Two More From Genesis

I sort of got these out of order.  Well, I PAINTED them in order, I just didn't PHOTOGRAPH them in order.  There's something about finishing a canvas, and just wanting to pack up and go home!  With a celebratory Starbucks for the drive!

The first image was the idea of one of my pastors.  I don't think people "get" it, though.  It's the story of the flood.  And that's Pikes Peak sticking up out of the water.

The second is from God's promise to Abraham.  God loves faith.  "And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."  Beautiful.

Today I finished up painting the ram caught in the thicket, from the story where Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God.  And did I take a picture?  Or did I go to Starbucks and head home?  I'll let you figure it out.

Drawing and Painting People

I'll be painting this in another week on a 6' square canvas, using only black, grey and white paint.  Whoo hoo!!!  I'll tell you, I thought the sketch was tricky.  Painting it is going to be DOGGONE HARD!  The client has requested one change, so the finished product will look a little different than this.  I'll post pics when I'm done.

It's gonna be nerve racking, but LEARNING IS GOOD, right?

Genesis Eleven

We're still working our way through Genesis.  This is the Tower of Babel, or what my imagination came up with.  It was great fun to paint, although I had to get out the level once or twice.  It still leaves a vague impression that it's tilting, doesn't it?

I painted a canvas for the flood, as well, but it's a little dark, and so far I haven't been able to get a good image of it!  I'm going to have to take it down out of it's frame and move it to a different wall to photograph.

Half way done!

Allow Me to Introduce My Grandfather

Quite awhile ago I mentioned my grandfather, and how greatly he encouraged art in my life.  Evidently years ago he did a brief interview for a TV station in the area, and my uncle had a copy of that interview.  He did something savvy and mind-boggling (to those of us who don't understand modern technology) ...and voila!  He posted the interview on YouTube!  My grandpa has been gone for 10 years, and it's so delightful to see and hear him again!

He still inspires me.

(I should add this fact:  I had no idea how to share this video.  Murphy, also savvy and mind-boggling, did it for me.)

More Greeting Cards

The cold season has begun!  And so I sit close to the fire, with reference photos nearby and blank greeting cards on my lap.  Oh, I have thoroughly enjoyed doing these!  Especially those Sun Parakeets.  Can't you just imagine their conversation??

More Sky Gazing

"Watch For Me"

8" x  8"

Oil on Canvas Board

Painting with oils presents a whole new set of delights and problems.  If I kept at it I could get rid of the brush strokes...but I love the brush strokes!  And as I worked, I discovered that not only was I laying down paint, but I was also lifting paint...and I think in this case I love it.

This is the fourth canvas I've painted while caught up in the longing for that trumpet.   Times are indeed perilous.  And so I watch the skies.

Someone once said to me that we only live by faith while on earth, in this life.  In the presence of the Lord, in eternity, we will live by sight.  So, if God is delighted by my faith, then this life is the only time I get to give Him that pleasure.  The thought sort of adds value to the watching and waiting.

God Repeats Himself

I spent most of the morning working on this.  It's a greeting card, blank inside.  

The verse is from Psalm 62.  There's a bit of a repeating theme here..."my soul wait in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation" ...that's verse 1.  Then in verse 5, "my soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him."  And then in verse 6, "He only is my rock and  my salvation."  And then verse 7, "On God my salvation and my glory rest."

Evidently we need it to be repeated!

Longing

"Come Quickly"

8" x  8"

Oil on canvas panel

Oh, how I love a big sky!  For awhile, we lived IN our small town.  Right in the middle, which was very convenient....but I told people we lived in Narnia.  You know, "always winter and never Christmas".  Sure, we celebrated Christmas, but we were down IN THE TREES.  And the snow never melted.  And you could barely see the sky.  I so longed to GET! MY! HEAD! UP!

That's the main motivation for these paintings: my love of a big sky, and my longing for my Lord's return.

"Watching & Waiting"

8" x  8"

Oil on canvas panel

"Maranatha"

8" x  8"

Oil on canvas panel

EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS!

(Curious about the Narnia reference?  Go read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis.)

Denver Botanic Gardens

What could be better?  October.  Warm.  Delightfully so!  Free admission.  Sketchbook in hand.  And what was I sketching?  Well, how on earth does a person choose?!  The fodder for artwork is unending.  I finally settled on this:

I have no idea why water lilies capture my attention so thoroughly, but they do!  I have SOO many reference pics in my computer, all waiting to be sketched or painted.  Here's how the sketch turned out:

Colored pencils in my spiffy new accordian style sketch book...there's only one page!  It just folds in on itself and goes on and on and on....so your drawing just keeps morphing!  Love it!

Blown Away

"Blown Away"

10" x  20"

Oil on canvas

Oh, how I love painting with oils!  They blend so delightfully.  They move so smoothly.  They stay workable for so long!  No fast-drying sticky brushes.  It's a delight to play with them again.

As I drove home the other day, the wind was whipping about, and the leaves were flying along in front of my car...and I thought, 'wouldn't that make a lovely painting?'  For this canvas I actually gathered aspen leaves from my yard and brought them in and taped them to my easel (my hubby laughed at that).  We're actually getting RED this year!  That's not overly common with aspen trees.  Reveling in the colors was a gift from our Generous God!!

(Psst....you can make the image larger by clicking on it.)

Genesis Three

"Now the serpent was  more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, "you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?"'"  And the story goes on.  Adam and Eve had no idea what they would lose.  God would come to them and say, "what is this you have done?"....and they would realize that they had thrown away everything good, and hopeful, and beautiful.

I painted that loss.  Everything became dark and dismal.  And God became distant.  I love the hope that God speaks, though:

"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)  Because of the blood of Jesus, God doesn't stay distant.

From Beginning to End

Quite awhile ago my sister-in-law contacted me and asked me to come paint at a women's retreat while she taught.  Well, of course!  She gave me her initial thoughts on what she might be teaching, and we hashed it out, and then I came up with a line drawing for her approval.  Of course, I HAD to color it in, just like in a coloring book.  Stay inside the lines, now!!

Then, we took a road trip...16 hours on the dotted line!  The canvas started black, with the lines drawn on it in pencil (I did all that at home), and then I had three different sessions to work on it while my sister-in-law taught.

This is the end of session one.  (funny how the lighting made the yellow look oh-so-brilliant in this pic!!  It's not really that bright.)

And the final  product!  I was nervous to the point of shaking for the first 10 minutes of the first session, and after that God was kind and I found it to be FUN.  The red turned out darker than I intended, and I love it. 

When it was all said and done, I loaded up all my junk, left the canvas behind, and returned to my tiny little home.

 Thank You, My Father, for Your Kindness.  Your Faithfulness.  Your activity in my life.

Genesis One

"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31

I couldn't bring myself to paint a lovely garden scene, with lots of greenery and two naked adults with artfully placed drapery.  Besides, creation is so much more!  More than the initial garden.  More than what I see in my little mountain town.  More than our globe.  The creativity and power of God are astounding.

God says, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements?  Since you know.  Or Who stretched the line on it?  On what were its bases sunk?  Or Who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"   (Job 38)  It must have been ASTOUNDING to behold.

Here we go!

Change: a)to make different in some particular b)to make radically different

That about sums it up.

The canvases at my church are changing.  Yesterday morning they had lovely images and pieces of scripture on them.  This morning they were all jet black.  Tomorrow morning (Lord willing!) one of them will begin to show evidence of yet another image, and yet more scripture.  By Tuesday morning it just may be done!

Change is good, right?