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Precious Memories

Have you ever noticed a flower, smelled its beautiful scent, and then within an instant a special memory is triggered? This happened to me when I began painting this daffodil still life. Beautiful memories always come to mind when I see red scarlet sage or brightly colored daffodils. I can’t keep from thinking about my childhood days spent with my grandmother. This special lady, known as “Mama 2” , lived in the country with flowers, chickens, baby pigs, cows, black barns, tractors, and lots of wonderful farm life experiences. The best thing about it all was that her house was only about ¼ mile from our house. What a thrill to get on my bike and ride down to visit with her! I wanted to see her every day, and most of the time I had that opportunity. She would always be there usually in the kitchen, wearing her apron and pearls. A smile on her face, lemonade or Cokes in the ice box (as she called it), and sometimes homemade peanut butter cookies coming out of the oven, would be waiting for me. Unlimited conversation was always her specialty. Oh what a treat to spend time with her!

In the spring time I would push my bike up the long gravel driveway leading to her house, because it was too difficult to ride a bike up hill in the gravel. If you looked to the left and right along the barbed wire fence, the entire length of the yard was lined with yellow daffodils. When I reached the house thick red scarlet sage lined the perimeter of her white frame home. What a beautiful sight! She would never buy seed for the scarlet sage. Instead I would help her in the fall gather the shriveled pods from the mother plants, then gently squeeze the little black seeds from the spent flowers, and place them in a paper sack ready to use the following spring.

Even though there are no scarlet sage in this painting , you will see daffodils, a package of seed, and a red checked tablecloth that is a reminder of life in the country. The checked table cloth proved to be a great opportunity to try something new, because cloth was something that I had not tried in watercolor, prior to this painting.

This piece was very different from what I usually paint because it is a still life and it was also painted during an art class. Many artists, especially the old masters, painted still life quite often, and some would paint only this type of subject matter. For me, animals and nature are usually my choice. To my surprise I really enjoyed painting this, but I loved the beautiful memories that came flooding back in my mind as I painted. Not just any memories, but some very special memories of a child spending time with their grandmother!

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