The first painting in my series to donate to Rescue Haiti’s Children is titled,
“I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me.”

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5″x7″ Watercolor painting by Breezy Brookshire

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I was left in the rubble, forgotten by the dead,
Amid the stench and smoke, I laid broken and unfed.

You knew not my kindred or family of birth,
But redeemed eyes saw that our Creator gave us worth.

He led you by my dying cries and rushed to set me free.
Though I was but a stranger, you loved and welcomed me.

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(detail)

I will be posting pictures of the paintings here on my blog as each one is created.  Once I have completed all six they will be available to buy individually in my Etsy shop. To buy on Etsy, you will need an Etsy account and a PayPal account, both of which are very easy to set up.

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For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
- Matthew 25:35-36 (ESV)

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” - C.S. Lewis

“Una and the Lion” from the Faeire Queene, by Briton Rivière, 1880

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” - G.K. Chesterton

The final painting, “Snow Birds.”

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“Evening Prayers” by Eugene Ernest Hillemacher

“. . . For every wife the first duty is the making and keeping of her home. Her first and best work should be done there, and till it is well done she has no right to go outside to take up other duties. She is to be a ‘worker at home.’ She must look upon her home as the one spot on earth for which she alone is responsible, and which she must cultivate well for God if she never does anything outside.

“. . . There have been wives who in their zeal for Christ’s work outside have neglected Christ’s work inside their own doors. . . . While they were winning a place in the hearts of the poor or the sick or the orphan, they were losing their rightful place in the hearts of their own household.

“Let it be remembered that Christ’s work in the home is the first that He gives to every wife, and that no amount of consecrated activities in other spheres will atone in this world or the next for the neglect or failure there.”

- from The Wife’s Part in The Family by J.R. Miller

“Is it heartless to be unconcerned about needs far away? We must not be unconcerned, but we must remember that we cannot fight every battle.”

- from Fathers, Daughters and “Mission Work” in So Much More by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin

“It is in her own home that this warmth of heart and this openness of hand are first to be shown. It is as a wife and mother that her gentleness performs its most sacred ministry.”

- from The Wife’s Part in The Family by J.R. Miller

(All emphasis mine)

“An Interior with a Woman Reading” by Carl Larsson

“Then there’s the joy of getting your desk clean, and knowing that all your letters are answered, and you can see the wood on it again.” - Lady Bird Johnson

One of my latest illustration studies was based on the book “The Apple Pie that Papa Baked”, illustrated by Jonathan Bean. In my version of the last picture, two boys and a girl, with a handful of farm animals to help, are harvesting baskets of apples.

Transferring sketch via vellum

Painting with acrylics - not used to them, but they turned out delightful to work with!

I’ve been busy creating pieces for my senior art exhibit.
The prints - as well as many others - will soon be in the Etsy shop!

{A Spring requiem ditty by yours truly}

Rain, rain, go away.
Come again another day.
The ground has drowned and soaked all through,
Just let the sun come out and play!

Rain, rain, disappear.
Come again another year.
Don’t you think your work is done?
Everything is bleak and drear!

Child, child, quiet please,
The grass is growing, and the weeds.
And if you’re patient, flowers, too,
And then the trees’ll be full of leaves!