Painting Peak Moments Of Your Life - Recording the fun of my birthday evening 🌴💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼🌴

Do you ever have moments in your life that you know you will smile and savor forever? I had one of those experiences that was so juicy with life and connections that it was like someone had written an amazing story filled with beautiful strangers and unexpected surprises.

We were on vacation with my family for my 60th birthday...yeah, I said 60. Hard for me to believe too. We had a beautiful dinner out with my hubby, kids and grandkids and then we came back to the house we were renting and everyone went to bed, but hubby and I wanted to stay up and savor the evening a while longer. We heard some fun music coming from next door. My husband said, “Sounds like they are having a party. I want to go over there.” I told him we just couldn’t invite ourselves over. He saw one of the ladies taking her trash out and started a conversation with her. She was telling him about moving to Cayman from Cuba to make a better life for herself. She lived there with her two nieces. Just then, our property manager drove up and came over and started talking to her too in Spanish. I heard her tell the lady that my husband liked the music and loved to dance. Her face lit up and she invited us over and her nieces came and they cranked up the music and we danced! Three women whom we’ve never met in our lives, took us into their home and treated us with such hospitality!

Then they found out it was my birthday and they started hugging me and played some Cuban birthday songs. It was all a bit surreal! If I was as if I was writing a novel and coming up with interesting characters and unexpected situations. And then...I looked up and saw the police pull into the driveway. 😲 One of the ladies went out and talked to them. I was thinking we were being too loud or something, but it turned out they were looking for the lady’s ex husband. We got a laugh out of that as she gave them directions to find him. She came in sighing with relief. She said she thought they were coming after my husband and I. LOL With more laughter and dancing, we gradually wound down the evening.

The experience made such an impression on me, I had to do a painting to commemorate. First I did a digital study to develop my characters.

Then I primed a 2’ x 4’ piece of hardboard and sketched the ladies. I wanted to put all of us on the painting, but after I had the first three of us, my husband said it looked better with just three. So I left it that way.

A long rainy Saturday here at home allowed me an uninterrupted day in my studio to finish. I love how the foliage and characters took on a sort of folk art style. It is unusual for me to do a painting just for myself. I am keeping this one to remind me of how alive and vibrant I felt that night. Bring on the next 60 years!

Thanks for joining me on my adventure!