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.

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

Diet Coke

The new year is off to a fast start. I thought I'd share a painting I did as a Christmas gift. Our family draws names, and this year I drew my sister Bonnie's name. Well, if your family is like ours, you ask for gift suggestions. I asked Bonnie, and she said she'd like either a painting or a drawing. I asked her on two separate occasions, hoping for additional options, but got the same reply. I suppose I could have bought her something off the shelf at the WalMart, but then the Christmas spirit kicked in.

 

What do I choose to paint? She loves to cook and spend time in the kitchen, so I first considered doing something with food. She also collects Coke items, and LOVES Diet Coke, so that seemed like a good choice.

Coke changes the graphics on their cans frequently, and I am a fan of their branding. I like the fact that the lettering is so large on the can that you only see a couple large letters–yet immediately know it is a can of Diet Coke.

Below is a picture of Bonnie with her gift. She loved it.

A Vintage Christmas

In our family we've been decorating for Christmas with homemade lawn displays since I was a kid. My Dad (holding the sheep) has created many lighted display items, cut from wood and filled with lights. My Grandpa painted scenes 40-50 years ago that still make their way from storage in the garage, to outdoors for the frigid month of December. They have held up remarkably well considering they get exposed to sub-zero temps, and battered by NW Iowa rain, sleet and snow.

You've seen a couple of our scenes in the past, but this year we decided to try something different. Every year the Christmas season approaches, and we say to ourselves, "Why didn't we work on a NEW Christmas scene for our yard?" It's just easy to put up one of our old favorites instead. This year, we were talking about an old nativity scene that my Dad and Grandpa made back in the 1960s, and it has been stored up in my Dad's cluttered garage rafters since probably 1970 or thereabout.

Thanksgiving morning, my brother Bruce and I decided to haul stuff out of the rafters and see what kind of shape the scene was in. As you can see in the photo above, some of the figures looked better than others. Mary, baby Jesus, and a couple of the shepherds were peeling extensively and needed some attention. The remaining figures were dusty, but cleaned up pretty well with a bucket of soapy water.

The 40 years these pieces spent in the rafters aged them with a "crusty chic" that can't be duplicated without the passage of time. A little stained, aged, faded and worn. Beautiful in its own way. We plugged in the string of blue lights and they worked!

Look at this star. Dad made this out of heavy upholstery cardboard, duct tape, the outer edge is plywood and the face is covered with a layer of cheesecloth to diffuse the light. I just love this thing and the beautiful brown the cheesecloth has turned.

I took the three figures home that were in need of some TLC. I sanded the loose peeling paint off them and freshened them up.

 The stable was covered with burlap. It was not in great shape either, but once again it was old and beat up and had a lot of character.

 Here is Bruce arranging and driving stakes for the figures.

And here is the finished scene, illuminated at night–complete with fresh straw all around. We were really pleased with the way it came together and my Dad was thrilled to see it up in his front yard again after all these years. If you're in Maurice this Christmas season to look at lights, make sure you head to the far Southwest corner of town to take a look for yourself. Merry Christmas.

Oh, Brother

When I came up with the idea of incorporating an actual farm windmill as part of this artwork, I initially didn't give a lot of thought to exactly how that was going to become a reality. When it comes to building or fixing things, I am not very gifted. Fortunately, I have other family members who are willing to come to my aid when there is a need. As you saw in an earlier post, my Dad built the canvases. My brother Mike is a real fix-it guy. My other brother Bruce was the brains behind conceiving the apparatus we needed to mount this windmill.

The windmill itself weighs 60-70 pounds, and it needed to hang at the end of a shaft projecting out of the wall, beyond the surface of the canvases. That requires a hefty device.

Bruce came up with a blueprint of what was needed, and even built in a system of set-screw adjustments that would allow for slight adjustments to be made to the tilt of the wheel after mounting if necessary.

He then worked directly with the guys at Randy's Ironworks of Orange City to fabricate this heavy-duty item. I do mean heavy-duty–I think it probably weighed at least 30 pounds. I'm not usually into this kinda thing, but it was a thing of beauty, and I think I thought so because it looked like it was going to work so perfectly.

The contractors building the event center had built into the wall extra support to allow for mounting at the appropriate area of the wall. You can see from the photos that the base plate is embedded just beneath the sheetrock. After Bruce finished installing the apparatus, the drywall crew came back and patched in the sheetrock, textured and painted. All that extends from the wall is the shaft for mounting he mill.

That's my brother in the pictures above. I couldn't have done it without you, Bruce.

Canvas Maker

My dad has made and stretched many of my canvases in the 30+ years that I've been painting. Every once in a while a big project like this comes along and he needs to go into "super-sized" mode.

Here he is in the basement of the shop. This was back when the snow was still flying. He fired up the old pot-bellied stove you can see in the background, and went to work laminating poplar boards to create the sturdy stretcher frames for the canvases.

Here are a couple of photos of dad standing next to one of the larger lower canvases, showing the back side of the stretched canvas. The Prairie Winds artwork has four separate canvases–the top two canvases  in the piece are 48"x48" and the bottom two are each  48"x78". He also built into each canvas, a set of cleats which allowed for custom mounting these directly  and snug to the wall.

Dad has always been very creative and talented, especially when it comes to finding solutions to challenging projects that need to be built or fixed.

He was my first supporter and encourager to pursue my passion for art, encouraging me to draw and paint from my earliest memories of childhood.

