So I Started a THANG!

At the beginning of 2021…. seriously, on January 1st, I decided I wanted to choose something to do each day in 2021 that would bring me joy unspeakable and leave me full of glory. So at 5:30 p.m. I decided I was going to paint a watercolor picture EVERY BLINKIN DAY of the year. And I sat down and started. I mean, we all need some joy after 2020! It did my heart good just to know that I planned to chunk out some time each day to be creative. I love painting. I love bright colors. I love birds, and flowers, and the beach, and fruit, and trees, etc. And for accountability, I decided to post them on facebook every day… spread the joy around a bit.

As I was posting my first prickly pear cactus picture, I decided to name it after a song…. U Can’t Touch This….and now I am strapped with coming up with a song title or lyric for every painting. Sometimes that takes longer than actually painting the picture. Anyway, I continue the titles for my own personal enjoyment. Really, who doesn’t think a purple onion titled Big Girls Don’t Cry isn’t funny! LOL (See, for my own personal enjoyment!)

People asked if I have had painting classes. Yes, I have. In 1983 I took an oil painting class from my mother who taught oils. I still haven’t finished the painting from that class… and I learned that I’m too impatient to wait for oils to dry. In 1984 I took an airbrush class and enjoyed that medium for one semester. In 1987 I took a painting class but soon discovered that the teacher graded highly for abstract, messy, not-my-style-of-painting works of art. I got an A. I did not keep one single creation from that class. In 2001 I took two water color lessons from a local teacher in a friend’s home. Since that time, I have done multiple tutorials online. I would still like to take watercolor lessons…. especially from Steve Stento. Google him. Amazing!

After my first few paintings were put on display for my friends and friends of friends to appreciate, inquiries began regarding purchasing my art. That wasn’t my plan. It actually never entered my mind. I was simply creating joy and spreading the love. But as the paintings piled up…. 31 in the first month! I decided to sell them. What was I going to do with 365 paintings anyway?

So I have scanned them all so I could spread the love a little further than one original could go. If you want to see them all, go to my facebook page Linda Nikander Crosby and click on photos, then Linda’s Photos. They are all there. I have made a note on each painting if the original is sold, but prints are available.

Prices are as follows for originals:

U Can’t Touch This

• 2×3 with frames are $20
• 4×6 are $20
• 5×7 are $25
• 6×9 are $35
• 8×10 are $40
• 9×12 are $45

Prints are available of most of the paintings that are larger than 4×6. Prices are:

• 5×7 are $10
• 8×10 are $12

Shipping is $5 because if the Post Office can’t bend the envelope, they consider it a package. (Insert eyeroll) If you live in Phoenix, feel free to pick up!

Payment can be made through Paypal, venmo, zelle, or facebook messenger. laughwithlinda@gmail.com or 623-385-9692.

I Believe I Can Fly

Thank you, friends, family, new friends and friends of friends for your interest in my artwork. I pray that it brings you joy!

STOP! In the Name of the Law!

Tonight I was reminded of a story from my high school days which I gladly share at this time. It is a homeschool science lesson in the making, mixed with art and civics. Thank you for bringing this story to the forefront of today’s news, Connie, my partner in crime more than once in our late teen years.

It has escaped me where I obtained this gem of a fashion statement, but somehow I got my little 17-year-old hands on a pair of these stop sign sunglasses.

This is EXACTLY the pair that I chose to wear in high school. See how they have shatter-proof lenses? Safety first! See how it says for children 5 years or older. It should have said for children ages 5-15… let me explain.

The lenses on these beauties were green and they were quite dark, which aided my shielding of the bright California sunshine while donning them. One bright shiny day, I was cruising down El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, California (But not cruising at night on El Camino Real in Santa Clara….. that was naughty) minding my own business… wearing the above glasses… because I was fashion conscious. I’m sure I had on a red or white or royal blue Izod polo shirt with the collar turned up with a matching cherry red patent leather belt in the belt loops of my 501 Levi jeans. (Button fly! Rock on!)

