with this post, hope you won’t be bored.
Another exciting thing for our sons are that they have purchased a house together and will probably be moving in by late July. It is close so we can do it a little at a time and it is going to need to be painted and carpets cleaned. The thought of moving something overwhelms me, so I am kind of the organizer, which I can do.
So my next show is July 10 and 11 at Art in the Park in Fort Wayne’s Freiman Square. Then we are taking a weeks vacation to Frankfort, Michigan. So looking forward to this, it has been a long time. Then July 31 and August 1 will be a nice Fort Wayne show at Coventry.
I would like to get a couple more paintings completed, they are in my mind, just have to get them on Canvas. I am not a fast painter and am always amazed of the painters who are. I have some books to show but that will have to wait till next time. I had scanned them in a PDF format which is not supported here.
We are having Fathers Day dinner this Sunday, grilled steaks and chicken, Texas sheet cake, make ahead potatoes, Naan bread, fruit salad. Looks like Sunday will be warm, we have paint colors to talk over. Have a wonderful holiday and say thanks to Dad ❤💙
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Teddy Bears and Tea Towels
I just love teddy bears and before I put these away for awhile I thought they should be shared. My Mom sewed beautifully and liked to make dolls. She could sew anything and also made my wedding dress, which has been securely packed away for 40 years. I have many of her dolls and sometime I will take them out and share more.
These are three of the bears that she made with moveable arms and legs and stuffed so tightly. I just love them so.
The bear that is standing is made of mohair and I picked him up in Canada on vacation probably 30 years ago. My Mother in law loved bears and dolls too and the one in front she had given to me, he is so soft. The other one sitting was her bear, I love him because he has some kind of weights in his bottom and legs and sits very well anywhere.
This big bear I found in Gettysburg. It has nothing to do with the Civil War but he kept calling me back to him until I brought him home with me. The little white one my friend gave to me, I believe it is mohair and the the bear with the gangly legs and patriotic hat I picked up at a craft show. The one who it hiding her face I believe is a small Boyds Bear.
They needed to come down and get dusted off.
The other day I tucked a tea towel into a friends birthday package and that prompted a discussion on tea towels or kitchen towels, whatever you like to call them. Her towel was green with three big carrots on it.
I had told her that I like to pick up these inexpensive towels and just save them to give to people. I don’t like to use them to dry dishes but many other things. I am showing you the hedgehog towels I had sewn together .
We have this narrow window that certain times of the year and certain times of the day, usually dinner time the sun comes in and blinds us. I needed something to stop it but didn’t want to make anything or put a lot of time into it. The two towels are just the right width and length together and they are hemmed already. I found a small spring tension rod and hooks and clips from Ikea and our problem is solved.
These towels I picked up at the Raven Book Store in Lawrence Kansas in 2015. I had no Idea what I would do with them but the cats drew me in.
I bought two because they had different images. I got a big idea one day while the sun was beating into my studio that I needed something to put over the window for about two hours in the afternoon. The are just the right weight to mute the sun so I can see to paint. Again I used a spring tension rod and Ikea rings and hooks. To open and shut I use a yard stick and I have it higher because the cats have to look out underneath.
I also use them to just dry my hands on in the kitchen or place them over food in the summer if there is a party going on.
This towel could be used to take a box of donuts to ones home. I love good donuts and coffee. Wrap this one around a bottle of liquor for a house warming. They can also be used as mop towels at the bar.
These two I have washed and need to iron to get that crisp look back. The one on the left my friend Colleen sent and the one on the right came in an order from Carrie Schmitt an artist that I know and love. I used these to put on the back of a black chair that was against the wall and would leave a mark on the wall. Having them on the back of the chair prevented the mark.
If anyone else has good ideas for these towels that you do, please leave a comment. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Book Review: “Open House” by Elizabeth Berg plus more
So the story starts out with a woman, Samantha, trying to come to terms with the separation of their marriage that her husband, David, wanted. They were married for 15 years and had one son who was 11 years old. They were comfortable, lived in a nice home in a nice neighborhood. The husband just wanted more and she was happy with her life. She knew that he was becoming distant and wanted to go to a counselor and figure out the problem. He eventually moved out and she was playing the “what if” game in her head. She eventually had to figure out how she could stay in the home, work out the visiting arrangements with her husband for the son and she had to find a job to have an income. Still she needed more income and she decided to take in boarders.
The first boarder was a lady in her early 80’s with a boyfriend. The second was a young introverted Asian student with a very negative outlook on life. The third was a gay man. Through all these people she gained friendships. She also took a job with an employment agency where she had different jobs weekly. One was at a laundromat, another at call center that was not on the up and up and she was happily fired from it.
Through all this she had to see her husband move into a nice apartment, and have a girlfriend with the talk of marriage. She dropped their son off one day and he wanted to show his room and she noted that her husband had a white couch. She had always wanted a white couch but he knocked that idea down, now he has one. All this time she really missed him, missed the life they had, she had taken care of him, really too much. He had this yearning for something else and he couldn’t see how good his life was.
