"If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."
~ Edward Hopper

Hear My Cry

Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe
I long to dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Psalm of David - Psalms 61.1-4

Oil on canvas. 16 x 11 inches. 2015.

Star Wars

Star Wars was a pop culture phenomenon from the get go when it first came out in 1977. Sequels followed quickly and all the films were nominated for or won Academy Awards.  The story line captured the imagination of the nation and continues to hold our fascination.

This is a portrait of a young boy at the age of five who is now grown up.  He grew up dreaming of Jedi knights, wookies and lightsaber duels. He grew into a man of great character and is very creative.  He has many interests and talents.  We feel privileged to count him as one of our friends. 

Oil on canvas. 11 x 16 inches. 2015.

"There's no such thing as a good painting about nothing."
~ Mark Rothko

"It's not about painting life.  It's about giving life to painting."
~ Pierre Bonnard

Dreams of a Young Boy

I grew up in the country on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River ~ specifically Pool 19 also known as Cooper Lake just above the lock and dam at Keokuk, Iowa about 40 miles north of where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were said to have lived. Little did I know it was a historic place along the Great River Road. It's just where I grew up watching barges go up and down the river, playing in the fields with my dog, traipsing out onto docks to take a break and dream about what lay around the bend in the river. It was a good place to be a kid.

Oil on canvas. 11 x 14 inches. 2015.

Tulips

Tulips herald springtime - they symbolize the return of warmth and abundance after a long time without.  We always were happy to see the tulips coming up in the garden that my mother planted.  It was a good sign of things to come. They gave us hope.

Red tulips mean "believe me" ~ yellow tulips mean "you have beautiful eyes" and are cheerful ~ orange tulips  mean energy, enthusiasm, desire and passion.  These variegated ones are a combination all those beautiful thoughts.  

These are some of the things I thought about as I painted this painting.  Another thing I was thinking about was the transfer of energy from the sun, the rain, the air,the soil and even from God Himself into the plant ~ all the energy it took to create these beautiful living organisms ~ and then how that energy worked into and within the cells of the plant as it grew ~ finally emanating from the plants out into the atmosphere freely. Vibrant, vibrating.  One can even feel it in the palms of your hands if you cup them a few inches away from each bloom.  God's love in the palm of your hands as expressed through what He created in nature. . . 

Oil on canvas. 11 x 14 inches. 2015.

"To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them."
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French Artist (1841 - 1919)