"INSPIRATION IS GOD'S GIFT TO THE ARTIST'S SOUL"
"Magnolia Silos" 18"x18", oil on cradled panel
Sometimes in life we find ourselves profoundly at the mercy of life! Things happen in all of our lives at times that leave us helpless to the events that come. That has been life for our family the past 15 months. The actual events may vary from family to family, but it's tough out there folks! We all feel these things from time to time. We are all surviving, but a little weary from some of the trials. And on we go...
It is my personality to not give in easily, I find myself looking for those things outside of myself that would bring relief, new hope, INSPIRATION, so I can go on with life. For me, prayer and my belief in God is what allows me to get up every day and try a new idea, think on things that bring happiness and go on; waiting for the roller coaster to move upward once again.
For whatever reason I began to really watch the tv show on HGTV called "Fixer Upper". For the few out there who may not have seen it, you have to give it a try. It is a wonderful married couple; Chip and Joanna Gaines, who find run down homes in their area of Waco Tx and they renovate and then decorate those homes for a family with such expertise and a beautiful result every time. I happen to love the way they come out, and I am inspired by the end result, but the icing on the cake is their faith in God and their decency in their program! They have a genuine love for God, for their family (four darling children) and for each other, and it shows. Even their commercials gave me chuckles during the very dark time of the past year or so! My favorite was a commercial where Chip is teasing Joanna's love of ship lap where he repeats "ship lap" several times in a high falsetto voice. Made me LAUGH over and over, and those moments I needed a chuckle I would say "ship lap" over and over in a high voice...we would laugh. THAT IS VALUABLE FOLKS! Laughter is a great gateway to getting out of the dark places and into a life of happy!
SO, when I saw their silos I was SO INSPIRED I just had to paint them! Not only just paint them, but get outside of myself and do something for someone else. There was really no one to do it for but the two folks that were the origin of this inspiration, this hopeful and happy feeling. I woke up one day and knew I was going to gift it to them. No expectations, but to just give something to someone outside of myself. The joy for me in the process of this painting was a gift in itself. I am tickled to hope that it actually got to them and they knew that they were doing some good to folks in some perhaps unexpected ways. THAT is the gift...to give. This was that for me this year.
I found this photo on line and it was my subject matter.
They bought these silos in the town of Waco and are renovating them. They have their business in them, plus they reach out to their community in giving space for others.
I'm not usually a linear person, but I got out the charcoal and began to sketch the parts that I felt needed to make the structures recognizable to them, and left out a few small details that I felt were not a deterrent to a memory piece they could enjoy; hopefully.
The next step for me was to lay in some color that would show under neath the finished product.
I laid in some texture and pattern to the sky and then took their logo and added it for that extra connection to their project.
if you look closely you can see the checker pattern in the background of their logo. I took a stamp that repeated that pattern a bit throughout the painting, but it shows most in the sky. These kind of repetitions help a composition to unify two things that may not be connected in any other way. This strengthens a painting.
I mixed a couple colors of stain to give a weathered barn board look that complimented the colors and subject in their painting.
The end result was a painting of their silos with their logo attached to hopefully give them a smile now and then.
I boxed it up, got an address to send it, told them how they had inspired me and sent it off. It is a happy feeling to know that IF I could make someone smile with an unexpected gift then the world has a few more smiles to off set the difficulties that sometimes come.
One day I will make my way to Waco an IF I happen to see them, I will say thank you once again! FUN DOINS FOLKS! I highly recommend that if you are in a low place in life, try doing something unexpected for someone...it truly is a blessing!
HAPPY CREATING!!
