A Little Bit of Art

I don't have anything quilty that's new today. My Bernina is still in the shop, and our upstairs air conditioner decided to quit a couple days ago. No AC in the south means you don't want to be working on the second or third floor, especially with hot quilt battings. So, I have been completing assignments for an online class to renew my teaching license. I only have one lesson left in the current course on North Carolina Geography. The last lesson was about folkways, and I was able to work in a little bit about our local quilting guild and the changes in the quilting world.

I thought you might like to see a couple more small pieces of art sent to me by my favorite artist: my father, Pete Turner. Although retired, he still has a studio in his spare room, and often completes small paintings to send as greeting cards or post cards. Here is an original art birthday card he made for me this year.

While Mom and I were still in the hospital after my birth, the US-Korean War began on June 25, 1950. (Yes, you used to be allowed to stay in the hospital for a few days after giving birth!) My father was afraid that they would stop producing cars again like they did during World War II, and bought this cute little car which was big enough for his family with a new baby and a toddler. Back in those days, there not only were no baby carriers or car seats, there were not even any seat belts. My father took out the back seat and built a little plywood platform where they could lay the babies down and allow a little play room.

Here is another little story about this car, if memory serves correctly. In later years my father had it painted British racing car green. By then we had moved from New York city to the suburbs, and there was at least one more little one in the family. My brother Tim somehow rolled something heavy like a wheelbarrow down the side yard and directly into the freshly painted Studebaker that was parked in the driveway. OOPS!

Here is another card from Dad. I think this one is a color copy of the original art. The hand-written caption says "I saw her first!"

One of my favorite activities is drawing, coloring, or painting with my little grandchildren. I keep a small sketchbook and colored pencils in my purse when we go out to eat, and often entertain the kids with little drawings and let them color. I sometimes go over their colored scribblings and turn them into little pictures, which I scan, print, and use for gift tags or cards. Here are a few that I used to make a card to send with my niece's baby quilt. You can see the Lily-tracks in some of the pictures!