Tulip Festival painting -Part 3

 The unveiling of the Tulip Festival painting was a part of the Extravaganza luncheon. The event took place at the Prairie Winds Event Center, and there was a wonderful crowd on hand for the festivities. The Tulip queen, Cara Venema, and her court were present. They are such a wonderful group of young women who represent the community.

Below is the finished painting. Many of you have seen this by now, but for those who have not I'm excited to show it to you and tell you a bit more about it. I decided to title it,  A Faithful Walk.

The theme of the 75th Orange City Tulip Festival is “Remembering Our Roots.” To commemorate the 2015 festival, I wanted to paint a scene that would take a glimpse into the heritage of the community and of the festival.

The tradition of scrubbing streets began at the first festivals and 75 years later remains one of the most popular events. It led me to thoughts of painting something associated with that activity. I felt a genre painting of a father and son carrying water would be a natural subject to paint–a subject that at first glance seems simple and commonplace, but in reality says much about our shared
experience as descendants of those who worked so hard to make this place special.

In the oil painting, the sun has recently set and a warm summer glow washes over the landscape. An iconic Dutch windmill is seen in the distance and a long path extends from the mill toward a father and son in the foreground. Both are dressed in the simple clothing of the province of Volendam and the father carries buckets of water with the traditional yoke to help lighten load. The curious son, always wanting to be at his father’s side, is seen taking a curious peek inside the bucket.

I wanted to communicate a number of things through this simple scene of life as it was in the Netherlands of old. The painting stands alone as a straightforward glimpse into everyday life, but there are symbolic portions of the painting, which represent some of the things that make Orange City unique.
    •I chose the simple attire of the province of Volendam to signify the strong Dutch work ethic that embodied settlers of NW Iowa and the same work ethic that thrives today.
    •The winding path connects and leads from the present where the father and son stand, to the past with roots in the Netherlands.
    •Those who settled in Orange City were people of faith. The father
        showing the water to his son is symbolic of the faith he passes to his son. The Living Water continues being shared from generation to generation.
    • God’s faithfulness and care are represented by the sparrow, by the sheep in the distant field and by the wild flowers growing along the path.

Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you’ll say, “Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done, spread the news of his great reputation!” –Isaiah 12:3-4

Two options of prints of the work are available for purchase at the Tulip Festival office. The first option is a traditional print on sterling paper, 75 of which are hand signed and numbered. The paper is sized at 22”x22” and the print at 18”x 18.” The signed prints are $50 each and the unsigned prints are $30 each. Print number 1/75 will be framed and auctioned off at the grand opening of Stadscentrum later this spring.

A canvas print of the work, sized at either 24”x 24” for $275 or 30”x 30″ for $325, can also be ordered through April 30.

Prints of the work can be ordered by calling the Tulip Festival office at 712-707-4510.

Tulip Festival Painting - Part 2

It was a goal to make this painting have an old masters quality to it. I wanted it to have a significant warmth that would almost radiate from the work. In order to do that I used a technique of underpainting called grisaille, which is an underpainting done in nearly monochrome. Often it is done in shades of gray but I wanted the warmth to come through in the final painting, so I opted for yellows, golds and browns.

As you can see, the whole painting was completed in these tones prior to adding any other color. I had family members who saw the painting at this stage and thought it was finished. Nice of them to think that, but it was far from done!

This was at a point later as I began layering color. I tried to remain mindful that the colors not get too vibrant or vivid. Even the red of the little boy's jacket was muted to help in creating the old masters feel. 

Next blog post will show the completed painting and unveiling event.

Good Soil - Part 3

Here is the completed painting. I titled it Good Soil for a few reasons. We are blessed here with some of the best soil in the world. Good is an understatement. The richness of the land is portrayed in the vibrant and vivid colors in the painting. The size of the barn is large, a sign of prosperity as well. The young farmer is deep in thought, or prayer. He as well is soil, as the soil in the parable of the sower found in the Bible where the seed falls on different types of soil.

The farmer has much on his mind. His crop, the livestock, his family and many more things. All are in need of good soil.

"But the seed on the good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a good crop." - Luke 8:15

As the painting progressed, I took short video clips of the progress with my phone on an app called Cameo. It is a 2 minute video, and you can watch it here.

Below are a couple of photos taken after installation in the lobby of the bank. The painting has a great location in the new lobby area via the west entrance to the bank. Stop and take a look in person if you can.

Learning Commons Painting - Part 1

It has been quite some time since I last posted. It has not been that I haven't been working on art, but rather just been busy with life and art I suppose. Or are life and art the same thing? I thought I'd share with you a project that began in April and was just installed last week.

 Back in April, a Call for Art was sent out by my alma mater, Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. They were in the final stages in constructing the new Learning Commons which is to house the college's library and information resources.

Included in the Call for Art were details of the facility, including color schemes, fabrics, surfaces and more.

Judging by these elements and after giving it some thought, I decided to submit a proposed piece of art that would be created specifically for the structure. A piece inspired by the design elements of the facility, by the purpose of the building, and by the mission of the college itself.

