I've always kept the photo that I took of Shirley, taken when she was with the mall. She was about thirty-nine and we were dating. I decided to paint the portrait including events in her history. In the far background is "Eva" the mail and passenger boat owned and captained by her Grandfather, Ed Calhoun. He also organized the local fur trapping on Johnsons Bayou. She lived with them for the first five years of her childhood.
The hay stacks and tractor represent the annual hay mowing that she did.
Ole Billy was actually sort of brownish but I needed his coat to be white. The sunflowers were other loves of her early years. The huge wooden palette, we had both used in past studio sessions.
She looked good at thirty-nine...so at least on my canvas, she gets to stay there.
We've been picking figs for two month. Shirley finally agreed to allow me to preserve two dozen with added lemon and a little sugar. i split them into quarters. WHAT A TREAT! (I gained four pounds). Elbert
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