SHREWS, MICE AND MOLES: THE PAINTING

Recently, I posted Mrs. Trowbridge's sketch of Shrews, Mice and Moles. Above is the exquisitely soft watercolor that she painted from her sketch. Sometimes I liken Mrs.T to a busy little robot. Though she was constantly occupied with her family and community responsibilities, she always returned to her journal, where she scribed and painted her lovely pictures. She was faithful to her painting throughout her life. Mrs. T lived with her family on Wild Rose Creek, in the rain forest village of Huckleberry Hollow.

SHREWS, MICE AND MOLES

There was an underlying suspicion that was ever present in the small creatures community. There was a subconscious surveillance between the various species. The bottom line was that no one wanted to be eaten for lunch. That's why beetles kept their distance from shrews. They knew that they could be ambushed on the way into the village, never to be seen again.

But moles, mice and shrews all got along with one another because of their common mammalian ancestry. In the above page from Mrs. Trowbridge's journal, she describes the kinship between these three species, and illustrates her journal page with her marvelous charcoal sketches.

Have you seen my other blog? Bron Smith's Flights of Fantasy

MOTHER TROWBRIDGE PASSES.

Mrs. Trowbridge loved her mother very dearly. She never completely recovered from the grief of losing her mother. It was Mother Trowbridge who taught her the art of calligraphy, as well as drawing and painting. We are indebted to Mother T. for the journal that her daughter, Violet, left for us to enjoy. It has given us a fascinating record of what life was like over 200 years ago in the Quinault Rain Forest.

Below is Mrs. T's sepia tone value study for her painting of her mother's grave site. The next post will be her full color painting. Check back soon for that.

Take an extra moment and check out my new blog and meet Skagway, a larger-than-life toad who stars in blockbuster movies from yesterday and today. You'll see the first Skagway movie poster where Skagway reprises Mel Gibson's role in Road Warrior in a new film called Toad Warrior. 

Coming up next on Bron Smith's Almost Amazing Blog: a send up of Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Skagway does his own unique rendition of Clint Eastwood in the role of Blondie. I'm still working on the movie poster, but I will be posting it soon.