My 2011 Book Reading List

I rate my books by using a star system. One star is low and four stars are the best. Last year I had two four star books but this year I read several that were two star several only one star. Either I was very picky with my stars or I need to change my choice of books. Since January of 2002 I have ready 227 books and only 15 have received the top four star rating. Well anyway here is the 2011 list.
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
     (a rather slow book but a great description of the hell no one wants to go to)
Native Son by Richard Wright
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
The Wedding by Danielle Steel
Blue Beard by Kurt Vonnegat
Lone Eagle by Daniell Steel
The Portrait by Iain Pears
     (the last four on vacation and chosen from the cottage shelf)
Chasing CeZanne by Peter Mayle
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
     (took a very very long time to read)
Trinity by Leon Uris
The Trial by Franz Kafka

New Blog Look

I was so bored with my blog appearance I decided to try a new design. Now I just have to figure out how to work it. :-)

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Ecclesiastes

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Ecclesiastes
24" x 18"
Sketch Paper

Book 21 Poster 22

Searching for the meaning in life.
Worship from the womb to the tomb.

Ecclesiastes is a rather strange book to me so as you can see it came out a somewhat strange picture. There seem to be many things we do daily in our lives and things we strive for listed as futility. "All is vanity and striving after wind." Towards the bottom right of the picture, Yes, you see a woman seated at a piece of furniture called a vanity. At first I added this for a chuckle. Then as I considered her being primped and centered on her looks, I began to see how vain she was about appearances and thought it quite appropriate.

I tried to represent the wind in the swirls covering the earth, which is "under" the sun and is also covered in swirls. It is very difficult to see the "product" map items I have placed on the globe. They include time, folly, fountains, cattle, wisdom, riches, wine, forests, houses, things natural and things man made, all the products of mans life on earth. It doesn't matter if you are wise or rich or poor. Man is in the hand of God. Very faintly above the earth I have drawn a gyroscope with a hand not quite touching it so you don't know whether it is getting ready to place a finger on the axis or has just started to remove the finger from it.
On the left edge is a woman holding up a young child. On the right edge is a stone tomb. The crowd consists of young and old, rich and poor, servant and mistress, people you recognize and generic people. "Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."
I feel that our purpose is to worship from the womb to the tomb and that we should be happy in our labor.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Proverbs

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Proverbs
24" 18"
Sketch Paper

Book 20 Poster 21

My key phrases:
Wisdom Defined
Wisdom Applied

The contrast of wisdom and folly

The question I had to face was how do I picture the contrast. I chose to depict wisdom in the light and folly in the shadows. When I thought of being able to discern the difference I couldn't help picturing Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil shown at the bottom of the picture. Folly, the court jester is next to the Speak no evil character. The fellow at the bottom right is holding a black stone and the little "checker board" just above his head is a game of chance. The fellow above that has fortune telling cards and over indulging in wine. Further up the right you see the harlot inviting in a customer. At the corner of that wall is a fellow contemplating his suffering from the downfall of his folly. On the left, just above Hear no evil, is a fellow receiving a laurel wreath for his accomplishments. Beside the next door up is an elderly scholar teaching three youth while two other adults passing by watch and listen for a moment of approval. Further up you can see family members going about their daily lives in the light.  If you look closely at the man just above speak no evil you will see that he is straddling the line between light and dark. He will need to decide which way he will go and so do we. Good and bad are linked with reward and penalty.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Psalms

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Psalms
24" x 18"
Sketch Paper

Book 19 Posters 19 & 20

My key word: Faith



I wish I had posted all of these before our Pastor preached on them because then I could say he was copying me and you would believe it. Instead I just have to let you know that we are after all reading the same books.
If you were to look at the backs of all these posters you would find a large chart of each book that I made over a period of 3-4 years using a combination of "The Daily Walk" yearly reading schedule and a book called "Independent Bible Study" by Irving L. Jensen.  Well, like Pastor I couldn't fit all of Psalms into just one page or sermon. I totally filled two large pages with the charts. Thus I had to make two pictures in order to have someplace for the second chart. The first picture, top left here, represents the first two books of Psalms while the second picture represents books 3-5. How can you tell? In the top picture you will find 72 hands for the 72 psalms of those books and the lower picture has the other 78 hands, making all 150 psalms. Every hand is different. Some hands are male, some female, some children's, some elderly. Some of the hands are praising, some pleading, some seem to be rebuking God, others may be mourning, or pointing the way. I tried to put in as many expressions using hands as I could.
While the hands and settings or landscape are different in both posters the figures are the same people. You see the kneeling symbol of David with his harp in one hand and his sword in the other. You see the symbol I use for Solomon with his red and blue from the 1st Kings poster. You also see David's choir director and another figure representing the other authors. If you look at the two posters side by side you will see these figures mirror each other and that is because I felt books 1-2 and 3-5 did mirror one another in many ways. You will also see God's presence in both as the creation colored clouds from the Genesis poster in each of the upper corners. The clouds may be small but the God is huge and we can each raise our hands to him and know that he hears us no matter what our emotional state.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Job

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Job
24" x 18"
Sketch Paper

Book 18 Poster 18
Memory Words for me:
Situation, Search, Solution
Dialogue in Heaven, Dialogue on Earth, Dialogue between Heaven and Earth
Onset of Suffering, Failure of Human Wisdom, Final Word From God

