Pink Rose

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This is my masterpiece Rose. This was following an Anna Mason tutorial. All those folds and petals were so hard to see and paint. Like the strawberry, I will probably never attempt this again. But I am so glad I did this and kept working and trying to find all the spots that needed more paint. Without those dark spots this would have been a flat, uninteresting picture.

Sometimes the hardest parts of our lives turn out to be our masterpieces. I had to trust Anna Mason’s guiding through the tough parts. We need to trust Our Teacher and Our Lord. He has a plan. Even when we cannot imagine “why” or “why now?” there is a reason and we’ll understand it some day.

Buffy Fish Owl Watercolor

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I loved the Buffy Fish Owl in colored pencil, so I wanted to paint another one with watercolor. This has been such a treat! I used a combination of the two open source photos. I like the way this one turned out even better.

I can see why the great art masters often painted the same topic over and over again. There are subtle differences and some big differences in each painting. For me, I’m enjoying different media and each has its own beauties and limitations.

The lesson I have drawn from this is to keep trying and not to give up. My natural bent is to check it off my list once I’ve done it, especially if I didn’t like the outcome. But now, when I fail at something, or just don’t think I did it well, I will determine try again and maybe a third time before I decide I’m no good at that thing.

Moonlight Winter Scene

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We can see many scenes like this in the winter in our part of the U.S. Though there are many new and well-kept barns, I have a special interest in old barns. It seems they have a story to tell. A family owned this property and the barn was necessary for storing their equipment, sheltering their animals in cold weather, and preserving feed for their cattle until the next growing season. Now it seems disposable. No longer needed for its original purpose, many are left to just rot away and fall down. I want to preserve a record of their existence as a reminder of how this great country was settled and made rich by the work of individual families.

Penny May

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Penny May has been a joy to know. She joins our Community group from time to time. She can sit so still she looks like a stately statue, Yet, one of her favorite games is chasing a ight beam one of our members moves for her.

My husband snapped the reference photo for this graphite sketch. I really liked memorializing this beautiful cat.

My Dad, Jim Prophater

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If you did not get to meet him before, this is Jim Prophater, my dad. He was such a gentleman, in every sense of the word. He was kind and thoughtful and welcoming to everyone. He always had a good story, joke, or kind word to share. A tear or sad expression brought his, one-of-a-kind way of saying, “What’s the matter?”

He lived 93 years, served in communications for the army in the Pacific during WW11. When he came home, he decided to go to Art School in Pittsburgh, PA. Before he graduated, he got a job in commercial art and continued to earn a good living at that for 50 years.

He was married to my mom for 28 years when she died of cancer. They had three daughters, I’m the eldest. During my teen years, Dad and Mom came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He loved and served the Lord for the rest of his life. He was the best dad a girl could want for a father! He knew how to listen and let you know he really heard and had a word of wisdom to share about it.

After my mom died, he married Judy. He got a step son through that marriage and then they had a son and daughter, too.

I didn’t know I had any of Dad’s art abilities until in my 70’s. I was always interested in art, but didn’t think I could do it. Through the generous teaching of a friend in Malaysia and lots of practice, I’ve learned more of the creative side of art, while Dad spent his life in exact, realistic, advertising art.

I wish you could have known this wonderful man!