Patricia D's Giant Painting!!!

The first step in my process was creating the paint.  As I do have plenty of Virginia red dirt available on my property - I started with this.  I used a mere cup of dirt and practiced mixing it separately with tap water,  honey and milk from my sheep as well as an egg from my chicken.

     

     The medium that I chose was honey mixed with the dirt and drops of water added until I reached the consistency that I was seeking.  The milk "watered" it out too much and the egg made the solution too thick. 

     

      I made a paint brush out of the lemongrass growing in my yard (indigenous to my house anyway!).  I trimmed the grass to fit and wove a piece of it around the small bundle I created to stiffen it up and giving it less flexibility.  The finished look was similar to a fountain pen.  My secondary brush was made from a branch of an Eastern Fir tree, also woven with a piece of lemongrass and using this brush gave me the ability to make sweeping motions with the brush.

     As like my large handwriting - I knew that I would need a canvas large enough for me to paint.  I utilized the side of our shed or cave if you will.  I have convinced my husband that I will be able to completely remove the red dirt stains that I have created.  

     What I have created is a moment of time on the James River with my family, including my husband and two children.  We are floating in a canoe and observing the wildlife and fowl, flowing with the water and allowing the sun to soak our faces and the breeze to carry us along.  This could be any river at any time with anybody, but it is something that my family and I hold dear. To be able to be together, to be "one" with the river, and appreciate all that nature gives below the water, around us well and above us.