The Story behind my Obcession with the Baptisms at Moon Lake and other things I paint

About twenty years ago our family bought a rickety old lake house at Moon Lake, a quiet little lake a little over an hour's drive from Memphis. It has a great history, including Tennessee Williams writing about it and some well known artists living there and finding inspiration, Sophie Coors being my favorite. One day in 2007, my dear friend, Cheryl McCormack gave me a copy of Delta Magazine she thought I'd like because there was an article in it about Moon Lake, specifically the Baptisms that take place there every Summer. Cheryl is an artist and I had admired her work, and I think she thought it would be fun if I took lessons with her, so eventually I did. What I really wanted to paint was the girls getting baptized at Moon Lake, and I had tried unsuccessfully on my own, So I signed up for watercolor lessons with Fred Rawlinson, Cheryl's teacher. Some two years later, Fred's lessons moved to a new date and time that didn't work for me, so I was on my own again, and I still hadn't painted those girls, but I had learned a lot about painting watercolors. So, I started trying again, and I eventually joined two art leagues, and to my surprise I sold one of my Baptism paintings, and people began to ask to buy them. I also gave some away to charity auctions, and one to a priest who eventually became a bishop. I'm so honored to know that my painting hangs in the office or home of Bishop Dorothy Wells of Mississippi! The original article was photographed by a famous photographer named Jack Spencer, who now lives in Nashville. I have never copied his photos exactly, so I hope I'm not going to get in trouble for being inspired by them! As time went on I found out that the Baptisms were no more. The little church no longer had access to the lake front as the property had been sold. One weekend my little Mah Jongg group, which included my good friend Cheryl McCormack, and our husbands spent the weekend at Moon Lake, and after a nice dinner at Kathryn's, we decided to go find the Baptism site. It was almost Summer, and it didn't get dark until late. We pulled up to the site, and while overgrown, we found that they had built a latice work bench seat and steps down to the water. The girls and I took a look, and I headed down the stairs to the water, and my girlfriends followed, probably to protect their crazy friend from her folly! Our husbands stood up by the road and chattind, apparently unconcerned for our safety, and we went all the way down to the water. Now this was not nice calm Summertime water, it was early Spring churning angry water, and I had serious doubts about being on that rickety stair case with a bunch of older ladies, all in their seventies and with various infirmities, including myself, but what a rush to realize that we were treading where those girls had trod. I couldn't wait to get home and start painting! And that is the story of how my obcession with the Baptisms at Moon Lake began. My painting has taken a few twists and turns. I also paint dragon flies after learning that they represent the transition to life ever after in many cultures. I paint trees reflectomg on water, just for fun, and I've painted College buildings, a man on a horse, and the Flat Iron Mountains for my grandchildren. I'm now experimenting with my zinnias in still lifes with no real success yet, but I'll keep trying because they are fun also. By the way, I just noticed that all my old Blogger posts are a MESS! They have messed up the syntax. I fixed a couple, but I doubt whether my opinions from long ago are worth my time and energy at this point. Maybe someday if I run out of things to do, I might fix them!