First we find out about the person and the wealth of Job. Then Satan pretty much says to God that he thinks Job is a spoiled brat and that of course he likes God because hHe gives him things. God then allows Job's loyalty to be tested. He, his family, and his possessions are all destroyed except four messengers. You can see this in the upper left hand corner of the picture.
Then Job's health was attacked next. His three friends and his wife come to him on the rubbish heap outside of town to sympathize with him. His wife is shown wagging her finger and telling him to curse God and die. The friends see how bad off he is and they weep and tear their clothes and throw dust over their heads toward the sky. The lower half of the picture shows this gathering. Job laments the day he was born. His friend Eliphaz tells him that innocent people do not suffer. Job is thinking his friends aren't much help and that life seems very futile.Then Bildad puts in his two cents worth and says that God rewards the good. Again Job wonders what on earth he is hear for. At this point his third friend Zophar chimes in with his rebuke and Job responds to them. I bet he is thinking with a wife and friends like these who needs enemies? The discussions go back and forth and back and forth between Job and his friends. Them pointing out mans faults and Job pointing out Gods hand in all of this until God speaks to Job about His power and His creations. God uses an example "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?" I used an alligator to depict my Leviathan. He can be seen lurking in the tall grass. If you look closely you will also see many small evil looking little creatures living in the rubble pile and the grasses.These odd little things come from one of my favorite paintings by an artists named Hieronymus Bosch. The painting is called "The Garden of Worldly Delights".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights  You should check it out.
God continued with many examples of His power shown through creation. I have used another of my creation colored clouds from Genesis in the center of the picture.
After God speaks, Job confesses that he only had knowledge of God before and now because of all his suffering he has first hand understanding.
God restores Job's fortunes and he was blessed with more children and he died an old man and full of days.
The top right of the picture shows the happy family, servants and herds.
In my mind I pictured this entire event unfolding before the watchful eyes not only of man but of heaven and hell, thus the divisions between the sections with the dark angel at the top and the face in the center. I have heard people ask, who did this to Job? Did God do this or Satan? Did God allow it or was it His doing? People have asked me is that the face of God or Satan in the center? I want people to ask questions.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Esther

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Esther
24" x 18"
Book 17 Poster 17

My key memory words:
Plotting and Preventing Destruction
Conflict, Cunning, Courage, Conquest
Vashti deposed, Haman defeated, Purim decreed

King Ahassuerus is having a party in his pink floored palace. (Sorry just couldn't resist saying that.)He sends for Queen Vashti to show her off in front of his party friends and she refuses to come. The  party friends are depicted towards the lower left sitting around drinking from gold goblets. You can see the messenger sent to call Vashti shruging his shoulders and telling the king she won't come. Vashti and her party can be seen above the messenger. Because she might be a bad influence on the other women she is banned and a new queen is sought. Through her relative, Mordecai, Esther is among the entrants to this quest. Ahassuerus chooses her and she (a Jew) becomes queen. Also Mordecai, shown continually sitting by the gate, overhears a plot against the king and helps to foil it, the men are hanged, and the incident is written down in a book.
Now Haman is the kings "prime minister" and he commands everyone to bow down to him when he passes but Mordecai being a Jew would not bow to him. After that Haman plots to destroy not only Mordecai but all Jews and has the king proclaim a day to do it. Haman can be seen walking past the gate and people in the outer court are bowing. Haman can also be seen in the lower left hand corner beside the king pointing towards the gait where Mordecai sits.
Through Mordecai Esther hears of the plot to kill all the Jews, she asks for prayer and fasting, (Purim)and takes her life in her hands to approach the king and receive the scepter and ear of Ahassuerus. Esther plans a banquet to expose Haman's plot to kill all the Jews including her since she is also a Jew. Just prior to hearing this King Ahassuerus can't sleep and has someone read to him and is refreshed about Mordecai saving his life. You can see the book/scroll in the king's hand. He wants to honor him for this and asks Haman, who has just arrived, what he would do to honor someone. Unknowingly Hamon tells the king to have the honoree wear the kings robes and ride the kings horse and be shown off in front of people. The king orders Haman to do this for Mordecai not yet knowing what plot is in the making. You can see Haman honoring Mordecai on the white horse top right. One of the good things about folk art is Haman can be several places in the same picture.
Finallly Esther tells the king what Haman has planned to do and the king has Haman hanged and since he cannot undo his prior declaration of death to the Jews he declares the Jews may defend themselves. The king promotes Mordecai, the Jews destroy their enemies( the battles and taking of treasures shown in the top of the picture), and the fast /prayer feast of Purim becomes a Jewish custom.
Their were many events that happened in this book which seemed to just fall into place at the right time. Ron and I have a saying about that. "What a coincidence". and we mean "What a God"!

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Ezra & Nehemiah

 Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible Ezra & Nehemiah
24" x 18"

Two parts of the same story.

Ezra: (At the top of this post)
Homecoming of the people and priests
Repairing the place of worship
Reviving the people to worship


Nehemiah: (At the bottom of this post)
Construction of the city
Instruction and purification of the citizens
Restoration of Israel as a nation

In Ezra King Cyrus tells the people to return and in Nehemiah the cup bearer asks King Artaxeres if he may return. You can see both these events in the bottom corners of the pictures. You also see Ezra in both pictures speaking to the people. His book pages read law and prophets. 

At the base of the 2nd Chronicles poster you see the holy vessels that were taken from the temple and in the Ezra poster you can see some of those same vessels being returned.  At first altars are restored and sacrifices begin again. The temple restoration begins but is stopped when a message is sent by jealous enemies to King Artaxeres. You can see the naughty little tattle tail riding out of the Ezra picture. Work is begun and stopped several times before its completion and dedication.

Part of the preparation of returning to the temple was cleansing of the mixed marriages and I have represented them standing without men in the center right of Ezra and center left of Nehemiah. The people stood in the rain and heard what Ezra said to them and repented of their transgressions and separated from their foreign wives, and children. Ezra showed his faith.

Nehemiah gave up a wealthy position in order to take over the job of rebuilding Jerusalem. There were hardships and threat of attacks. People had to work in teams with one guarding while the other worked. You can see towards the top right of the Nehemiah poster where enemies are lurking. If you compare the walls in the two pictures, the walls in Nehemiah are being worked on while the Ezra isn't.

After the completion of the walls there was a registration of the returned people, the readings of the Law by Ezra, the dedications and arrangements for the services, and a pledge by all the people to stick to the rules set out before them. Nehemiah was a great example of prayer and tenacity.

