The Circle of Life

So you want to live to be 100 years old. 

Do you? 

Be careful what you wish for.

 

With old age come changes you may not have considered—blood pressure that won't stay put so is either too high or too low; a mind that won't think; ears that don't hear; a voice that won't speak. Each year, each month, each week, each day will bring new challenges to conquer or accept. Aging to meet your goal of 100 years will be an impossibility without the aid of physicians, nurses and family. If you could use the voice that no longer speaks and the mind that no longer thinks, would you say that you want to detour off of Centenarian Road?

I wonder if petunias feel their age as their blooms shrivel. All life evolves in one way or the other. Petunias drop seeds. People drop babies. Beauty comes during the reproduction stage. Then decline. Eventually death. The next generation matures and continues the cycle. Everything changes, yet nothing changes. 

The circle of life.

Thanks for following my ramblings at 
Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt


Be sure to read the blog sidebar for special art offerings, some of which are FREE to you.

Apples

Apple Core © V. Bridges Hoyt
sold

... 

The saying goes, "An apple a day will keep the doctor away." I remember a little golden book about Johnny Appleseed that I used to read to my kids ... or was it my little brother? Maybe both. The story was that Johnny Appleseed traveled all over America planting apple seeds to grow apple trees. The illustrations were wonderful, and Johnny always wore an upside down long-handled pan upon his head.  Why that sticks in my mind is a mystery to me, but Mom always had us eating apples when we were children. I've lost the practice of eating an apple a day, but now with the years slipping by and cholesterol numbers rising maybe eating an apple a day would be a good habit to reinstate.

Note: The image above is a crop from a larger painting that sold in 2008. 

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Postcard Art via Vernita

A new series is in the works, this one a series of images to be shared through postcard art. This image of my sweet border collie Brooke is the first art postcard in the series. The best part for you is they are FREE. This is my way of saying Thank You for collecting my paintings and/or following my blog.

BORDER COLLIE BROOKE IN MOM'S PETUNIAS
watercolor and ink
wash and line

To receive a FREE 4x6 postcard image of this painting, send me your address in a private email message to txsauce@txsauce.net. Your contact information will NOT be sold or shared. Postcards will be mailed through USPS.

The postcards are clear of artist's watermark text, professionally printed, high quality and suitable for framing. Your postcard will be mailed inside an envelope to keep it clean in transit. Limited quantity available. Be quick to reserve this 1st postcard image of my new series.

This original painting was sold to a private collector.

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Fairy Angel

A day or two ago an email letter arrived that said something like this:

I love reading your blog when you go personal with your writing. I feel like you are writing a letter directly to me.

If you are reading this morning, let me tell you that many times I am writing directly to you. On those mornings, you are my inspiration to continue the blog. There is a fine line between writing personal and going too far with it. Sometimes I wonder if I reveal too much of myself on a public site like this, but I do it anyway as there are days when the practice of blogging keeps me balanced.

I am looking through recent photos to see what I can share with you today. How about this one?

Fairy Angel photo © V. Bridges Hoyt 2012. 

I finally had the back flower beds cleaned out. The beds are clean but a little bare. I will be adding a few bedding plants but not something that gives the undergrowth I had before. The little angel you see under the tree (upper left) is the memorial to HB given to me by a dear friend after his death 11 years ago. I recently moved it to this location so I can see it from inside the house. I love the shadow patterns in the afternoon light.

Now I must move onward with my day of work and responsibilities. I expect to have a good day here and hope that you do also. 

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Associate Memberships

I am pleased to announce that I was recently accepted for membership in two national art associations:

1. Portrait Society of America
2. Oil Painters of America

Thanks for following Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Birds and More Birds

What does it mean to see a turkey vulture walking in your neighbor's front yard? That is what I saw today as I was driving home from the supermarket. A lone vulture walking and looking.

The vulture is said to be the Golden Purifier. The Golden Purifer represents Compassion.

• Compassion is spacious, allowing the way things are to exist, to change, and to end. Particularly it allows pain to end. This means that it must be patient, not in any hurry to force pain to end or to try officiously to get rid of pain. It is the active side of wisdom ... http://sped2work.tripod.com/totem.html

The link above describes vulture as totem. I don't see them frequently enough to claim vulture as my bird totem, but the article about Native American meanings is interesting.

Four Calling Birds

Typically when I see a bird, I see a Cardinal. Three days ago I saw a Blue Jay, the first I've seen flying across my back yard. Last week Dad and I saw a hawk circling as we sat and gazed at the blue sky overhead. Dad thought it was an eagle. Maybe it was. He would know better than I. 

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life.

V. Bridges Hoyt

Bird of Paradise

Even as a 9 year old child, when I would paint I would think that I was making something I could leave behind me when I died. Looking back, I see that as a seriously heavy thought for a child of any age. My mother encouraged and saved my first paintings. My father considered art a waste of time. Although I enjoyed creating special handmade gifts from the heart, I learned long years ago that a gift of art was not appreciated by siblings.  My children took their artist mother for granted (as children will do) but learned as they grew that not every mother is an artist. Today they respect my talent and reserve paintings. Through my years, I always thought and still do think as I create that I am leaving something of myself behind me when I die—something as a way to be remembered.

From 2006 - 2010 I completed close to a painting a day—small paintings, mostly animal paintings sold to help animal rescue organizations. A few larger portrait commissions took longer to complete. No doubt this easel time helped me through the grief after my mother's death and promotion to Glory in December 2005, the grief that re-exposed unhealed emotions from the loss of my husband only four years prior. In 2011 I slowed down a bit as my father aged and needed more care; after a short stay in a skilled nursing facility he came to live with me in January 2012. We celebrated his 96th birthday in February. My studio time has all but ceased. 


The time outside the studio is good time for reflection. I want to paint more portraits, more personal art and will do so.

"Art is man's distinctly human way of fighting death."  (Leonard Baskin) —from The Painter's Key by Robert Genn

Thanks for following Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt