Painting My Country Roots

I moved out west to Las Vegas back in 1978 from my childhood home of Eldon, Missouri.  I was only a teenager at the time, but there is something about one's childhood that shapes and influences your life, perhaps more than the rest of your years spent as an adult.  I may have lived in this large city for all of my adult years, but in my heart I still identify myself as a country girl.

That is why I'm painting a series right now I feel I have a strong connection to and that I am calling "Down Country Roads."  I lived the best years of my childhood on a dusty dirt road surrounded by trees, flowers, wildlife and farming.  I love old farm houses, gardens, livestock, barns, porch swings, old mail boxes, barbed wire fences and fence posts covered in morning glories dotting every dirt road and 2 lane highway across this amazing country and they are my inspiration.

When it feels like crazy is becoming the normal,  I have to only return to my roots to find that this country is still full of good folk that appreciate the freedom to work hard and get their hands dirty, to raise their families and take care of their neighbors. This series of paintings are my tribute to that way of life and looking at them, frankly makes me smile.

"Fence Post Curiosity"- 36 x 24 Original Acrylic

This is my newest piece, just finished this week.  I'm calling it "Fence Post Curiosity".  Cows are curious creatures and will often watch you as drive by, especially if all your children are hanging out of the windows yelling, "MOO."  I just couldn't help myself and found that I had to add the cow licking her nose to the composition.   The consistent themes of blue morning glories are present as they are in the previous two pieces along with cheerful Black-eyed Susans.

This piece was a real challenge as I have never painted such large animals before.  The canvas measures 36 x 24 inches so this jersey cow is at least 2 feet tall.

Lunch Under the Mailbox- 36 x 24 Original Acrylic 

My second piece in the series that I have painted is called "Lunch Under the Mailbox".  I've blogged about this one previously and so if you follow me you know that I loved little box turtles growing up.  They were everywhere in the spring and summer.  They may move slowly but they are so persistent.  I remember many times just running in for a moment to get a drink or snack, certain that I could return in time to prevent my little reptiles escape on to find that there was no longer any trace of him.   

Life at the Fence Post- 36 x 24 Original Acrylic

This is the piece first piece that I came up with and at the time that I painted it I wasn't thinking about a series.  I simply was painting a piece that reminded me of summer.  The predominate color of green makes me think of Missouri in the summer.  Everything is SO green unlike the Mojave Desert that I call home now. 

This series will be presented together as part of a solo show that will be held in the month of April at the Boulder City Art Gallery in Boulder City, Nevada.  My goal is to have at least 2 more pieces completed by that time along with a number of smaller related paintings.  It will be a show worth seeing.  All these piece can be found on my website where you can find a link to order prints and see the rest of my work.  Just visit JulieTownsendStudio.com and click on the gallery tab.

YOU'VE GOT MAIL!

These pieces were so much fun to paint and what memories they brought back as I worked on them.  I am so thankful for having the opportunity of being raised out in the hills of the Missouri Ozarks.  We may have been poor but my life is rich with wonderful childhood memories.  This was in the days of no entertainment and you had to actually entertain yourself.  We got a 3 whole channels on the TV and if you wanted to listen to music you had to listen to your little handheld transistor radio and hope their wasn't any interference. Oh, and let's not forget the old "PARTY LINE" phone system.  Not only did we have to share the phone line with 3 other families, we actually heard their phone ring at our house.  Can you imagine a teenager today not being allowed to talk on the phone?

The summer days were filled with climbing trees, building forts, riding bikes and swimming at the creek.  The nights were hot and muggy but filled with the sounds of June bugs, tree frogs, crickets and whippoorwills.  If you laid in your bed really still and focused on all the night sounds you might forget just how hot you were.

One of my absolute highlights was to get a letter in the mailbox.  As I entered my teen years I developed several pen pal friendships and so if I wasn't walking the half mile up the gravel road to Highway 52 where our mailbox was located to mail a letter, I was walking there to hopefully retrieve one.

My dad began to worry that I was in some sort of danger of being kidnapped so he tried to tell me I couldn't walk up to highway any longer.  I pleaded with him and we came up with a compromise.  I would once again be allowed to go on my daily walks only if I carried the shotgun with me.  I guess he figured that I was less likely to be approached by strangers of I was "PACKING HEAT".  In reality the shotgun wasn't loaded and I was somewhat embarrassed by it so I would try to hide it from view if a car drove past but it was the sacrifice I had to make to continue my letter writing friendships undisturbed.  

This piece that I call "Lunch Under the Mailbox" reminds me a lot about my Missouri childhood.  In the summer there were little box turtles everywhere.  They could be found crossing through our yard and often be seen crossing the roads.   I can recall numerous times my mom would pull the car over so that we could render aid to one that might have been flipped over.  They are most certainly my favorite reptile.  I hope I caught the expression  of this little guy and how he is anticipating his tasty flower snack.

Lunch Under the Mailbox- 24 x 36 Original Acrylic

This was the first piece I painted in what I think will be a series of works regarding country life.  You can read that blog called Fence Posts from two weeks ago.

"Life at the Fence Post"- 24 x 36 Original Acrylic