BRODERICK GALLERY THE MAY DAY ART EXHIBIT

 BRODERICK GALLERY

THE MAY DAY ART EXHIBIT

       A REGIONAL SHOW

 

    DON’T MISS IT –OPENING RECEPTION

              MAY 1  FROM 1 TO 6 PM

 

 

http://www.broderickgallery.com/

george@broderickgallery.com

 

George Broderick

503-703-5188

Broderick Gallery

P.O. Box 1357

313 East "B" St.

Rainier. OR  97048

www.broderickgallery.com

http://broderickgallery.blogspot.com/

Brookwood Parkway Path

"Brookwood Parkway Path"

Oil on Canvas
10" x 8"

This is in the same area as the library path only further around the park. A large hawk sat in the tree top most of time I was painting but I just thought it would look to fake to include him.

Hillsboro Library Trail

"Hillsboro Library Trail"
10" x 8 "
Oil

I seem to be going down a series of paths in my paintings lately.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-2nd Chronicles

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-2nd Chronicles
24" x 18" on Sketch Paper

Book 14 Poster 14

A priestly view of Judah's demise
A King's glory
A King's disgrace

The history review marches on. Solomon prepares for and builds a temple and a palace with the riches his father David had stored and the skilled workmen the king of Tyre sent. You can see the timbers being rafted down the river along with all the skilled workers coming and the gifts of fine horses from Egypt and goods from all countries. Solomon's fame was wide spread and the queen of Sheba came to visit him and check out what she had heard. She brought with her many fine gifts. You can see her caravan coming down from top left. She confirmed his greatness and he sent her home with even more gifts than she brought with her.
The temple is built in Jerusalem according to specific detailed instructions and furnished with the finest things of pure gold. The large building complex you see in the center represents the temple in Jerusalem. The Ark is placed in the temple and you can see the priests, the singers, the trumpeters, players of cymbals, harps and lyres standing outside praising and glorifying God. If you look closely you can see the cloud rising from the temple area. You can see Solomon, wearing both blue and red just below the musicians and before the altar with the burning sacrifice, giving praise and dedicating the temple. He is also asking God to hear and answer the prayers of anyone, any time, any where if they pray from or toward there. God agreed but also gave a warning about obedience.
After Solomon's death his son Rehoboam became king, didn't listen to his elders, ran around with a bad crowd and made such a mess of the country in just five years that God aloud the king of Egypt to come and overtake Jerusalem. God would have let the people be completely foresaken but they humbles themselves before God and he let them become slaves instead. In the center of the picture you see the the Egyptian chariots and the battle taking place.
Shishak king of Egypt took all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's palace. At the bottom of the picture you see the plunder.
After this came a succession of kings, some good but mostly bad. Many were idol worshipers. Some of them even offered their children to idols as depicted towards the bottom left.  Ten or twelve chapters of revolving kings and at one point Hilkiah the priest (shown up beside Solomon dedicating the temple. Hilkiah is reading from a scroll.) discovered a lost book of the Law and it is read to king Josiah and the commandments were kept, passover was celebrated again, until his death when tow more kings followed and king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came and conquered the land and made Zedekiah rule in Judah. He did evil and God sends the Chaldeans to destroy everything as God had warned them earlier when Solomon prayed asking Him to hear and answers the prayers of anyone, any time, any where if they prayed from or toward the house of God.
The final two verses Cyrus kin g of Persia proclaimed he was going to build a house in Jerusalem for the Lord's people and permits them to return. If you look at the background colors in !st Chronicles you see the vivid colors of the divisions of the country as were dealt out in Joshua. When you look at the background colors in 2nd Chronicles you see the colors have faded but are not totally gone.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-1st Chronicles

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-1st Chronicles
24" x 18" On Sketch Paper

Book 13 Poster 13

A priestly view of David's reign is the way I remember this book.


I will try to keep this explanation shorter than the last one.
As Deuteronomy was a review of the first four books of the Bible, 1st and 2nd Chronicles are to me a review from Genesis up until now. That said, in the top left corner you can see just a touch of the creation clouds I drew in the first picture. The embryo, (2001 Space Odyssey Star Child came to mind), underneath that cloud develops as the genealogy of Adam and the sons of Jacob (Israel), the sons of David, the line of Hur, Asher, the descendants of Simeon, the genealogy from Reuben, the priestly line, the genealogy from Issachar, descendants of Benjamin, the sons of Naphtali, descendants of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher, the genealogy from Benjamin and King Saul,  are all shown as the children or "sons of" in white. They also represent the growth and development of the people as they came from Egypt in baby steps and crawled across Jordan.
Then there was a review of the death of Saul and his sons which you can see towards the top wearing red centered around Saul falling on his sword. At the bottom you see David King of all Israel. Towards the middle left you see my representation of the battles fought by David and his men. Towards the center of the picture you can see the accident when the Ark was being transported. Close to it you can see the tent that was set up for the Ark and the altar of the offerings he made to atone for taking a census to see how big and strong he had become instead of  what God had done for him.
Not only was the land divided by tribe as in Joshua (shown by the earlier assigned colors from the banners in Numbers), but all the people were divided into duties of service to the country and to the temple David was going to build for God through his son Solomon.
This has been the story from the beginning of creation, the fall, flood, Babel, Abraham, Isaac Jacob Joseph (whose sons inherit and divide the land), bondage, deliverance, holy sacrifice and holy service, the walking, wandering, and waiting, looking backward, inward and upward, securing the land and settling it, deterioration, deliverance, and depravity, religiously, politically, and morally, the guidance of God, the leadership of Samuel, Saul, and David, his rise, his transgressions and troubles they caused, one nation becoming two, and two nations becoming none, and Gods hand still working throughout it all.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-2nd Kings

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-2nd Kings
24" x 18" on Sketch Paper

