The Flamingos, They Will KILL You!

When I started my new coloring group, “Artsy Fartsy Coloring with Shoshanah Marohn,” I kicked it off with a contest. The prize was to have your portrait drawn in a line-drawing style that you could color. Well, Marilyn won, and she requested that I draw her with a flamingo. There’s a story behind the request. In Marilyn’s own words,

“Knowing how much I love her Artwork, I asked if It would be possible, to add a Flamingo to the portrait, and here’s why….
I’m the mother of two grown, adult Sons. My eldest, once put me in a really funny situation while visiting our local Zoo. He was about 4 at the time. We were touring the Zoo, with some friends, and when we reached the Flamingo exhibit, my son lost his mind!! It was BANANAS!! My 4 yr old was running around shoo-ing people away from the area, yelling, “Go! GO! RUN!!” and he was actually clearing the crowd! When I finally scooped him up, and got him calm, I asked him,
“What in the world is going on, Ty!!?
He looked at me, complete seriousness all over his little face, and said,
“Those will KILL you, Mommy! They look pretty, so pretty, but they are NOT safe!!”
It was one of the funniest moments…but he was sincerely freaked out. Over the years, the story was told again and again, and he would laugh. It became ” a thing” for me to warn him away from certain things, by saying, “Those will KILL you!” Or “They are NOT safe.” It made us both smile. I still send him something Flamingo re-lated every once in awhile, lol.
Shoshanah incorporated this funny memory for me, in my awesome prize!”

I’m now considering creating a whole coloring book: portraits of colorists with wacky animals, and I’ll call it, “THOSE WILL KILL YOU!” just so I can use this picture as the cover. It has great potential.