The new kiddie pool - Part 2

I could probably keep sketching the fun at the new pool for a whole blog year...don't worry, that's not going to happen! But, here are a couple more sketches.

There is something wonderful about little kids in hats. They are just too cute and always make me smile.

Lucy walked around with her girlie bikini, hat, sunglasses and purse - a little lady. She loved the pool as much as her little brother, but acted more sophisticated, of course.

There were some large jets of water along the side that she liked to put play in.

And she also spent some time sitting on the side. I didn't see any tea parties, but it wouldn't have surprised me to see her pouring and serving tea with proper teacups and saucers.

I can still hear all the giggles and laughter. What treasured moments!

The new kiddie pool...

For the past several years we have been escaping the snow and cold temperatures in January and February by going to Puerto Rico. It's guaranteed to be sunny with temps in the 80s...ahhh, and so relaxing.

What a lovely surprise this year to find that the place where we stay has reconstructed the children's swimming pool! The very unremarkable rectangle of shallow water has been replaced by an imaginative walk-in pool with a 'mushroom' fountain in the 'deep end' (maybe 2-3 feet deep) and water jets all around the pool.

It has been such fun watching the little kids discover all it has to offer and to listen to their squeals of delight. One of highlights for me was watching this little one year old boy. He was fascinated by the water jets.

Then he discovered that if he put his foot on them, they disappeared!

When he moved his foot again, they came back! He had so much fun laughing at the water and then stepping on it and making it go away.

It's my Valentine treat for us all... enjoy!

And a message for those of you who follow this blog - for some reason, Google is requiring people to sign in again to receive notification when I have posted something new. I do not understand the technical part of this, but apparently some internal changes were made and the email addresses were erased! So, please use the tab to your right and sign in again - you certainly don't want to miss any future postings!  THANK YOU for following along!

What's 'Mikey' Doing this year?

Yikes! How can it be February already? It's time to think about banners ...

For the past six years, the St Michaels Art League has been sponsoring the banner program. All our members are encouraged to create a banner which will hang on the poles along Talbot Street. It's a fun project, it gives SMAL good visibility and it's great fun to see my artwork displayed on our main street from April through November each year.

The general theme of this program is "Celebrate St Michaels" - so anything goes, as long as it is locally related. For several of the years I have painted a cartoon-like crab figure who has done a variety of things: waved various flags, raised a mug of beer and encouraged people to eat oysters, hung lanterns in the trees (celebrating St Michaels 200th birthday - a local myth), and steered a boat.

An artist friend had named the crab "Mikey" - I guess because he's from St Michaels. Each year she asks me, "What is Mikey going to do this year?"

Well, if you have ever walked the streets of our small village in the summer, one of the things you will see is tourists (and locals) eating ice cream. There are now several shops to stop for such a treat. It's fun to see how happy people seem to be when they are licking a cone. How can you not smile?

So, here's 2016 Mikey...

Look for Mikey hanging on a pole in April! Watch out for dripping ice cream...