Are You Thirsty?

Thirst

Graphite/Charcoal

20" x 12"

Six thirsty horses have waited patiently over the past weeks for me to get the water "drawn" in their tubs.  Finally, quenching their thirst, they gulp and swallow, gulp and swallow in the hot sun.  What struck me as comical was the little colt sneaking under his mother's neck to see if the water in the adjacent tub was tastier or cooler.  Maybe it might even be Pepsi or Mountain Dew!  Or better yet, pure liquid chocolate!

As I've spent many hours working on this composition, I've thought a lot about the topic of thirst.  So here goes:

What are you thirsty for?  Do you sense desire and hunger for something more than what you currently experience?  St. Augustine stated that God has made us for Himself, and that our souls are restless until they find their rest in HIm.  Life offers a variety of ways to attempt to quench our thirsts.  But nothing satisfies ultimately except....God Himself.  We are created in God's image and to find in Him our life's supreme joy and satisfaction.  This summer as I stood at the rim of the Yellowstone River and watched the thundering Upper Falls, I was visually reminded of how thirst-quenching a relationship with God is and of the power of that in

one's life.  Jesus compellingly invites anyone to have their thirst and hunger quenched forever in Him.  He declared that He was the bread of life, that whoever came to Him would never be hungry again, and that whoever believed in Him would never be thirsty again.  And in Isaiah 55 He again invites:  

  Is anyone thirsty?

Come and drink---

Even if you have no money!

Come, take your choice of wine or milk---

It's all free!

Why spend your money on food that does

not give you strength?

Why pay for food that does you no good?

Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.

You will enjoy the finest food.

Come to me with your ears wide open.

Listen, and you will find life.

What a grand invite!  I'll drink to that!!

Go be astonished by beauty this week!

Michelangelo, my little art manikin, decided he had better get on with chores here in my studio wildlife sanctuary and do some thirst quenching before things got out of hand! 

Be brave and courageous!

I Flunked Art Today

Mt. Moran/Grand Tetons

(Small watercolor study)

"Some days are diamonds, some days are stone/Sometimes the hard times won't leave me alone/Some times the cold winds blow a chill in my bones/Some days are diamonds, some days are stone."  So go the words to a John Denver song.  Well. the weather outside is frightful, as another song puts it.  It is cold, bone-chilling cold, and I see from the weather map that many of you are experiencing winter's blast.

And besides the weather issues outside, I've had issues today in my studio, as well.  I did a watercolor study this morning and it just kept going from bad to worse.  I haven't thrown it in the garbage yet, as I'm saving it to see how improvement will look hopefully.  It is so easy to get discouraged in learning to draw/paint but the only anecdote for that is to get back up in the saddle again and keep riding.  It's an encouraging reminder to look at a little cartoon I keep tacked up here in my studio that my son Jacob drew for me:

This cartoon is based on the famous Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare.  The moral to the story is seen in the banner "Slow and steady wins the race!"  I love the humor that Jacob adds to the scene with the hare being towed in by hanging onto the tortoise's tail.  We all have growth areas in our lives where it is hard to be patient.  We wanted to be proficient yesterday.  The winding, circuitous road to get from where we are currently to where our goals land us is how the journey just is.  There are no short cuts to somewhere worth going!

(One watercolor study that turned out okay)

Be brave and courageous!

Be Dazzled in 2015!

 Elijah's Work Day

5" x 7"

Pastel study

Welcome to a New Year!  A wide open horizon stands before us.  What possibilities lie ahead?  What unexpected joys?  What unforeseen challenges?  What new adventures? Thinking about the joys/adventures/possibilities parts really revs my engines.  What I'd rather leave off the agenda are the challenges/problems pieces.  But that is where I seem to grow the most.

 I am thankful that God promises to personally go before us and to walk beside us moment by moment.  I like how Luci Swindoll expressed it..."I took God at His word---that He'd be with me and take care of me; that He'd go before me and straighten out the crooked places...something about that choice had a rush in it for me.  An edge.  An excitement.  Each day I couldn't wait to see what would happen!"

