his red overalls.

 

this is 1988.

a five year old little boy

and his grandfather

captured in a photo

unknowingly.

making their saturday morning walk to the pond on their farm to

fish.

that little boy is taylor. one of my very best friends.

and his grandfather, mr. kermit.

the photographer wasn't a close friend of the family, but had shamelessly asked mr. kermit if he could take some "nature photos" on his farm, and certainly mr. kermit obliged....
not knowing when he would be there and certainly never imagining that he would capture
this photo, this moment,
that is so poignant and precise.

it's our south, our kinda southern.

americana.

and adorable

it's the perfect plaid shirts, t's red overalls, the cane poles, the green tacklebox.

giant, enveloping, century old trees

a saturday in the South

it's life lessons and family, timeless tradition

...and evidently others thought so, too. unbeknownst to their family, the photographer had entered the photo in a nationwide contest several years later that won, with a prize that placed the photo in every single rest stop across the entire united states.

{the colors don't show up well in these photos :(}

this 8x10 modestly framed print hangs in taylor's home. 

and has graced a wall in each of the frat houses homes he has lived 

over the 6 years we've been friends.
he bought a house a few years ago and i finally talked him into ponying up some cash
to let me take over his living room, do some basic decorating (i.e. window treatments, throw pillows, artwork, etc..), so that he could really pretend to be a grown up and live in a grown up house.

so i did that last week.  i drew up some ideas and gave him a proposed budget.
however, those numbers didn't include the cost/materials/labor/love/immeasurable value
of the piece of art i would paint for him to go over his mantle.
the plan was to paint something abstract but still "dude-ish" that fit with his lifestyle
....some cool trees, a fish, a boat, something of the like....
to tie it all together, add a pop of color, be original and cool.

i jibbered and jabbered, talked too much and daydreamed out loud
when taylor, in his oh-so-subtle way, let me finish my senseless rambling before he gently suggested that i paint my version of the image of he and his
grandfather kermit.

i diiieeed with delight.
perfect.
PERFECT.
why didn't I think of that?!
Done. Deal.

i hadn't picked up a paintbrush and painted a single stroke in nearly an entire year to the date...since last May when i painted a portrait of our well-loved college dwelling as a wedding present for my best friend carolyn.

it's unfortunate and crazy.
that a year had gone by.
but thankfully that all ended last week...when those dry paintbrushes sang with delight as they sank and soaked deep into an old Titans Game Day plastic water cup,when my bottles of paint were shaken and stirred just a little longer,
the dried crusty paint peeled from the lids, the perfect playlist singing me through it.

i knocked this giant joker out in a day. 
i didn't over think it. i never felt pressure.
i got lost in my space. 
and something happened that rarely (ever!) happens

i love the outcome.

i do, i love it.
and i know why....
because it's got a story to tell.
and those are my favorite kind.

i love it because today, this large canvas is the focal point as you walk in the front door of a modest West Nashville brick home...where it didn't exist even a week ago.
where now it holds three generations and a story of decades ago. 
all in the home of a twenty-something year old boy who did nothing more 
than wear the cutest red overalls,
walking hand in hand with his 
beloved late grandfather,
who loved him enough
to take him fishing
every saturday morn.


...and i believe
that's a special story to tell.