I really wanted to have a piece of my art selected for this library, because for the past 30 years, a large artwork of mine graced the old Ramaker Library at Northwestern. When I was a student at NWC, I painted a 4'x105' mural that has since remained on the upper level of that building. I thought it would be nice to have a piece of my work in the new library as well. I'm not certain what they plan to do with that piece, as they will be converting Ramaker into an office building for the college. I think I'll try to get in there and take some photos in the next week. I'll post those for you to see.

So, the image I submitted to the selection committee was one I created in Photoshop. It is a graphic representation of a corn crib. A simple structure, but one that has intrigued me the last few years. You see, this particular corn crib sits just to the south of the Pizza Ranch Support Center, where I work each day. I have sat in the main conference room there and gazed out the window at this structure. The light changes on it throughout the day and the simple geometric shadows have always made me want to paint it. Here is a photo of it.

Those simple shapes, angles and patterns seemed to fit with the details I saw in the Learning Commons interior design. Below is the sketch/rendering I initially submitted for consideration.

This is obviously very different in style from the way you are familiar with seeing me paint. More on that another day. To be continued...

houses the college’s library and information resources - See more at: http://www.nwciowa.edu/news/press/3465/students-to-benefit-from-campus-improvements#sthash.gtNNMyGF.dpuf

Learning Commons houses the college’s library and information resources - See more at: http://www.nwciowa.edu/news/press/3465/students-to-benefit-from-campus-improvements#sthash.gtNNMyGF.dpuf

Learning Commons houses the college’s library and information resources - See more at: http://www.nwciowa.edu/news/press/3465/students-to-benefit-from-campus-improvements#sthash.gtNNMyGF.dpuf

The Angels' Song

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than three weeks away. Our little town is rather known in the area as a place to come and view outdoor Christmas lighting and displays. I have shown some of my lawn displays in the past, and decided to paint a new one this year.

I also thought it might be fun to take a few snapshots of it as it progressed so you could see how it developed. Above you can see the first shot I took.


This is at the point where I started to block in the fiery bright angelic colors. It started to come to life a bit more at this point.


Here is a close-up at an early stage of a shepherd's face. This particular shepherd is probably my favorite. I didn't put a lot of time into any of the figures, mostly because people are almost always driving past and viewing it from the road. Viewing from that distance forgives a lot of errors.


This is a closeup of the lower part of the angel. This was probably the most fun to paint. Free flowing paint and brilliant colors.


We put it out in the front yard on Wednesday of last week. The paint was not fully dry, but we put it out anyway. It snowed 3-4 inches this weekend, so it looks really nice surrounded by a fresh layer of the white stuff.


The Angels' Song
Here is a little better look at the entire finished piece. It is what I would call a very traditional interpretation of this scene–one you might see in a Sunday school classroom. I think people are drawn to the traditional images and music that permeate the Christmas season.

If you are in the area, I invite you to come view the lights as well as the new painting at the Vander Stelts.

Haman's Ear

Haman's Ear | 5"x7" | oil on hardboard

The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar. It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in Ancient Persia from Haman's plot "to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day." My wife recently led a Bible study on the book of Esther where the story unfolds. This year Purim is celebrated March 19 beginning at sundown.

On the final day of the Bible study, Denise, baked these Jewish cookies called Hamantashen, which translates means "Haman's Pockets or Haman's Hat", but in Israel they are gleefully tagged "Haman's Ears." The name comes from a legend describing the evil Haman as a man with ugly, twisted ears.

I thought they were beautiful cookies, so why not paint one?

Interested in buying Haman's Ear

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth | 4'x8' | oil on Upson board

This painting is another one that my Grandpa painted many years ago. It is just a few doors up the street from us and stands in front of my brother's house this Christmas season.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to check out my work in 2009. I truly appreciate every single comment and email I received. Merry Christmas.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. –Luke 2:14

The First Christmas

The First Christmas | 4'x8' | oil on plywood

I'm sorry to say it has been a busy December with not much time to paint.

This is the scene that we have in front of our house this Christmas season. I painted this quite a number of years ago and store it in my garage the rest of the year. It has seen its share of wind, snow and cold weather but remains pretty bright and colorful.

Maurice is once again decorated with lots of Christmas lights and decorations, so if you're in the neighborhood, please drive through and take a look.

A Servant's Heart

A Servant's Heart | oil on canvas | 30x40

Here it is, the final completed painting. You've seen glimpses of the hands in the past, but here you can see them completely. Open, giving, serving hands–filled with things that represent what it means to be a servant.

Painting hands is a difficult task, and that was compounded I believe by painting them at this super-sized scale. My son Joe was my hand model and I think his hands worked well–although he wished I had done a better job of capturing his callouses. Tough critic.



My son Jack took the photo of me next to the painting. I thought it would help give you a better idea of the scale of the piece. Pretty large compared to most things you see on the blog.

In Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life he writes, "It is possible to serve in church for a lifetime without ever being a servant. You must have a servant's heart. How can you know if you have the heart of a servant? Jesus said, "You can tell what they are by what they do."

Real servants make themselves available. (the watch)

Real servants pay attention to needs (the coins)

Real servants do their best with what they have. (the nut and nail)

Real servants do every task with equal dedication (the matches)

Real servants are faithful to their ministry (the ring)

Real servants maintain a low profile. (the shadows)

Whoever wants to be great must become a servant - Mark 10:43