SCARTER ART

A couple of fish stencils I drew a few years ago.

A Sunday Morning Verse -

153 Fish

“So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
‭‭John‬ ‭21‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My mom was my first art teacher. As a kid she would make me discipline myself to work hard on any creative school project or art contest. She would then critique my work and point out if something wasn’t right with my proportions or pesrpective and then have me correct it. All the way until the end of her life she was always BRUTALLY honest about my work. She never hesitated to tell me if she liked something or if she didn’t, whether it was something in art or something I wrote. She never gave me any false meaningless praise or shallow token compliments. My mother took my creativity too seriously to do that. If she told me she liked something, I knew it was good. I am not exactly sure how she’d feel about this little bird because I don’t draw as much as I used to, but I know she’d be completely honest about it, and I loved that about her.

I call this sketch ‘The Eye of The Sparrow’ and it goes out to my mother. My mother loved birds. She was surrounded by them, whether it was images of them in her home, decorations, in her garden, or watching them at her bird feeders. When she passed, I found out from my dad that her favorite hymn was ‘In the Garden’. There is a line in that song that says “His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing”. From what I understand she liked that line in the song. In another spiritual song called ‘The Eye of the Sparrow’ it says “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me”. It references that God’s eye is always on us, and that can be an incredible comfort to us. However, I think the real challenge is for us to keep our eye upon him. In a chaotic world full of distractions it is hard to become still and silent long enough to focus on that small still voice that is more pleasing to our ears than the singing of the birds. But if we can, we can overcome the darkness that is in this world, and find some joy in our difficult times. Thank you Lord.

Headed to Tuscaloosa this weekend. I went to this place many times when going to school and we like to try and stop in on gameday. A unique little spot with the world’s greatest ribs.

Took this photo in Man O War in the Abacos. I went there on a disaster relief mission trip after Hurricane Dorian with a group of guys from my church to help repair homes. It was a challeging trip. This sign was on the island. It was good reminder to give it our all and for the reason we were there to help others affected by the storm.

Glad to see my work in High Point Furniture. They have a really nice place.

-Sold this one along with some more of my work to High Point Furniture in Jasper
-It is called ‘A Fish Feeds Five Thousand’
-It was done with spray paint on wood
-I really liked this one

Sold this one this week to an attorney here in downtown Cullman. He saw it, liked it, gave me a call and we made a deal. He’s a fisherman and bought it for his lake house. I’ve had a lot of good feedback on this one. I hope he enjoys it.

“Caught A Crappie”
Spray paint and acrylic

Did this one years ago.
“Bottle Rocket” - Pen and Ink

I drew and painted the German Bank lettering on the Mary Carter Store around 15 years ago. The Historic Society asked local artist to do murals and recreate old signage on buildings in the Downtown area. The building was originally the old German Bank so I was asked to recreate the original signage of the bank on the building. After the tornado of 2011 a “clay based plaster” was applied to the building to restore and protect the old brick causing the German Bank sign to completely disappear. But over the last few years it has started to show itself again. Mr. Young who owns the building apologized to me for having to cover it up and the last time I was in the store he asked if I had noticed it coming back. I don’t mind it being covered and I think it adds a bit more to the story. No labor goes in vain.
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Here’s a link with more about the history of the German Bank.

https://www.cullmantribune.com/2022/07/04/an-expansive-history-a-guide-to-downtown-cullmans-most-historic-buildings/

- My Grandfathers Gasoline Can -
Pencil