A Mother's Love

A dear friend commissioned this piece as a birthday gift for her very talented college aged son.

She described how she was travelling along the country side in Northern California during one of the many summer heat spells. She saw out in the field a cow out in the dry shadeless field. As she looked closer, she saw what looked like a very young calf in this cow's shadow.

She thought this mother was doing her very best to protect her young baby from the relentless environment and how she could relate to how she felt about her son leaving for college and being on his own. My friend wanted to let her only son know that she too wants to always protect him from all that could harm him but she knows she could only do her very best and the rest to up to Destiny. I was honored that she would trust me to convey such a tender and loving thought.

This is 6x8 oil on canvas board.

Chris' Field of Dreams

This is based on my friend Bobbi's photo of her college aged son. The sun was low and I loved how she captured the warm glow of Chris on the baseball field.

I met Bobbi when she was taking the physical agility test for our department. I was immediately impressed with her positive attitude, wit and intelligence. We became best buds on the force often working together in the same sectors of the city. We had gotten to know each other so well, we didn't have to look or say anything, we just knew when it was time to go from talking to the taking down a suspect. We were some of the first small group of she-cops to work patrol together. I remember our male sergeant following us around like a worried mother hen one day because it was the first time 3 women were working alone in a sector. He finally learned women are much better using their brains than having to rely on brawn to deal with a situation. Besides her disarming quick wit, Bobbi was skilled at American Sign Language which became a huge asset when the Bay Area's School for the Deaf relocated to our city.

I was her maid of honor when she married a sergeant from our dept and she was matron of honor in mine. I was there when Chris came home and am now amazed to see how a tiny pink baby grew up to a tall handsome young man. She retired early when her husband retired and is also living the good life in Northern California. I am blessed to still have her in my life.

oil on Artboard 12x6 (sold)

Lightening struck last night

I was talking to my friend Bobbi who I have not seen nor heard from in over three years. [my fault] She found me through my blog believe it or not and she told me she sort of 'caught up' with what was going on with me the past 8 months or so.

You know how it is with really good friends. You can pick up as if you had just seen each other yesterday. I don't know if my mind was in a good place or her quick wit made me happy or her warm soul made me feel safe but I just started sketching an old photo I found in an album.

This little girl is a relative from my mother's side. Based on the photo, she would probably be in her late sixties today. I have no idea who she is but her hand is being held by her grandmother. With the photo being B&W and her face almost 1/2 inch high, I was able to improvise on it a lot. I may paint the grandmother and her brother.

24x18 oil on canvas