I Am Tormented With an Everlasting Itch

Herman Melville, author of the classic novel "Moby Dick" once said—"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."  Well this morning I have an appreciation for part of that statement....I'm back home in Missouri and am also "TORMENTED WITH AN EVERLASTING ITCH" due to a countless number of chiggar and mosquito bites.  

I stopped counting at about 10 on my right ankle and leg with new ones appearing every few hours.  What makes some of us cursed to be part of the insect food chain while others, my husband in particular, can trop around through the underbrush completely oblivious to all those micro predators and the vast jungle of toxic foliage that cover earth crust of this beautiful state.  

Thinking back about my happy childhood growing up here in the Ozark hills, I find that I often suppressed the bad memories.  Maybe that is some sort of self preservation trick that my mind plays because you see, I have always been on the list of favorite menu items for any and all of the blood sucking and panty line biting pests that were created to inhabit this earth as a result of Adam and Eve and the original sin.  Thanks a lot grandma Eve. 

Looking back,  I'm pretty sure that all my childhood teachers thought me to be in a constant state of sunburn as my complexion was more bright pink than peach due to the vast amounts of "Rhulicream" that my mother had to apply to my body or I would have surely gone insane.  Scratching was just a way of life and the every night "TICK" checks were part of the night time routine the same as  putting on your PJ's and brushing your teeth.  

As my usual practice, I decided to deal with my current stress by turning to humor and art to take my mind off my discomforts.  I had forgotten the chiggers were so small and such a beautiful shade of red.  No larger than a dot from my pen and yet they leave itchy red spots the size of dimes all over your extremities.  They love to get in tight places so all the bumps at my sock and panty lines are a testament to their feasting. 

We had only stopped for a few minutes on a picturesque spot of dirt road we had found.  I walked in the grass just a few feet to get in the back of the truck.  Brad on the other hand tromped all over the area and was even sitting there on the ground enjoying the little shady creek that we took our refuge by.  I sat in the truck the whole time with the door open and feeling itchy.  I couldn't find the culprit but I had the distinct feeling that I was being bitten.  The next morning the tail tale signs were there, pointing to what I had suspected- CHIGGERS!

This is just for fun....if you want to see my serious artwork, please check out my website at Julietownsendstudio.com.  You won't be disappointed.

Remembering the Old Swimming Hole

Swimming Hole- 16 x 24 Acrylic

I have absolutely the fondest summer childhood memories of spending hot afternoons in Missouri playing at the local swimming hole. I had just a few opportunities to swim in a regular swimming pool but I found them to be boring in comparison to the fun there was exploring and enjoying nature that an afternoon at the creek could offer.  You couldn't build dams, forts, hunt frogs or have rock skipping contests at those "Concrete ponds".


My mother would always pack a cooler with cold watermelon, sandwiches, chips and a jug of lemonade.  She would grab the old "River Blanket", air up a couple of old tire inner-tubes that took up the whole trunk and load it all in the Chevy.  She and us three kids would then pile into the car and drive the few miles to our favorite creek so that we could spend the afternoon floating and splashing.

All those memories come flooding back when I see my two beautiful grandsons now enjoying those same childhood pleasures.  I'm so glad they are being raised as "Country Boys".

A couple of weeks ago I actually wrote a small poem called "Swimming Goggles" and knew that I didn't have to look far for the inspiration for the illustration to go with my newest literary masterpiece.  This past week I started working on a painting that is inspired by this amazing photo taken by my son, who is a professional photographer in Leesburg, GA.    I've added a few tweaks here and there but I think I managed to capture their spirit of adventure and childhood innocence in my piece called "Swimming Hole".

Pretty easy to see why I would be inspired by this great shot.

Makes me laugh every time I look at this photo

Swim Goggles

By

Julie Townsend

Fishy, fishy in this brook

Please stop swimming so I can take a look

I want to take a peek at your home below

And these goggles help me see don’t you know

With them I can spend my day

In splashing fun and play

Until my skin is wrinkled and all saggy

And my swim trunks are soaked and all baggy

Seeking out all sorts of lost treasure

Spending time in pretend and fun beyond measure

This vast underwater kingdom is all mine to explore

As long as I don’t get to far from the shore!

To view more of my collection of literary masterpieces visit my website and while you're there, feel free to checkout my other galleries and see if there something that strikes your fancy.  I would love to hear from you.

Be Sure to Eat All Your Vegetables

I started this little sketch yesterday morning while enjoying my favorite McDonald's coffee, thought about it all day while I was at work and finished it up while I was eating my dinner and watching NCIS series on Netflix.  Sometimes you create something that makes you excited and this piece is that for me.  I couldn't wait to share it with you this morning on my blog.

The overall size of the actual sketch is about 8 x 10" so that larger size made the fur a bit daunting.  I used a combination of hatching and stippling to give it that textured fur look.  The challenge for me came in when approaching the lighter areas because I had to have good control of the pressure on the pen so the ink tapered to a place that was barely visible and yet still  giving the impression of fluffy soft fur that you know this little guy has.  I also wanted the carrots to stand out from the bunny so at the end I took the plunge and used a darker bolder line.  Ink is not forgiving so once you make a decision there isn't much ability to turn it around.  With acrylic and oil painting you can create detours and exit plans all day long that are just not afforded to you with this medium.

