My Pink House

“Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways it can change someone else’s life forever.”
– Margaret Cho

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

My Pink House

This is a little corner of my house.  There is a cliff on the east side and a lake on the west side so it’s hard to photograph.  I took this photo standing on the cliff.  I’ll try to do another one, showing more of the house.

I finally have my computer back.  I do not have my vinyl cutter back.  I have an old plotter and may have to upgrade.  So the sign shop is still in a holding pattern… as it has been for two weeks.  It feels good to at least be able to get orders in the system and do the design work.  I can’t wait until this is all resolved and I’m functioning at 100% again. 

About Margaret Cho

 

Margaret Cho, the outspoken Korean-American comedian and actor, made television history as the first Asian-American with her own TV series, All American Girl. She was born in 1968 in San Francisco and has mined her life for extremely successful one-woman shows, including I’m the One That I Want and Notorious C.H.O., both of which spawned albums, movie versions, and books. When not touring with her comedy, Cho works now in Hollywood as both an actress and a director.

Play It Forward Bookmark for Dorcille – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“The self is a calm stable center surrounded by a continuous changing sea. Merge with yourself and be ready for any emergent sea.“
–Coretta Scott King

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Dorcille – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

Learn more about the “Play it Forward” game on my post here.  Dorcille and her husband own Belle Starr Marina, here on Lake Eufaula.   That’s where the fish comes from.    Dorcille misunderstood the post and is not able to play it forward, but she has been my friend for 20 years and I’m sending the bookmark anyway.  (Even though she tried to refuse it.)

I found out this morning that J.E. Lattimer over at Fictional Machines blog has nominated me for Blog of the Year Award!!  What an honor! 

Coretta Scott King – Pioneer of Civil Rights 

April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006 – Coretta Scott was born in Heiberger, Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents, Bernice and Obadiah Scott, in Perry County, Alabama. She was exposed at an early age to the injustices of life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the white students rode buses to an all-white school closer by. Young Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School. She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  More here.

Bookmark 1 - Doo-wap Doodling

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”
– Morris West

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bookmark 1 – Watercolor, Inktense & Sharpie

I finished the bookmarks this morning.  They were really fun to do.  I like the little “stitching” that makes them pop a little more.  I’m going to post them one at a time, because work is so busy that I may not get many little paintings done to post through next week.  Memorial Day weekend is the official start to summer on Lake Eufaula.  Everybody is sprucing up their businesses and their boats before all the tourists get here.  I’m the sprucer.  he he

The 6th Annual Lake Eufaula Sailboat Bucket Run is this coming weekend.  (They are wisely skipping the Memorial Day weekend craziness.)

Tucker-Downing Agency of Wilburton had the following on their blog about the Bucket Run:

“The Bucket Run is a unique sail boat race for inland waters. It’s a point to point race and not your run of the mill “round the buoys” race. The course is 14 miles in each direction and it is not without some very real challenges. The race begins along the beaches and outside the entrance to Eufaula Cove Marine. It heads mostly east and enters “The Narrows”. A part of the lake where Oklahoma’s gentle giant, and one of the largest man made lakes in the world, narrows down to only about a quarter mile wide as the surrounding hills push the entire flow of the rivers feedling the lake into a narrow pass between the hills.

It’s here that the Bucket Run has been won or lost every year since the beginning. Despite the challenges of The Narrows most competitors will still have a huge smile on their face as they cross the finish line each day.”This race is a committment!” was the only comment heard from a certain entrant the first year he was in the Bucket Run. That sailor didn’t let that stop him and he’s been seen around the Bucket Run more than once. In fact, once most sailors complete the entire two days they are hooked and always return. From catamarans to club racers, from brand new to 100 year old designs, the Lake Eufaula Sail Boat Bucket Run is a sailboat race for every kind of sailboat. But, when the final boat crosses the finish line on Sunday the only thing you can be absolutely certain of is that you’ve made some new friends, re-established old friendships and will have lots of stories to tell until next year.”

Come on down to the lake and enjoy the graceful beauty of all those sailboats. It is truly an amazing sight! For more information downingc@swbell.net or (918) 855-1316

About Morris West

Morris West, the popular Australian writer best known for religious thrillers including The Shoes of the Fisherman and The Devil’s Advocate, spent 12 years in a Christian Brothers monastery but left before taking his final vows. He was born in Melbourne in 1916. He wrote his first book while serving in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he held such varied jobs as a radio soap-opera writer and Vatican correspondent for London’s Daily Mail. He died in 1999.

