Ojalá, Selah, Lateda

Recovery for Christmas

Recovery: Acrylic on Wood, 8.5 x 12 inches

A week and a couple days before I left for Christmas vacation a friend asked me if I would do a painting for her to give as a Christmas present. She wanted a painting to celebrate a friend’s recovery from alcohol addiction. When she first described it to me I imagined one of those pictures where Jesus rides shotgun in a big rig. I tried to explain that no matter the subject matter a painting by me would be in my style, and that I wouldn’t be offended if she wanted to look for an artist better suited to what she was imagining. But I was intrigued and started making sketches. I sent her the sketches and she liked them so with just a week to get it done I accepted the commission. I wasn’t sure if I could get it done with so much else to be done for the holidays but I think the pressure actually worked in my favor. I finished writing part of Psalm 18 around the border just minutes before she came to pick it up, and a few hours later the kids and I left town for a week.

We decided to use the verses from The Message translation. It is very powerful…

 ^16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

^20-24 God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

-Psalm 18:16-24 (The Message)

IF: Hatch

I couldn’t decide which of the 2 paintings I finished this weekend to post for this prompt. Even though they are quite different in tone they both feature a “hatched” creature. I worked on them together off the same pallet so if one wasn’t about to be sent off to live in New Mexico I think I would hang them side by side.

Pondering with Peacock is 7 by 10.5 inches.  Flirty Bird is 7 x 12.5 inches. Both are Acrylic on Wood.
Click on them to see them larger.

IF: Entangled

“After a while she got so entangled that all boundaries were lost.”

For Illustration Friday: Entangled
Collage of Pen & Ink Sketches

This piece started as a simple office post-it doodle on a pink square. It can still be seen on it’s corner in the center. Another, purple, post-it was cut in fourths and pasted to the corners and then all the pieces were placed on a larger yellow one. The transition between the different pieces was awkward until various swirls and a hand were drawn and cut out and pasted down crossing over the edges. A little black sharpie to bring up the contrast and it felt worthy of this week’s prompt.