Earlier this year I was contacted by the editors of Ultimato, a high-quality Christian magazine in Brazil. Their request was to use various images from my website to illustrate five articles on Biblical women. I was open, but didn’t feel I had any paintings that would be perfectly appropriate. I proposed to paint new ones. And I wanted to make them “modern.” They agreed and recently the articles with the paintings have been published. In Brazil.

Here’s how they looked taped up on my studio wall. All are oil on canvas (not stretched), 30×26 inches.

They were so pleased with the paintings that they also requested to publish an interview with me. They supplied the questions and I answered via e-mail. This was all done in Portuguese with the help of Google Translator. For the title they took a line from the interview: “I don’t know How I could Happier being an Artist.”  Of course the articles and the interview are in Portuguese, but I’ll supply the English version here, laced between the five painting.

As they only needed digital files, I still have the originals.  They’re on my website here.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, very young and contemplating her recent pregnancy.

For larger views click on the paintings, and then again.

When and why did you start to paint?
Painting came to me at mid-life after a number of other careers. I was waiting at a traffic light and glanced into a gallery window and suddenly thought, “I could do that,” and then, “I’m going to do that; I’m going to become a painter!” That was the beginning. After that it was years of applying myself until eventually I stopped my other occupations and took up painting full time.

Your wife is an artist too. How is your relationship at home?
Anne is a printmaker, doing original work on a hand press. We have much mutual support. We share a studio in the house. We also go away about twice a year we take up residence in some distant locale—a rented studio, a borrowed cabin—and make art all day, every day. It’s a wonderful time.

Ruth, from the Old Testament book of the same name.

When the work is “ordered,” is it more difficult to be inspired?
Portraits can be a challenge—not for “idea,” but for “execution.”  Or sometimes people present creative challenges I would have never considered. At first I resist, then ideas start to come and I end up with something new.

People say that artists has more propensity to sadness. Is it true?
It is not my experience, nor do I know of it among my artists friends. I think it’s a myth. I am extremely happy being an artist. I don’t know how I could be happier.

Abigail, from another Old Testament story.

Why do you paint people from all the parts of the world: does it happen according to invitation or do you seek it?
My wife and I served for 32 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. (That was my second career.) Among my positions I was a publications editor and designer and often worked with images of ethnic people. When I began painting it felt natural to paint these people. I have broadened to paint a great variety of subjects but I still like to dignify these people with my paintings.

Do you paint more women than men?
I generally find women the more attractive subject matter, but I paint men too.

Who are your great influences as a painter?
Historically it’s the impressionists and post-impressionists that appeal to me. Painters before that time or since that time don’t have near the impact on me, though there are plenty of current painters whose work I highly admire.

Foot Washer, actually another Mary, who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Are there some your paintings that you feel a special love?
I love all my children. Paintings I don’t like I don’t show, and eventually paint over. Since I’m in the business of making art for a living I am willing to sell any of them. I also give paintings away to a worthy cause.

What inspires you to paint?
There is no day without inspiration. The joy of doing it, the challenge of doing it better, the desire to try new things, all these inspire. Then, the idea that someone may need a painting can add to it. Usually I have some end use in mind for making a painting. I paint a number of painting per week, large and small. (Storage can be a challenge.)

Did you say that the painter must be able to paint everything? I also believe it, but is there some kind of painting which you feel better (as humans, animals, landscapes)?
If I’m painting purely for my own enjoyment I will usually paint a person, either full-figure or a face. I sometimes explore landscapes, still lifes, and abstract painting. I am not an illustrator. I do best when it’s my own idea, or if the client allows me to do my own interpretation.

Lemuel’s Mother, or another name: The Proverbs 31 Woman, experienced, wise and strong.

How did you decide to match your love for art and your faith?
At first I did not want to be a “Christian painter.” I did not want to be known only as that. I just wanted to be a good painter. As time has progressed I have found myself doing more and more Christian work. It’s rarely “traditional,” however. I like a creative approach.

The most recent example is the five Biblical women for Ultimato. I painted them as contemporary, not iconic. Mary is young and reflective. Ruth is beautiful, attractive to Boaz, her redeemer and future husband. It’s the same with Abigail, who dressed her hair to present herself to David. The other Mary, who washed the Lord’s feet with perfume and dried them with her hair, is painted with an abundance of flowing hair. And Lemuel’s mother is depicted as older, beautifully handsome, wise and strong.

In which projects are you working currently?
I’m working on a series of large and small paintings of young girls for Uncaged, an organization confronting sex trafficking [as posted in this blog last month]. I just finished two nine-foot wide landscapes of our city for my church. I have a number of large public-painting events coming up for Bible translation, involving travel. I’ve been painting pieces to contribute to missions organizations for their walls. At the moment it’s all Christian work I’m doing. But I also need to keep my galleries supplied with new pieces.

I feel that with painting I have meaningful work to keep me occupied, interested and growing for the rest of my life. For that I feel blessed, and very grateful.

_________

That’s it.  Currently there are other projects, and a show of my new work of a whole other style, more abstract, coming up at the Sandstone Gallery in Laguna Beach, May 2.  Watch for another announcement just prior to that.