February 2012 – Skelton Sketches

Walkin’ in the Rain

Posted on February 25, 2012 by lindaskelton

There have got to be some perks for going walking in the rain…

… and so there are ( :

Fungus looks especially lovely on a dim wet day…

…as does this old giant draped in green…

But home again, home again, is my favorite place to be… and look who came to visit so she could be featured here in her snazzy polka-dot ‘get up’!

A small speckled visitor
Wearing a crimson cape.
Brighter than a cherry
Smaller than a grape.

A polka-dotted someone
Walking on my wall.
A black-hooded lady
In a scarlet shawl.
© Joan Walsh Anglund

What an incredible bit of workmanship, don’t you think?!
Wishing you little bright spots for your week too!

–LS

Up and Over the Mountain…

Posted on February 17, 2012April 27, 2017 by lindaskelton

There’s nothing quite so refreshing and reorienting as a brisk clamber on a bright day–so up and over our little ‘mountain’ I went, all by my lonesome, yet not.

Glad for the sunshine and all the things it brings to light…

“For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” Ps.95:3-6

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.” Ps.19:1 NLT

…no time to dawdle at the top; the sun was sinking fast…

…so I scampered on down with the setting sun, all tuckered out, and yet refreshed.

Considering God’s glory has a way of doing that.

–LS

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Hab.2:14

Some of my favorite things…

Posted on February 11, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

OK I must confess I made a big mistake this week and it’s costing me dearly today. The day for picture-taking came and I was without my camera. I drove into town early in the week expecting nothing special. Our neighborhood was bright and clear but as I descended to town I found a foggy morning of rare beauty. Shafts of brilliant sunlight cut through the towering firs slicing great swathes in the silvery fog… the ocean lay blanketed in down while the fog rose to mingle with the morning light…Fog floated in sun-dappled patches as I drove through this incredible photo-scape camera-less. Sigh. And the chance was lost.

But I did find some unexpected beauty of another sort—at the library. Now another confession, I love kids’ picture books. And even though I now have noone to bring them home for theoretically, I still graze in the children’s book room at the Public Library—looking for treasures. It’s the pictures I like best, and when they’re wedded with a perfect story line (which is indeed a rare thing) that’s a great treasure. Well this day was my day! There was a beauty just sitting there with the common stock. Watercolor illustrations (or anything resembling the lucid brilliance of this medium) always draw my eye. And there it was:

Splendid! For some free advertising (and I hope I’m not infringing on any copyright laws) this beautiful book, A Butterfly is Patient is written by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by SYLVIA LONG… I actually skipped the reading of the butterfly’s lifecycle to devour the intricate details, the sketches and labeling

of such an array of butterflies…Delicious!

And I had to know, has Sylvia Long illustrated other books in this place? My search turned up two more gems:

Waddle,Waddle, Quack,Quack by Barbara Anne Skalak
Illustrated once again by Sylvia Long

If you know anything of Skelton family history, you know we have a special fondness for ducks, ever since raising our own downy ducklings in the long ago Arizona days…

This book is priceless both for the charming pictures and the dilly of a rhyming high action storyline!

How could anyone not love it?!

Furthermore, it was the inspiration I needed to pull out my watercolors when I got home and play at imitation! Too fun!

The other treasure had this curious title:

An Egg is Quiet
also by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

So I saved this one to enjoy over a late lunch, in my cozy car, parked down at a roadside beach looking out over the foggy ocean… While I forked up great warm mouthfuls of the ultimate comfort food– chicken pot pie, I leafed through its pages, featuring every sort of egg you could imagine, all in scintillating water-colored detail and labeled in tiny, tidy handwriting…

But even here there is a little ‘storyline’ interspersed…

The first page…

The next to last page…(just case you’ve forgotten that quiet egg…)

And the irresistibly cute last page…

I love picture books!

(and flowers!)

–LS

(and water-colored beauty)