JL Remy Studio

  Looking Toward Peace Around the corner and down the way from our house is a property that has experienced many generations of a family. The kids are grown and have moved away, fences are broken and the livestock is gone, but, what remains is the permanent imprint of time past. Eventually this land might be filled with office buildings or a shopping center, but, when I close my eyes , I will always be able to see the lush green pastures and the tractor worn paths.  'Green Pastures' 16"x 16" Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas Commissions Welcome www.jlremy.com/contact.html We have witnessed so much in the last couple of years.  It can be tempting to dwell in your memories and your imagination. Remembering those times when we socialized with family and friends without putting much thought to it. Last minute plans were easy and doors were always open. I for one pray that our children and grandchildren can experience this once again. New and happy memories can be created to r...

Thinking About July  So here's the deal...where did it go??? And what about May and June???? Time really seems to be flying. I got my first Christmas order today and I can tell you it really stunned me to think it's already order time! It doesn't get really cold down here like it gets up north during the winter, but, it is still so hot that it is hard to imagine we are heading toward the Holiday time of the year. Lisa and I went to Galveston for lunch yesterday. After a great fajita lunch at Salsa's we headed to West Beach to walk a little. The wind was so hot that we didn't make it far. We decided to come back on a cooler day....maybe one with a little cloud cover. The heat didn't seem to stop the masses from their beach vacations....tons of people and their kids and dogs were in the water. I saw a lot of sunburned faces !! A good day to sit inside in the air conditioning and watch the waves through a window. 'Crabby Morning' 10"x 8" acrylic o...

Clay Times When I was in college, I learned that clay was a big love of mine. I liked turning pots on the wheel but found that the slab roller was my real passion. When I was first diagnosed with lupus,  I was told that paint was too toxic for me and that I needed to work in a different medium...hello clay....not sure that was what the Doctors meant since there are probably more chemicals in clay supplies than there are in any of my paints.  I took a class in clay from a very good friend and excellent potter, Jerry Faulkner. She owns Faulkner Studio in Arkansas and if you are a handmade pottery fan, she is the best of the best. You can find her on Etsy or on weekends she is at the Fayetteville Farmers Market.    I started sculpting crosses and and was hooked on the feeling of clay in my hands.  My husband Dave was quick to purchase me a great big kiln and all the tools that I could possibly use in a lifetime....he was thrilled I was 'arting' once again.  My...

  In The Pink I saw a video the other day of a baby flamingo learning to stand on one leg. He had impossibly big feet on the south end of those little legs but that didn't stop him from trying to gain his balance on just one foot. Do you think it is something they are programed before birth to do or do you think it is learned behavior from watching the other flamingos? Well regardless of how they come by it, they do it really gracefully and well.....which brings me to the crux of my post today. We don't have to be pre-set to succeed in our  endeavors. If your dad is a doctor, that doesn't mean you will be or even want to be one. And if your mom is an electrician, it doesn't mean you won't be a doctor if that is your heart desire. The only thing that will limit us is ourselves. Dr. Ben Carson was raised by a single mom on a very limited income who parked her kids in a public library during the summertime. They not only excelled, Dr. Carson became a famous Pediatric N...

Lazy Hazy Days of Summer Down here in Texas when you wake up in the A.M. it is usually already in the 80's. Not that this summer has been as hot as it normally is, we have had so much rain that it has cooled off to the high nineties. Most days it feels a bit steamy from all the moisture in the ground as it evaporates. My chickens don't seem to mind as long as their water containers stay clean and full and your expectation of them is low. The gulf freeway is torn up (nothing new here) and being enlarged all the way to Texas City so going to Galveston is not my favorite thing to do right now......too much traffic. On weekends the roadwork doesn't seem to deter the main thrust of people from heading to the beach. It backs up all the way up here by us, but they still show up every weekend. Winter has always been my favorite time of year for the beach. It isn't really that cold and I love to walk along the sand and breathe in the salt air from waves. The pelicans  look posit...

