As an Air Force wife, I am lucky to be part of an amazing group women! We are each others' support, friends, and surrogate families. Typically, the squadron commander's wife heads up things like social activities, fundraisers, and informational emails for the other spouses. Jill Hubert, our squadron commander's wife, has been that and so much more. She and her family are about to move to another base and as a parting gift, I wanted to create something special for her. Our squadron's mascot is a tiger, so a watercolor of this majestic animal seemed like the perfect choice. The first thing I did was search for the perfect picture to reference. There are a few things I know about Jill: she is strong, experienced in life, and very unique. I wanted to reflect all of those qualities in her tiger painting. Finding the right mood in a tiger photo proved to be tougher than I thought! I ran across mean tigers, cartoon tigers, mating tigers, even Tiger Woods. Not helpful. Eventually, I found the perfect picture. I sketched my tiger in the car on the way from Mississippi to Destin, Florida. I like to use my time in the car efficiently! The sketch was tough because the little intricate stripes and patterns were each so different. One shape looked like a little fish, the next looked like a little triangle, then a half moon. It was pretty easy to get lost in it.
Next, the fun part! I love to splash in a messy background with watercolor. Lots of water and splashing of paint! It took a few layers but I got the background to look like a blurry, out of focus jungle. I completed that part during my daughter's naptimes on vacation. Next, I mixed up a lovely shade of tiger-orange and started shading away to make this guy look three dimensional.
As I painted and studied the photograph up close, it really hit me just how beautiful tigers are! This was what I like to call a "That's God" moment. Like when you see a beautiful sunset or rainbow that is so stunning, you think "That's God!". Sounds cheesy, I know, but the gorgeous stripes and intricate patterns on this animal just made me think about God. He had a plan for the design of this tiger and he's got a plan for all of us, too. Feeling inspired, I added in the details of the stripes, fur, and face.
When I finally finished, I was pretty proud of my tiger. He looks strong and confident with some pretty distinctive patterns. It's always fun to watch a painting come to life and even more interesting to see where my thoughts wander while I am painting. Throughout the two weeks it took me to complete this project, I thought about Jill and how much she has done for our squadron, how she is not the "typical" squadron commander's wife, and how much she will be missed when she is gone. I thought about how strong Jill is to be able to pick up her life and family and move every time the Air Force says so. I thought about how tough it is to be a military spouse sometimes. We never really know what is coming next and we just have to go with it when it comes up! I also thought about the tiger and it's beautiful patterns. Up close, the patterns don't make too much sense, but when you step back, they really come together to make the tiger beautiful. Last, I thought about God some more. He has a plan for us, just like he had a design for the tiger. The events (moving to a place where you don't know a soul, your husband deploying for a year) might not make sense at the moment, but eventually they will come together in a beautiful plan. :)