Unusual, to be sure, the stoplights were out on El Camino that day! I was quite surprised that so many in a row were out… block after block. I approached each intersection with caution, stopped, looked both ways and proceeded with care.

Next thing I know there was an officer of the law flashing his blue lights at me in the rear view mirror. Odd. I had never seen them only flash blue. (Not that I had much experience being pulled over… ahem.) After pulling my car to the side of the road the nice police man came to chat with me. He asked why I was running all the red stop lights on El Camino. WHAT? “They were all out, officer! That is why I treated them like stop signs.”

Then I pulled off my awesome stop sign sunglasses and realized his patrol car WAS flashing red and blue… but I couldn’t see the red lights with the green lenses in my fashion eye wear. Figuring he would believe me as I made the discovery and explained it to him….. he simply stood there looking at me like I had used too much VO5 hairspray for too long in too small of a bathroom.

Finally, I handed him the glasses and offered, “See for yourself!” He did. He put them on, glanced around at his police car lights and the red street light in the next intersection, removed them and handed them back to me shaking his head.

The kind public servant did not give me multiple tickets for running multiple lights that day, but did instruct me to NEVER wear the stop sign sun glasses while driving! OKAY!

Here is the science lesson part of this story from physicsclassroom.com:

A pigment that absorbs a single frequency is known as a pure pigment.

Pigments absorb light. Pure pigments absorb a single frequency or color of light. The color of light absorbed by a pigment is merely the complementary color of that pigment.

And so, dear students, green lenses on fancy sunglasses shaped like stop signs absorb red traffic lights because green and red are complementary colors on the opposite sides of the color wheel. You cannot see red lights with these glasses on! Don’t try this at home!

Be safe! Don’t drive with green or red lenses! And there you have it, from the archives.

This is the Dawning of the Age of Real Homeschooling

History will be made this weekend, commencing Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m., when the talented and prepared teacher of our homeschool (me) will embark on a journey of real homeschooling.  The kind of homeschooling I have always dreamed of in my thoughtful homeschooling mom head. Living, breathing homeschooling that doesn’t involve a home at all.

Thinks outdoors.  Think BIG trees.  Think granola bars and foil packet dinners over the campfire.  Think long johns and wool mitts. Think thin nylon tent and freezing temperatures. Think long johns and wool mitts again.

YES!  It’s true.  I found another crazy homeschool mama who has also envisioned outdoor homeschooling for her 11 years of teaching her kids at home.  Thankfully we both have just enough brains now missing to undertake this task …. just the two of us…. with eight kids.  Don’t gasp.  At least 3 of those kids could probably survive in the wilderness unassisted.

And we’ve done bear training!  We’re good.  We all have safety kits in our backpacks including whistles, compasses, knives, waterproof matches, rain ponchos and little reflecting mirrors to signal the search helicopter if need be.   As is my spend-thrift nature, I was not going to spend hard earned dollars on those items which could be salvaged from the current supply of junk in the house.  Yes, my 16-year-old son’s mirror has fuzzy leopard fur on the back… and he’s okay with that.  My 14-year-old son’s mirror is the lid of a make-up compact… and I think he may still be adjusting to that idea as I type.

As mentioned previously, we are studying national parks…. seven parks to be exact… the flora and fauna of each… including botany and geology.  I am the art teacher… the other mama is the science nerd, thankfully!

So as the sun rises Sunday morning, please say a little prayer for us as we drive to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California.  It’s all good.

Adoption Art Auction

My mother is an amazing artist who paints in oils.  She has sold hundreds of paintings through the years.  She has donated two paintings to help raise some of our adoption funds.  They are up for auction for a week over at my adoption blog: www.BagsForZaza.wordpress.com   Please go take a gander and bid to help bring our darling Nora home.

Here is one of the paintings:

Thank you!