Beep Beep  We are all runners....some of us just move a little slower.  It is not a competition with someone else that we need focus on....it is completing the race that was set before us at birth. We each have a special calling...a gifting ....that, if we are not careful will go by the wayside when we get sidetracked or attacked. I am an artist and had a very promising beginning in my art career. Art has always been my ministry as well. Suddenly I became very ill and for years did not paint. It was VERY easy to lay around and sleep all the time.... I was slowly drifting away. I had listened to the 'bad' report. It was the during last two weeks stay in a hospital that I woke up and made the decision to live and not die before my time. I started declaring 'thank you God that I am better today than I was yesterday and I will be better tomorrow than I am today' and 'thank you God I am better now than I was 30 minutes ago and I will will be better in thirty minutes than...

God Speed I got a message in the middle of the night that my older brother Gene had passed away.  He has been battling bone cancer for several months now and he said he was ready to go home. It is amazing how time flies. Many years have gone by since were were young and yet with his passing I was flooded with memories as if they all happened yesterday. I am very thankful that as believers we know that this is not the end....it is just the beginning and we will be united for eternity in a much better place that has no sorrow or pain. Gene's precious wife, Melanie, has tirelessly taken care of him over the past several months. It requires such courage to watch a loved one decline, but I believe that God will reward that unfailing love and dedication. I know that she draws her strength from above. 'Courageous' 8"x 8" Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas Gene was about to have a birthday on August 2. He always loved lions so this post has three of my favorites. 'A Da...

  A Walk On The Beach We live about 30 minutes from Galveston and one of my favorite things to do is to go walk on the beach early in the morning. The sound of the waves coming in is intoxicating to me. I can almost hear angels singing as the sun rises along the horizon and suddenly I feel nothing evil in the world can touch me. I think the gulls and pelicans feel the same way because each time I go down there, here they fearlessly come to share my little piece of the beach. After the light fills the sky we all saunter down the beach together as I look look for shells and sharks teeth. Tiny crabs scurry back into the water after being deposited by incoming waves. Sometimes I take my metal detector to see if I can find some pirates treasure along the way. Sometimes it is just a cup of coffee in my hand.   'MorningWalk' 15"x 30" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas Framed by Knotty  Wood Frames Morning Walk (jlremy.com) Little Treasures 'Pelican' commissions welcome Cont...

  Paradise Our home is built on an acre. The number of critters that roam across our domain is remarkable. The town we live in is a bird sanctuary so there are always bunches of birds, but beyond that there are lots of different creatures. Some of them are just passing through, some are permanent residents. Yesterday I posted a couple of raccoons and I will try to post more of our locals over the next few days.  We have tons of squirrels. Several years ago we had a guest the brought her pet flying squirrel over to show us. She was in the back yard walking around with the little guy in her pocket when he suddenly escaped and ran up a nearby palm tree. She of course couldn't catch him and we thought we had seen the last of him. Almost a decade later, we had our tall palm trees trimmed. As the fronds fell to the ground there was a flurry of flying squirrels soaring from the palms to the nearby oak trees. At first we thought they were bats.....which also live in the tall palms.......

  Masked Country Cousin  My family took vacations together when I was growing up. We would pack up the station wagon and drive....not fly..... to our destination. We stopped by small town gas stations to pee and if none was available my Dad would pull off on the shoulder of the road and open both of the doors on the passenger side and there I would squat and go.  I felt I was completely hidden....little did I know that the doors of the car were higher than my bare butt 😆.  Of course these roads were small country roads and hardly anyone passed us so it really didn't matter anyway. Mom would pack sandwiches that we would stop and eat along the way......no fast food for us ...... we thought  her bologna sandwiches tasted like heaven. We went to Roaring River in Missouri a lot. We loved the Ozarks. We would stay in a cabin by the river because my Dad was a great fisherman and he felt it was his duty to teach us his skills. One of my best memories was when I put my...

Think Big- Think Elephants   I have come to believe (from personal experience) that it is just as easy to believe for large things as it is to believe for small things.......not to say I have been totally successful in this principle, but, more often than not, I have found that my end results were limited by my own expectations. We have all been through so much in the last year and a half. The fears and disappointments that have been brought on by the constant and frightening world events, have put braces on our dreams. It is time to break out of gloom and burst forward into the light of day.  'Jungle Talk' 30"x30" Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas Prints Available www.jlremy.com   Little Treasures 'Elephant Walk' Commissions Available "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.' So God ...

