Ask and Ye Shall Receive

[Jabez] was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request.
—1 Chronicles 4:10 The Prayer of Jabez

FLY AWAY TURTLE
10x8 inch line and wash on sketchbook paper
© V. Bridges Hoyt 2012

Over the weekend, I completed this quick line and wash sketch of a turtle on a log. This thirty-minute drawing includes only the minimum number of contour lines to portray my impression of the turtle.

I was able to work a little on the deer fawn painting (in a previous blog post). The background had troubled me, but I think I discovered a fix on Sunday. Painting progress was slow. The weekend passed quickly.


"I am Woman," but as the years have passed I've realized how difficult the continuous practice of doing it all. The time has come to pray the prayer of Jabez.  "Lord, bless me and extend my assets and energy.  Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain." I am thinking of my Aunt Mollie Jones who is in the hospital and weary of life.  Lord, be with Aunt Mollie and her daughters. Give them energy and comfort. Lord, please also bless Aunt Sylvia and Ms. Polly (who is now 98) with your support, and give continued healing to my Aunt Billie. There are so many others in my mind, friends closer to my own age, but these elderly folk are the ones whom I mention publicly.

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

Sunflower Saturday WIP.1

ART. I have been painting since 7 am this Saturday morning ... well, part of that was the setup time ... and thought while the paint dries, I would blog quickly.

1. Showing the graphite sketch and first wash of cad yellow on the sunflowers.

2. Experimental in nature, it's a Sunflower Saturday. © V. Bridges-Hoyt 2009

I am painting with watercolor on a gallery wrap canvas this morning. The experimental part is it's a typical cotton canvas used for oil or acrylic. I have painted watercolors on them before and really like the way the paint reacts.

I'm giving myself a deadline on this one. Back to painting! Watch for the next installment.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

© V Bridges Hoyt Design 2009

WAS-H: Arts in Medicine

ART.  Tuesday was my first day to paint with the kids at Texas Children's Cancer Center. The WAS-H program is called AIM: Arts in Medicine. WAS-H stands for Watercolor Arts Society - Houston.  It's fun to paint with children ... or even to sit and watch them paint.  The young ones are uninhibited and creative and brave with color. One little girl--she must have been about three years old--always started with yellow. Her second color was purple. She seemed intuitively drawn to those two complementary colors, and without guidance she created a wonderful abstract watercolor painting of yellow, purple and bright green. She picked up her painting and handed it to me gingerly, and as I took the painting our eyes met. I smiled. She smiled. I placed it on the countertop to dry. She started another painting with yellow and purple. 

I arrived early enough to snap a photo before the children started to paint. The painting space is in the recessed area to the right and stretches along that back wall through two arched openings. It's a cheerful space and the children's paintings are hung on clotheslines along the back wall. I'm always drawn to the architecture of medical spaces. At the University of Houston, I did focused study on the design of medical clinics, and studied them more during the term of my architectural internship. Painted Cows are abundant in the Texas Children's Cancer Center. They are all different and all colorful.  This one has the words "The End" painted beneath the cow's tail.

LIFE.  My favorite clothes to wear are my paint t-shirt and jeans. They are worn, comfortable, familiar and speckled with spots of paint. When I paint daily, they become my uniform ... AND they are old enough that they were Made in the USA!  It's a label I can't find on any clothes in a retail department store these days. I keep looking for it. If I had time, I would resort to sewing again, but I'd rather paint. Be assured that my paintings are made in the USA.

Today's Blessing: HEALTHY CHILDREN.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

© V Bridges Hoyt Design 2009

Green Apples and Tulips

vbh-9026

Green Apples and Tulips

16 x 20 inch oil on canvas

© Vernita Bridges Hoyt 2009

Ready to Frame

at The Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas, TX

April 10 - May 15, 2010

214-348-7350

Click here for more information. 

ART.  I painted this still life plein aire at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival 2009. I've committed a portion of a sale as a donation to Texas Children's Cancer Center. Tuesday morning I'll be driving into Houston to paint with the young cancer survivors at Texas Children's. This is the AIM program through WAS-H Watercolor Art Society Houston.  

LIFE.  This has been quite a summer with poison ivy in June and an infected cat bite on my ankle in July. In four more days, I'll be finished with the antibiotics. I am on the mend and nearly completely healed. Eighty-five percent (85%) of all cat bites cause major infection, I learned, and I must be highly susceptible to the bacteria in a cat's mouth as this is my second experience with infection from a cat bite. The first was a bite on my finger many years ago. Their piercing teeth act like a hypodermic needle injecting bacteria deep into your bloodstream. I was bitten by my docile, gentle pet cat while I was napping on the sofa in front of TV. Who knows why he bit me, maybe to wake me, and he surely did that! The pain was the stabbing pain of a deep wound and started to swell immediately.  My physician told me if I get bitten ever again to get in for medical help within 20 minutes of the bite. I will have lost almost a whole month from July 3rd - July 29th. Many people end up in the hospital on IV meds. If you're a cat owner, watch out for bites. I am so glad to be nearly done with that and back to painting again. 

