My Snorkelling Rhino

It is not easy to be the best. You must have the courage to bear pain, disappointment, and heartbreak. You must learn how to face danger and understand fear, yet not be afraid. You establish your goal, and no matter what deters you along the way, in your every waking moment you must say to yourself, “I can do it.”
— Betty Skelton

What a great attitude!



My Snorkelling Rhino – 5″ x 8″ Watercolor

Just when you thought you couldn’t be surprised…. you came to this silly painting.  I painted this from Lisilk’s WetCanvas images.  Her challenge was to add something into your painting that is a little out of place.  Do you think I achieved it? 

I painted this two weekends ago and I didn’t have much time, so the background was slapped in (in a hurry)  with watercolor pencils.  So pretend it’s smoother.  he he

Betty Skelton

Betty Skelton was the U.S. Feminine Aerobatic Champion in 1948, 1949, and 1950. As a young girl in Pensacola, Florida, Skelton first soloed in a Taylorcraft at the tender age of 12 and then again officially at age 16. Betty wanted a career in aviation and started with a clerical position at Eastern Airlines.

At 17, she had the necessary flight hours but was too young to join the Women Air Service Pilots (WASP) and it was disbanded shortly before she reached the required age of 18 and 1/2.

She received her commercial rating at 18, her flight instructor rating at 19, joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), and began instructing at the Pete O’ Knight Airport in Tampa. She first started aerobatic flying in a Fairchild PT-19 when a Tampa airport manager suggested she learn a loop and a roll for the local amateur airshow.

She bought her own aircraft, a 1929 Great Lakes 2T1A biplane and began her profession career in 1946 at the Southeastern Air Exposition in Jacksonville, Florida, along with a new US Navy exhibition team, the Blue Angels.

More…

Radiant Rhino

“Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.”
– Ruth Gordon

 

Radiant Rhino
5″ x 7″ Golden Fluid Acrylic on Ampersand Clay Board

This was so fun!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happy rhino before. 

We had some drama at our house last night.  There was a very young spotted fawn in our font yard.  He was just standing there, on the hill near the edge of the woods.  He was all by himself and just standing there.  We were really worried about him.  Where was his mom?  There was another doe and an older fawn over near the driveway, but he didn’t go to them and they didn’t seem to care that he was standing there all alone.

I think a full hour passed.  We were beginning to worry about nightfall and bobcats.  He even laid down for a bit, then stood in the same spot again.  We couldn’t imagine why his mother would leave him all alone.  (We were watching all of this from inside the house so we wouldn’t scare him.)  It was as if before she left, she told him to not move from that spot.

Then, after what seemed like forever, a doe appeared.  She stood quite a ways from him.  Then he saw her and recognized her and took off like a shot!  He ran to her and dove under her legs, wiggling all over and wagging his little tail like crazy.  He nursed frantically, wagging that tail the whole time, until she got tired of him and moved away.  He was so happy!!  I have never witnessed anything like that in my whole life.  I just had to share! 


Here’s the base coat of the rhino.  (yes, Carol…. you should try it)

About Ruth Gordon

American actress Ruth Gordon is best known for her roles in Harold and Maude and Rosemary’s Baby. She was born in Massachusetts in 1896. At age 19, she moved to New York to pursue acting; she performed in plays for the next 20 years. She and her first husband, Garson Kanin, wrote five film scripts for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, including Adam’s Rib, which was based on the writers’ own marriage. She died in 1985.