Happy month of June everyone. Days are getting warmer, flowers are blooming, vacations are planned, and schools out for the summer! Today I would like to share a sneak peek of my latest canvas that I have created for the blog at Mixed Up Mag, Echoes From a Schoolyard. Head over to the Mixed Up Magazine Blog to see more images, a product list and a tutorial including acrylic polymer image transfer! I'd love to share my creative process with you.
As you know, I draw a lot of inspiration from my memories, and this one is an oldie from my childhood. Only a block from my childhood home was a very special place called the St. Thomas Home, a children's orphanage. I remember a beautiful, mysterious building. I write 'mysterious' because I could not see the playground, but I could hear the sounds of kids like myself laughing, shouting and playing games. I could also hear the enticing squeak-squeal of the chains on the swings (my friend told me it was the biggest swing-set she had ever seen). And on a nice day when the windows of the kitchen were open, I could smell fresh bread baking and the rich aroma of spaghetti sauce. Our senses are truly remarkable; I didn't have to see inside the schoolyard or the building to 'see' it!
After the orphanage was long closed and scheduled for demolition, you could still hear the wind moving the chains of the swings, which for me carried with it a faint echo of the long-ago children's voices, singing and playing.
"In 1908, the Sisters of Providence founded the St. Thomas Home, a children’s orphanage, in Great Falls, Montana. But the sisters opened more than a home for orphans – it was a school and a boarding house for children who lived in rural areas, and a safe environment for children whose parents were faced with hard times.
St. Thomas Home became a Child and Family Center in the mid-1960s as the needs of the community changed. St. Thomas evolved to become a childcare service at a time when support for working-parent families became critical.
For over 100 years the programs and services at St. Thomas have impacted more than 5,000 children through the orphanage, and over 3,500 children through the early childcare and development centers."
http://www.providence.org/stthomas/about/history
St. Thomas Home
