August 2023 – Gator Girl Art

Hi all y’all!

I was going to paint Maw Maw Gator years ago. Then, Paw Paw Gator went to my brother. He had an uncanny ability to recognize family in my paintings.

This is Paw Paw. That’s Southern for grandpa.

Since Paw Paw was in the wind, Maw Maw was placed on hold. Also, the matriarch didn’t have to be complimentary to Paw Paw hanging on the wall.

Maw Maw is a little more flamboyant In contrast to Paw Paw’s Southern sensibilities.

(Kate for comparison. But don’t.)

I call this “Take My Picture”. She is wearing a knock off dress and hat that she saw Princess Kate wearing. It’s not fair to ask, “Who wore it better”, because Maw Maw’s is a copy. Her pearls are imitation. You can ask, “Who is more excited to show it off”. Valid question. Maw Maw has genuine pearls, but she thought these over-sized plastic pearls would be more fun. They are the kind you can pop together and pull apart. Remember those plastic wigs that kids had in the 1960’s? Forgive me. I digress.

These are the wigs I had. It would be a great memory, except that I have always had a gigantic head and they squeezed.

Trying to live with this insanely hot weather.

Concerned for the planet.

Love to all y’all.

Gator Girl

Hi all y’all!

I was planning to paint a series of animals wearing glasses. I ended up liking the nutria without glasses. I feel like his orange teeth are enough. Also, he has too many problems to also deal with glasses.

Nutria are native to South America. They were sent to Louisiana (and lots of other places) as a way to monetize their pelts. As with other get rich schemes, people gave up on their nutria dream and released them into the bayous and swamps. Now they are an invasive species destroying our wetlands. If you kill a nutria (people like to say harvest) in Louisiana, you can get $6 for his tail. It is always open season. If you want to take a deep dive, there is lots of information about nutrias.

Here is a link to a short video.

I recommend the video, especially if you don’t have dinner plans.

I don’t know if any nutria have had a chance to eat watermelon, but I am sure they would like it. If I saw a nutria and had watermelon with me, I would definitely share.

Their teeth are orange because of a high concentration of iron in their tooth enamel.