Time went on and she tried dates that her mother set up for her. Her mother was something else and thought her daughter should just start dating right a way, after all that’s what she did when her husband died. It always bothered her daughter and eventually she realized that was how her mother had coped with his death.
Throughout this book we will live the roller coaster ride of Samantha finding her self confidence that she had totally lost due to the separation. She had always given into David and he got whatever he wanted. His family had money and he pretty much got what he wanted there and had strong opinions about having things “just so” for himself.
I liked this book, it didn’t make me want to read it in one day but it had its moments. I would say, “give it a try”.
A quote that made me laugh.
An intellectual is someone who can listen to the “William Tell Overture” without thinking of the Lone Ranger.
If you have any questions or want to contact me send a note. I would love to hear from you.
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Book Review – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Kristen Hannah is one of my favorite authors. I have not read a book of hers that I did not like. This is a historical novel and she wrote in her notes at the end that tried to be as historically accurate as possible.
I gained knowledge from this book, for example I honestly did not realize that France during WWII had surrendered to Germany early on in the war. I don’t know how I missed this but always imagined that they were in the air and on the ground in the fight.
I had read “Returned to Auschwitz” years ago and it left such an indelible mark on me. It was an awful book that told of the horrible conditions from the Nazi’s that I have never forgotten it. Not awful because of the writing, just the horrifying content. This book left the same feeling and for a day I was depressed.
“The Nightengale” spotlights the women of the French Resistance who saved Jewish children and rescued downed airmen to help them back to their country so that they may fly again to fight.
Picture Paris being overrun by the Nazi’s with Nazi flags flying everywhere. The rounding up of Jewish people and the yellow stars having to go on their clothing marking them as Jewish and the atrocities that happened to them.
The book starts out in the year 1995 in Oregon. An elderly woman is telling about her house being for sale and that she will be moving into assisted living. She is leaving a home that she has lived in for over 50 years and her husband has passed away not too long ago but her son is watching over her and he feels it would be better for her to move.
She also talks about a life she once had in France, a life that her son knows nothing about. She left it behind after the war and she and her husband and children moved to America.
The book bounces back and forth from America to France in 1939. A woman has a young daughter and her husband has been mobilized to go into the war. But they will be able to take care of the Germans and the war won’t go on long, he will be back home soon.
But the war doesn’t end soon, and French army was being beaten by the Germans and most of the country surrenders. The little French town that they live in has the Nazi army take it over and ever so slowly it keeps putting stipulations on the French people. Taking the food, taking the art, taking the furniture, learn who the Jews, homosexuals, communists and Freemasons are. Then the Nazi’s would gather up targeted people and put them on trains to go to concentration camps. Radios were confiscated so they would not have contact with the outside world along with valuables and clothes. They had to go through cold winters, and would put on layers of clothing so that they could stay warm. There would not be wood to burn for heat. They had to stand in line for rations of food daily and if you were the last in line you may not get anything. All the while the Nazi’s were eating well, staying warm, taking all the best for themselves and wasting food. The rest were losing weight and becoming gaunt, getting sick and dying.
The book centers on two women, sisters, who were very different but brave by what they went through. Chapter by chapter it would go back and forth between what the sisters were doing during the war. One stayed in the small French town and the other left for Paris to participate in the French Resistance.
By the time we get to 1944 in the book and life is just so destitute, there is hope when you read that the Allies are freeing the concentration camps and the Nazi’s are leaving quickly. This book is so well written I felt that I was living it too. Made me think about the waste of throwing away food and reusing items. It was interesting and depressing at the same time.
So, as I said before, there are two sisters. It has you guessing till the end, who is the elderly woman? Is it one of the sisters, or the daughter or even one of the Jewish children that were saved. That is where you have to read this book to find out.
I read this book in three days and it has nearly 600 pages. It had me captivated and it also made me wish that my parents were alive. I would have had so many questions to ask. My Father was a young man in the army in Italy and my Mother lived in the USA while the war was raging in Europe. My Father passed away 24 years ago and Mother 22 years ago but it would have been an interesting conversation.
If you like history, family love, romance and daring escapes I do recommend this book. War is Hell.
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Art Happenings and Spring is Coming
Decided to use this large painting my friend commissioned to take an unprofessional picture of myself. Here I am, and I do love this fun painting.
There is much art happenings to report on. On my home page is my 2021 schedule, it is on the right side. I feel confident that the shows will be a go with the Covid 19 vaccine. I am happy that my husband and I have our first shot scheduled for March 12.
At the Opthalmology Consultants 10186 Dupont Circle, Fort Wayne, there are 12 pieces of my art hanging through the month of April, all always for purchase.
The Fort Wayne Artists Guild is having a members show at the Allen County Library. It is in the Jeffrey Krull Gallery Downtown Fort Wayne. I have two paintings there. It will be up through May 7, 2021. 58 artists are participating so there will be many different mediums to enjoy and purchase.
