Merry Christmas

Project: Occupy Canvas (acrylic 30x40''), Christmas present for Austin. A little more impressionistic in style than I usually do, but fun and fast. Hustle and bustle, but also excitement of the season.

Commissioned for a friend...a few sights in Denver (top-watercolor, right-acrylic)

Commissioned for a friend of a friend...the Iowa football arena. Among the distinctions Iowa claims: the first university to accept creative work in theatre, music, writing, and art on an equal basis with traditional academic research.

A graduation gift, commissioned for a cousin. "Hail, hail to Old Purdue...All Hail to our old gold and black!" Although I've cheered against the Boilermakers more than once in my life, I had fun learning some about sights on campus and celebrating my cousin, on this occasion.

What better font than chocolate? ...a wedding present (watercolor, 8x10''), inspired by facebook photos, of an engagement night involving desserts and a bottle of St. Joseph's wine...Congrats to the wonderful couple!

A Heart's Home Missionary

I was so pleased to be able to participate in the fundraising/prayer-raising efforts for a college friend as she prepares for a missionary trip to Thailand later in the year. Natalie will be serving an 18-month term for an international Catholic non-profit active on 5 continents, Heart's Home. Heart's Home’s mission is to live compassion among the most suffering people, starting with the children.

Natalie will be serving in Bangkok's Klong Toey slum. She calls for support of prayers and funds (she has to raise the $11,700 necessary to cover living expenses, training, travel, insurance, etc., to cover her missionary work). To donate to Natalie directly or learn more about her mission of love, please visit her site directly: http://usa.heartshome.org/Natalie-H-Sacramento-CA.html. I am inspired by her mission!

In October of 2011, I look for­ward to let­ting go of the familiar in order to say to the people of Bangkok’s Klong Toey slum, “I rec­og­nize in you a divine pres­ence. You are the Christ who comes to me in the stranger, the pris­oner, the one who is naked, who is hungry. It’s not because of your needs, but because you have spe­cial gifts to share. Through you and your giving, I receive the gift of love and see the face of God. I am grateful. And I hope you rec­og­nize how beau­tiful you are!” (Henri Nouwen). Aware of my weak­nesses and the great chal­lenge posed by this simple mis­sion, I am hum­bled by and grateful for the oppor­tu­nity to answer this call. I know that I’ll receive far more than I will give, and that I can only do this with God’s grace and much sup­port.

--from Natalie’s webpage

Giraffes!

These vibrant giraffes were fun to paint...commissioned for a dear friend, a gift from her fiancé. Apparently one of her favorite things about giraffes is the way they run. She is also very silly, so the tongue sticking out was appropriate for the picture. Though I didn't get to paint any running ones in this scene, it was fun to work with the bright colors!

Giraffes!

acrylic on canvas, each 12''x24''

Did you know....

...giraffes can run at a speed of 34 mph (however, because of their high blood pressure--blood pumped up their neck to their brain), they cannot sustain a chase for long.

...a giraffe's tongue can measure up to 18 inches long!

...the word giraffe comes from the Arabic "zirafah," meaning "the tallest of all."

...Kenya has the most giraffes of any country

...giraffes live 20 to 30 years

...giraffes have 7 vertebrae in their necks, the same as humans (they are just little bigger)!

Respite, acrylic on canvas 36''x24''...I tried a different impressionistic sort of style with this giraffe...looks a bit digital, bit of an odd combination with the natural scene. Hm.

Today, I see, your glance is especially sad And your arms, embracing your knees, especially thin. Listen: far, far away on the Lake of Chad Wanders a gentle giraffe. --from "Giraffe" by Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev http://www.agirlsworld.com/amy/fun-facts/gir1.html; http://www.kenya-travel-packages.com/interesting-facts-about-giraffes.html

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,

go to the limits of your longing.

Embody me.

        Flare up like a flame
        and make big shadows I can move in.
 
        Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. 
        Just keep going. No feeling is final.
        Don't let yourself lose me.

   Nearby is the country they call life.
 You will know it by its seriousness.

  Give me your hand.

        ~Rainer Maria Rilke

inspired by a friend's photo from trip to France

"The greatest good you can do for another is not to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."

-Benjamin Disraeli

Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

“We shall always place education side by side with instruction; the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart. While we prepare useful citizens for society, we shall likewise do our utmost to prepare citizens for heaven.” -- Father Moreau, Circular Letter 36

God, Country, Notre Dame: carved in stone above Basilica's side entrance

...

"Briefly, it is this: Notre Dame du Lac was given to us by the bishop only on condition that we

establish here a college at the earliest opportunity. As there is no other school within more than

a hundred miles, this college cannot fail to succeed.... Before long, it will develop on a large

scale.... It will be one of the most powerful means for good in this country."

Rev. Sorin, C.S.C., to Very Rev. B. Moreau, C.S.C.