Creating a Moment in Time… My Latest Painting

I was recently commissioned to paint a lovely woman named Loma. She lived a long, happy life, and recently passed away in her 90′s. The family wanted to memorialize her in a painting, which will be displayed above the mantle in the grandchildren’s play room.

Loma was a vibrant, amazing woman, and had stunning blue eyes, porcelain skin, and high cheekbones. Sherry, my client, wanted the painting to depict Loma in her youth, and a traditional head and shoulders style portrait simply would not do!

Sherry provided me with several reference photos from the 1940′s, all black and white and showing signs of their age. I realized quickly that this portrait would be a challenging one, but I knew how important the project was. The photo we decided to use was of Loma sitting on an uneven bar in someone’s backyard. Sherry mentioned that Loma had always loved sunflowers, so it seemed fitting to have a field of the beautiful flowers in the background of the painting. I went on a search to find the perfect field – one that had a fence that we could place her on.

After selecting the reference photos, I used my Photoshop program and my graphic design background to lay out the composition and get Sherry’s approval before starting to paint. We agreed on details such as what color to make her skirt stripes, and whether she preferred a white fence or a natural one, and then the magic began…

I spent about 2 weeks working on this painting.  I was pleased with how it progressed, and enjoyed making decisions such as shadow placement, how to paint the sky, and what to do with the lower part of the fence and ground without reference material.

It’s Good Friday… Do you know why?

It’s Good Friday!

As a child, I was perplexed by the name of this important day. Wasn’t it the day that acknowledges Jesus’ death? Jesus, who was sinless and pure, who deserved no death, but who chose it? Now I grasp how good this day really is. It’s a day that represents the death of our separation from God. Our sin separated us from our loving Creator, and Jesus’ death bridged that gap. We couldn’t do it on our own.

The miracle and power of this weekend, however, lies in Jesus’ resurrection. Had Christ remained on the cross, we would still be lost. But he didn’t. Jesus was buried, but rose to life on Sunday, and showed himself to over 500 witnesses before ascending to heaven. Amazing!

I recently completed a painting which embodies the spirit of Easter, entitled “Risen.” An empty cocoon hangs off of one side of the cross, and on the other side, a butterfly ascends toward heaven. It is red and white, symbolizing both the purity of Christ and the blood which has saved us. This Easter weekend, don’t let the miracle of Christ’s resurrection pass you by. “It is Finished” changed everything.

This painting is available as a print here.

It’ll Cost You an Arm and a Leg…

My Dad came into town for his birthday this past weekend, and we decided to visit The Carter House, a site of one of the most gruesome battles of the Civil War (The Battle of Franklin). Dad’s a history buff, and I came along to support I actually ended up enjoying it a lot, and I learned a couple of things about art that I never knew…

During the tour, our guide Jim pointed to a portrait of a little child. We all assumed that it was a little girl because of the white dress and bonnet that the child was wearing. However, it was common back then to dress little boys in girls’ clothing until the age of 4, sometimes even up to age 7. One way to tell if it was a girl or boy in a painting is to see if there is an animal depicted with the subject. If it was a dog, the child was a boy. If it was a pony or a sheep, the child was a girl!

Below is a great example of such a painting, though no animal is depicted.

Jim went on to tell us that back then, portrait artists would spend all of the cold months painting headless portraits of children and adults in elegant settings with fine clothing and props. Then, when it warmed, they went out and asked people if they wanted their portrait painted, and if they said yes, they would choose a body they liked and have just their heads painted into it. However, if they wanted their own bodies painted into the portrait rather than the generic ones, it would cost them quite a hefty amount more. This is where the saying, “It will cost you an arm and a leg” originated!