The Tony Couch Watercolor Workshop

     OCTOBER 4-7, 

In June I signed up for a 4 day watercolor workshop in Birmingham, Alabama with one of the worlds premiere watercolor artist, Tony Couch.

Mr. Couch is 91 years young and his workshop was not just educational but a lot of fun!

Each morning her would start a painting teaching us his technique and many, many tricks of the trade. He would nearly complete his painting by lunchtime.  

He would let us get up close to watch and would entertain us with stories from his past and adventures in the art world. I have one of his books and he signed it for me.

Here you can enjoy some of his works of art.

After lunch each day the class would then paint their own piece which would be critiqued by Tony at the end of the day.

The cost for the workshop was $550.00 and was worth every penny. I would really like to do it again in the near future. On the second day Tony's painting was a lovely street scene.

I am happy to say that I am the proud owner of this beautiful watercolor painting! I actually bought two of his paintings!

On the third evening after the workshop, several of us went to the artists mill to see one of our new friend's Studio. It was an old factory with hundreds of studios and shops, and it was quite fun.

Thank you Tony for all you taught me!

Tony's Palette. Eleven colors is all he needs to create such beautiful artwork.

Looking forward to doing this again!

Now to go home and apply all that I learned.

Hurricane Relief and Becky's Garden

 September 25, 2021

Back on September 3rd, Louisiana and Mississippi were hit by Hurricane Ida. On this Saturday the sister Missionaries came over and we drove to Hammond, LA, to work Hurricane clean-up. We worked 3 short clean up jobs before going to a double wide trailer that had sat for  3 weeks with 2ft. of water inside. 

The water reached as high as the railing board on the back porch.

The muddy water covered these bicycles.

And was 2ft. high on the walls and couch of this home.

When we were cleaning up the carpets were still soaked and soggy.

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Becky's garden survived the high winds we had here from Hurricane Ida. It is truly an oasis in the middle of town.

It is always a pleasure to visit Becky and spend time in her lovely yard.

The Big African Hunt

 September 10 - 23, 2021

I mentioned in my first September blog that Jesse and Kelly were going on a hunting Safari to South Africa. They had a wonderful time and were able to bag several beautiful animals. These animals were all raised on game reserves and all the meat is processed locally and stays in the local economy. The Hides and heads were sent to Idaho on a boat.

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Kelly got the first kill with this huge Wildebeest. You can see their hunting guide in the corner taking toe photo from a prone position to get the best angle for the picture.

Then Jesse shot this Gemsbok.

Kelly also shot this Kudu,

Their friend Kenny Shot a Zebra..

Jesse and her Impala..

and this is Kelly's Impala.

And here is Kelly with his Blesbuck - 

Jesse's got this beautiful Sable at the end of the hunt.

The last antelope she shot was this little Steenbok. 

It was a very successful Safari!

The flights to and from South Africa took two days, so they were pretty tired when they got in on the 23rd.  We didn't have much time to visit as I left the next morning for Utah for a couple days and then home to my dear Darryl and Mississippi.

Our Utah Birthday Trip!

 Friday September 17, 2021

Tyree, Clancy and I left right after school and drove to Salt Lake to spend time with our Utah Family. First Stop - The Loveland Aquarium in Draper, Utah

And look who came to join us! The Lowry girls!

Gotta love how beautiful and free moving the Jelly Fish seem to be.

My deep sea explorers.

"Dying" to see what's in the Megalodon's mouth.

Skye wasn't feeling well, so she took Avery home, but that didn't slow the rest of us down at all!

The ray actually spoke to us and said "It was lovely to see you! Come back soon!"

Saturday September 18, 2021

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYREE!💓🎈

10 years old!

We started off the morning by getting a hot chocolate and a treat and later went to watch Gabriel's Soccer match. Hillary and Jake coach his team.

Our Birthday Girl!

Debbie Stevenson made this fabulous cake for Tyree with L.O.L. dolls and lots of Candy!

We had quite a little party for Tyree. All the cousins loved being together for the weekend.

Oh look! A sweet little Avery and her favorite mermaid doll.

Hey Sammy.. how's that cookie?

The cake had enough lollipops for each of the children. Ross really enjoyed his.

Annabelle and Tyree telling us how it is!

After the Soccer game but before the birthday party we took all the kids to the family fun center.

 Gabriel is quite a girl magnet for 8 yrs. old. They were having a great time watching him play this game and win hundreds of tickets! Being a typical 8 yr old he didn't even notice them. Give it a few years and I am sure that will change.

Sure do love my Hillary...

Thanks for letting me always crash at your house my dear!

Before we left the Salt Lake Valley I took time to visit the home Cody, Kelly Stevenson and Ryan are remodeling. It is so beautiful!

I am really impressed at the design and workmanship they have put on this house.

Finally, on my flight to Atlanta, this was the sight out of my window. It was actually the first time I have every watched a plane land in tandem with the plane I was on. 

You'll never know what my next post will be.....