Today's Blessing: The boys both visited me last week, and we had lots of activity and fun. Thank God for giving me just enough energy to get through the week and time to enjoy my grandsons.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

© V Bridges Hoyt Design 2009

Happy Father's Day!

Lewis Bridges, age 93 years

LIFE.  It is Father's Day again, and each year I watch him get older ... thank the Lord. He always said he wanted to live to 100, and there are only 6 1/2 years to go before he reaches his goal. He still drives the tractor and hauls hay to his cattle. His love for those cattle keep him going day after day. He is truly a man who has lived his passion. Once when I was there, we talked about that ... and I told him that my passion for painting is the same passion that he feels for his land and his cattle. After that, he understood my drive to paint ... to live my passion. 

He was a handsome young man with a twinkle in his eye. After my mother's death, he told me stories I had not heard ... memories of their courtship and early marriage. Although his eyes are gray now, no longer blue, I occasionally get a glimpse of that starry twinkle that shone in his younger eyes. Today I will visit with Dad.

Today's Blessing: Time with Dad.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

© V Bridges Hoyt Design 2009

KITTY LOVE, Tabby cat and toy

No longer available, I have gifted this painting to my grandson, whose kitty it is.  I would be happy to paint you one in a similar style with the charity donation to Tabby's Place as mentioned below.

9045 

ART.  "Kitty Love" wash and line in watercolor w/ink on 5x7 inch Stonehenge paper. 

LIFE.  Last night was another late night painting until past midnight. Although I had good intentions of sleeping late this morning, at 5:20 am Gimp, like clockwork, began to meow at the bedroom, and I was awake again after a mere five hours. When Gimp heard me stirring he stopped his incessant crying. His wails are not those of a cat but a small child's call for "Mama-Mama". On a typical day, I don't mind the early awakenings. Dawn is my favorite time of day, but last night I needed a little more rest. Truly the cat believes I'm his mother. There is much love in his eyes and affection in his heart. His touch is tender, and he loves to hold "paws" with me. The beautiful part of living with Gimp is the kitty love. 

Today's Blessing: A cat in the house and bird songs in the air.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

© V Bridges Hoyt Design 2009

Red Work-in-Progress. I'm not telling.

ART.  I'm painting another 5x7 inch wash and line since I had such a great response to the others. Here is my first work-in-progress image. Can anybody guess what this will be?

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

website V Bridges Hoyt Design

BORDER COLLIE, a work in progress

ART... and yet again my studio dog becomes the model for another painting, this one a watercolor sketch which will be completed and posted to the Art Helping Animals art blog tonight. I'll add a finished image here also.

This one was begun today after lunch and was painted alla prima. I love the looseness of the paint in this one. Mostly it was painted wet in wet, but now it is drying while I am back at the easel on the oil painting.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

website V Bridges Hoyt Design
blog One Painting a Day
blog Studio Dog
shop Cards &
Gifts at www.zazzle.com/txsauce* Don't forget the *

Raccoon Painting in Progress

ART.  The newborn raccoon, a work in progress. I'll post the finished version in a few days. This 9x12 oil painting will be listed to help Friends of Texas Wildlife in Magnolia, Texas. They are rehabbing orphaned wildlife and then releasing them back into the wild and need all the funding help they can get. To see their website or make a donation, click here.  To reserve this painting, email me -- artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Today's Blessing: Grandson's cat surprised us with kittens but thankfully stopped at three! She is solid black and mated with a solid white tom to produce three beautiful charcoal gray kittens. They'll be up for adoption in a few weeks.

V. Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • flowers • people • places

To commission a painting or portrait,
email txsauce@txsauce.net

~~~

website V Bridges Hoyt Design
blog One Painting a Day
blog Studio Dog
shop Cards &
Gifts at www.zazzle.com/txsauce* Don't forget the *

Daffodil, final version

© V. Bridges-Hoyt 2009

I got back to the daffodil colored pencil study finally, and you see the completed version above. Finished. This is 5x5 inches, colored pencil and ink on acid free, Mi Teintes gray toned paper. This one was a joy to do. Yellow is such a happy color!

I thought I might finish the daffodil this morning. Not!

With colored pencil work, the layering of detail is slower. Actually, that is true of any medium, but pencil seems to take even longer. I think you can see the work I've done on the left hand side background, and I've added a little more yellow to the top two petals. More to come in a day or two.

Note to cousin: I'm glad to know you love daffodils! Do you have them growing around your house? They are blooming big time at the farm. Now when I want to send you flowers, I'll know what to send. :)

~~~

Daffodil work-in-progress #1:

I am drawn to light, sunny colors now. Last night I began another small colored pencil 'pendering' of a daffodil. This is where I left it. I'll continue to build up color on the flower blossom as well as in the background. I haven't yet thought about a title for this piece. It may become something generic such as Daffodil #1 unless someone else has a better suggestion.

© 2009 Vernita Bridges-Hoyt

"Painting the Sauce of Texas"

animals • people • places • wildflowers

If you are interested in a painting,
please email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

~~~

Today's Blessing: Grandsons.
..........

Click to see available daily paintings here.