This is my super cute new rain barrel I painted yesterday. This little fella just makes me smile. I researched lots of different Native American designs and decided I would try Kokopelli, a fertility deity, associated with childbirth and agriculture. I saw the turtle interpretation of the design and decided to go that way. I gave the barrel a good spray down with a primer and then a two tone application of earthy looking paint. It's been so hot that it took forever just to get that part done. Finally, yesterday afternoon, I got to plop down in front of my barrel with a few bright colors I chose for this little project and painted this design. What fun! I haven't had this much fun painting in a while. It was very free and unstructured. I felt like a little kid, all plopped down indian style on my drop cloth, with my paints and sketch pad. I had sketched him out on a legal pad last week, with my other possible designs. I flipped through the pad before I made the final decision. Yes, the first one had to be the turtle. I gave him a little pot belly :) He turned out so cute that I may have to rethink my other designs. Now I need to get the rest of them painted asap, so Lee can hook them to our gutters. I have missed out on 2 fabulous rain storms here lately. I believe it's a little cooler this week than last, so maybe I can stand being out there this week. Lee started talking about doing this rain barrel thing at least two years ago. At the time it sounded quite simple. Never for us. Here I am painting the barrels and Lee is no longer satisfied with just letting the water flow into the top of the barrel and attaching a spicket near the bottom. Nope there will be a platform with pvc running everywhere. I don't want him to have to work to hard or spend too much money on this, but I see the wheels turning in his head and I think it's much to late to stop him now.