Brushworks by RFord

My Journey to Zambia--More Inspiration

2009-03-12T13:02:00.002-05:00

These are the babies in Eric's House. I will be staying in Eric's House while in Zambia.

Angie Thomas and I were talking about the trip last night at our church’s Wednesday night supper and she told me that we will need to take skirts to wear. I don’t usually wear skirts—I wear jeans, jeans, jeans. She said that we could wear a cloth wrap around our jeans or pants while we were in the orphanage compound in Zambia. It will be interesting to see how this works out! I will be out looking for comfortable skirts over the next few weeks.

My Journey to Zambia--The Passport Arrives

2009-03-10T12:53:00.001-05:00

I have received my passport. I look like a deer in the headlights. Oh well, it looks better than my driver's license.

The next step in this journey is to get my vaccinations. Since I was five years old at the time of my last vaccination, I will have a lot of shots to take. The immunizations that I will need include: yellow fever, typhoid, hepatitis, tetanus, influenza, prescription for malaria pills and what ever else the CDC recommends. The cost will be about $500.00. I plan to get them next week.

My Journey to Zambia--The Inspiration

2009-03-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

These adorable babies are my inspiration.

This is a picture of the babies in their new sleepers and blankets made by the ladies sewing group at the Smith Springs church.

Since it can take up to 8 months for the blankets and supplies to reach Zambia, we will be taking new quilts made by the sewing group with us on our trip.

I can't wait to get to rock the babies.

My Journey to Zambia--The doubts and God's Answer

2009-03-08T12:48:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we have doubts about our goals. This week I began to question if going on this trip to Zambia was what God had in mind for me. Let just face it, the cost alone is overwhelming. Then there is getting the immunizations and the probability of getting sick while on the trip. I was having doubts, lots of doubts. None of my paintings were selling; I thought maybe this was just God’s way of letting me know that the trip wasn’t for me.

So I took my doubts to God in prayer. I usually have private time with God while I am walking the dog. While walking Noel, I had a conversation with God and told him about my concerns and my need for him to somehow let me know what his will for me was in this matter. I find it hard sometimes to know what God wants me to do with my life, so I just asked that if there was a way for him to let me know, I would be grateful.

After the walk I checked my email messages, to my delight I found that someone was interested in purchasing one of the paintings! It was listed in my eBay store. It was one of only two I had listed there. It would have taken someone a long time of searching through the huge amount of listings on eBay to find this painting. I am so overwhelmed and just a little bit frightened. God answered my prayer!

Now I know that with God’s help, I’m going to Zambia!!!

My Journey to Zambia-Getting Ready

2009-01-02T12:22:00.002-06:00

While I plan to use my artistic talents in Zambia, I also want to use them to get me there. It just seems natural that I pay for my trip to Zambia through selling my paintings. I will be selling my paintings on ebay. The cost for me to go to Zambia will be between $3,500 and 4,000. This will include the cost of getting my passport, shots, airfare, hotel, etc.

Part of getting ready to go to Zambia has been obtaining a passport. Since I have never been out of the country, I will need to get a passport. In order to get a passport, I must have a certified birth certificate. So I ordered a certified birth certificate and received it today. Next I will have to get passport picture made.

My Journey to Zambia-God touches my heart

2009-01-01T11:37:00.000-06:00

The Zambia orphan mission work tugged at my heart from the first time I heard about it.

Then in 2008, the Smith Springs Church of Christ decided to make one of their mission goals to assist in the building of the house for infants. The goal was to raise $100,000 in funds for the building fund. Everybody at church has been involved. The teens raised money with a bake sale and car wash. The ladies sewing group raised money by making items for a craft sale. And the entire congregation had special offering days. The church has been able to raise over the $100,000 goal.

In September it was decided that a group of church members would visit the mission. I knew I wanted to go as soon as I heard that one of the objectives of the trip was to paint the rooms where the infants were staying bright colors and create murals on the walls.

I knew that God had sent me a special work that I was equipped to do.

My Journy to Zambia-The Beginning

2008-12-31T10:19:00.005-06:00

My journey to Zambia began three years ago.

It all started with a missionary report by one of our church deacons. The report was on the Namwianga Mission that the Smith Springs Church of Christ had been supporting for over 25 years.

