Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is my father's birthday...he would be 74.  He's been gone for a while, though I can't remember the exact date it happened.  This is one of his paintings (my brother has one and there's at least one more that my mother has; there are large scale wood carvings as well).  Despite his troubles, he was a jazz lover, a true artist, and the reason for my own creativity.  I miss him today more than ever.

The painting depicts my grandmother, niece, and me at my grandmother's house.  My grandmother's house was the center of the family.  It was where we all gathered - funerals, family reunions, whatever.  So, it is a natural scene to show my grandmother on her front porch, cleaning turnip greens while my niece and I look on.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was a teenager when my niece was born, which makes the proportions just right.

I'm pretty sure this is him tending a garden on the side of the house (He actually did this once; he had a garden in our backyard almost every summer when I was little).  I think he may have still been working on it because the male figure's face is undefined.  Having his artwork around helps me remember good things about him (like how he catered my wedding), which in turn, causes me to miss him dearly.  Happy Birthday, Daddy!