Book 12 Poster 12

Two Nations Become None
Downfall of Israel
Downfall of Judah

Yes this picture is busy and strange. You just try to depict prophecies and miracles.:-) The book begins with the passing of King Ahaziah, the response of Elijah to being called to the Kings death bed, and Jehoram becoming King. Elijah and Elisha were traveling together in Elijah's old age and they came to Jordan where Elijah struck with his mantle, the water parted, and they crossed to the other side. Here Elijah asked what Elisha wanted before Elijah passed away. Elisha wanted to be doubly like Elijah. If it was to be granted there would be a sign. Elisha was to see Elijah taken up. When Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind not only did Elisha see it but Elijah's mantle fell from him to Elisha. Shown at the top left hand corner you can see Elijah in yellow, wearing the plaid mantle, and being taken up.  You also see the mantle being used to part the Jordan. Both men used it to do that.
Elisha did many wonders. He purified drinking water next. Also shown in that corner kneeling beside a man in blue and holding a pitcher. The next event shown is the bears after a young man that had been teasing Elijah about being a baldhead person. And here is where I made one of my artistic blunders. My Elijah seems to have hair. Oops. Possibly I was trying to figure out the significance of this event and forgot not to pencil in his hair. I really can't say for sure. Also I noted that it says two female bears came out and I seem to have three. Duh. One, two, three. Don't take my pictures too closely to heart.
Elisha prophesied the events regarding the Moab rebellion, and then saved a women from dept by multiplying her jars of oil to sell. You can see her and her son filling jars just above left center on the picture. He then went to Shunem where he met a woman and her husband that added on an extra bedroom for him to stay in during his travels. That is drawn on the left edge just above the stone wall. She has her hand on Elisha's back and showing him into the house. (I might add here that one of the reasons I chose to use folk art form to work with is because one person can be doing many different things in the same drawing. So even though Elisha is only one man he is shown several times.) Elisha granted because the woman was so kind to him that although she had not been able to have children that she would have a son. She did and he grew up but became ill to the point of death but Elisha prayed and lay himself on the boy and brought back his life to him and returned her son to her. I show this scene outside rather  than inside because I just couldn't figure out how to work it in. So in the center of the picture you see Elisha beside the child's bed beseeching God.
Next he cures some men from a poisonous stew. If you look right center you will see 3 men around a table and one is holding his throat. He went from there to cure a leper by having him wash in the Jordan. It wasn't the river that cured him it was the obedience. Shown just above the men and their stew. I also show the servant Gehazi taking what didn't belong to him from the cured leper as payment. You can see him with the lepers donkey. But Gehazi was keeping it for himself so Elisha then transferred the leprosy to Gehazi.
Elisha then goes on to float an ax head for a fellow that has dropped it in the river after borrowing it from someone. You can see the man and the falling ax head toward the top right of the picture. Why is Elisha doing all these individual miracles?
At this point I am beginning to think to myself "kits, cats, sacks, and wives", how many miracles is Elisha going to do on his way to St. Ives.(I hope you know that child's story)
Now he proceeds to save the king of Israel by warning him that the Syrians are coming along his path and the Syrians try to capture Elisha. God shows him he is surrounded and protected by an army of angels and also showed the king of Israel who protected them. He, the king of Israel, asked Elisha what should be done with the Syrian army and he told them to feed them bread and water and send them away. The table of bread is shown lower center beside the drawings of Elisha praying over the boy and below the men eating stew. The Syrians did not come again into the land of Israel.
Next we have the one story that sticks in my mind the most from this book. Two women agree to cannibalize their children because of a famine in the land. "We will eat my son today and yours tomorrow." They are drawn just below middle center of the picture as two scraggly women placing a skinny child into a boiling pot. The next day the second woman refused to cook hers and the first took her complaint to the king. Now cannibalizing your own child is bad enough but think of what the entire social, moral, spiritual, culture must have fallen into for a woman to feel free enough to go to her king and state such a complaint! The king then turned on Elisha?
Sorry this is so long but so much happened.
Next we have four lepers scaring off an entire army and looting their camp because the Lord had caused the Syrian army to hear sounds of chariots and a great army. The lepers are shown at the top right corner and the soldiers running away from their tents.
Now Elisha tells the healed son of the nice lady he met earlier to go live somewhere else because of a famine. They do it and return seven years later and their property is restored to them by the king. Elisha goes from there to Damascus and tells Hazael to lie to his king about getting well from an illness and then to become king in his place. Go figure that one out. Another King, King Hezekiah was granted 15 years more life after an illness and he wanted a sign to prove it was going to happen. The Lord brought the shadow on a stairway back ten steps. You can see the stairway close the middle right edge beside the warrior.
This leads to a long string of kings. Jehoram reigns in Judah, Ahaziah succeeds Jehoram in Judah. Jehu reigns over Israel. Jehoram is Assassinated. Jehu Assassinates Ahaziah. Jezebel is Slain. Judgment on Ahab's House. Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu. Athaliah Queen of Judah. Joash reigns over Judah. Joash succeeded by Amaziah in Judah. Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Jehoash. Some good kings but mostly bad. The list goes on for several more chapters. The results of which are Israel collapses before Assyria and Judah before Babylon because they rejected God's covenant to take care of them if they obey him. At one point Hilkiah found the book of the law in the house of the Lord and when it was read to the king reforms were made for a time. I have shown many kings falling, some even killing their own sons, some killed by others, some killed by outsiders.
Now just before the time of death of Elisha Joash the king of Israel came to him for advice about a war and Elisha had him shoot and arrow of an East facing window and the strike the arrows on the ground to decide how badly he would defeat the Syrians. ??? Again I am confused. Then Elisha was buried, bands of Moabites  invaded, a man was cast into Elisha's grave because some men doing the funeral wanted to flee, and when they cast him into Elisha's grave the man came back to life and climbed out. Well I show some arrows and I show the man climbing out of the grave but I don't begin to tell you why.
At the bottom of the picture is the thrown of the king and the house of God destroyed. Jerusalem was burned and plundered and the people were carried away along with all the wealth of the land. Only the poorest of poor were left to be governed by Gedaliah who was later killed by the Chaldeans.

The hand at the bottom of the picture represents who you want it to be, the hand of God, the hand of Elisha, the hand of someone shaking their fist at God, the kings, the conquerors, the poor that became slaves, the lost, or whomever you feel fits.
Two nations have just become none.

Chicken Tractor

Ok no laughing!

