Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you from our house to yours.  This is a picture of our Christmas tree this year.  Several of the ornaments were made by my parents and me when I was a teenager.  Dad has passed on.  Mom is slowing down.  I'm getting along.  But, when decorating this tree each year with these ornaments, I am flashed back to the 60's with Mom, Dad and me making ornaments at the dining room table, decorating the tree, Mom making her divinity, and me wondering what I was going to get for Christmas.  In the background, Bing Crosby was singing, White Christmas", Brenda Lee was singing, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," and me crying the first time I heard "Little Drummer Boy."  The ornaments on this tree represent the early part of my family and the later years when the ornaments were hung on the tree at my house with my husband and 2 little boys.  And the same music played on.......  Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

Grief

Hello Folks.  A friend of mine called yesterday to say that her aunt had passed away, having lived vigorously for 98 years.  My friend was crying and I understood so well how she felt.  Even though her aunt had been in poor health for about a year, my friend had been the one to travel to the assisted living center, the hospital, the rehab center, and her aunt's home to provide "care" for her in a myriad of ways.  My friend had called me often, exhausted, overwhelmed and sometimes even a little put-out because her own life had been put on hold.  Now, though, my friend spoke of what a blessing it had been for her to get to know her great aunt in the last few years as her aunt's mind was clear and she had entertained my friend with stories of herself and ones about my friend as a small child. 
I share this sketch with you that I call "Grief."  It represents my own grief over several losses I have suffered but I hope you see in it the silent part of grief that lingers and is triggered by small things in every day life that reminds us of those we loved.  These triggers often make us weep but sometimes they make us smile because no one ever leaves us, do they?  They stay in our heart and mind and we think of them and still love them, don't we?

Thanks for passing by.

Cary Grant in Bloom

Hello Folks, sorry I haven't posted in a while but things were busy at my house.  However, thought I would post this picture of the rose called "Cary Grant" in it's last stages of blooming for the season.  I hope to paint this over the winter and will share with you when I do.  Thanks for passing by.

BOA BABES AND THE NAKED COWBOY

Hello Folks.  Here is a watercolor I did of the Boa Babes (see previous post) posing with the Naked Cowboy in Times Square.  It was so much fun.  We four friends were on our yearly NYC jaunt and we happened upon the Naked Cowboy. So we gathered around him, stuffed money in his boot, and had a passerby take our picture.  When Wanda, Ruth, Pat and I went to NYC, we often lost our daily inhibitions and could become rather boisterous.  But that was the point of the trip, wasn't it?  Thanks for passing by.

THE PARASOL

Good afternoon.  I am quite proud of this painting as it combines three things that were on my mind to paint:  a cityscape, umbrellas, and something Asian.  So here we have an Asian woman in the city, caught in a rain storm with just a paper parasol while others rushing around have conventional umbrellas.  I feel sorry for her.  Her dress is already dripping.  She stands in a puddle of water.  And eventually her parasol will wilt and collapse on her head.  She doesn't look happy, does she?  But she does look like she is quite stoic and will wait to see what happens.  Life seems to be like that to me sometimes; others are hustling and bustling and seem purposeful, useful and well-equipped, while I feel stuck and, (ha ha) bogged down.  Thanks for passing by.

BULLRUSHES

Hello folks.  Back again to painting.  This oil painting is a 20x24 oil painting that I was inspired to paint to go with my new living room furniture.  I painted it early one morning.  It was in my mind to do something earthy, with nature as the theme, but I had no specifics in mind but color.  And, it seems this building sort of rose out of the bullrushes and it has prompted some folks to say, "the Parthenon", when they see it. What do you think?  Thanks for passing by.

Women and Hope

Good Afternoon.  This small watercolor represents to me the hope all women carry in their arms all the time. Hope for the children, the world, the country, the peacemakers, a cure for cancer, a happy outcome, peace, etc.  I hope it inspires you to carry hope in your arms, whether or not you are a woman.

Thanks for tuning in.

TWO SISTERS

Good morning, folks.  This is a pen and watercolor scene I did which, as you see, is called Two Sisters.  It makes me think of two sisters; one pregnant and living paycheck to paycheck, and the other living a more luxurious lifestyle.  The affluent one comes to visit the other and their mother joins their conversation taking place by the fence in the backyard of the pregnant sister.  Across the fence, in the background, you can see "the city" which the "uppity" sister calls home.  Standing beside the mudpuddle, the pregnant sister seems to be observing her mother and sister with hard, reality-based eyes.  "There she goes again," she seems to be thinking.  My intent was to create the city mouse/country mouse meeting and I decided to add the mother for the artistic tension as well as the natural tension that exists in families sometimes.  What do you think?  Thanks for tuning in.

Five Crabs

Hello Folks. Glad to be back painting again. This is a little watercolor I did as an exercise to try to jump start my muse again. These little guys, being orange and all, must have been boiled already. But, they're still smiling! I know that feeling, don't you - being boiled, or boiling with anger and resentment, or boiling over with emotion - and, sometimes I can still smile through it! Thanks for tuning in.

Sunflower and Company

Hello folks. I am sharing this pastel today with you because it is the first painting I have done in quite some time. As I posted before, I have been assisting my husband in his chemotherapy. The good news is that he only has two more treatments and he's finished. The bad news is - there isn't any!!

This sunflower represents summer to me. This year the dawn of summer will mean so much. More than spring even because even though there is a gorgeous daffodil blooming at the side of my house, the temperatures during the day are still cool as if winter just won't let go. I think we can make the analogy of winter with bad times. Often when situations in our lives start to get better, it seems as if there are still reminders here and there that can pull us down again. It is as if the bad time won't let go. I have no advice concerning how to cope with such. There are a lot of cliches out there like: think positive, or have faith, or just put one foot in front of the other. These suggestions are good but on a deep level, we just plain want it over. Well, I just want some stuff in my life over and I want summer to come and to ride down the highway and watch the heads of sunflowers bend in the breeze. I want to roll down the window and feel the heat and even get sweaty because it will mean that summer is here and winter has let go. Thanks for listening.

Hello From Morna Owens

Dear Friends and Followers:
I have not been posting on this blog as I have not painted recently due to the illness of my husband. He had surgery in October for bladder cancer. He was quite ill in the hospital and when he came home. Then there was Christmas. After that, he began chemotherapy the last week in December which will last until March. Caring for him became my passion. My muse stirs me up on occasion with inspiration but the most I seem to be able to do is sketch out the idea. I will be back. I thank all of you who have visited this blog from far away and I regret that there hasn't been more for you to see. I notice that "Boa Babes", Serious Night Blooming Ceres and "Navy Kiss" get hits frequently. Thanks for browsing by. Feel free to leave a message as the creative part of me could use a comment or two to support my effort to return to painting when I can. Thanks for listening and please remember to not only offer to help those folks you know who are ill but the ones caring for them too.
My best to you all, Morna