Julie's Autumn Box

Each fall, Julie changes the decor in our home to match the season. She found this old box (drawer?) and fills it with squashes and gourds of various colors and shapes. Her love for Creation beauty inspires me.

TRG&J

This needs some explanation, I believe. You can't see the date when this was done, but it was around 1978 or so. (!) Julie and I were newly-married. I was in art at the UI, and The Sting was a relatively recent movie. My folks even had the album for it. I saw it, thought, Hey, what if I put Julie and I into it - we'd look much better than Redford and Newman! Translated: It seemed like a good idea at the time! Kathryn likes it and convinced me to put it on here. So...blame her.

The Old Pea Mill 1

This is the full version of the portion shown in the blog header. This Pea Mill is slated to be torn down sometime soon. It has stood for many, many years at the corner of A and Almon street in Moscow. In addition to its fascinating shapes, rusted colors and over all solid appeal, Julie's dad worked there in days gone by. So it's special to us! I did a series of three paintings of it - now we will remember it when it's demolished.

Carolyn's Pooh

This painting is a bit different for a number of reasons - it's an acrylic for one thing. I painted this when our eldest, Carolyn was a wee lass. My mom made the Pooh Bear for her (as she did for all our kids). But the weird thing about this composition is that it was actually painted over another painting that had the car in it. I still liked the car and didn't want to wipe it out, so I incorporated it into things that Carolyn liked. (She likes classic cars, too!) Here's to you, sweetie!

Morning Revelations

As she did with the snowball flowers below, my wife Julie called my attention to some lovely sunlight hitting a flower arrangement in our family room one morning. She rarely insists that I paint something, but she sweetly suggested I take a picture (that's often a clue that she wants it painted). Like many painters, I love what God does with light on everyday objects.

USS Neosho AO-143

This is the ship I served on for a term in the Navy. It took 30 years, but I finally felt a bond with her, especially now that it's scrap metal. The painting is done from an old black-white photo taken on the day she first sailed in 1954 (the year I was born - see the bond?)

Winter Rest (from photo by BIll Church)

It's really great to have friends who do all the hard work in getting fascinating photo subjects! When I saw this on Bill's blog (check his out!), I knew I had to paint it. It speaks of the great Palouse in so many ways - I hope I did it justice.

Classic Sailboat

This sailboat, a 1920's model a friend who knows told me, was seen and photographed by my daughter Kathryn and her husband Mike on Flathead Lake. Who knew Montana had such classy boats?

Frank Lloyd Wright's Home

Tall Shed

Isn't this an interesting shed? I've been in Idaho for over 30 years and don't think I've seen one quite like this. I passed it on the way to Lael Camp (it wasn't moving, I was). I asked my friend Bill Church (who always has his camera because he's good at taking pictures - and vice versa) to take a shot of it and the surrounding buildings. He did, but neither of us could figure out what it's used for. Any insights?