This is our new chicken tractor. Ladies you know your husband loves you when he builds you a chicken tractor or a mobile chicken coop. We can have up to three chickens in the city. No roosters because they have a tendency to crow at the street lights all night.  In the top photo you can see the adjustable tires. Just set them in place and lift the other end and move to a new location. The tires can be up for moving and stay in position with a long bolt through a hole or down so the pen sets flat on the ground. There are two small round wire covered vent holes. One is on either side. Plus there is the sliding open/shut wire covered vent/window. The ladder hoists up at night if you want by using the rope you see hanging down the side and the rope wraps around the small post sticking up. The end has a door for food and water placement. We added a clear plastic plant tray (99cents) over the feed jar to keep the rain out and it works really well. The bar across the top has hooks under it where the feed container is attached so when you lift the tractor to move to a new location it lifts the container too. I'm still working on something to lift the water. You can't poke a hole in the top to add a hook because it lets out the suction that keeps the water in the jug. I'm thinking maybe a macrame plant hanger. The girls deserve the best. An access door in the back opens to the nesting boxes, the roost bar and oops, the poop tray which is a screen covered box so the chickens don't walk in the mess and it can be easily removed for cleaning. As you can see we have two very nice Rhode Island  Red poults. We named them Laverne and Shirley after the comedy show. Hopefully they are going to help us with our wormy apples and pears by eating all those nasty critters. The coop is sitting in the lawn area for today because we haven't quite finished pruning. After they finish off all those bugs etc. then they get to work on scratching up the mossy patches in our lawn so we can regrow some grass there. They have lots of work to do and our lawn maintenance crew (our sons) never laid eggs while they worked.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-1st Kings

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-1st Kings
18" x 24" On Sketch Paper

Book 11 Poster 11

One Nation Becomes Two
The King with a Divided Heart
The Divided Kingdom he Left Behind



There are lots of divisions that I see in this book.
1st Kings begins with the aged David and the attempt of Adonijah to exalt himself to the position of king instead of Solomon. Family divisions and divisions of power. Adonijah's grasp for the throne is thwarted and Solomon is placed as the King by David just prior to David's passing.
In this picture you see Solomon seated on the throne wearing both blue and red. You see in the top left corner David's funeral bier. In the top right corner you see Adonijah executed by Solomon's henchman Benaiah. He later also struck down Joab for earlier deaths he caused during David's reign and also Shimei for disobeying an order to save his life by not leaving his house.
After Solomon's Rule is firmly established he marries a daughter of the Pharaoh. Ah divisions. The Pharaoh and daughter are depicted standing at the center left. She is bowing her head.
Solomon prayed that he would have wisdom from God and God granted not only wisdom but riches and honor as well. He made many wise judgments from his throne. One of which was the two women fighting over who's child lived and who's child died and to which mother the living child belonged.  The two women and the child in a bassinet are seated on the steps below Solomon. The servant below them is bringing the sword to "divide" the child with, but the one stops it by saying give the child to the other women. Solomon then knows which mother the child belongs to and everyone that hears knows that Solomon has the wisdom of God and the ability to discern or divide between right and wrong being administered through him.
Solomon's wealth, wisdom and power increase and he makes an agreement with King Hiram for timber like none other to build the house for God that his father David wanted to build. To the sides in this picture you can see the gold covered walls, the winding stairs to the middle story, the inner holy place with the cherubs over the ark where it was placed when the construction was finished, and carvings and palm trees engraved, and all the glory of the house of the Lord. You can see the pillars and the great bath, the candle sticks, the gifts of apes and peacocks, the untold riches that his father collected were lavished into the temple. Solomon also built a palace for the Pharaoh's daughter that he married using the same workmanship and costly materials.
The house of the Lord was dedicated with a huge sacrifice and seven days of celebration and God told him as long as he walked according to God's word everything would be great and God would abide  with the people in the house that Solomon built with all the things he and David had acquired. Even Queen of Sheba came to see the greatness of Solomon's wisdom and prosperity and the splendor of the house of God.
However, Solomon loved too many women and those women worshiped other gods. If you look at the women milling around in the picture you will see many are carrying idols. God is upset and brings war against Solomon and tears the kingdom apart. When Solomon died he was looking at a divided kingdom shown by the blue kings on one side and red kings on the other towards the bottom of the picture. I also used them to show the many changes of succeeding kings.
Then along comes Elijah the prophet, he says there will be no rain until he says so and God tells him to hide. He is fed by ravens and gets water from a stream (provisions from God) until that dries up and then he lives with a widow woman and her son in a foreign city. The son becomes ill to the point of death and Elijah brings him back through prayer and laying himself on the boy. This foreign woman believes Elijah is a man of God.
Elijah also proves to the people God is the Lord and not Baal by a test of fire at an offering so he showed God to the Israelites and to the outsider or foreign woman. After God took up the offering in fire Elijah prayed seven times and the rains came. You can see the big drops of rain with one falling into one of his hands. I have decided to show Elijah with his hand on the child seen at the bottom of picture. Somehow that event seemed more important to me than the rain or the fire. Possibly because it was set apart and I didn't fully understand it. Why was the prophet to save one foreign child while Israel suffered drought and starvation. What did it have to do with all the upheavals and divisions of lands, and Gods, and idols, and all the different kings and wars that followed even after the fire consumed the offering and the rain returned.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible 2nd Samuel

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-2nd Samuel
18" x 24" On Sketch Paper

