I'm back.......

My husband and I have had an extremely stressful week. We were called away for two emergency situations on the same day. First Grandmas Chickie, who is 97, fell outside her house watering her flowers and broke her hip. She had hip replacement surgery since she broke the ball in the socket and so far is doing very well. When I found out from her daughter that they were taking her to the hospital I called my father in law to inform him about his mother and couldn't get him all day. This immediately set the alarms off in my head and I started calling neighbors of his since he lives 4 hours away. He was found at his house, very sick, by a friend and took an ambulance ride to the hospital. It's very difficult to split yourself between two hospitals four hours apart all in the same day. So, we went to stay with his father at the Branson hospital while other family members stayed with grandma. He was diagnosed with Viral Meningitis and was in the hospital for 5 days. We returned last night and I've been busy filling orders and trying to get caught up. He's doing fine now but is very tired.

Before I left I had listed this 9 inch x 12 inch painting on eBay and it ends tomorrow night.

Andy and Jane are neighbors. The love it when the weather gets warm and they can stay out late to catch fireflies. Andy thinks that Jane is showing off just a bit with her one handed catch. She caught her first one before he even got his net in the air.

This is how the painting looks when I first start. I like my paint to be smooth so that when I shade, it looks very soft. It's easier to get a smooth finish by loading your brush correctly. Always load a flat brush from the edge of the puddle and press the brush down as you pull out from the paint. I usually dip just the corner of my brush into the water before loading it with paint. This thins the paint slightly and allows it to spread easier. If you put to much paint on your brush you will have lots of ridges and you want to avoid those as much as possible. Give it a try!