Versace Home in Pink

“The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of my life. ‘Why,’ I answered without a thought, ‘now.’”
– David Grayson

I agree, with a resounding NOW!!!  -  I love this time of my life!
--Beth
 

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Versace Home in Pink – 5.5″ x 8.5″ Watercolor & Sharpie


Helen at WetCanvas posted a photo of the Versace home on WetCanvas for us to paint from.  Yes… of course it is white.  What’s the fun in that?  At my house, we are having our pink stucco freshened up this week.  Wanna see?

Beth & Duane's Pink House on Lake Eufaula

So… now does it make more sence that I turned Versace’s home pink?  We had leftover stucco.  he he
Note… I can’t give you any biographical info today on David Grayson.  There are too many of them on the internet.  I don’t know which one said this.  I got it from one of my favorite books in the whole world… Wrinkles Don’t Hurt – Daily Meditations on the Joy if Aging – by the wonderful author, Ruth Fishel.  She also wrote A Time for Joy, another of my favorites.

Marabou Stork

“True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”
– William Penn



Marabou Stork – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

“I’m Mary Lou, the Marabou Stork.  The thing I like best about spring is all the pretty leaves.  I kinda blend in when I go like this.”

This ATC went to Mary in Davidson, MI.

We finally have a pretty good chance of getting some rain today.  The lake is looking pretty low.  The Corps of Engineers is reporting it as only 3.23 ft below normal, but it seems much lower.    In just over a month, we’ll have our first big tourist holiday of the year.  We could sure use some rain to help make the lake safer for everyone who comes to Eufaula to play.    Besides, if I can’t fly, I at least would love some rain. 

I saw this video on Good Morning America, of a baby laughing hysterically at a dog popping bubbles.  It’ll make you smile, big time. 

About William Penn

William Penn is remembered as the founder of Pennsylvania; the democratic government he set up became the model for the United States Constitution. He was born in 1644 in England. After he was arrested several times for preaching Quaker ideals, he decided to found a settlement in America. He drew up the “Great Treaty” with the Delaware Indians to ensure they were paid fairly for their land and toured Europe marketing the new colony. He died in 1718.

Calla Lily

“What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Persevere.”
– Ovid



Calla Lily

I remember this one!  The challenge was to paint from life… no photo.  I am not experienced in this at all.  I’ve tried to do it since then and I really do like it, but I paint mostly from photos.  When I get some time under my belt in an airplane, I want to fly to Indiana and plein air paint with Leslie White. 

Sunday, I flew by myself from McAlester to Eufaula (where I circled around the airport, but did not land) then on to Muskogee and back to McAlester.  I found every airport easily and had a great time.   Two hours of pure joy!  I even took some photos and am going to upload them to Facebook.  All the water (if you go by to look) is Lake Eufaula.  It stretches into 5 counties, although I only covered 3 counties in my flight.    Wheeeee!

About Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso, the Roman poet known as Ovid, best known for the epic Metamorphoses, is considered one of the greatest poets of Latin literature. He was born in 43 B.C. in what is now Italy. He rose quickly in Roman government and was on track to become a senator when he chose to devote himself to poetry instead. His tale of Pyramus and Thisbe is the source for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Emperor Augustus exiled Ovid from Rome for unknown reasons in 8 A.D.; he died in exile in 17 A.D.

Little Pink House

“We strain to renew our capacity for wonder, to shock ourselves into astonishment once again.”
– Shana Alexander

 

Little Pink House
8″ x 4″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

This is painted from a WetCanvas WDE reference photo by Valri Ary.  It’s in Barbados and Valri and I went there together in September of 2008.    It was so wonderful and it’s hard to believe it’s already been two years ago.

I also live in a pink house.  (It was my husband’s idea.  hehehe)  It sits on a hill overlooking Lake Eufaula and has  become a landmark from the water.  “Go the the pink house and turn left to go to the dam or turn right to go to No. 9 Marina.”  Last weekend, someone told us they have been calling it the Mary Kay house.  We’ve been in it for 5 years and that’s the first time we have heard that one! 


Here are some other views of this little painting.

About Shan a Alexander

Shana Alexander, the pioneering American journalist who was the first female staff writer at Life magazine, was best known for her combative “Point-Counterpoint” segments with conservative James Kilpatrick on 60 Minutes, which became fodder for a long-running Saturday Night Live spoof. She was born in 1925 in New York City. Her first assignment as a journalist was to interview the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. She wrote several nonfiction books, mostly true crime accounts. She died in 2005.