Bighorn Sheep study

4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Watercolor

So...are you ready to be dazzled in 2015?!  Let me share a brief bit of poetry by one of my favorite poets with you to explain just WHY you need to be dazzled:

Good Morning

          The mulitiplicity of forms!  The hummingbird,

          the fox, the raven, the sparrow hawk, the 

          otter, the dragonfly, the water lily!  And 

          on and on.  It must be a great disappointment

          to God if we are not dazzled at least ten 

          times a day.

                                                                    ---Mary Oliver.

                                                                        Blue Horses

This beautiful, created world beckons to us every day to see with fresh eyes and listen with open ears.  So be dazzled everyday of this new 2015 year!!!  It's a great way to live!

                                                                  

Cedar Canyon Near Scottsbluff

5" x 7"

Pastel study

This past August I enjoyed a wonderful hike with my son Joe up into this canyon on the lookout for the Bighorn sheep herd that has been thriving there.  We never saw any sheep, but really enjoyed the time together and the road less traveled.

Pen sketch of one of my favorite dogs...Leo

Oh, yes...while I was visiting my son Joe and daughter-in-law Crystal, I enjoyed lots of throw and retrieve time with the infamous little Papillion dog Leo.  He's the star of the "Leo Diaries".

He steals my heart every time!

Be strong and courageous!

The King in a Manger

On this day the world pretty much comes to a stand still.  One baby's birth brings our focus to the highest and best of thoughts.  I was reminded fresh again today that the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords stripped Himself of the greatest in riches and privilege to come in the most helpless form and to a place of filth.  The purpose was so you and I could be freed from our poverty of soul to gain the riches of relationship with God and high privilege of being called His sons and daughters.  This is what Christmas is all about!

The following are some photos of large murals in chalk I did a few years back depicting more parts about the Christmas story:  

The above drawing was a variation I composed off of a similar painting by Rembrandt.  I updated and personalized it by putting in some contemporary cowboy/shepherds and dogs in the mix of stable animals.  

Merry Christmas to you!!!

What Am I Giving?

What a fun time of the year Christmas is!  Plans are laid, raw materials selected, ideas become reality as saws buzz, sand paper scritches, and paint is applied.  There is a lot of joy that comes from creating and giving!  This little tractor and hay wagon were so much fun to build.  An even greater joy was envisioning the little hands and fingers that will be unloading the hay bales and driving the tractor.  Today my little grandson Caleb should receive this package in the mail for Christmas.  Merry Christmas, Caleb!

Instead of drawing with a pencil this week, you would have found me with a woodburner in my grip.  It has been an enjoyable diversion from my usual art work.  Wood is very different from paper and it's been an interesting support to explore.  Here is an example of what I've been burning:

Michelangelo has been closely supervising my activity until he couldn't keep his eyelids open any longer.  So he's shown here stretched out taking five.

Observing the Advent season greatly helps me to focus on the WHY of Christmas.  I enjoy the daily meditations in Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin, Jr.   This is about my 14th year to read through it. Wangerin excavates all the facts and persons involved in the Christmas story, bringing out some unique perspectives.  Pictured above is a painting of the Nativity scene by one of my favorite animal artists, Dutch painter Rien Poortvliet, in his book Dutch Treat.  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes that " the celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come".  I like that.  

To the question in my post title, "What Am I Giving?", I think of Christina Rosetti's poem as a response and challenge for me at Christmas:

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, –
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

(Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God)

(Sheep grazing on hillside above Bethlehem)

These last two photos are of some large murals I created a number of Christmases ago.

 Merry Christmas!

Be brave and courageous!

