Remembering Emmett

Last year, my husband Allen and I spent several months in what had been his family home for decades in Emmett Idaho. It had most recently been rented out and unloved to say the least. When we first moved in, there were no doors on the bedrooms, the carpet had to be ripped up, the bathrooms were a travesty and the whole thing was dirty. It was hard to see the charm.

But as we worked on it together it grew on me. Let me just admit, that when I say we worked on it, I mean that Allen worked on it and I cheered him on. Aside from doing a few little things to help, I mostly functioned as a cheer leader, while my long suffering husband did all of the work.

But living there in those spare circumstances, I began to notice a few things. The house is way out in the country on four acres. It was very dark at night. So dark you could see all the way to eternity. The sunsets were amazing. And right out the front window, was a magnificent view of Squaw Butte.

One morning, the sunrise was just absolutely astounding. I mean just amazing. I promised myself that when I got back to my oil paints, I was going to try to recreate that scene in oil.

So, I finally have kept my promise. This one is not for sale, but I wanted to share it still. It is just one of the very best things I have done to date.

I am especially fond of the sunrise sky, the glow of the sun on the house, the reflections in the windows, and the pick up truck that Allen’s dad left him and that he dearly loves.

This was a labor of love. And I loved the labor.