"Just Elfin' Around" by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

"The Fiddler"©2017Leada Wood

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I have a passion for Christmas and the love and the magical feelings that abound during the season. It’s a family tradition in our home and I wish that we could keep the incredible kindness and good cheer that abounds alive the rest of the year!

My parents did Christmas amazingly well, not quite a page out of Norman Rockwell’s paintings but close. My daddy especially loved Christmas and was the Spirit of Christmas to me. We celebrated both the religious and secular nature of Christmas and observed the holidays from Thanksgiving until New Years Day. Don and I continue the festive traditions today and have a wonderful legacy to celebrate.

Growing up in a musical family was very special as our family band would get together and play nearly every Sunday in someone’s home. My daddy could play almost any instrument and play it well. During Christmas the carols played and were sung and got everyone in the spirit of the season. Those times are fondly etched in my memory still today.

After my daddy passed away in 1998, I started painting at least one Christmas painting every year and sometimes several. My collection has grown over the years and I enjoy sharing them with you.




Nearly twenty years later my muse was not to be contained so I embraced it and have a new series called “Just Elfin’ Around”. I hope my paintings bring happiness to you and put a little wonder back in the season.




                                                                                                               ---Gloria a Dios




                                                                                         


"The Fiddler" was the first in the series created in 2013 when Don and I  lived in Houston for a few months while he received treatments.

"Ronny Rooster", Watercolor by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

 

"Ronny Rooster" ©2017 Leada Wood

One spring my parents brought home 24 fuzzy, yellow baby chicks to my brothers and I. They were such fun! I had one chicken that followed me everywhere, even to the corner grocery store. He waited by the door until I came out and then we walked home. Like all babies those cute little chicks grew up and it turned out they were all roosters. My special rooster did not like my mother and would spur her every time she went out side. He was a big ole boy too! Needless to say those roosters soon disappeared and we suddenly began having a lot of chicken dishes but I had lost my appetite for chicken. I think of those times every time I paint a rooster.

Painting and drawing animals seems to be my passion lately. Trying to capture their personalities in watercolor is challenging and I enjoy pushing my abilities to see if I can create a likeness. I hope you enjoy seeing them! Thanks for stopping by.

The Fiddler, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

 

The Fiddler by Leada Wood ©2014

 My daddy was a fiddler...in fact he could play nearly any musical instrument and he played by ear. I come from a musical family, nearly every Sunday afternoon was spent at a relatives house. The family band played gospel and country music...I can still hear the songs in my mind. The family band is gone but not the sweet memories.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas filled with fond memories, family and friends!