Another Bridge

Last week was exceptionally busy for a person of leisure like myself. On Tuesday I had my second art class with the little girls - nine of them and two were absent! I asked if they wanted to split into two groups - two different days, but they all like being together. That is okay with me. It is a large class that will keep me hopping, but I think they will be pretty good art students. Several have had some art with me before, so I may set them together to give them separate assignments. It is a fun group.

 On Wed and Thursday, I gave the ITBS test to a couple of home schooled boys. Because I am a certified teacher, I can order and give the test. It is good for the homeschoolers to take the test. It gives the parents an idea of the strengths and weakness of their kids and it is good practice for the kids in taking other tests like ACT and SAT's. The boys who took the test with me last week are great kids.

When I finished with the art class and the tests, I cleared my art table of school stuff and got out my pastels. I have several ideas for paintings starting with the bridge I painted a week ago. This little bridge is on the river in Red River - about the middle of town. When I was a kid, there were few bridges except for the far ends of town or on private land. Of course we kids were all up and down the river playing - inner-tubing, wading, fishing, etc - it was our playground. I've seen the river swell the banks after a year of heavy snowfall and be over my head in places. Most of the time it is knee to thigh deep. Sometimes it is strong enough to knock you off your feet. I have great memories of times playing on the river, and a scar on my leg where I fell on a board with a nail in it. I couldn't tell my mom, because I was not suppose to be in the river that day.

Back to the painting and the bridge: the bridge crosses the river from the beautiful sidewalk/park side over to the mountain side where there is a walking trail. Actually there are trails all over the mountain - where I played as a kid. I used to know those trails well and built many a fort...I'm getting off again. The river and the mountain bring such great memories. The bridge is beautiful and convenient. Deer come down the mountain and cross on the bridge and walk right into the middle of Red River.

When Jesse came home this weekend and saw my watercolor and my pastel of the bridge, she said that it brought great memories from her childhood too. Summer before last when Bo and the kids were in RR with us, Bo said that his childhood in RR was really special and very unique. It was for me too. He had a great time showing his girls his playground. The bridge was one of the places we took the girls.

Speaking of Bo and the grandkids, they all came over for Sunday lunch. The girls are getting so big. GBN1 is in my art class!  Now with the boys, things were hopping here. It was tough for me and Toby to keep up with both boys. They were into everything and everywhere. Am I getting slower?

Here is the pastel. You can compare it to the watercolor of last week. The color of the photo here is not like the painting exactly. I am also going to redo the blue sky in the upper left corner. I'll take another photo after I make that change. Maybe it will work out better. 

Here is the photo I used as a reference. It was taken by the Red River Miner.

 Here is Toby and Jesse's projectA firebox with different designs on each side. This is the Zia side.