Another try at photography

 

 

It has been difficult to photograph the flesh tones. So I tried a couple of different camera setting to see if I could 'warm' the image a bit to correlate more closely to the painting.

The Gardener in Springtime

The Gardener in Springtime

Dad

12" x 16"

oil on canvas

[click on image to enlarge]
 

Some men love the soil. They love the joys that are found in rich loamy soil, compost, planting, growing healthy crops and anticipating the fruits of labor.

I think that it is only partly the rewards at harvest that make it so. Often the crops are damaged by frost, or hail, or wind, or summer heat or insects or deer grazing, yet next year the cycle will be eagerly repeated.

Faith and anticipation are a large part of the attraction. One harvests only after planting and nurturing.

Dad has had a life-long love affair with the soil. From his youth he worked on the family farm, even missing high school at times to get the work done. Despite trying other things as a young man he came back to farming. Then in retirement his yard has been a steadily enlarging area of vegetable, fruit and flower beds while the lawn steadily shrank in size.

So rather than paint the harvest, I have tried to paint Dad's anticipation and vision that bring forth the bounty of the land

His sons have inherited the same happiness in gardening.

How much I love this man.

Mike

Mike
12" x 16"
oil on stretched canvas
[click on image to enlarge]

Michael is a college student and this pose is somewhat of a reflection of him and his generation.

I just liked the image which captures the text communications with his friends. The down side to this is that his expressive eyes are not visible, however that the eyes would be focused on the iPhone screen rather than those in the room is a part of the point.

He is a good guy and so I dared to paint him without asking for permission to use the copyright of his face. Thank you Michael.

 

Trail of Faith and Hope

Trail of Faith and Hope
18" x 24"
[click on image to enlarge]

While painting Hart Carlile's North Field I was thinking about the old West and then the emigrants and their hardships especially in the early days. Having ancestors among them brings a somewhat personal connection to their struggles.

Perhaps we are also called to walk along sometimes difficult paths of faith in Jesus Christ and sustain the hope that we and our families will be blessed now and in the future.

I have a particular feeling about those possessions that they could not take all the way to their destination. One natural reaction could have been anger and perhaps the reaction to smash or destroy something abandoned.

Instead I like to think that the quilter/mother folded the quilt in the hope that someone they did not even know would find it useful to them. That she might be of service even in through her difficulty.

Spotted Towhees

Spotted Towhees
11" x 14"
[click on image to enlarge]

Spotted Towhees are present year around in our yard. They live just off the back patio and are cheerful visitors under the bird feeders.
We also usually have California Towhees nearby. They are both very colorful relatives of sparrows, although not closely related to the House Sparrow invaders from Europe.
Pansies have an interesting 5 petal structure, including the puzzle, to me at least, of how they know which side is down and always put the dominant petal that direction.
These were painted after inspiration/motivation by my friend Bruce Stone from the temple. He is also a landscape painter.
The vignette approach seemed to suit them.

Herefords on the North Field

Herefords on the North Field

16" x 20"

[click on image to enlarge]

My Grandfather, Hart Carlile, was a rancher/farmer. He was born at the end of the nineteenth century in 1896 in the West. In his later years he kept a small meadow ranch that he always referred to as the 'North Field'. Mostly grass and grazing, not grain or corn, it was probably never very profitable. 

 

I know he did not keep it for financial reasons. Rather he loved the white-faced cattle, the land and growing crops. One of his favorite recreations in life was to visit the weekly cattle auction.

 

This painting is a representation of my memories about visiting that ranch with him. Or my translation of what it looked like when he was active as an early western rancher. He did have an old hay derrick although it was never used in my time. On the other hand, my mother, Nelda, could tell stories about leading the horse that supplied the power to lift the hay to the top of the stack.

 

The cattle brand is my creation from his initials since his actual mark does not have any recognizable significance.

Summer storms come quickly and are a regular feature in the West.