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Yesterday, Orchids was featured in the Painters in Modern Times group at RedBubble. I am grateful for the hosts’ support and encouragement!

I’m reading what is probably the best book I’ll read this year, In the Likeness of God, by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey (though I haven’t finished the book or the year yet).

I’m beginning to think one of the best gifts God gave us (to learn with, anyway) is analogy. Earlier this year, I read Mind Of The Maker, by Dorothy Sayers and learned a lot about God as Creator by looking at human creators/artists. In The Likeness of God is about the human body and what we can learn about the One who created it and also the Body of Christ, the Church.

I’ve never felt I was particularly talented at finding/creating analogies myself, but perhaps it is something I should pursue. I seem to learn best from them. Jesus’ parables are analogies. I wonder how one goes about learning how to work with analogies?

(Actually, I have a short story I tried to write once that was an analogy, but I never finished it. I have more ideas than I have self discipline, and the light bulb that goes on over my head is sometimes a strobe light.)

In any event, I find myself wanting to quote extensively from this book, but I try not to quote too much from any one book here. Right now, I’m only on page 175 (of 552, though it’s not difficult reading), and I’ve got 3 fantastic passages I’d love to share! Since I really should just pick one, I guess I’ll go with the fun simile (i.e., analogy, if you don’t split hairs):

I can understand the complex process of keratin producing rigid fingernails and horses’ hooves. But no amount of training will lessen my astonishment as I watch a single stalk of keratin push its way out of a follicle, grow erect and proud and shockingly unfurl as a peacock feather. What was chemistry becomes beauty. It is as if a brilliant Appalachian quilt springs from a rock, as if a desert suddenly births a gang of cavorting porpoises.

“Let’s do a little cabinectomy here.”

“Maybe in our world there lives a happy little tree over there.”

“Shwooop. Hehe. You have to make those little noises, or it just doesn’t work.”

“That’s a crooked tree. We’ll send him to Washington.”

“The only thing worse than yellow snow is green snow.”

“Water’s like me. It’s laaazy… Boy, it always looks for the easiest way to do things.”

“We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.”

“We want happy paintings. Happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news.”

Orchids
A.M. Otwell, 2008
12 x 36 inches
Original $450

This painting is based on this photograph by the very talented Dawne Olson, who graciously gave her permission for me to use her image as a reference.

In other news, Nick and Lark was featured in the Impressionist Art group at Redbubble. It happened a few days ago, and I was slow to report it, but it should still be on the front page of that group for a few more days.

There’s still free shipping (through October 30) going on at RedBubble for a few more days, so if you like this painting, now would be a good time to buy a print!

I got an email from RedBubble this morning that they’re offering free shipping for the next week (until 23:59 on October 30 (GMT)). Just use coupon code “friendsandfamily” during checkout!

So, if you’ve been thinking about buying some of my art for a while or are ready to get started on your holiday shopping, now’s a good time! Click here to visit my bubblesite.

While I’m on the subject, I’ll also remind you that my original art is available here, and would also make a fantastic addition to your home or a lovely holiday gift!

In other news, I’ve got a few poems “percolating,” and am breaking in a couple of new low-carb dessert recipes. (I finally got bored with the meat and potatoes more meat diet that I’ve been on for a while.) I haven’t gotten back to my neglected orchid painting, but I intend to as soon as I have a work day that ends when I still have some natural light (or a day off would do).

Here is a list of a few people I know. Artists, actually. Of various sorts. I don’t agree with them all about everything, but it would be awfully strange if I did, wouldn’t it? However, I’m blessed to know a great many talented people. Here are a few of them. I’m not name dropping (or don’t mean to be), just thought you might like to see some work from somebody besides me sometimes!

Angie Brennan, humor writer
Angie Goodale, solo, and her band Ion Avenue
Mark Helwig, illustrator and sculptor (incidentally also a really good singer; so is his wife; but I digress . . . ).
Reba Hierholzer, painter and visual artist.
Rob Woodyard of Power Trip
Ward Jenkins, animator, illustrator, director.

This list was off the top of my head, so please don’t be upset if I left you off of it! (But if I did leave you off please do let me know; Lord willing, I’ll live to promote you another day.)

These two quotations are really one, but I stopped and thought about the first part for a while before I read on to see what followed, so I’m going to break up what is really one paragraph in a book:

“When I get to heaven I mean to spend a considerable portion of my first million years in painting, and so get to the bottom of the subject.”