Book 10 Poster 10

David's Rise and David's Fall
Triumph, Transgression, and Trouble

In this poster in the top left corner you see the death of Saul falling on his sword and Jonathan falling in battle wearing his quiver. You see the runner coming to tell David. You see David as the new king, on his knees, holding a sword in one hand and his harp in the other. This figure will be used to represent David in other posters as well.
There is a group battle centered in the picture as there were many battles during David's reign to become king over not just part but all of Israel and even more afterward.
At the top of the picture you see Uzzah reaching out to steady the Ark as it began to topple from the cart it was being transported on just before God struck him dead for the act of touching it. This caused some fear and the ark was not brought to Jerusalem until much later when it was properly conveyed by the priests.
David triumphed in many wars and he remembered Saul and wanted to show kindness to Jonathan's lame son, pictured at David's right hand wearing red like his father and grandfather and walking with crutches coming to David's house to live.
In the bottom right corner of the picture you will see Bathsheba, whom David stole away from Uriah her husband by having him killed in battle. Bathsheba is washing and holding baby Solomon, their second child. The first child conceived while Uriah was away died by the hand of God. You see a small coffin for him across the bottom right hand corner. You also see Nathan at the bottom towards the left rebuking David for his sin concerning Bathsheba and Uriah.
Left center on the picture Amnon is taking his sister against her will. The figure in blue with the white trim around the bottom of his robes is representing Absalom's servant avenging his sister Tamar. Absalom fled out of fear for killing his brother, later formed a conspiracy against David so he could be king, and was also slain and cast into a deep pit. You can see the blue robe with the white trim, the same as Absalom's servant is wearing, on the figure just below his servant avenging Tamar.
Many more battles occur throughout the book of 2nd Samuel until the 23rd chapter where David's last song is recorded. This is why my David is holding both a sword and a harp.
The final chapter he displeased God by taking a census of his might, which brought a pestilence from God to remind David just who was in control. David built and altar and gave sacrifice, repented his actions before the Lord, and God held back on his punishment. You can see the altar drawn just behind David's raised harp.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible- 1st Samuel

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible- 1st Samuel
18" X 24" on Sketch Paper

Book 9 Poster 9

Samuel, Saul
Leadership in Transition

Saul and David
Leadership in Exile

To me in this book there is a change from Judges to Prophets and Kings being the communications between God and man.
Samuel is depicted in the center wearing the yellow I assigned to the tribe of Ephraim in the drawing of Numbers and the banners. He is also wearing a "plaid" collar. I will use this collar in future pictures to denote a prophet.  The figure on the right side of the picture represents a Philistine. It could be Goliath or any of many Philistines that warred with Israel and took away the Ark of the Covenant at one point. The people wanted a king like all the others around them and Samuel was sent out by God to find the one he had chosen. From the tribe of Benjamin Saul was chosen. Thus he and his son Jonathan are shown here in the red color I used for their tribes banner. David is the "ruddy" or red haired freckled one in blue.
Saul fought many battles with many enemies but didn't fully obey God's commands. At one point Saul even takes on the duties of the priestly office and offers sacrifice depicted by the offering on the stone alter behind him. Samuel told Saul then that his kingdom would not endure.  God had Samuel anoint David to reign in his place of leadership even while Saul was still alive. That is why I show both Saul and David in this picture. Jonathan becomes David's dearest friend and even he recognizes that David will be the next king and offers to help save his life by sending him messages about his father hunting to kill him.  With three arrows sent from his bow Jonathan gives David the signal to flee for his life. There is a staff between Saul and David. It could be being held by either person.
At the top of the picture where the grass color changes from greens to yellows I attempted to show, as in a comic strip conversation bubble, the things Samuel saw. He saw the war with the Philistines, the capture of and eventual return of the ark, the process of searching for a king through the lost donkeys, the loaves of bread and jug of wine, and the prophets playing instruments that would all lead to the finding of Saul and the anointing him as the first king. If you look closely at the small figures in the top right portion of the picture you will see Samuel, in yellow, holding a small red vile of oil gathered with others anointing Saul king. At the bottom the larger figure of Samuel is holding a blue vile of oil for David. In the small figures at the top right Samuel is holding a crown over Saul's head. At the bottom he is holding it over David's.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Ruth

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible - Ruth
18" x 24" on Sketch Paper

Book 8 Poster 8

Interlude of Love
Guidance of God

First of all I must apologize for this photo. There appears to be a reflection of the portrait of a man in the center of the paper. Each of these posters are covered with a plastic that reflects things in the room. I do believe that is a reflection of my husband standing there. Upon seeing this photo we both said, "wow, that must be Boaz". :-)
I may just lightly sketch it in when the poster comes home.

My husband also says there doesn't seem to be much in this picture. I intentionally put the figures of the three women in the foreground and lots of empty space between them and Bethlehem to represent both the fact that Naomi had travel to a foreign land but also to show the famine of her own land. You can see here too that they are empty handed.
Naomi's robes are the blue color I assigned to the tribe of Judah when I made the banners in Numbers. The daughter-in-laws are both a greenish color different from any banner color to show they are Moabites and not one of the tribes. Yes I know this is a bit much but you must remember these are my long winter projects and I am in no hurry with them.
At the top of the page centered between the hills you see the town of Bethlehem with women in Judah blue gleening in Boaz's green fields where Namoi and Ruth will find God's provision. You also see the servant of Boaz tending one of his flock and watching over Ruth near the threshing building where Ruth is redemed before her marriage to Boaz and the birth of a son that becomes part of the line of David. God has filled their lives.
When I had finished the picture my husband told me he thought Boaz should have been more prominently placed somewhere because without his obedience to the marriage and inheritance laws that no redemption would have taken place. I agreed Boaz did play a big part but the book after all was not named Boaz but was named Ruth. Although after seeing that reflection I my just sneak Boaz very lightly into the scene.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Judges

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Judges
18" x 24" on Sketch Paper

Book 7 Poster 7

Deterioration, Deliverance, Depravity
Religiously, Politically, and Morally

Judges is a cycle of sin, the consequences of those sins, and salvation from those sins, repeated seven times over a period of about 350 - 400 years. Rather than make a picture of all that was done wrong I chose to concentrate on the people that were the judges after Joshua died.
I often use photos from magazines for my models and I was looking for faces of leaders when I found one that was of Presidents Reagan, Bush, Carter, Ford and Nixon, and thought that would be great to include them. You probably won't recognize them because I always try to make enough changes when using someone else's photos so as not to be copying but to just use them for ideas. Reagan and Bush are on the left and Carter, Nixon and Ford are on the right. Of course their attire changes their appearance as well.
One of the judges was listed as left handed and he is in the yellow ochre outfit at the top holding his sword. I'm afraid without looking back I do not recall his name. Gideon is at the left wearing a rather turquoise blue holding his wet fleece. Shamgar is beside and towards the middle wearing blue and holding his ox goad (stick). Barak was a whimp and wouldn't do it with out the help of Deborah. He is the one in green and yellow just behind her left shoulder. Samson is at the bottom left corner. I know I haven't named them all but that is all I can remember off the top of my head.
What I do remember is that by the time I finished studying Judges, drawing and coloring this picture I had come to know these judges as people not much different than ourselves. They were left handed, right handed, brave, afraid, insecure, questioning, raised by believing parents, family men, morally weak, spiritually strong, and just everyday people.
One other thing you see in this picture are idols. These may look like little statues but they are there to represent not only false gods but the spiritual decline of the tribes in general.
There is one free floating hand holding a gavel in the center representing the judgment of the nations.