Here is a synopsis of the report.

Roy and Kathi Merritt live at the Namwianga Mission in Zambia where they run an orphanage with the support of many Churches of Christ. The whole compound is called "The Haven". At the time of the report, it was comprised of Eric’s House, Eleanor's House, Kelly's House and a new baby house to be built.
"Eleanor's House" is named in memory of Eleanor Mann of Victoria, Canada. Eleanor supported orphan care in Zambia as far back as the 1940s.
"Kelly's House" honors Kelly Hamby, a great supporter of the work in Zambia.
"Eric's House" is named after Eric Rickner. Eric's family has supported work in Zambia from back before World War II. Eric's legacy built the house where older children stay with Kathi and Roy.
Roy and Kathi hoped to begin building a new house for the babies as the mission deals with AIDS daily. Many babies have syphilis and HIV and most of the deaths are AIDS-related. However, 95% of the children are in fine health. Without the Haven, nearly all of these would have died a week or two after their birth.

At hearing of this mission particularly about the babies, my heart just seemed to reach out. On the way home from Church I told Jack, “I would really like to see the AIDS babies one day”.

Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my journey to Zambia!!!

The Ladies Craft Fair

2008-10-30T12:08:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of the ladies craft fair day held in October. It was held in our gym and we raised around $3,000 for the Zambia Mission.

I donated the paintings to the left. Faith, hope,
and love. It was a wonderful day.

Amaryllis

2008-04-25T15:54:00.002-05:00

This painting was a joy to complete. It is so bright and cheerful. The colors range from deep dark red to brilliant orange.

Amaryllis
16 x 20
acrylic on canvas

A Walk in the Woods

2008-04-15T15:27:00.003-05:00

A Walk in the Woods
30" x 40"
acrylic on canvas

I have finally completed this painting after taking time off to stay with my mother after her heart surgery. I have added a lot of texture with just a little hint of a path through the woods.

Amaryllis

2008-01-22T11:06:00.000-06:00

I am having so much fun painting this flower from life. It changes everyday so I will have to paint it quickly before the bloom fades.

I am painting it in the fashion of Georgia O'Keeffe, who is one of my favorite artists.

This painting is 16 x 20 and is painted with acrylics.

Distractions

2008-01-21T11:48:00.000-06:00

Progress on my paintings has suffered these last two weeks due to distractions that are just part of daily life. On January 10th as I was painting on "A Walk In the Woods" we had a storm that knocked out the power for a few hours. I was in the middle of painting the foreground foliage and suddenly no power. I had to put away my paints and clean my brushes by candle light. I decided to let the painting dry for a few days.

My next distraction was a good one, I sold two paintings on ebay. This is not usually a distraction, but I discovered that if I could be out of a supply item used in shipping a painting, I was out of it. My printer was out of ink, so I couldn't print the COA. The price of the printer cartridge I used had gone up so much, it was more economical for me to buy a new printer. So then it was necessary for me to install a new printer.

Next, I needed to purchase a box large enough to ship a large painting. The company I usually buy my boxes from had moved, but I finally located them only to find out that they no longer make the size box I needed. This forced me to have to cut two boxes down and create a single box out of them. More time expended figuring this out.

Then to top it all off, the store where I usually buy styrofoam sheets to create packing crates for the paintings was out of them. I had to quickly rethink my shipping procedures and used the pink insulation foam product that is about twice the price of styrofoam.

Lesson learned from this distraction is that I need to restock my supplies before I list my paintings on ebay. What should have taken one afternoon, turned into a three day ordeal.

On Friday, I was excited to see that the Amaryllis bulbs, my friend Kathy gave to me for Christmas, were in full bloom. They are just sooooo beautiful, I just could not resist painting them. So I have started a new work featuring one of these large blossoms.

I will get back to painting the woods after I get my fill of painting these plants. It is incredible having them pose for me in such bright living color.