My focus for the past few months has been creating art that reminds me of my childhood growing up in the Missouri Ozarks.  My brother and I raised rabbits for several years.  In the winter that was a particular challenge as the rabbit hutch was situated at the edge of the clearing that was our yard and the top of a particularly large hill.  I remember several times the ground covered in ice and I having to work my way to the hutch by grabbing on to tree after tree to keep from sliding down the hill.  Good memories.

I'm working on my 4th large 24 x 36" acrylic painting but I have also added a number of sketches that are waiting to make their public debut.  I have a solo show coming up in April in Boulder City Nevada that I am calling "Down Country Roads" and this piece will most likely be matted and framed for that show if it is not sold before that time.  I want to have a number of cards and prints available and this bunny will make a great addition to the lineup I think.  My hope is to make my cards and matted prints of my sketches available on JulieTownsendStudio.com in just a few days.  I just received my new Canon Pixma Pro 100 printer last week and I'm working hard to get up to speed and bond with this new studio addition.

4 designs that I have already developed in my series.  These are all hand tinted and packaged and will be sold individually or in a group.

Telling Stories With a Paintbrush

Today, I'm thinking of the words to one of my favorite Bread songs "If".  The song so beautifully asks the question, "If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't I paint you?" and that makes me think about how powerful the visual image really is.  For thousands of years, man has tried to capture a moment in time on a flat surface using mixtures of minerals and plants to give him or her COLOR.  Now I'm not an art historian, but it is obvious that art has always impacted the human race and has played a very important role in our history.  Good art evokes emotion at the most basic human level.  It will almost always cause one to stop and ponder its meaning or reflect on a distant memory in ones past or a currently pleasure.  

As an artist it is always my goal that each piece I paint tell a story to those that see it.  I am always drawn to subjects or compositions that have a connection to my own past or to things that have great meaning to me.  

I grew up in the woods and hills of the Ozarks in Central Missouri.  My family owned 20 acres of land and 90% of it was covered with thick woods and even thicker, almost impenetrable underbrush.  Poison ivy, chiggers, ticks and copperheads were in abundance and were just a few of the things we had to battle with on almost a daily basis.  Besides dealing with a few pests, my childhood was one of amazing freedom to use my imagination, to run, to climb and just to just be free to play.  I loved being outdoors and would frequently take long walks up the gravel road, play in my clubhouse or ride my bike.  

I recall when I was about 13 my dad became concerned about me walking the half mile up the country gravel road to the highway to check the mail each day. With tears and pleading on my part, we were finally to arrive at a suitable compromise-I had to from that point on carry the unloaded shot gun with me to act as a deterrent in the event that some unknown criminal element would be traveling down the road and might wish to do me harm.  My how times have changed in 40 years!

Last week I decided after seeing a couple of pictures that my photographer son had taken of my grandson walking in a field of very tall grass that I had to try to capture that youthful spirit with my own paintbrush.  I thought about my childhood and that of my children and grandchildren.  How much more complicated just living is in 2014 than in 1974.  

This world has become very scary and I fear from my grandchildren but for this moment my grandson is simply being a little boy on an adventure as little boys have been doing for hundreds of years.  I could imagine he was hunting for some hidden foe or enemy.  Perhaps he is hunting for a deer or a wild turkey to bring home for his dinner.  Maybe he is just hunting for grasshoppers.  It could be a vast number of possibilities, but I decided to give my composition a stick in his hand because almost all boys will pick up a stick and make it a pretend sword or spear while out on an adventure in the tall grass.

I decided to call my piece "Slaying Dragons" and I must be on the right track because shortly after posting my last blog entry I received these two emotional comments on my Facebook page about this painting and I just wanted to share them with you today and I hope you too enjoy my little STORY!

Fellow Missourian and artist:

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  Larry Smail reminds me of me as a boy!
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• Julie Diveley Townsend actually Larry Smail it reminds me of my childhood growing up in Missouri too. I was spent a lot of time exploring our 20 acres of woods and hills. Spent my summers building forts and going on pretend adventures.

  
  Larry Smail we had great lives as youth!!!!!!!!!
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 Artist and fellow student of master artist Jerry Yarnell:

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  Jeff Riddle My mind is a whirlwind of Mideviel Engish folklore and tales of great adventures, brutal battles and the triumph good over evil. You've done such wonderful work that you not only captured my attention and drawn me into the painting, you sent my mind on a journey back in time when I was that little boy. Totally awesome. If my brain ever slows down enough where I can jot down my thoughts I'll share it with you. Nothing better than a little story to go with your work. I occasionally do that with my woodcarvings.

  
  

"Slaying Dragons" is an original acrylic painted on a 10" x 10"gallery wrapped canvas and will be available along with many of my other pieces on my website at julietownsendstudio.com.