southern artist – Melanie Stokes Art

February 5, 2021August 21, 2023

My Art From Mart or #artfrommarttx

When we began preparing for a move to Waco, Texas a few years ago, my husband and I knew we wanted to live in the country, on the same side of the county as our son’s family, and wanted more than one acre of land. Our house hunt led us fifteen miles away from Waco, to more land than we needed, six miles from our son, and a Mart address.

Mart, with a population of about 2000, gives many subjects and opportunities for paintings. (You may have noticed I’ve been using the hashtag, #artfrommarttx, on my Instagram account.) I took a photo for this painting while parked at the Dollar General. Like so many rural places in Texas, the grain elevators dominate the skyline of the town.

Read’s Grocery, on the main street, is a convenient six miles for me when I need a quick trip to the grocery. During the days of quarantine, they remained open with stocked shelves and sanitizing protocols, for which I am grateful.

Pizza Pro is on the right side, with delicious baked spaghetti and, of course, take out pizza! They even sell empty pizza boxes to artists who need wet canvas carriers!

The friendly staff of the U.S. Post Office of Mart has been such a help to me in shipping paintings and filling orders for prints. They always have time to help me figure out the best way to do things. And our rural carrier, who brings packages to the door, has become a first name friend. Gotta love the small town life!

I was puzzled by the names of some Texas roads being FM2957 or FM939. I’ve always had trouble remembering numbers. Words like “Lake Felton Parkway” or “County Line Road” come to my mind easier. I learned that FM stands for Farm to Market and was an avenue for that in the beginning of their construction. This painting, Farm to Market, is the view I see as I enter the Mart City Limits from the County Line Road (or FM 939). And those hay bales have been there with the For Sale sign since about summer before last.

So, yes, we moved to Waco. But, we have a Mart address, and we are really closer to Hallsburg and Elk. If you decide to visit, it might be best to call for directions. The porch rockers are ready for you. But I’m probably around back, painting art from Mart!

Instagram: #artfrommarttx @melaniestokesart

October 19, 2018

Walking Through Wildflowers

Are you old enough to remember the opening scene of the Little House on the Prairie television series? You know, the one where Laura and her sisters are running happily through the waving prairie grass and swaying wildflowers?

melaniestokesart.com — Walking Through Wildflowers
10×20 Oil
$150

Well, that’s the flashback I had when I was recently walking through wildflowers on a prairie near Waco, Texas. Two grandsons ran ahead, following the curving path their father had mowed. (I know Laura had to blaze the trail herself. It looks real picturesque on tv, but those grasses can cut and who knows what danger lies deep beneath them?) With the help of the pathway, we could enjoy the aesthetic, sensory experience in safety!

White flowers bloom for acres in August on the prairie. “Snow on the Prairie” is a fitting name. This day the storm clouds were beginning to bank themselves in the distance, providing a violet colored backdrop for the greens and white. The rain would be welcomed to give enough moisture for the next variety of flowers, waiting to spring forth from the cracked earth.

As we walked through the wildflowers, the boys ran ahead, delighting in finding trails that forked in two directions. The dog zig-zagged around in the tall grass, looking for whatever dogs look for. Our son and daughter-in-law walked and talked with us, as we explored and dreamed about the future. Eventually the boys came back around, the dog was called from his wanderings off the path, and all of us went back to the house to rest.

Walking through Wildflowers … if you lose your way, you simply follow the path toward home.

October 4, 2018

It’s A Dirty Job…

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“It’s a dirty job, but someone has got to do it.”

There is a lot of truth in that statement. Mike Rowe has proved that! I’m sure you can think of some dirty jobs you have had to do — like parenting, cleaning up after others, caring for your own house and family, packing to move! (don’t get me started.) Even if your vocation doesn’t involve dirt, there are times we all have to get our own hands dirty to get the job done.

We were at Bedford Greenhouses this past Wednesday, a place known for beautiful blooms and shafts of variegated green. And, there is a lot of dirt involved in a greenhouse setting! As I looked for something to paint, the yellow light at the end of the dirt alley caught my eye.

