"He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their sister Rosie." (Lotr pg. 939)
Sam has a beautiful, tormenting memory
I really wanted to draw this and only watercolor could do, even though I had never painted a background before. Interesting how he has paddled but clearly never learned to swim. Anyway I put a lot of effort into representing their comparative ages with Sam being in the front next to Rosie. (I found out she is slightly older than him!) Only once I started painting them did I realize Hobbits age differently but whatever.
I love this photo of Betty & Jack Teepe with their Big Ol' Fish on! It reminds me of children in the country on a hot summer day.
Four year old Jack and two year old Betty lived with their parents John Henry and Mary E Teepe on their farm in Floyd Iowa. The 1950s census reports that when Jack was 12 years old he still lived on the farm and listed his occupation as an 'unpaid' farm helper for his father. Back in the days when a family all worked together to support the family business.