Our new banner - Rose at the beach with her horse

[Trailpal]

Thanks for this picture, DL!

[masonsrose]

OMG!!! Thank you so much!!! I love the new banner! I was so surprised to see me up there!!! Thank you so much!!

[Idaho Linda]

That picture brings hope. Great job, Rose!

[ride4fun]

Well done artwork. Very handy having grandparents in Florida for getting to have beach time in December.

[Marci]

Its too cute!!!

[MJ]

I love that artsy horse, you are so talented.

[Frostym]

That horse is gorgeous. You are very very talented and gorgeous, too! Thanks for sharing.

[dl]

Story of the Beach Horse...

The school semester officially ended the first week of January. Rose finished all of her classes except for art, with the reasoning that if she had to do any lessons during vacation, that would be the most fun. The last art project they had to turn in was something "free style"... they just had to create something. When we went to visit my parents after Christmas, they had rented a condo on the beach as a Christmas/birthday present for all of us. We were on the third floor looking out over the beach. So, for the final project, I said, "Go make something on the beach!" Rose worked on her project for a large part of the day, looking for the right color shells and all.

She had created it, straight in front of our condo, just out of reach of the water at high tide. We quick took a picture of it to turn in, before someone walked through it or messed it up, they way people usually do with things you make on the beach. The next day, we got up and looked out the window, and there were people taking pictures of it. "Oh cool! Someone else likes it!" we thought. Jacob went to make his art project on the beach also. He sculpted a sea turtle and wanted to cover it with specific kinds of shells. Rose and I went up and down the beach helping Jacob find the shells for his project. Every time we looked up, someone was stopped in front of the Beach Horse, pointing at it, or taking pictures of it. We saw one dad put his arm out to stop his child who, freely and obliviously running on the sand, was about to run over it. Some people wrote notes to Rose in the sand, saying, "lovely" and other compliments.

Every time we came back to it, we expected it to have been tampered with. Rose had put a background around the horse. That had been "erased" as people were walking right up to the edge of it, but leaving the horse intact. Instead of people tromping through the horse, a wave of beach art had been spawned on the sand. Someone down the beach copied the sea turtle idea, and made a sea turtle family. Someone else made an alligator. Another person copied the alligator idea further down the beach. And the amazing thing was that every day we walked the beach, instead of seeing the art projects destroyed, we saw new art projects. The only time we saw something mean was the day before we left, when someone stepped in the middle of all the turtle projects. I guess turtle sculptures are fun to step on?...I don't know, but that is usually what you expect to happen to something you make on the beach, so it really only seems mean in comparison.

Then Rose was surprised to see the picture on the banner here, but also, another person from facebook asked to use the picture as her own background. All from a little art project that she did outside instead of inside!!

(Rose got an A+/100% on it and a nice note from her art teacher )

[Idaho Linda]

Thanks for the story. All the details made this "project" even more meaningful. That is great that it inspired others to create their own art. What a nice, nice end to the saga.

[Trailpal]

What a cool story! You never know how one action can inspire others!

[dl]

I sent the story to Rose's art teacher and Rose got her picture and a mention in the school newsletter!!!

[Idaho Linda]

We have a celebrity in our midst!