Morning Comes

Morning comes, the sun is still burning
Oblivious to any wonder or yearning
And today I will smile, and I'll pray for the light
That I now know only in dreams at night.

Shown: "Another Two Cup Morning" 12"x18" oils on canvas. SOLD.

Not Subtle in the Making

I go at my canvas in bold strokes
An emphatic opening movement
A symbol crash of pigment
Not subtle in the making

The room seems to darken
The canvas is full of thunder
I see lights
I feel rain

Warm waves carry me
A great distance from where I started.

I do love painting,
Richly. Intensely.
Immediately.

24"x12" acrylic inks and paint on canvas. Available for $290.

...And Ever Still

Right here in this familiar room
In the pale glowing absence of light
I wonder what you're thinking now
Across the distance of twilight

Right here in this four walled haven
I'm marking time, I'm waiting
I'm sinking in, I'm digging out
I'm not communicating

Memory casts a thousand lights
They glimmer expectantly
Casting beams of bluest blue,
And soon I will sweetly see

And sliently the exchange is made,
A knowledge again renewed
My quickening will be subtly paid
Upon all who sense my mood

Smile, this day is ours to keep,
A gift, a ladder's rung
Climbing into the Milky Way
To sing melodies yet unsung

Sing, this life is an earthly gift,
A beginning stage in time
Forever, ever, and ever still,
I'm yours...
And you will be mine.

Pictured: "Blood Simple" acrylics on panel. Sold.

Seismic Soul

I fancy I hear your soul breathe,
I fancy that only I really know you.
So surely folly, I hardly know you,
Yet for some reason I'm falling madly...

Everything is based on my own need,
I hunger for something true blue;
A thirst-driven search for a taboo stew.
I keep ending up here, oddly...

Yellow, the red-riven skies seeth
Down through the layers I bleed through,
Ask me; I know that you want to,
You must for this thing to end badly.

And I fancy that too...
So surely, I fancy that too.

Pictured: "Seismic Soul" 24"x20" oils and acrylics on canvas. SOLD (after only one day in the new Woodlands Art League Gallery!)

Art 11, an End-of-Year Show in The Woodlands

Mark your calendar for a collaboration of original artists as they present their latest works in an end-of-year show, "Art 11". A wine and cheese reception will be held on Friday, November 5, 2010 from 6-10 pm at Studio in the Woods in the Woodlands, and the show will continue on Saturday, November 6, 2010 from 10 am-4 pm. All art will be available for purchase. I will be showing figure studies and a variety of other works. Other artists include Patricia del Rio, Ronald Dykes, Marty Hatcher, Liz Hill, Fred Hulser, Erin Page, Annette Palmer, Carrol Sherman, Susan Sheets, Melanie Stinson, and Michael Stratton.

Studio in the Woods is located at 26002 Budde Rd., The Woodlands, TX 77380.

Survival, and Consequences

The things we each survive in our lives is truly amazing. We survive by drawing back, healing, regrouping, changing, and striking out on a new path.

After five days I just got home from the hospital. My stay was inaugurated by an emergency appendectomy which lasted about three hours (compared to the usual 30 minutes). The surgeon was extremely gifted, in my opinion. He did the procedure with a laparoscope, and I sensed it was an accomplishment for him, considering the mess my appendix left behind. (By the appearance of the tissue he could tell it had ruptured previously... more than once, in fact. I'm not sure how I missed that, much less survived it!)

The support by my daughters, my friends and my family was amazing. Love was just blooming everywhere I looked. Sure, maybe part of that was the pain medication... but seriously, it was just amazing. The God of Abraham and Moses, the Lord Jesus, the One who makes anything possible for someone as undeserving as me, was all over it. Today as I heal, I am once again the grateful beneficiary of His mercy and grace.

Could a casual observer see God's presence in operating room 7? Or in hospital room 340?

Would someone who didn't ask for divine help in Jesus' name have a statistically equal outcome from the surgery? A longer or shorter hospital stay?

Did "religion" cloud my understanding of the first-rate technology, pharmacology, and management that went into motion to send me home quickly and well-healed?

Aren't I just looking to credit God for things that just come from the hard work of well-educated men and women?

Well, yeah, I guess I'll credit him with all of it. He created it, orchestrated it, set it into motion, and knew from before the world was made that I would show up there on August 25, 2010, three days after any sensible person would have shown up, and that I would need Him.

The truth is, the outcome of the story is irrelevant. I'm grateful to be feeling well, but I put the whole matter in His hands, telling Him what my desired outcome was, but knowing it would be done in His time, and according to His plan. That, I'm pretty sure, was His desired outcome.

When you know Him, that doesn't really sound so crazy. To me, "crazy" is thinking that I really have any power or resources at all that are not specifically granted to me by Him. I've seen, starkly, the difference between what I can do with Him, and without Him, in my life.

Once again I find myself searching for the right words. If you've read this far, I appreciate it. This is the most important thing I have to say, whenever and wherever. It's the however I wish to improve on.

Shown above: "Consequences" 30"x18" oils on canvas. Available for $490.

Blues & Art Weekend in Navasota!

I have been invited as one of two featured artists in "A Special Art Appreciation of the Blues," sponsored by Compass Bank and hosted by Tokoly Fine Furniture in downtown Navasota, home of historic blues pioneer Mance Lipscomb. The exhibit will be open this Saturday only, from 2:00-6:00 pm.

The Navasota Blues Festival was founded in honor of Mance Lipscomb, and it has grown to become an important music event showcasing top blues musicians from all over the country. I will be showing portraits of both Lipscomb and Albert Collins, an intense, unique blues guitarist who made a name for himself right here in Houston back in the 1950s.

Artist Leon Collins will show "Chronicles of the Blues," and other exhibiting artists will include Sharon Catchings, Russell Cushman, Patricia del Rio, Stephanie Detar, Lil' Jean, Ruth Kowis, Jeanette Powell, and Boots "Calillouette" Tyner.

Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 2:00 pm-6:00 pm
"A Special Art Appreciation of the Blues" presented by Compass Bank
Hosted by Tokoly Fine Furniture, 110 Washington Ave., Navasota, TX

Pictured: "Mance Lipscomb", 18"x24" acrylics and inks on watercolor paper. Available for $290.