Full Day with the Painted Ladies

Yesterday was a full day with the Painted Ladies. We met a little earlier than usual at Glenna’s house out on Lake Waurika for some blackberry picking. Oklahoma blackberries are just pretty darn good, but picking them is the pits. With temperatures soaring in June, bugs in abundance, and thorns longer than any rose bush, I really don’t like picking berries. I didn’t want to be the party pooper, so I sucked it up and did my part. After spraying lots of bug killin’ chemicals on myself, I felt fairly safe from the creepy-crawly varmints. Fortunately I did not see any snakes, but the threat was real enough – I just did not let my mind go there as I thrashed through the bushes. We picked berries until my clothes were soaked in sweat and my arms looked like I had been fighting with my ninja kitten – blood, sweat, and tears! The good news is that Glenna has a swimming pool. So as the Junk Diva says, we went Chunky Dunking – that is where old fat ladies all dive in the pool to cool off. I did a cannonball into the pool – refreshing! Glenna’s nine-year old grandson was visiting and joined in all the fun – I think I am in love. He was just cute and fun and quite the gentleman. He let me take a picture of him for painting reference. After a wonderful lunch in Glenna’s beautiful kitchen, we spent the afternoon painting. The Painted Ladies finished their second group painting.

Here is the original photo, which we quartered and each painted a section.

Here is a photo of all our four paintings. It is fun to see how they all come together. Be sure and look at the individual paintings, because they are just too cool to miss.