2010 Books

This post is for all you book readers out there.

In 2010 I read the following list of books.
The Associate by John Grisham
Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Ricochet River by Robin Cody
2001 a Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C Clarke
2016: Odyssey three by Arthur C Clarke
3001 The Final Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
Landscape Painting by Mitchell Albala
War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Bone is Pointed by Arthur W Upfield
Tisha by Robert Specht
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhentsyn
Daughter of the Eagle by Don Goldsmith
Ragtime by  E L Doctorow
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
The Cain Mutiny by Herman Wouk
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Candide by Voltaire
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland

My favorites were Demons and The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
If you are prone to depression don't read Demons and if you are prone to depression read Ultimate Hitchhiker, it's a gas. :-)  Although it was fun to read the Space Odyssey series especially since this was 2010.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Joshua

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Joshua
!8" X 24" on Sketch Paper

Book 6 Poster 6

Conquest and Consolidation
Securing the land and settling the land

These are my key memory triggers for Joshua.
Ok, here is where my artistic license took over a bit. If you look in the back of most Bibles you find a map of Canaan divided among the twelve tribes with the sea on the left, Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben to the right. I've turned mine so the sea is on the right and Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh are on the left. In the lower left hand corner you see that I have marked north at the bottom and south at the top, east on the left and west on the right. I did this to stay consistent with my other pictures. In the top left corner you see the pillars of Egypt. Artistically speaking, things in the past are further away and come toward the foreground where in this case you find cows and flowers with bees since this was the land of milk and honey and a great vineyard. Just a bit of artistic humor.
The land is divided by tribe and indicated according to the tribal colors given to their banners in Numbers. Reubens tribe were first to cross the river to fight so the little tiny figure leading the mass troops across the Jordan is red. If you look very closely you will see the ark of the covenant and the stone altar at that crossing point as well. You can also see the red cord hanging from the window in the wall where the harlots family was to be protected because she hid the spies. There are kings and other figures running away in fear as they are being invaded.
Also at the bottom you will see a key to the cities of refuge and judgment and the Levite's cities. I've marked these as approximate, possible, and unknown locations.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Deuteronomy

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Deuteronomy
18" x 24" Colored Pencil on Sketch Paper

Book 5 Poster 5



This is the last of the 5 books of Moses.
It is a book of review and preview to me.

What you see in this poster is a visual review of the creation clouds, the pillars of Egypt on the left side just past the mountains, the silhouette of Mt Zion, the tabernacle and the offerings, the grave markers in the valley of the wanderings, the banners of the tribes, the ark of the covenant, and Moses aura after conversing with God. Moses relates spiritual events and sets out clear laws before all the people.
His preview is of the blessings of the promised land if they will obey God and rely on Him for the consequences.
If you look back at the previous 4 posters you will see how I have used symbols from each of them in this one.
In my mind Moses is pointing toward the promised land.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Numbers

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Numbers
18" x 24" on Sketch Paper

Book 4 Poster 4

Wandering. One year of wandering for every day the spies spied out the land.
While it may be necessary to pass through wilderness experiences, you don't have to live there.
You think there were a lot of sacrifices in Leviticus? For 1.2 million adults to die in 40 years would be more than 80 funerals a day-one every 20 minutes.
This poster shows the banners I made to represent the twelve tribes. Each banner shows the number of men old enough to go to war when the Israelites entered the wilderness. They were counted latter as well, after this generation passed away. I have placed the tribes in the north, south, east, and west directions according to the placement given them in the book. The colors of the banners are chosen by the order of an artist's color wheel. A couple of years later in my studies I discovered these tribes had actual coats of arms and banners or standards. Oh well. To late to change because in later posters I have maintained the tribal colors when I knew the person belonged to a particular tribe by making his or her clothes match the banner.
I did not show offerings or sacrifices even though many are mentioned as are many laws, duties and ordinances, because I had already shown that in Leviticus. Instead I chose to show the numbering and arrangement of the people as they prepared to take their inheritance. It didn't work out as planned and so much complaining, distrust, disobedience, and strife took place first that at one point  God  sent fiery serpents to plague the people until Moses interceded for them. As you look around the picture you will see many battles, many ill people, the brass serpent, and Moses with his hands out in the center pleading.  They eventually prepare the second generation to move beyond the Jordan.
Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.

End of the Scholl's Tile Factory

 

This is the a group of artists that I was painting with. I am the one in the middle with the long ponytail hanging down my back. This building used to be used to make red clay drainage tiles. It is now abandoned but there are still large kilns inside and pieces of old broken tiles laying about. Plus the property is now owned by a plant nursery and some of the crates and garbage are laying around. There are also piles of stone you can see in the photo. I'm not certain if those were used by the tile factory or the nursery for landscape material.

"End of the Scholl's Tile FActory"
11" x 14"
Oil on Gesso board.





This painting is now on display at the
Columbia County Courthouse along
with work by 5 other artists from the
Columbia Arts Guild.


