Christian Church of Stilwell, Oklahoma

It's such an honor when someone trusts me to put their memory on canvas.

"Do you ever do commissions?"

    Yes, I do!

"I'd love to have a painting of the little church I remember from my childhood."

    Do you have a photograph of it?

"I don't think so.  It was torn down in the early 1960s.  I'll see what I can find."

"My daughter had this plate showing the little white church. Would that work?"

    I think I can work with that. 

"I do still have a few broken pieces of the original stained glass.  Would that help?"

    Oh, my goodness, yes!

Let me ask you some questions before I begin.

• What shape would be best? rectangle? square?
• What size? 8"x 8"? 10"x 10"? 9"x 12" ?
• What was the church made of? wood? brick? 
• What color was the roof?
• Were the windows stained glass?
• Were the doors wooden?
• Are those steps in the front?
• Is that a sidewalk? a road? a corner?
• What season would you like? summer? fall? winter?
• What kind of weather would you like? blue sky? evening?
• What colors do you use in decorating the other parts of your home?

It was an interesting conversation.  There were some things she didn't quite remember, a few long-forgotten things that came back to her, and others that were still very vivid.

Her granddaddy was the pastor.

He stood on those front steps with her in the crook of his arm as he shook hands after services.

She remembers running through the grass between the sidewalks and almost stepping on a snake beside that big tree. (FYI, I doubt it shows in the little photo, but just for fun, I did paint a snake in the grass beside the tree.)

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Little White Church in Winter

 

The longer I thought about my last Little White Church, the more I knew I had to do it again.  I can't exactly put my finger on why, but I am so much more pleased with this one. It's done more loosely and painterly, yet it's oddly more realistic.

I called my art mentor and told her I wanted to change my response to our weekly-ish challenge for "Little White Church."  She laughed since we've been making up our rules as we go for as long as we've been doing this.

*Thanks again to Sara for the image that I used... then used again!

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

Little White Church in Autumn

Painting with a palette knife is such an experiment every single time... every smear of paint onto the canvas.

This Little White Church also challenged me to experiment in color.  I loved the church in the reference photo, but it was set in a winter scene.  I wanted an autumn setting, so I had to make up colors and scenery throughout the process. 

Because I most often think on the left side of my brain, I'm never too comfortable at making things up.  I think I'm pleased with the final result. I do keep looking back to make sure though.

This painting was my response to my weekly-ish challenge with my art mentor.  The challenge was "Little White Church."

**Thanks to Sara Harley for letting me use her photo as a reference.

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas

[SOLD]

 

Stone Chapel

A little stone chapel nestled on the edge of the woods...  It makes me wonder... How long ago was it built?  Who built it? Who worships there? How many couples have been married there? Does the stained glass make a lovely pattern across the pews when the sun shines through?

I painted my little stone chapel in response to Sara's Little White Church from this month's Inspiration Collaboration.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Wedding Chapel

What's a good boost to an artist's confidence?

This  is the very first painting I ever sold.   When I first started taking art lessons (4 years ago), I was so excited and amazed that my humble attempts actually looked like what they were supposed to be!  I'd go to class every Monday night then take my (wet) painting to school Tuesday morning to show my friends.  "Look what I did now! Can you tell it's a tree?"
I'd painted a tree, a cup, a flower, an owl, a guitar, a child... Then a friend asked me how much I'd charge to paint the chapel where her daughter got married.... gasp!... really?... (Could that be a real, live commission?!)   I was nervous and so wanted her to be pleased... 
She was.
By the way, and if you're wondering... I made about $1.15 per hour on that job... Yikes!  Good thing I kept my teaching job!