As I studied light and shadows, angles of rooflines and doors, I painted for a few hours. Several workers walked in and out of the greenhouses, carrying tools of a gardener, wearing gloves or not. As the day warmed, I noticed several wiping their faces of sweat. And I thought about the work that goes on behind the scenes to make those beautiful pots of flowers.

Isn’t that the way it is with anything that turns out beautiful, turns out finished, turns out worthwhile? A lot of hard work and sweat is behind any good project.

Think of recent successes in your life. How hard did you have to work to achieve it? Who were the people who got down to the nitty gritty of the project? Who were the ones who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, the ones who put the sweat equity into it? It may be hard to notice people behind the scenes. But if we take our eyes off the glamour of the moment, the fancy Facebook photos, the instant Instagram pictures, we will notice this reality of Real Life — anything worth accomplishing takes dirty, hard work, and time.

And, finally, as the flowers burst into bloom after the work is done, our lives bloom with blessings and light after a job well done!

melaniestokesart.com

September 13, 2018September 27, 2018

Even In A Storm

This post is for me, but you may read over my shoulder if you want to…

The day began with a flurry and a storm of activity! I was vacuuming my floor at 7:30 a.m., anticipating prospective buyers to come through the house in the afternoon. (Getting a house ready for realtors and sellers is not on my top favorites list. But now the house was clean and orderly, to the point of me becoming obsessive about it. ) My husband was checking off items on the Honey-Do list I had given him. The Weather Channel was stirring up panic in the minds of America about a hurricane that was predicted to run in forty directions and cause evacuations in three or four states. I received a text inquiring if our house could be used for evacuation while we were gone, if needed. And we were discussing our 1000 mile road trip with a UHaul, coming up in two days.

I could feel the tension in my neck. (Or maybe it was the barometric pressure from the storms brewing.) But I knew for my sanity, and my husband’s sanity, that I needed to keep my Wednesday appointment to paint!

When I arrived at Sacred Heart Cultural Center in Augusta, the “Women on Paper” group I paint with, was already scattered around in places. And they were all looking up!? So I did, too.

As I watched the billowy September clouds circling around the spires of the building, I relaxed. I painted. I pondered. “Keep looking up.” The words seemed to form in my head. “Keep looking up, even when your world is unsettled with all the factors spinning this way and that.” “Keep looking up, even in a storm. God is so much bigger than you, your house, your life. He is your Peace.”

I found my mind moving from myself to all the friends who are in the predicted path of this Hurricane. I wondered who might need to evacuate to our house that would be empty while we were away. I listened to the angry sounds of busy traffic just on the outside of the hedge behind me. I noticed the individuals who walked past on the sidewalks, with backpacks, a cup of coffee, and hungry eyes. And I prayed. I prayed, not that my house would sell, but that people would be safe, be fed, know Christ’s Peace.

I finished painting and left the group of women. They had listened and responded with encouragement when I whisked into place with all my morning drama. Friendships are gifts. And now, with a renewed peace and attitude adjustment, I went about the rest of the day.

May I keep looking up, fixing my eyes on Him, who is steadfast and stable, my Strength in all storms.

August 16, 2018

Daily Provision

I know hummingbirds don’t eat bread! But, when I see them each morning outside the window, fluttering around as if they are afraid there will not be enough to eat, this phrase of a prayer pops in my head: “Give Us This Day…”

My husband feeds these hummingbirds every day. They have been showing up every summer for about ten years. And each year they bring their friends to the buffet! This year the count is up to about forty at a time! (give or take a few blurs as you count) They found the provision in these feeders yesterday, and they expect to find it again.

“Give us this day, our daily bread…” This is the prayer Jesus taught his followers. Day by day, God provides what we need. (Note to self – I said, what we need, as opposed to what we can store up in our homes and then have to clean out when it is time to move!) God sent daily “manna” from heaven to His People in the wilderness. Remember how it rotted when they tried to store it and save it? God promised to send just enough for each day. Day after day, we go back to the One whom we know will provide… and we bring our friends!