Mushroom Field

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Mushroom Field
9″ x 6″ Mixed Media on Yes!

I painted these little mushrooms on Yes! Primed Cotton.  I remember Yes! being more absorbent, but I have had this pad for quite a while and it was not accepting my watercolor very well.   Since I was unable to get the affect I wanted, I outlined it in Sharpie and then splashed some acrylic on it.  It ended up being fun to do.  This is the first of three paintings I did from this same reference.

Okay, now I want to show you what it looked like on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma on Saturday evening.  The weather was perfect and I believe we had record crowds for the Memorial Day weekend.  This is just one little part of the lake, but there was a Cross Canadian Ragweed concert about to start at the outdoor amphitheater next to the marina.    These folks saved between $25 and $75 a head.    I took this picture from our boat (as we were heading in to the dock, to put it away and go home).   We just aren’t tough enough to hang with the twenty-something crowd.   

About Friedrich Nietzsche

Controversial German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is best known for his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Born in 1844 near Leipzig, he renounced Prussian citizenship in 1869, remaining stateless the rest of his life. In his work, he argued against the concept of an omnipotent deity, believing in a “will to power,” a drive toward creativity that could explain everything from natural phenomena to human behavior. He suffered from insanity, possibly syphilis-induced, for his last ten years. He died in 1900.

Before the Tourists

“You have to take it as it happens, but you should make it happen the way you want to take it.”
– Old German Proverb

  

Before the Tourists
9″ x 12″ Watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. coldpress

As you know,  this is a huge painting for me!  The references had a bizzilion beach chairs and a fence.  I decided to see what it looked like before the tourists came.  He he he

Speaking of tourists… this weekend is our annual Bucket Run on Lake Eufaula.  The sailboats come to play!  I hope to be out there somewhere with my camera.  There is just something about sailboats!  I’m sure it’s a lot more work than they make it seem.  It’s so calming to watch them floating on the lake, like they don’t have a care in the world.

The festivities begin Friday night May 21st with registration starting at 8 pm and continuing until? They’ll have live music by Bluefish, a wine tasting hosted by Sailing Horse Winery and lots of sailboats. The race for the bucket kicks off at 10 am on Saturday the 22nd. Saturday night they’ll feed pizza and wings to all the crews at Evergreen Marina .On Sunday the 23rd the line opens once again at 10 am for the run back to Eufaula Cove. Awards will be handed out at 4 pm at Gators!  For more info click here.

German proverbs represent one of the finest cultures in Europe. They have a very practical approach and the humor present in some of them gives them a bit of a sweeter taste so to speak. However the sharp realism in some of them is pretty blunt and will not pet anyone, embodying somehow the German direct way of speaking. Nonetheless the German proverbs will pitch your thinking and make you consider some new views.

As an old German proverb says “A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs”; when it comes to Germany there is plenty to say. Given to the fact that over 40 million Americans are of German ancestry, it is obvious how due to their emigration in the United States of America their words of wisdom inheritance was translated into English, therefore, some of these proverbs may seem familiar.

Spoken directly or with humor, the German proverbs are a great source of thought provoking ideas; see more in the article here.

Main Street Gallery - June 3, 2009

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses."

– Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

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Tomorrow is the opening of our new Main Street Gallery. It's the first show at the gallery and my first show, outside of cyber-space. I'm nervous and excited. So far, I think there are about a dozen of us showing. I have 12 paintings there. The largest being two 16" x 20" paintings. Most of mine are 8" x 10" or smaller.

All the paintings are done by local artists who are a member of our art's council and all of the paintings are "Lake Eufaula" themed. I was over there last night, helping to hang some of the work. We have a musician who will be playing and if the weather is good, the whole event will be spilling out onto our quaint little Main street. It could be really wonderful. I'll let you know how it goes.

La La Landscape - May 11, 2009

"Don't carry a grudge. While you're carrying a grudge, the other guy's out dancing."

– Buddy Hackett

9" x 12" Acrylic - "La La Landscape" photo reference by Jeanne Grant

I really enjoyed painting this one. I rarely work in Acrylics, but I am planning a Lake Eufaula series, for a Eufaula Area Arts Council show at the Main Street Gallery. It's a members only show and I think a series like this will be a fun one to do.