SERIOUSLY?!?!? Snow again????

Seriously!  Mother Nature is messing with us here in the Northwest BIGTime!  It’s snowing again this morning.  sigh.  They are saying that there could well be snow (even on the LOWER elevations!) on Mt. Hood for skiing well into the summer.  Now the ski resorts really NEED a good year, but enough of the white stuff down here already!

The local outdoor Farmer’s Markets are usually in full swing and bustling by this time of year.  HA! 

Spring WILL eventually come.  And hopefully ‘gradually’ enough so the snow on the mountains doesn’t melt TOO fast and cause spring flooding, which is known to happen in these parts.

This next picture is for e.beck.artist She recently asked her fellow bloggies to share a picture of one of their favorite works.  I ‘tried’ to post the link in her comment section, which did not work so well.  And I really LOVE this picture and the snow today is making me feel a bit like the emotive response I have to it.

My son, Elliot is the ‘actual artist’.  He painted it at the ripe old age of THREE!  He was a very prolific little artist.  When he was younger (he’s 25 now!) we had an entire ‘gallery’ of his work framed and hanging throughout our home.  He even entered a ‘public hanging’ (art show!) in Portland when he was five.  And we did an outdoor artist market that summer. 

The artist market was a real hoot!  I set up a table and had dozens of his painting framed and displayed.  (now this was BEFORE I knew I had the least bit of artistic talent.  Really!!  HIS interest in art is what got me interested!)  My friends from work knew we’d be there and several of them came by to purchase.  And they weren’t buying his stuff ‘just to be nice’!  They REALLY wanted an Elliot Original.  Whenever anyone’s birthday or other special occasion was coming up, I’d always get hints like: “You know it’s my birthday next week.  hint hint.  And I sure do like Elliot’s paintings.  hint hint.”

So there were some real ‘art snobs’ wandering about this summer outdoor artist market.  I don’t say that in a negative way.  But these were people who KNEW art, unlike ME, who just knew what I liked; and maybe had a knack for taking a pictures of blobs of color my son made and cropping, matting, framing and titling them. 

Elliot was wandering around the market (but where I could see him) enjoying the other sights and the dulcimer music; playing with his toy cars in the shade of a nearby tree; just basically being a five year old.  A very sophisticated couple came over to our table and chatting amongst themselves were discussing things like the ‘color and tone and movement and emotion’ in the paintings.  fianlly the gentleman looked up at me and complimented me on MY work.  Asked where I’d ‘studied’ and mentioned noticing the influence of some famous artist whom I’d never heard of nor can remember the name of! 

I just smiled and said, “My son painted these.”  The mans jaw just DROPPED.  Back then I didn’t look old enough to have a son old enough to be an artist.  (even though I was 33!)  And I pointed to Elliot over under the nearby shade tree.  I think the man thought I was kidding.  He hurried off, a bit embarrased I guess.

Well, here’s the picture of Elliot’s that inspired this blog entry.  It’s titled ‘pre-dawn’. 

Do you see what I saw when I looked at this painting?  What does it make you feel?