Ladybug-Maybe Not a Lady or a Bug

It was only about two weeks ago that I did this 8 x 10 Pen and Ink/colored pencil sketch of a ladybug resting on a dew covered daisy petal. It is actually a piece that a couple of my painting students are working on and I worked out the details a head of them.  I thought I might add a few more embellishments to the composition.  Perhaps some leaves or a stem but I got busy on other projects and commitments and it sort of got buried.  You know how that goes, "Out of sight Out of mind" kind of thing.  

Well I had to pull it back out on Saturday to show my students so they could start working on their piece and that was when it hit me I should try to write a poem for this sketch also.  I scribbled down some notes and began formulating a rough draft on my computer.  I took a printout with me this morning to work on during my morning coffee ritual.  McDonalds once again proved to be just the place for the creative juices to flow.  I managed to pull the piece together and I'm rather happy with how it has turned out.  I hope you also enjoy it.

Please leave me a comment and if you like what you see, check out the rest of my work on my website gallery at Julie Townsend Studio

Excuse Me Sir For Calling You a Ladybug

By

Julie Townsend

There is much about you that is quite confusing
From your little black spots to a bright red coat so assuming
I find myself puzzled and scratching my head
Maybe you're no lady but rather a boy bug instead

I suppose you can see the dilemma I face
As I try to grasp how this may impact the whole human race
So with my naked eye with certainty I can not speak
Only with the aid of a microscope to take a peek

So no matter if a he or she you are called
I'm rather surprised to find that you're really no bug at all
But instead a beetle in the family of Coccinellidae
While no entomologist I claim to be, so who am I to say

But I could have swore that beetles and bugs were one in the same
I stand here and hang my head in shame
For this was a belief I have held onto since my youth
Now my eyes have been opened to the shocking truth

While you are an insect, to call you a bug isn't proper
It all comes down to your wings and the shape of your chompers
A friend to the gardener of roses, veggies and fruit
For many other helpful insect aren't nearly as cute

I hope you find my garden and decide to stay
You have such an appetite and will keep all those aphids away!

Fence Posts

Most of my childhood memories involve growing up near the small town of  Eldon, Missouri.  We lived in a very small mobile home positioned 1/2 mile down a country gravel road off Hwy 52 on 20 acres of wooded property.  20 acres is a goodly amount of land for any child to explore and have plenty of childhood adventures.  Our house was tiny, cramped and stuffy so I recall that I spent as much time as I could outside. I had my own clubhouse at the edge of the clearing that we call our backyard.  I loved spending time there.

Our property was fenced very much like shown here in my painting.  Old fence posts strung with 3 strands of barbed wire.  The line of fence posts that bordered the gravel road that accessed our property were always painted white because my mother liked everything in the front yard, including 3 feet of the base portion of many of the trees, recycled rubber tire planters, well house, porch and our swing set all shining under many layers of white paint.  I think she would have had me paint all the rocks in the driveway if she had thought about it. 

The rest of the fence posts that separated our property from Old Man Shulte's pasture were left to succumb to the elements and slowly decay giving way to the character of the wood.  Knots and flaws in the wood probably go unnoticed by most but in this piece I wanted to show how this post still is standing strong enough to be home to many growing things.  Strong enough to still create that a barrier between the field and their grassy home.

This new painting I've just completed reminds me of home.  In the summer everything about Missouri is dominated with the color green.  There is just so much vegetation there and living in that vegetation is vast number of small creatures living their lives out in the search of food and trying not to become food themselves.  I call this piece, "Life at the Fence Post" and it is 36x24 inches and painted in acrylic.

If you like my work then please click on the link above called gallery or visit my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com