Day 123 of Thanksgiving...

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Today I am so very Thankful for Art!  My Dad was an artist - he used to say commercial artist but in reality he was a sign painter.  He made some sort of famous signs around town when I was a child but I didn't get it at the time.  From time to time we would have Jamil Race Cars in our backyard while he was painting signs on them; the face to a huge landmark clock rested on his drawing board while he painted and gold leafed it's numbers and hands; highway patrol cars were lettered and numbered by him; a few local restaurants had his hand lettered signs.  But what I enjoyed were the silly things he drew and scribble and showed me.  One Christmas he made a life size painting of the nativity scene for our church basement.  It was two huge 6 foot tall canvases that had to be attached.  It was glorious and many parts of it contained a glowy substance in the paint that would catch the light.  Every Christmas we had life size wood cutouts of Santa and snowmen.  It was magical to me although I still didn't appreciate art until I got much older - mostly because I can't draw a straight line.  Now I am enthralled by art that I love and enjoy.  The colors and design bring me joy that is uncompared and the great thing is that art is everywhere in our lives - we just have to open our eyes and take it in.