Abraham Studios

ARKANSAS

Hell On The Border
30 x 24"
acrylic on canvas
Brown's Fine Art, Jackson, MS

Our first night in Arkansas, we camped in the woods. Just past the shop with Humpty Dumpty on the roof!	Gunner Pool, Ozark Natl. Forest
Buffalo National River	At Buffalo National River, we drove the Element onto the rocky beach. Poncho skipped rocks for about an hour while I wrote in my sketchbook. We also went to a ghost town. This town, called Rush, once thrived due to Zinc mining.
P.A.L.S, in Huntsville, AR is filled with work by local artists of all styles	We visited the laundry mat in Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas.
Our restaurant of choice was AQ Chicken House. We chose more of a family place this week, and AQ has been serving AR since 1947
Some places in Arkansas had strict warnings (like this sign) prohibiting camping.	However, we were still able to spend six nights in six different campgrounds, for free!
Our first stop in Fort Smith was Miss Laura's Social Club. Once a house of ill repute, this ostentatious, Victorian house, turned into visitor center, has become the only bordello on the national registry of historic places.	Escorted by the superintendent of
We viewed gallows where Judge Parker earned the nickname "Hanging Judge," for sentencing more men to death than any judge in U.S. history. Ironically, he never attended a single execution.	Pam Cloud, writer for the Times Record accompanied us during some of our visit in Fort Smith. She shared with us some of the areas history, such as a visit to "Hell on the border," Fort Smith's original jail.
Regardless of where we are, the sunset is still amazing!	We came across this bulldozer that had recently caught on fire. Doesn't it know about the burn ban issued throughout most of AR?
TEXAS ARKANSAS	Texarkana isn't the only city that is split by two states. It does have the only federal building that is divided in half by two states, and the only house I have ever seen that was designed to resemble an ace of clubs. By visiting this unique city, where one side of the street is Arkansas and the other side is Texas, it was harder than ever to keep tract of which state we were in!
With the warm weather, I was able to paint.	And paint some more!
Along with painting in Hot Springs, we spent a lot of time enjoying the scenery. Water from the 47 hot springs emerges from the ground at 132˚. We weren't the only people considering how nice a hot bath in the springs would be. People have been bathing in the hot springs since the land was shared by Indian tribes.
European settlers built bath houses, and believed that bathing in the springs could cure almost any ailment.	Although re-modeled over the years, a row of bath houses still remains, and the area still thrives on tourism due to this natural wonder.
Cantrell Gallery, the first gallery to display work by, well-known, Arkansas artist Warren Criswell is proud to display Deus Ex Machina.	We walked the streets of Downtown Little Rock, Enjoying River Market, local galleries and the Clinton Presidential Library.
River Market, Little Rock	Central High, home of the "Little Rock Nine"
Poncho addressing the state in Arkansas' State Capital.	Cindy & Clarke, from Cantrell Gallery treated us to a wonderful dinner at Gypsy's Grill.