I is for Inspiration: People Who Inspire

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I’m going to start a new feature on my blog.  I’m not sure how regular it will be but I want it to act as a counter point to my Happy Places blog posts about settings that inspire me.  I’d like to discuss people, past and present, specific and general, who have inspired me to live a creative life.

And the first person I’m going to feature is a man whom I’ve never met, yet whom I’m directly descended from, my grandfather, Garreth J. Rynhart.

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Garreth was born in Holland and emigrated to the U.S. in 1914.  He received his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in the early 1920s.  While at university, he decided he was going to develop a way to live by his brush.  With this goal in mind, he trained himself to paint very quickly.

He traveled all over Western Canada (his country of adoption) and the Western U.S.  He hiked over different landscapes with his trusty binoculars and made sketches in his book.  During the Great Depression, Garreth was actually well off because of his ability to “mass produce” paintings cheaply.  Painting on nothing but thick cardboard for canvasses and making his own frames, he sold 2 paintings for $5.  Many times, during this time, he couldn’t keep up with is orders, even spending just 5-10 minutes painting works like the one you see below (12 x 24 “)il_fullxfull.416861957_occa

Garreth produced so many pictures during his lifetime that they can still be found in older homes, established businesses, antique stores and online venues such as ebay (where I purchased one of them) and Etsy (where I purchased another!)2012-05-28_201322_rynhart1These photographs only represent one of his signature styles, the monochromatic “sepia” style.  He also had a plein-air style and painted bigger pictures on canvas which, naturally were more expensive to produce and came at a higher price tag.

Garreth was well known for his speed painting and attracted a lot of attention by painting in store windows and at amusement parks, such as the early Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland, where people were so excited to get their hands on his work, they carried the paintings home still wet.

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Tragically, Garreth suffered from diabetes, which robbed him of his eyesight, therefore curtailing his artistic career.  But by then, he had already taught his beloved wife to paint.  She is another very inspiring story that I will share at another time.il_fullxfull.419035044_11vbMy grandfather’s story has inspired me on my creative journey.  He’s taught me never to give up on my dreams, to find a way to persevere and make it work. Though I never met him, I will always be grateful for the legacy he left me.

G is for GIVEAWAY!!!

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Big Historical Romance prize pack giveaway, as you see pictured here.

TEN BOOKS IN ALL!!

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Prize pack includes:

Vicky Dreiling “How To” series: All 3 novels

Julie Anne Long “Pennyroyal Green” series (novels #3 and #4)

Lorraine Heath

Waking Up with the Duke (signed by author)

Alexandra Hawkins

Till Dawn with the Devil (signed by author)

Anna Randol

A Secret in Her Kiss (signed by author)

Stephanie Laurens

The Untamed Bride

Elizabeth Hoyt

Thief of Shadows

Note: All but the Elizabeth Hoyt and Stephanie Laurens titles are SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR.  Some include promo materials (book marks or post cards, etc.).

Giveaway winner will be decided on April 30th at 11:59 p.m.

( the same day that the A-Z blog hop ends)

Enter via Rafflecopter.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway  (Follow the link)

There are many chances to win.  Click over to Rafflecopter (linked above) and check it out.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

E is for the Emotion Thesaurus

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Today I’m going to share a wonderful writer’s tool that I discovered several years ago.  It started at the blog,  Bookshelf Muse and grew into something so fantastic.  It eventually became a book: The Emotion Thesaurus.

It is a resource for descriptions of feelings, emotions, settings, colors, body language, etc. for use while writing.  I’ve relied upon it many times and the electronic version is great because it is searchable.  Clicking on the cover below will take you to the Goodreads page for the book.

13554235It is the ultimate aid in adhering to the well-known addage “Show, don’t tell.”  I hope it will prove as useful to you as it was for me.  Happy writing!

C is for Canadian

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, one day about four years ago, I woke up Canadian.  In the comments, a person asked me about how that happened.

It is not quite as interesting a story as it sounds, I’m afraid.  What that means is that the Canadian citizenship laws were changed on that day and, as a result, thousands of people (including Americans) who were not Canadian before that day became Canadian.

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I was one of them!

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My mother was born in Canada but emigrated to the U.S. with her parents as a teenager.  Due to the new laws, all of her children are recognized as Canadian citizens and are granted duel citizenship.  But the U.S. doesn’t recognize duel citizens so I’m a bit of an anomaly. (shhh!!)

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Some of my favorite Canadian stereotypes: Canadians are uber polite, even when upset and apologize about everything.

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Another stereotype: Canadians say “eh” a lot at the end of their sentences.
so-youre-canadian-eh-nah-i-dont-care-about-anything-you-could-say-reallyAnd lastly: Americans don’t give a crap about Canadians (more or less true, unfortunately!)

I’ll leave you with the link to the fun video that the Canadian Immigration put out to help spread the word about the change in the law and the many new Canadian citizens who are “secret Canadians!”  (LOL!)

It’s full of many more fun stereotypes.  Keep your eyes peeled for the Mountie!

B is for the British Monarchy

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Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the second monarch of that name to reign, after her predecessor, Elizabeth Tudor (Elizabeth I), another great monarch who ruled for many years and surveyed over what is now called “The Golden Age” of English history.

Queen Elizabeth is the second longest reigning monarch (after her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria) and ascended the throne in 1952 at the age of 25 due to the untimely death of her father to lung cancer.  She had never expected to become queen.  Her uncle was first in line to the throne as a child and when her grandfather died, he ascended as Edward VIII.  However, her father went from Heir Presumptive to King of England practically overnight when Edward the VIiI abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.  Princess Elizabeth then became Heiress Presumptive and subsequently queen.

Elizabeth II’s official seal “E II R” stands for Elizabeth Regina (Latin for queen) and the Roman numerals for being the second monarch of that name.

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Did you know that the British Monarchy has a website and has had some for quite some time?  I discovered this by accident while doing research and found that it is a veritable wealth of information for all things British.  And Royal.

Some interesting things you’ll learn from the website:

The British State Opening of Parliament, amongst all kinds of pomp and ceremony with centuries of history behind it.  This year, it will occur on May 8, 2013 and will likely be televised in many countries (almost certainly if you live in a Commonwealth country).  If you get a chance, I suggest you check it out.  It’s a fascinating lesson in history, tradition and the continuity of one of the most important monarchies of Great Britain.

Royal Events and Ceremonies, including State Funerals, Coronations, Investitures and the Changing of the Guard.

History of the Monarchy provides a timeline of all the British Monarchs and biographies of each using a wonderful visual graphic to illustrate the passage of time over the milenia.

The Royal Household is explained with a wonderful overview video and also delineates the specific divisions within the household.

Resources Elsewhere:

The BBC did a very in-depth set of documentaries about five years ago entitled “A Year With The Queen.”  The DVDs are still available and I highly recommend them.  Here’s a trailer of the documentary.

To go along with it, is this visually stunning and detailed hardback book (and part of my personal research library):

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Her Majesty has a sense of humor, despite her austere façade.  The world had a chance to witness it at the London Olympic Games last year.  Because it’s such a fun clip, I’m including it here!

On April 17, 2009 (almost 4 years ago, now!) I woke up a Canadian citizen.  As such, I am now a subject of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.  Believe me, when you are trying to catch up with a lifetime of culture and history, resources like these are very useful!

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