Flowers in a Green Vase
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

“But then I shall require a still gayer palette than I get here below. I expect orange and vermilion will be the darkest, dullest colors upon it, and beyond them there will be a whole range of wonderful new colours which will delight the celestial eye.”

– from Painting as a Pastime by Winston S. Churchill

(While I was looking for an appropriate photo of one of his paintings, I came across this story, which I found rather interesting.)

I love Sundays, but they wear me out! We get to church early for choir practice, then sing at Mass, then have coffee hour, then return to choir practice. It works out great for those of us (including me) who drive a long way to church, but I’m pretty much useless when I get home.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Douglas F. Hedwig and his wife today, and he told me about the posthorn. I had never heard this instrument, but now that I look at the picture, I have seen these before (or something very much like it), largely in use for decorative purposes and not as instruments. Anyway, from what I gather, they are portable instruments that were once used to bring a little culture to the countryside, perhaps like a guitar in terms of function. Dr. Hedwig is an expert on the subject (as well as the trumpet and music in general), plays the posthorn here, and has a CD for sale.

Over at RedBubble, I am pleased to report that Dogwood Tree was featured in the Seasonal Scapes group, and Bluejays placed sixth in the Genesis: Day 5 challenge in the Living Christianity group.

I haven’t been painting much lately (did I already say that in a recent post?), but I miss it, and I hope to get back to it soon.

Still Haunted
A.M. Otwell, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
20 x 24 inches, gallery wrapped
Original $850

“While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.” —Flannery O’Connor

I was saving this for closer to Halloween, but the Halloween-related contests are already getting started on RedBubble.

In other news, I am delighted to report that Rose has been featured in the RedBubble Painted Florals group!

I drove all the way to Athens before I realized maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Since I don’t watch television, and my only local news is through my weekly paper (which I’m weeks behind on reading), I didn’t realize the gas shortages had extended outside of metro Atlanta. I was peripherally aware of what was going on but wasn’t at all worried about how it applied to me. Part of my blase attitude is probably due to the fact that we closed on our house the day it became apparent that Hurricane Katrina was going to cause gasoline shortages, and we moved, anyway. What else was there to do? It wasn’t all that bad. Then, I passed roughly 10 gas stations on the way from our apartment to the interstate. Even at the worst times, at least one of those stations had gas.

. . . and it wasn’t all that bad in Athens, either. The first gas station I tried had regular unleaded, although they were sold out of the higher grades. I had enough gas to get home, anyway, but I decided to fill up just in case. A few miles on, there was a gas station that, as far as I could tell, had plenty of gas and few customers. These “spotty shortages” are truly spotty so far in Athens. I guess I’ll return to my state of indifference, at least until I’m down to 1/4 tank again. If I avoid trips to Athens, that could be months from now, as I only pretty much only drive there and to the grocery store, but since church is in Athens, I suspect the gas will go faster than that.

In other news, Dogwood Tree was featured at RedBubble in the Rivers, Lakes, and Dams group, and Boat was featured in the Impressionist Art group. When art is “featured” there, it goes on the front page of the group because the group moderator(s) likes it. I’m honored.

des·cant
(děs’kānt’) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. also dis·cant (dĭs’-) Music
    1. An ornamental melody or counterpoint sung or played above a theme.

    2. The highest part sung in part music.
2. A discussion or discourse on a theme.
(American Heritage Dictionary via dictionary.com)

If I had known I could hit those notes, perhaps I would have quit smoking long before 2006. That is not to say I sound good, just to say that I can make a sound several notes higher than I thought I could. Almost always the right note at the right time, even. And it wasn’t until now, the third day after my first successful descant experience, that I thought of shattering glass. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do it. Shatter glass, that is. But who knows?

I’m still thinking about it because it was SO MUCH FUN. That . . . and I have a sore throat. The two aren’t related that I know of, except I probably got exposed to a bug the same day I discovered that I could hit high notes.

So I looked up vocal ranges on Wikipedia, and I’ve got nothing special. But it’s special to me. I hope God liked hearing those alleluias as much as I liked singing them. . . and that He’ll clear up this sore throat in a jiffy!

I’m painting orchids. The orchids are not as much fun as the descant was. However, I think I see how the painting is going to fall into place now and just need to take the time to make it happen.

Every time I say I’m painting a flower, I get this mental picture of me standing in a florist shop with a paintbrush, surrounded by white flowers that need color. Anyone else get this picture or is it just me?