WIP - A Walk in the Woods

2008-01-09T12:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I added detail to the middle ground trees, painted in the leaves and blocked in the foreground large trees. Today, I will be considering the color for the bark of the foreground trees. I was originally planning to paint them as aspens with their dramatic black and white trunks, but on further consideration, the white trunks will focus your eyes away from the path that leads into the woods. In the reference photo I am using, there is no path and the trees are aspens. But since I want to walk into those woods, I added the path. It creates a dilemma. Since I need to fill in the middle ground foliage under the trees, I will do it first so that I can get a clearer idea about what color the foreground trees should be and define the central focus of the painting.

WIP - A Walk in the Woods

2008-01-08T10:41:00.000-06:00

I have started the second tier of trees - the middle ground by blocking in the dark color of the leaves. I will go back and add some sky peeking through, add some limbs, and highlights to the leaves today. Since this is a large painting, 30 x 40 inches, I find that doing each layer in steps helps to get an overall feeling of depth on the painting. I will also be adding a layer of middle level undergrowth foliage, and maybe an old tree fallen along the path.

Unfortunately today, I have also scheduled myself to put away the Holiday decorations. Housekeeping is not one of my strong qualities. Maybe I will have time to do it between drying times. Hm mm...sounds like a good plan to me.

WIP - A Walk in the Woods

2008-01-07T10:02:00.000-06:00

My current "work in progress" is tentatively titled, A Walk in the Woods.

The painting depicts early autumn trees (there is still green in the color of the leaves) from the perspective of someone standing at the edge of a forest and getting ready to walk down a path that leads into a wooded area.

I have just finished the background trees. I plan to have three levels of trees, background, middle ground and foreground. I will be working on the middle ground trees today. I am a little obsessed about this painting and feel nervous about taking the next step with the trees.

More Dog Walk Paintings

2008-01-05T09:24:00.001-06:00

Irises have truely been my favorite floral subject inspired by my morning walks with Noel. For the past two years they have come up abundantly along my next door neighbor's fence and have been a blessing to pass by each day. Noel and I look forward to Spring when the irises will grace our morning travels again. The scene will have a new look as our neighbor painted his fence a light yellow this summer. It will be interesting. These two paintings were the result of 2007's growing season.

Purple Bearded Irises #1
12 x 24 inches
acyrlic on canvas

Purple Bearded Irises #2
12 x 24 inches
acyrlic on canvas

The Dog Walk Paintings

2008-01-04T09:35:00.000-06:00

No matter the weather outside, Noel insists on going on a walk every morning. Noel is a three year old dog, part border collie part, great Pyrenees, weights about 75 pounds and is mostly white except for her face which has the typical border collie coloring.

On our walks, Noel goes about marking spots, checking out mailboxes and doing her business. I, on the other hand, take this time to communicate with God. It is my time to reflect on the blessings he has given me, to confess my shortcomings, and to ask for guidance for the day.

Sometimes during our walks God blesses me with a beautiful vision of his glory in the form of nature. During the spring, I am blessed with the sprouting of tulips and irises, in the summer roses and zinnias, in the fall the trees give magnificent leaves, and in the winter the architecture of the trees. I am often inspired to put these visions on canvas.

Special Delivery, A Gift for the Postman is one of these blessings. One day Noel and I traveled down a street which we don't usually take during our morning walks. There I saw a mailbox arrayed with a beautiful clematis vine in full bloom. One special bloom was bursting out of the mailbox reaching for the sky. We walked on this street each day for about two weeks, just to see the glorious site. And then it was gone, the flowers faded away, but I have it on canvas to remember those days.

"Special Delivery: A Gift for the Postman"
24 x 36 inches
acrylic on canvas

Available

The Tulip Garden #2

2008-01-03T12:08:00.001-06:00

The painting is a study of the effects of light and shadow on the tulips and the creeping flox. The sunlight, white and clear, bleaches the center tulips of most of their color, and the trees in the background are throwing dark shadows on the foreground and background flowers.

The Tulip Garden #2
24 x 36 inches
acyrlic on canvas
Sold

Palette Knife Paintings

2008-01-02T10:25:00.001-06:00

While most of my work is strictly brushwork, occasionally I get the hankering to apply the paint with a palette knife. I absolutely love the texture created with the knife. I love to feel the paintings after they are completed. They are so touchable. My most recent palette knife paintings are of sunflowers.

"Sunflower #4"
12 x 24 inches
acrylic on canvas

Close up photos of details.