This last item is very exciting. At Jefferson Point Shopping, 4130 West Jefferson, the Fort Wayne Artists Guild has teamed up with the shopping center, Art Link and Fort Wayne Museum of Art to have an art gallery in one of the open store fronts. It is located across from Marshalls and will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 to 7. Each month there will be new fresh art to view and purchase and it will be open through August. Each artist will have five pieces and there will be cards and prints available along with other items that the artists offer.
And of course, all the health measures will be in place. Masks, distancing, and hand sanitizer.
I hope that you see a hint of spring at your house. I leave you with a few of my paintings that are hints of spring.
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Book Review: The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg
I had noted in a previous post that a goal for 2021 is to read at least a book a month. So far so good so on to book number two.
The Characters are:
Arthur: an elderly gentleman who lives by himself as he had lost his wife, the love of his life, six months earlier.
Maddy: an 18 year old senior, who is very much a loner with no apparent friends.
Lucille: an elderly neighbor who lives alone and just reconnected with a high school sweetheart.
Nola: Arthur’s deceased wife
Anderson: Maddy’s one time boyfriend
Steven: Maddy’s father
This story starts out with a lot of sadness. Arthur visits his wife’s grave every day at noon and takes his lunch sandwich of peanut butter and jelly. He carries his chair with him and rides the bus with his sandwich in his pocket.
Maddy visits the cemetery often while she skips class because it is a quiet and beautiful place to think. She is bullied in school for being supposedly different and has no one that she has connected with as a friend.
Her father has no idea how to be a father for 18 years and he and Maddy have no connection either. He really shut down after Maddy’s mother passed away when Maddy was two months old.
While both Maddy and Arthur are in the same cemetery they begin to talk and begin a friendship and eventually find something they both seek. Each one serves a huge purpose for the other.
Maddy finds out that she is pregnant and tells Anderson. Of course she dreams that he is going to fall all over and be excited but he says that he is not going to be a part of this and of course acts like a dick and they part.
Maddy tells her father and of course he didn’t take it well either and was telling her what she was going to do, “get rid of that thing” and they parted ways too. He hasn’t tried to have a connection with his daughter for 18 years and now thinks he is going to call the shots.
Lucille is Arthurs neighbor who bakes wonderful treats. Her high school sweetheart sent her a letter and wanted to reconnect. They found after all the years there was still a spark and after a month they decided to move in with each other. They did not stay together in high school because he ended up marrying another woman and she had passed away. He had saved the ring that he had bought for Lucille in high school and he gave it to her. Sadly he passed away from a heart attack. Lucille was just a mess and Arthur helped her out of her despair.
Then the lives intertwine and it becomes very heartwarming where they help each other through the rough times. In their own ways they give what they have and it is just right. Along with that, they pull others into the circle of help and it is a domino affect without it being a conscious effort.
I recommend this book, it is an easy read and leaves a good feeling afterwards. My sister in law sent it for my birthday and said it was a nice book and hoped I liked it and she was right.
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Book Review: The President is Missing by Clinton and Patterson
This story has a covert mission for the President that not many knew what he was doing. It had to be kept quiet because there was a traitor among his close circle in the White House.
The book starts with a hearing with the House Select Committee, questioning President Duncan about why a high profile terrorist had not been killed when there was the chance, had he been protecting him? This may be leading up to being impeached.
Since this book was published in 2018, many of the groups and countries are familiar. Like Sons of Jihad, Israel, Russia, Germany, and some not so familiar but relevant to the story.
The President had been a soldier and spent several tours of duty in Desert Storm. He had been captured and tortured. His wife had passed away from cancer and he has a daughter, to give a little background on the President.
His daughter was in Paris and had been contacted by a women with information to give to her father about a terror attack that was going to happen. This was the start of the action that he had to go alone on with no one by his side. Pretty unusual for a President but made for interesting reading. He had to put on a disguise, drive a car and meet someone that he didn’t know at Nationals Park.
When everything came together, and he met the person it ended up that electricity went out, someone got killed, the Secret Service were not totally far from him and grabbed him and the young man he met at the ballpark.
They took off in the black Suburban and had people following, shooting at them and crashing into them. Someone wanted to kill them but which one, the President or the young man who was named Augie.
This led to various places that were set up with communication with the White House. The American people still think that the President is missing because the news outlets are asking where he is, plus he still has to be quiet.
The President has to figure out how to stop a virus that has been put on every computer in the US. There has been a time, programed, to set it off like a bomb on that day. It will erase every file on all computers in the country. It would affect electricity, water, banking, food supply, jobs, the military and would shut down everything. It would put America into the Dark Ages, which is the code word. It would be truly disasterous. It brings to attention just how much everything we have depends on computers.
This book contains assassins’, computer geeks, secret service shoot outs and of course surprises. It did take me a couple of chapters to get interested but I did enjoy the cloak and dagger mystery of it and to figure out who is the traitor.
It was an interesting read, especially with the knowledge of Bill Clinton who knows the inner workings of the White House and James Patterson who knows how to write a good book.
I do hope you had a good and healthy January. Now on to February.