Dad will be turning 77 on Thursday! If you'd like to post your greetings here, or send me an e-mail. I'll see that he gets them.

Dad's Profile

Dad's Profile | 6"x6" | oil on hardboard
My Dad is always a good subject for a portrait. He has had a big white beard for many years and turns the heads of a lot of small children at Christmas time.


I remember drawing his profile when I was a kid. I don't know if that drawing is still around or not. There is something I like about a profile. The window light streaming into the room really worked perfectly in adding dimension to his face. This was based on a photo I took after a Sunday dinner at my brother Bruces' house.

Todd's Cottonwoods

This is a quick sketch I did as my contribution to a 50th birthday scrapbook created by many of my co-workers for our company president and friend, Adrie Groeneweg. Adrie likes nature and particularly trees. I even did a tree commission for him a couple years ago.

I based this sketch on a photo posted on Facebook and shot by another friend, Todd Thompson. In addition to being a great writer and friend, Todd has a good eye for photography too. He says about these trees "My two favorite trees in the world. Cottonwoods. My great uncle L.D. moved here in 1914 and he said they were big trees then."

The Storm

The Storm | 8"x10" | Sharpie on paper

It hit a week ago today.

I was fast asleep when my wife nudged me. She had heard the wind and rain outside our bedroom window, but now there were voices outside that same window. She peered out the blinds to find firemen with flashlights roaming about. We looked out our front door and a huge limb had fallen out of the tree directly in front to of our house, and a massive ash tree belonging to our neighbor had also fallen across our driveway and blocked the road.

It was very evident that a serious storm had blown through Maurice, and our once picture perfect town had been changed in an instant. One family in town lost their home. A handful of other buildings destroyed too. Countless trees snapped off, uprooted or seriously damaged.

At daybreak, cleanup began and the days that followed showed the kindness of strangers, the strength of the midwestern work ethic, the beauty of small town life and the definition of community.

I thought it was fitting to sketch this in black and white today. I really didn't enjoy creating this, but felt the need to create it and post it.

It has been a week filled with a variety of emotions for me. I was sad the day after the storm. 80-100mph winds had shredded parts of the town I love. But life goes on and with each passing day things look more normal around here. We will all get use to the new normal after a period of time–and God is still good.

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

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

12 Feet

12 Feet | 5"x7" | oil on hardboard

As promised, another Okoboji painting. I typically do not enjoy the task of titling my paintings. My titles often are pretty straightforward. But there are times like this painting where I find a title that makes me smile. I couldn't decide whether to title it "4 foot 8" or "12 Feet". In the end, 12 feet seemed like the better choice.

More cut-off figures. I like the composition, angularity and colors.

This was at the pool at our resort. We always stay at Triggs Bay Resort. It's one of the few family run resorts remaining at the lakes.

I've also been working on a new commission piece. I thought it might be interesting to give you a glimpse of it. (see detail below) This is a tight shot of a small section of the painting. It is a painting that focuses on the theme of serving others. It is coming along pretty nicely. I'll post more glimpses as it progresses.



Inquire about purchasing 12 Feet

Beach Babes

Beach Babes| 5"x7" | oil on hardboard

We just returned from a week of vacation – our yearly pilgrimage to Okoboji and the Iowa Great Lakes. There are a slew of jokes you could make about Iowa and its' lakes, or lack thereof. With Minnesota hoarding 10,000+ lakes, it leaves very few for Iowans to claim as our own and even fewer that we can call "great". We always stay at the same family resort every year and this is a scene on the beach there.

The bold colors and bright sunlight create some vibrant contrast and make for lively color. While the woman and child are the focus of the piece, I like the swimmer in the water and the partial figure cut off on the right.


Beach Babes| detail

This detail of the swimmer shows how a figure can be captured in a few simple strokes, and the bright white highlight on the shoulder gives the viewer the impression that the skin is wet.

I hope many of you have had the opportunity to take a vacation this Summer. It's good to relax, recharge your mental batteries, and spend time with family.

Stay tuned for more Okoboji paintings.

Available for $100

Cake Walk

Cake Walk| 6"x6" | oil on hardboard

In honor of my 50th blog entry, I'm introducing a new square format. Almost all of the paintings on this blog thus far have been 5x7" but I now have prepared a bunch of 6x6" panels so you'll be seeing square pieces now too from time to time.

A few weeks ago we had our annual church picnic. If there is any event that is quintessentially small town, it is our church picnic. Many of our traditions and community celebrations have come and gone, but the Maurice church picnic remains, even after well over 100 years.

I like taking photos at the picnic and this year was another beautiful summer evening. They block off the street and do a kids carnival, including things like a football throw, face painting, fish pond and more. The cake walk is always a hit. Both of my boys won a cake this year so we had a nice supply of cake...for a few days. My sons like cake.

This scene captures the long shadows of late day sunlight. Something about the cutoff figure at the top center kinda completes the composition nicely. It brings the eye back around in a circular direction.

Below is a photo of those in attendance at the picnic this year. A big group for a small town. Click on it for a closer look.

Mom's Bread

Mom's Bread | oil on canvas

It was my Mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I had intended to post this at that time, but of course it slipped my mind. So I thought I'd share it this week instead. This is a large portrait I did of her. Click on the photo to get a little closer look.

I featured Mom's cake on my very first blog painting back in September of last year. As I mentioned at that time, she loves spending time in her kitchen and homemade bread is one of her specialties. In the painting she's holding my favorite bread that she bakes. It's an oatmeal bread that is unbelievably wonderful....just like Mom.