The Little Foxes Growing up, I had a favorite cousin that was very close to my age. He lived in Colorado and our family would go in the summer time to visit. His name was Dan. Though the years he married a great gal named Barb and had a son, David. He called me one day and told me that he had been diagnosed with ALS. That was a heartbreaking moment for all of us. He was so brilliant..... he was the guy that put the big communications antenna on Cheyenne Mountain close to Colorado Springs. Dan loved red foxes and would see them just about everywhere he went. It was late at night when my cousin passed away at the Hospice that was located in downtown Colorado Springs. As his wife pulled out onto the dark, empty street, she had to stop her car because there in the middle of the street stood a beautiful red fox looking at her intently. She took that as a message that Dan was just fine and would be watching over her and young David. I paint and make lots of little red foxes and each time I d...

Gators!!! It was just about this time of year...a couple of years ago that my son and daughter-in-love took my husband Dave and I for a week long East Texas vacation. They told us that we would be staying at a cabin on a lake, but, when we got there our dwelling was NOT a little cabin ....it was a beautiful stilted home that had a designer kitchen and a large deck that went all around the house. We were able to fish right off the den while eating breakfast !! Sounds really wonderful....and it was for sure except for the local residents. Gators. From the time the first hook hit the water, big eyes surfaced. Not just one set of eyes ,but, LOTS of them. So much for serious fishing and a fresh home cooked fish dinner, but, all was not lost, we had a wonderful time putting puzzles together, watching movies, cooking together and sitting on the deck talking and laughing. Made some excellent memories. 'Time For Brunch?' 22"x28" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas Available Time For B...

  Noisy Neighbors Along with all the rain comes a feast of worms and crawdads. The birds don't really care about being wet....they just love the moveable feast. Our city is a bird sanctuary and I think most of them hang out at our house. Cardinals, Mocking Birds, Jays, Doves, Hawks, Owls and lots more but the crows make the most noise. 'The Collector' 8"x8" Acrylic in rustic floating frame Available The Collector (jlremy.com) We have a large pecan tree in the front yard and in the Fall when the yard is full of pecans we have to hustle to salvage enough for a few pies because the crows invite ALL their friends. 'Sky Pirate' 6"x4" miniature watercolor on 7"x5" watercolor paper Available 'Sky Pirate' (jlremy.com) www.jlremy.com Best Pecan Pie Recipe 1 Cup Sugar 1 1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup 4 Eggs 1/4 Cup Melted Butter 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla (I use Vanilla Paste) 2 Cups Coarsely Chopped Pecans 1 Unbaked Deep Dish Pie Crust (or 2 regul...

Rainy Days We have had so much rain that my chickens are soggy....we keep them all hayed up normally so they have dry feet but the hay is yucky now.... poor things......they are getting extra rations in the coop and they are laying lots of eggs to keep busy. Our neighbor's rooster is calling to them to keep a stiff upper beak....   'John's Rooster'           5"x5" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas  8"x8" frame matted with leopard fabric Available John's Rooster (jlremy.com) You would think this is an excellent time to clean and rearrange the house....clean out closets and sort clothes but movies and napping sound so much more enticing. I have been keeping a close eye on the pool....making sure it stays nice and blue so we don't encourage any frogs to move in.           'Frogs on My Mind'  4"x6" watercolor on 5"x7" watercolor paper Frogs on My Mind (jlremy.com) A little food for thought as I close for the day.... Ac...

  NEW START It's never too late to start over....             I have written blogs before but hoping this time it will continue for more than just a few days.  life happens for all of us.  I have just posted paintings on my website www.jlremy.com and hope everyone reading this will check them out.  'Night Patrol' 8"x8" Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas Available Night Patrol (jlremy.com)    I added another owl. I think I could paint these in my sleep!  I must admit that it is very gratifying that people like them as much as I do.  Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th. We went to my brother and sister-in-loves home and ate way too much. I took a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail that turned out to be a big hit.   Mexican Shrimp Cocktail 3 ribs finely chopped celery, 1/2 bell peppers any color finely chopped  1 cucumber seeded and finely chopped 2 chopped tomatoes chopped pickled jalapenos to taste ( I used ...