Monday, July 21, 2008

Strawberry Scoop


A "city girl" I am not.
I grew up in the sticks, spent my college years living in a holler and now reside surrounded by cornfields and rolling hills. This would explain why most of my pieces have very rural settings.
The city has much to offer, though. I love the action and culture, the movement and dance of the city. And so I moved to a city landscape for this piece titled, "Strawberry Scoop."
This time, as per the advice of my husband, I put my poem on the outer border of the frame giving me a bit more room to illustrate.

A strawberry scoop fills me with bliss
There is nothing quite like it on days like this
When the sun is high and hot as can be
And the best spot to be is under a tree
My dog's happy too because he's out and about
And the last bite of my ice cream is his, no doubt

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Firefly Dance


The Firefly Dance

You should be so lucky, on a warm night at dusk
To see the fireflies perform, it is a Summer must
Twinkling, Blinking toward the moon
Dancing to a sweet, June tune

Well it's no secret where the inspiration for this piece came. Each night I am delighted with the appearance of millions of lightning bugs. They slowly come up from the grass just as night falls upon us. And, as it becomes pitch dark they rise to the tops of the trees making it look like Christmas in the Summer. I can't get enough of it.
It seems like there are so many more fireflies then I remember. As a kid it felt like a real challenge just to catch a few (or perhaps athletics just were never my thing) We would put them in jars covered with aluminum foil and poke holes in the top. Probably not the nicest thing to do, but it certainly kept my sister and I entertained on hot, July evenings.

It's nice to know I am still so easily entertained, although now I leave the jars for the recycle bin.