 I chose to paint the end view because you could see part of one of the huge kilns, the rusting corrugated metal color and the turquoise color of the painted metal shelving among the trash. I know, I know it is trash but I just loved the colors and shapes and the reflection in the small rain puddle.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Leviticus

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Leviticus
18" x 24" on sketch paper

Book 3 Poster 3

As in Exodus you once again see the basic Mt Sinai in the background of the camp only a bit closer than it was before because we are now camped at the base. After going through all the work to make the tabernacle with all its implements of sacrifice and service it now becomes time to put it all to use. My key words for remembering this book are Holy Sacrifice and Holy Service. It applies to the group as a whole, to individuals, and to the priests. As I read through it I was impressed with the idea that in so many ways all this bloodshed pointed toward Christ and His final sacrifice for us so I placed a lamb centered in the foreground an I drew vanishing points that lead toward him. Vanishing point is an artistic term used to keep things in perspective like when parallel train tracks are drawn to look like they merge in the distance or when you make fence posts get smaller and closer together. They are also used to keep buildings and other objects drawn correctly.
In this picture I have drawn many things that visually go along these perspective lines to bring your attention to the lamb. Beginning with the man on the left holding a bird out towards the priest, the angle of his right arm and the long cuff of the priest's left sleeve reaching out for the bird point to the lamb. The tail end of the priest's sash belt gently turns toward the lamb. The general angle of all the objects such as the ewe and lamb in the background on the left, the man holding the bird the priest and all their shadows angle toward the lamb at the base of the picture.  If I had to bring a perfect lamb for sacrifice and had to bring it from any distance at all I would bring it's mother along to take care of it until it was time. The angle of the baskets and their shadows on the right side of the picture follow a line towards the lamb. The folds of the cloth in the man's garment beside the goat are shaded towards the lamb as is the dark streak of fur on the chest of the goat. I think of this as the scape goat and he is also looking at the lamb in the center of everything.
If you look around you will also see I have grouped several things in threes. They just seemed to group that way in my mind as I thought about the offerings.
This entire process of sacrifices is a messy business and I tried to show the meat, the blood on the front of the man's garments, the cleaning out of the ashes, and the urn of blood for sprinkling and pouring without making the scene seem abhorrent but I'm sure there was a great deal more blood and mess around. I don't think sacrifice is supposed to be a pleasant thing. And I do think Leviticus points us to the sacrifice Christ has made for us.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Exodus

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Exodus
18" x 24" on sketch paper

Book 2 Poster 2

In the background you see a reasonable facsimile of the outline of Mt Sinai. The tallest mountain in Egypt at over 8,000 feet. In the foreground are my renditions of the painted Egyptian columns which seem to be my first mental image of what I might see if I went to ancient times. I will use these columns in other pictures where a reference to Egypt might be needed to take us back there.
To me Exodus is about bondage, redemption, and revelations of things to come.  If you look in the bottom right hand corner you will see a frog and a fly representing two of the ten plagues. If you look at the posts and beam exiting the city you will find my depiction of the blood on the lintel that saved the first born of the Israelites. Yes I know this isn't a house doorway but that is why I have chosen folk art style so that I don't have to adhere to reality. And at the bottom you also see Pharaoh pointing as he sends the people away and as he sends his chariots after them. You see the people leaving with all their goods and on either side of them are walls of water while they walk on the dry land towards Mt. Sinai. There at the foot of the mountains you see the tabernacle, the holy pillar of smoke, and Moses, who just happens to have a little glow about him. I'm not sure you can see the glow in this photo but trust me he has one. He is the little speck to the left of the tabernacle.  And the little yellow box close to the tabernacle is the mercy seat being carried.
I probably should have written things down about these pictures earlier because I know I am forgetting the reasons why I put some things in them. For instance that bull baffles me. He is rather dominant looking so I must have had something in mind. I will have to go back and check in Exodus. And I probably would draw these pictures differently after another reading because different things stand out in my mind.
I hope you enjoy sharing my visual aids.
I've just discovered I can enlarge the photo by clicking on it and then I can enlarge it even more after that screen comes on. I hope you can too.

Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible-Genesis

Genesis
Some of you already know that I have a long term art project I call my Anglo Saxon Colored Pencil Folk Art Bible. I titled it that because all my pictures will come from my western cultural white background and not because I am prejudice in any way. It began as a means to keep my interest in my reading. Let's face it I am an artist and therefore a visually oriented person and I do better when I can see things. Each colored pencil picture is 18" x 24" and fit into a poster frame. They are completely done with colored pencil on sketch paper. I'm attempting to improve on the quality of the photos but am finding it difficult to get a good shot through plastic so bear with me.
First I read through the entire book of Genesis and jot down some key words or ideas that could be visualized. Then I review what I have written and make little stick figure ideas. Then I make preliminary sketch very scribbled on an 8" x 10" sheet of copy paper. Afterward I transfer that idea to the 18" x 24" paper. Then begins the color process which often takes many layers and hours of work.
Here in the drawing you see Genesis, including the stormy colors of creation, the fall of Adam and Eve and the serpeant, the flood is represented by an ark floating out in the waters just past the Tower of  Babel and the Raven Noah released in the forground. I had a dove in the tree by Adam and Eve but I just didn't like the way it attracted my eye to it so I used my artistic license and erased it. You can not see in this photo that there are sideways rains happening out in the distance or that there are tiny little stick people around the Tower.
Then I felt like there needed to be a great crevice between the fall and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph represented by the offering on the alter, the porridge or stew, the hunting equipment, and the coat.
In later drawings I use the stormy sky colors to represent the idea of creation or being back at the beginning. To this date I have just about completed through Ecclesiastes and will be adding them to my blog one at a time.

Twin Paintings

These are two different paintings. The one at the top is titled "In the Channel II" and was painted from an old photo of the first painting. Unknown to me a couple were considering purchasing In the Channel and were having a conversation with my husband while I sold the painting to another couple. The first couple were so disappointed they later asked me if I would consider revisiting the painting for them. The photo was one of those old peal apart kind and had darkened some but as you can see I think my second edition original turned out. I took that photo with a 3 megapixle Kodak.  I've only painted twin paintings once before and don't plan to make a habit of it because it really is difficult.

 They are different sizes. Even though the top one looks larger hear it is actually the smaller painting. It is 16" x 20 inches painted on canvas board and the one at the bottom is 20" x 24" painted on canvas. 

I hope both couples are happy.

Salmon People

 This painting is on display at American Trails Gallery in Ashland,Oregon