Hello Friends,

Yesterday I spontaneously decided to paint!  AND…this is not watercolor;  it is acrylics.  I have not used acrylics in a really long time!  They are more challenging and frustrating to me than watercolors.  AND…it is my first whale painting!  So why did I call it “Toy Box Whale”?

Well, there is a reason for my madness.  This piece of WOOD used to be the bottom of our son’s toy box.  It measures 28″ x 16″.   For years it was filled with all of his stuffed animals.  When he moved out last year,  the box and stuffed animals stayed where they were.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to pack up the animals along with other stuff in his closet.  Some things were packed, but some were sent to Goodwill.

I didn’t want to get rid of the toy box, though.  Years ago I stenciled and painted our son’s first and middle name, a teddy bear, and hearts when he was about two.  (That was before I began teaching myself to draw and paint.)  My husband suggested keeping that part, so when I took it apart, I decided to keep all the pieces.  So I disassembled it and kept everything except the lid.  A long time ago the lid broke and couldn’t be fixed.  Each piece is thin white plywood.  The side and back pieces are framed in a light wood.  I am trying to decide what other ocean creatures to paint on those pieces.  Perhaps a sea turtle and a jellyfish on the small ones and maybe an ocean scene on the longer piece.

The smaller pieces can be easily hung on a wall because of the cut out handles in the wood frame.  However, the whale piece will be trickier to hang, because it is just a flat piece without any wood framing.  So until I figure out how I’m going to hang it, the whale is sitting on our keyboard in the living room.  (I haven’t played it in a long time.)

Our son’s old room is painted a light blue, so I am thinking of repainting it the same color and then making the room into a sea creatures room.  It will most likely take me a long time since I am not done with my writing class yet, though.  I really hope to be done with it in a couple of months!  I had to ask for an extension on the due date of my story.  I added and subtracted text as I was editing it for what I hoped would be the last time, but…now I have to retype it.  I am probably going to finish it tomorrow.  Then I also have to write the cover letter for an editor as the other part of the assignment.  So after days of writing, I decided to paint for a change!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  We are having beautiful spring weather here.  We had a pretty good rain a couple of days ago.  It is sunny but cool.

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug.  🙂