Christmas in the Air#My Studio

 Michelangelo Taking Five

Bang!  Bzzzz!  More bang!  More bzzzz!  What's going on in my studio?!  Work...fun work! Of all sorts.  From the fragrant spice of a candle to the Internet Christmas channel streaming from Seattle's Classical FM catch a sense of Christmas joy.  Add to that the whir of drills and bzzing of saws.  Mix in neighing from horses emerging on my easel.

  "Oh, what fun it is to".....(you thought I was going to say "to ride in a one horse open sleigh" but, no to that)  ....create and give!  How's that?  That's what is happening around here. My art manikin Michelangelo had to stop and take some time out as he's been busy supervising my work.  First, let's take a look at what is taking place on my easel:

 The horses are shaping up.  Three out of the six are completed.  They are drinking so much that I keep having to stop drawing and head for the water hose for refills!

This week Bambi and Wiggles came back from the framers.  Boy, were they glad to get some hay, treats, and water again.  But these critters are wondering if someone would adopt them for Christmas and send them to a good home where there's plenty of hay, mice, and water?  Total price....$775.  Or think of it as a gift you can give someone that you won't find any where else! 

Next stop...over at my workbench Michelangelo is crawling out from under the pile of lumber. He's been excitedly helping me build a little tractor and hay wagon for my little grandson Caleb.  

Next week we hope to show you the finished product.  Grandkids "give" you permission to play again!  It sure is a joy to create and give!

The wise men are enroute to Bethlehem but stopped by my studio to remind me that their search and quest is to be predominant in my heart and yours this Christmas season.  Here is a look at a mural I did a few years back contrasting the search motives between King Herod and the Wise Men:

Both groups were looking for the Christ child but for different reasons.  I encourage you to take time during this Holiday and reflect on the reason for Christ's coming.  Enter into the joy of the angel choirs, the dumbfounded but ecstatic shepherds, and later the seeking-then- satisfied wise men.  No other day in history has the impact for humanity as this one except for the Resurrection.  

"Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love Divine..."

---Christina Rossetti.

Wise men still seek Him....be one!

Be brave and courageous!

Tis The Season!

 Listen!  Can you hear the beautiful Christmas music streaming from the Internet here in my studio?  What joy to stand at my easel and work on this horse drawing with such great music in the background!  I experience a stillness and quiet reflection on the meaning of Christ's birth...for my own life and for the world. 

As you can see, the next drawing is on the easel now that "Bambi and Wiggles" are in the wings (er, other stable) waiting for the framer to call for pickup.  

 What are these guys and gals doing?  For your answer, take a look at Isaiah 55:1 and you will get a clue.  In fact, there is one word in that verse that will be the title for this drawing. There is a huge metaphor in this artwork for us to think about.  More on that when this drawing is finished.  Working on this piece has been a challenge.  Somehow it has not gotten off to as good a start as the "Bambi and Wiggles" drawing.  But with prayer for God's help and by just showing up to the easel day by day, chipping away at it, it is beginning to take shape.  Many more miles of trail to ride on this one!  I think often of that verse in Proverbs 21:5..."Little by little the diligent make it happen." 

From where I stand at my easel I can keep my eyes on what is happening in the world of nature.  Lately this little squirrel has been trying to quench his thirst at my frozen birdbath. He gnaws away at the ice with his teeth.  It takes about 10 minutes for him to accomplish his goal.

Recently, I've been "treating" myself to the study of this world famous nature artist Rien Poortvliet.  As you can gather, he isn't Japanese!  Rien was from the Netherlands and drew marvelously about the world of nature, life, and animals.  I love studying his sketches and reading his comments!

Many of you have probably been taking part in some of the glorious music centered around Christmas through concerts at church or school.  I enjoy sketching often while taking in the occasion.  It helps deepen the meaning of the beauty I hear.  Here's a few for you to enjoy:

 Time to get to the easel!  Hope you are experiencing the peace, joy, and love of Christmas!

(This is my older brother Gordon and me enjoying a moment of Christmas circa 1958.)

Be brave and courageous!