Happy Birthday Christopher

Chris recently had a birthday. Unfortunately we haven't seen him or big brother Parker in a while. We think about them everyday and offer prayers for their well-being.

I have used this picture before and is it about two years old but ...what can ya do?

The Beauty of Utah

I was raised in California. Beaches and lots of green, rolling hills and lakes and pines and redwood trees. I've also lived in Alaska (Kodiak), Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, and briefly in Arizona, Missouri, and Maryland. I spent nearly three years in Germany (Kaiserslautern & Baumholder) while in the Army. I enjoyed the sagebrush scattered deserts of Nevada. The desert is wonderful and mysterious at night. But I love even more the red rocks of Utah. Utah has some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen. Bryce Canyon, Utah is the most incredible and alien landscape in the country. What is even more wonderful than the incredible sand stone formations (hoodoos) is the provision of visitors to explore the very nooks and crannies of this canyon. Foot trails wind throughout the base of the canyon.

50th Anniversary Family Portrait

Christina has a big family and every two years or so there's a big family reunion. One year instead of the family reunion we had a family get together to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Christina's parents Cliff & Peggy Perkins. Here is a group photo of the family get together. I seem to recall it was taken in some Idaho park.

Aside from wondering wether or not you will be going to heaven, do you ever wonder what you will look like in heaven? I wonder if we will look like we do when we die or will we revert back to a time in life when we were at our best?
I don't know but when I found an old photo of my mother I imagined she was an angel in heaven. This photo was taken by my father. I'm not sure of the exact timing but I expect sometime after they were married (1957, 1958) and had their whole lives together ahead of them. They had plans for family and career and full of love and hope.
Gradually over time though, the beauty of youth becomes crushed under the process of aging. But through that process we acquire wisdom. My mother now is a bit mishapen and has gray hair. Her knees don't work too well and she gets tired more easily but she has wisdom, a precious gem; beautiful, painfully acquired wisdom. I love you mom.
The picture is a painting from a photo; acrylic and colored pencil on Somerset Velvet paper, cut out, scanned into a Photoshop Document with a gradient in the background. This painting is not available for sell but I will be happy to make prints available to family members upon request.

If you'd like to see more of my art work (The folk art of Christina Colwell), go to http://www.christinacolwell.blogspot.com

We Cut A Cake

100 years later. Christina Colwell and Russell Colwell cut their wedding cake. It also took a long time to get to Park City for our honeymoon. The first big blizzard of the year began, and our little Dodge Lemon slipped and slid all the way up the pass, overheating and spewing steam from the radiator.

We made it (darn right). We stayed at the Copper Botton Inn. Nice place. Had a fireplace and full kitchen.