Leaving winter and entering spring in the Midwest makes for some back and forth weather while the new season settles in. We’re currently having a spring snow storm. Just as the storm was beginning I walked the river trail through the woods north of town. Riverbank Grapevine is a new plant to me. There may be one growing up one of my favorite cottonwood trees. Later this summer I’ll discover whether snuggling vine is the Riverbank Grapevine
or a very healthy poison ivy.
Last year presented numerous opportunities for illustration. These are some of the drawings done for a writer of a children’s story about flowers and butterflies. Part of the story’s message is that all of us should take the time to appreciate the abundance and variety of exquisite life that surrounds us.
Girlfriends dancing to the airport
Watching a miracle
The Costume Tea Party with Butterflies
Notice for a 2012 exhibit of paintings and prints at Park University in Parkville, MO. The poster design by Laura Zimney.
Lawrence Journal World writer Sara Shepherd wrote an article about my work in 2012. Link to the article here.
Celebration on the Upper Missouri
Clink on this link Family Marshall Trip Part III to follow the ballooning Aeronauts as they breeze toward the North Pole to help Santa.
The family leaves a holiday greeting on the moon.
Clink on this link Family Marshall Trip Part II to follow the Marshall family into outer space, the moon and back again. But engine trouble detours the family to the North Pole where a jolly ole elf lets them hitch a ride home.
Bikes to Canoes, Page
Clink on this link Family Marshall Trip Part 1 to follow the Marshall family through the woods and down the rivers, around the Gulf and the Florida panhandle on a travel adventure. The final panel shows a NASA shuttle blasting off. Guess who is on that ship? Follow their adventures in Part II
A few weeks ago I walked through a whimsical, yet beautiful and productive community garden at 18th and Broadway in Kansas City, Missouri. I don’t know its story, but obviously some talented folks put it together. The setting is just south of Bartle Hall and the new Kaufman Performing Arts Center. A modern sculptural beehive sits above the garden on a pole. The shed is solar powered and there’s a sculptural piece that appears to be a wind turbine. The pathways meander past a large water swale with tumbling limestone(?) cubes. Vegetable plants were flourishing. I’d love to see many more gardens in our towns and cities like this. If touring the garden makes you hungry, there’s a lovely restaurant/antiques/boutique nearby in a beautiful old school named The Webster House.
Beehive Skyscraper
Nancy in the KC Urban Garden
Looking south from the Garden
Windmill in the Urban Garden
Hansel & Gretel Dollhouse
Hansel & Gretel interior
Hansel & Gretel Dollhouse, front and rt. side
Hansel & Gretel Dollhouse, side and rear view
Asked to paint a dollhouse for the Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), I was joined and benefited from the skilled help of family, John and Mindy Huston. My son suggested the theme, and two of my grandchildren modeled. The front facade of the witch lair finds Hansel reaching for a cookie shingle while the witch peeks out the cottage door. Gretel has pulled a gumdrop from the wall to eat. The back side of the house is dark and stormy. The interior has bats, spiders, black cats, a jar of eyeballs and all things creepy. Hansel has been fattened in his cage and Gretel acts to save their lives.
CASA, which benefits abused and neglected children, raises fund by selling chances to win a large dollhouse. To support their efforts, please go to the CASA website. www.dccasa.org. or visit the CASA office, 1009 N.H., Suite B.
The Hansel & Gretel dollhouse, along with other donated dollhouses, was sold in a silent auction at an annual CASA Playhouse Celebration at the Lawrence Arts Center.
