Illustration by Arnold Lobel

On Wednesday I found out the results for the IAHE art contest. Well, my tiny Beatrix Potter painting received an honorable mention, but my portfolio won grand champion, which consisted of:

• The original water color painting for the Girlhood Home Companion’s spring issue illustration
• A colored pencil-embellished calligraphy
• A “portrait” of an onion in graphite pencil
• And, a pen and ink illustration currently called “The Tree House”. I’m not too inventive when it comes to titles, but you can pretty much guess what’s in the drawing.

I only have pictures of the first and last pieces on the list, so you’ll have to wait for all pictures until after the convention in two weeks! Soli Deo Gloria!

We’ve been lead to believe that America “has arrived”, that the cycles of History no longer apply now that we’re autonomous and don’t have to answer to laws of economics, absolute truth, or even honesty. But because of our irresponsibility and lack of moral courage, our country may soon find itself in troubled times.

Like every other age, it will be a time for trusting God. And I have a great hope that as families and communities rely on God and each other, He will bless our godly men as they lead and protect them. One of the best things we can be doing as women is supporting our men as leaders of the families. Daily pray that God will give them wisdom and discernment as they seek to follow God’s law.

The sacrifices we’ll have to make will not be easy. But through thrift and devotion to God in the homes, families have the strength to thrive. As Abigail Adams said, “These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.”

Little signs of spring are all around - the bright green moss, the dried remnants of last year’s flowers making way for new ones…

What a simple yet satisfying felicity to bring a bit of wild nature to the table. After months of winter, a sweet zephyr blew in on a drizzly evening, offering a lovely stroll by our Granny’s lake. I collected some fresh moss, rocks, and tiny budding plants into a bowl.

Momma keeps catching me spritzing my moss to keep it alive. I can hardly help it - it’s so beautiful!

Okay, it’s been long enough - I’ll show you what I’ve been working on! The Indiana Homeschool convention (IAHE) has an annual art and essay contest, and this was my last year to enter. Like last year, I made a portfolio of four pieces in four different mediums (or media, if you want to be Latin-correct). I also made a “Copy the Masters” piece, and chose Beatrix Potter.

This painting was copied from the very last page of “The Tale of Benjamin Bunny”. Started out in pen and ink. (By copy, I mean looked at and redrawn - not photocopied or traced.)

The enamelware basin in the lower left is just too sweet! (We’re big enamelware fans.) I used my travel-sized watercolor palette to keep from using too many colors. Otherwise I could have been carried away!

Aww, just look at Flopsy and Mopsy all curled up on their momma’s lap.

Cottontail and Peter fold the handkerchief, which likely smells of onions to this day.

And, the finishing touches! The 4″x5″ painting was matted in off-white and, might I add, looked quite smart. ;–)