Where to see that Christmas Art...

I'm in the midst of posting the Christmas themed works that incorporate those sheep - you can go read about them in my Visions blog - Go to Bethlehem and In the City of David. The next two are coming soon...

sheep sketch

Working on some new pieces with a Christmas theme, so some sheep are in order... (you know, shepherds tending their flocks...)

thinking about the perfect gift...

Have you started thinking about holiday gifts yet? I'm just beginning to consider what my budget will be, who is for sure on my list, those kinds of things...

My favorite thing to buy for people on my list is art from local artists - not just because I am one (here in Sacramento, anyway...) but because of all the other excellent reasons.

First of all, I realized some time ago that I can't always make everyone on my list gifts from my own hands - sometimes, for sure, but other times I run out of times and even more often, I like to share something with those close to me that is a surprise!

One of the best things about something from a local artist is the personal connection - I can say I know or met the artist & I can relate how they work to the recipient of the gift, even introduce them later. I love it when someone comments on a piece of jewelry I'm wearing or an interesting piece in my home and I can say, "Oh, my friend so-and-so made that!"

Another thing I love about giving original art is the one-of-a-kind factor - I know that the person I'm giving it to won't get more than one of these or somehow has one already! (If they already have something from the same artist, then I'm helping them build their collection!)

When I give a gift of art to someone, they know I was thinking about them in a very personal way - there is something about the piece that made me think of them and I always let them know what it was, sometimes in writing with the gift, sometimes verbally.

Art can be the perfect gift for that person that has "everything" already - if it's an original work of art, they certainly don't have it yet!

If you need help with your gift list this season, be sure to get in touch - there's lots of wonderful art at the Kennedy Gallery Art Center where my studio is, but I also know a whole network of artists in the Sacramento area, and odds are I know where you can find that perfect gift you're looking for...

revelation

I had an amazing day in the studio today - I made significant progress on "Prophecy" but that wasn't the biggest deal -

As part of this final part of the process, I spend a significant amount of time just staring at the piece, making decisions on what to do or waiting for something to strike me. Sometimes things just strike me and I do it. For this particular piece, I've been a little worried that God hadn't been as involved as I had hoped.

I've been studying a book about Finding Divine Inspiration and this has really been on my mind a lot. At one point the author, J. Scott McElroy, says something to the effect that he doesn't always feel God's presence while he's working, that he'll just ask God to work with him and trust that it happens. I'd been trying to trust but worried that I wasn't letting God be a part of this while I really wanted him to be - I know, pretty thick-headed, but hey, we all are sometimes.

So today I was just trying to paint, not think too much, because I find I do much better that way, though it's a fine line to not thinking enough and messing things up, too. First I had decided to create the green glazed section to the left side, it was something that had come to me earlier, and still seemed like a good idea this morning, so I went with it. Then I started staring. Wondering, is this a good thing? Or did I screw up?

It still seemed like a good thing but not complete, it seemed to need a thin red line between the green and whatever the rest became - and another one across the top, sort of around the curvy horizon line. What? Red lines? I don't use red (almost never, anyway.) What would that look like? Why? And then I saw it - then it hit me, it would be a red cross, red like blood, the sacrifice that the prophecy of the Christ would fulfill and on the other side of the cross is green, new life. This wasn't my idea, I've never done anything quite like this in my work before, but I'll be doing it in this one - the revelation of it hit me so hard it nearly brought tears to my eyes. God is involved, just as I had hoped.

prophecy of hope

first stage of collage work done

After months of preparation I've finally begun to put together my piece for the Covenant Artists' Art of Christmas show at Oak Hills Church.

This has been tough for me - maybe that's not the right word - I've felt an unusual amount of pressure to do this piece justice to the concept: it's based on scripture prophesying the coming of Christ, which is the tie to Christmas.

There are actually several chapters from Isaiah and some from Jeremiah that are in the physical work - you can see it down the left side of the work in progress in these photos.

aerial view of my work table

So throughout all these passages, Israel and people in general are referred to as trees and forests. Isaiah talks about how God is going to punish Israel for worshiping other gods by burning them down like a wildfire in a forest and letting the king of Babylon chop them down - then chopping down the king of Babylon. It's in this context that God then promises the hope of Immanuel, or God With Us. Then Isaiah 11:1 says, "Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot - yes a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root."

Being a tree fanatic, these scriptures really resonate with me & I wanted to find a way to illustrate them, but having an idea and then going out and trying to photograph it is a pretty tall order sometimes.

first layer of paint - working on an easel now

So that's where the pressure started -and I decided that I was going to do this large four-by-four-foot piece just for kicks. It's actually the biggest piece I've done so far and after I had the panel custom made, I discovered it doesn't quite fit in my car! Thankfully, Phil, my friend who built it, was able to bring it to my house so I could work on it and I'm sure I'll find some way to deliver it for the show & get it to my midtown studio for display later...

And then there's the focal point of the work - not a photograph, but the stump with the shoot - marking another shift in my work, at least this time. At this point, I'm finally feeling like it's all coming together, but it has certainly been stepping stones of faith to get to this point.

I'm actually used to this final stepping stone - having all the painting come together and getting done in time - of course, there's the little part of getting it to the show, but I'll figure that out in the next week, I'm sure - since that's when I have to have this done!