New York Life Building - Kansas City

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”  –Booker T. Washington

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

New York Life Building – Kansas City – 3″ x 4″ Watercolor

This is another itty bitty painting.  It’s a crop of just a wee corner of a really big building.  I had fun with all the detail on this one.  It is a very ornate building!  I think I am done painting Kansas City ….for now.  I think I have 30 paintings to take to the show.  I think that is plenty. 

Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915, Educator. Booker Taliaferro Washington was the foremost black educator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also had a major influence on southern race relations and was the dominant figure in black public affairs from 1895 until his death in 1915. Born a slave on a small farm in the Virginia backcountry, he moved with his family after emancipation to work in the salt furnaces and coal mines of West Virginia. After a secondary education at Hampton Institute, he taught an upgraded school and experimented briefly with the study of law and the ministry, but a teaching position at Hampton decided his future career. In 1881 he founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute on the Hampton model in the Black Belt of Alabama.  More…

Gallery Wrapped Canvas Edges

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
– Booker T. Washington

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Gallery Wrapped Canvas Edges – A Sneak Peek

Well, I think it’s finished.  All I have to do now is sign it and varnish it.  I wanted to show you how I painted around the edges.  All four sides on all three panels are continued around the edges.  The gallery will sell them as individual paintings or all together, so each one needed to be a complete piece of art.  I am so excited to be done, but at the same time… I’m going to miss it.  This baby has been a big part of my life for over 3 weeks.  I guess that means it’s time to start another.  **giggle**

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.

Fresh Tulips

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
– Booker T. Washington

I love that quote. 




Fresh Tulips – 10″ x 10″ Watercolor

I used the biggest watercolor brush I dared to paint this.  I wanted to do loose and fresh, with very little attention to details.  (for me anyway)  I had a great time!  This is large for me and the size makes it even prettier in person.  The reference photo is from KreativeK at WetCanvas.  Fun!

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.

Hot Air Balloon

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Booker T. Washington

 

That is such a true statement!

 

 

Hot Air Balloon

6″ x 9″ Watercolor

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I painted this Saturday, from a reference by Pencilz over at WetCanvas.  I absolutely loved the experience!  I painted purely for the joy of it.  Fun!

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Yesterday was a good day.  My flight instructor finally liked one of my landings!   (My old brain is not taking to landings as well as I had hoped.)

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When I came back into the Muskogee airport office after my lesson, I was writing checks and not really paying attention to the people that just arrived in a beautiful little turbo prop plane.  Then I hear… “Beth?”.  I stood there face to face with an old girlfriend who had moved to Alabama!   She was only there because their flight got diverted due to clouds in McAlester.    What are the chances of that happening?  She looked great and her boyfriend was the cute pilot of that nice plane.  I took a lot of pleasure in seeing her so happy.  She’s had a rough couple of years.

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It just made my day!  It also reminded me of my own blessings.  It really is a good life! 

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About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.

Strawberries and First Flight Lesson

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
– Booker T. Washington

 
Strawberries
4″ x 4″ Watercolor

This was fun to do.  I painted the little seeds with yellow acrylic, before I painted the watercolor.  I just am not any good with masking fluid.  It’s too gummy.   I used a wax resist one time and didn’t do much better with it.  I like the control I have with acrylic and an itty bitty brush. 


What an experience I had last night! I definitely need to journal about this experience. If I could draw my first lesson, I’d draw a giant, complicated instrument panel and a 2″ female student pilot. I haven’t been in a plane since my intro flight on Dec. 9 and it was amazing how much stuff they pack in to that Cessna 172 that I am supposed to remember.   I aced my FAA written test, but I felt like my brain had gone blank when I looked at all of those dials, gauges, knobs and switches.

But beyond the sense of being overwhelmed by the cockpit instruments, the experience was so cool! My brain retained things about flight that made maneuvers and their corresponding reactions feel right, if that makes sense. I wasn’t even scared when my CFI stalled the plane, because I understood how to get out of it. Steep turns are a little spooky and I taxi like a drunk driver, but I’ll get the hang of those things. 


When I got back to my truck and started to leave the airport, I heard myself say, “I just flew an airplane.”  But nobody was there to hear me, so when I got to the WalMart checkout person, 30 minutes later and she said, “How are you?” I heard it again.  “I just flew an airplane.”

I just had to tell somebody!
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About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.