9th Day On The Wall

It's Tuesday and a great day on the wall.  I left home with Grandma and we went into Gypsy's to drop off a copy of the book "Living Waters" By Ben Casey.  Several regulars were there and they all jumped at the chance to look at the beautiful photographs Mr. Casey has in his book of Trent River.  I can keep that copy until the end of the mural, then I plan to purchase one for the Beautification Committee and of course one for my family.  I suggest all Trentonians check out this book and get one for themselves, a great pictorial of the river that runs through Jones County!

Got to paint on the wall about 9:15, and Nelson West stopped by, the son in law of  Dude Andrews.  He was checking out the progress and talked with us.  He is a member of our church and had wonderful things to say about the mural and the progress.  He will be painting with me one day so he can leave his legacy on the wall also.   Nelson helped me with the big ladder.  Stewart loaned me a 14 footer.  This ladder almost gets me to the top.  I only use the sliding ladder when Tony is available because I get so scared up at the top, I am so afraid of heights.  Not a good thing for a muralist, ha ha!

Today I worked on the forest again, which will be a large part of what I will pursue for the next two weeks.  Then comes the writing on the wall "Trent River, Trenton, NC".  Grandma and I will begin making the stencils in a special font requested by Willow Faye Stroud.  It is a signature font for her and it reminds me of a Willow Tree.....thus her name sake.  I like this about people, they sometimes compare themselves to trees or animals and most times they are spot on.  I think I am a Butterfly, or some might say "ADHD", it is hard to focus sometimes, but when I am painting I am focused and into the paint and the structure I am painting on whether it be canvas, hardboard or concrete walls.  I love painting with oil, because it is so forgiving and changeable.  The acrylic medium,which I am using on the wall, is a fast drying very stable paint and most unforgiving.  But that is where layers upon layers make it feel like its oil.  I can see the green at the bottom (my first layer of paint) and I can dab brown, yellow and white, and the wall begins to respond like getting a new dress at Easter.  The wall just wants to work with the paint then walla the wall becomes the river bank, with a glowing forest and little animals everywhere.  It isn't there yet, but it is on its way.  In 2-3 weeks, I believe we will be finished.  I hope you keep looking daily, it will be hard in a few days to see what has changed on the wall, because the forest is growing daily!

Today lots of people stopped by, Nelson, Glen, Sam, Brown, Russell, Wallace, Rabbit, and Jean and two unnamed people came by.  Nelson, as I said is Dude's son in law and a friend from church, Glen is part of Trenton too.  He owns a security system company and has installed one for us, which we love.  He is also a singer songwriter and has written songs about trash and his lovely wife, Linda.  Sam came by and he is a caterer in Trenton, Dixon Catering.  He talked for a long time and said something that impressed me.  He caters to lots of business, but he also caters to the elderly, and charges them what they can afford.  He provides good meals, delivers and has a smile straight from God.  I enjoyed talking with him today.  Brown from Cove City, dropped by to admire the mural which was sweet. Jean and Rabbit McCoy, also from Cove City,stopped by after seeing their lawyer, and were just a delight to talk with.  They talked about Ashton, their 6 year old great grandson, and what a joy in their life he is.  His mom died two years ago and Jean talked about that for a moment.  I had a shirt on that read "Jesus loves you, but I'm his favorite", and she said "So am I"......so who am I to question the infinity of God, He knows how many hairs are on each head so I guess he could have approximate 6 billion favorites! You go God!

So around 1:45 we left and went to Gypsy's for a cool drink and ended up eating chili, Grandma and I shared a bowl.  We are watching our figures.....smile!  I brought my book "Unmerited Favor" by Joseph Prince and I read the first chapter to someone today, it was enlightening again.  A book I would recommend to everyone.

When we left we drove slowly by the wall, and Grandma and I loved the expanding forest, it really looks like you can walk behind Dude. There were also  reflections in the river today, the three trees and the beginnings of Dude's feet.  I can't wait until Thursday to start working on the movement of the water and more forest.  So today I got lost in the brushes, colors and the possibilities happening on the wall that will make it more attractive to the people who pass by.....it is your wall, I am just getting the pleasure of painting on it. 

Thanks for the prayers today, thank you Carol Ann, Willow, Stewart, Grandma and Tony, it was a safe ladder day, and a great painting day.....God was present and good again today. Thanks k

PS: There will be new pictures tomorrow!