Happy New Year! 2008

2008-01-01T10:19:00.001-06:00

It's time to take a moment to reflect on the past year's work and make an inventory. I thougth I might share my favorite paintings from the past year.

This painting was actually completed in 2006, but it is one of my favorites. These purple blossoms were growing along my next door neighbor's fence. One Spring morning as I walked my dog, Noel, I admired the beauty of the deep-purple draping petals and the delicacy of the lighter purple upward reaching petals.

"Irises Along the Fence"
30" x 40"
acrylic on canvas

I thank God for the vision of these beautiful flowers growing along the fence, the privilege of walking my dog each morning, and the inspiration to put these blossoms on canvas.

December Commissioned Paintings

2007-12-31T09:03:00.001-06:00

During December I completed two commissioned paintings. I alway love to paint sunflowers, so when I was asked to create a smaller version of another sunflower painting, I couldn't wait to get started.

Sunflower #6
8” x 16”
acrylic on canvas

Although you can't see it here, the painting is very textured. Palette knife and scrumbling techniques are used to enhance the texture of the petals and leaves.

Autumn in Pennsylvania
16" x 20"
acrylic on canvas

This painting is from a photo taken by the client at Lackawanna State Park in Waverly, Pennsylvania. It reminded me of the views of landscapes from my own childhood growing up in Tennessee.

O Come, Let Us Adore Him

2007-12-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

This painting is a combination of two scenes from the nativity: the shepherds and wise men coming to adore and worship the baby Jesus.

11 x 14 acrylic on canvas

I'm Back At the Easel

2007-10-15T14:26:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I updated my blog. I took a short time off from my painting to be more active with the kids since they were graduating from high school. And now they are off at college and I have lots of time to paint.

I did finish some of the paintings I had started in previous posts. Here is the "Journey to Bethlehem" painting completed.

This painting is 24 x 36, acrylic on canvas

For the last two days, I have been listing paintings on ArtByUs, Ebay and Etsy. I am definitely making up for lost time.

Journey to Bethlehem--WIP

2007-02-25T16:20:00.000-06:00

Saturday, I worked on the Journey to Bethlehem painting and here is the next stage. I have completed the sky, and am working on the details of Mary, Joseph, and the travelers.

I think I am going to change the name of the painting to "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem". I just keep hearing the song, "O Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" in my head as I paint.

Obedience Unto Death

2007-02-24T09:47:00.000-06:00

Obedience Unto Death

Journey to the Cross and Beyond Series
24" x 30"
Acrylic on canvas
$720.00

Inspired by Philippians 2:8
He humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!

Obedience has never been one of my strong characteristics. I have always struggled with the word and its true meaning, especially when applying it to my life. Human nature rears its ugly head early in life when one of the first words a child learns to speak is, “No”. I was no different.

In my teenage years, obedience was not a word I used often in my vocabulary. I wanted to do what my parents said, but I wanted to do other things more. I had a strong Christian upbringing, but I did not comprehend the true meaning of obedience. I would pick and chose the rules I wanted to follow.

Recently, a lesson by our minister motivated me to do some in-depth thinking about obedience. The true meaning of obedience and its relationship to Our Heavenly Father and his Son was something I wanted to study and explore. This painting is inspired by my study and the emotions I felt.

It was a very emotional journey. Working on the painting drained all my creativity and I could not paint for several days after I had finished it.

Christ’s faithful love for his father and his obedience unto death is an example for all of us to follow in our Journey to the Cross and Beyond.

Journey to Bethlehem-Work In Progress

2007-02-22T17:49:00.000-06:00

Today I decided I want to start another "Journey to Bethlehem" painting in a larger size, 24" x 36", with a different orientation.

Mary and Joseph are still coming into the city, but I have added several other travelers and a closer perspective of the City of David.

This is the initial washed for the dark areas and I will be using blues, purples, browns and greens in the background.

New Series—Journey to the Cross and Beyond

2007-02-21T12:22:00.000-06:00

My Ladies Bible Study Group is using Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free” as the basis for study this quarter. I realize, after just a few of the lessons, I want to know Christ as the Son of God and know him better. This series is an articulation of my journey to find Christ as the Son of God, to know him and believe him. Journey to the Cross and Beyond, is an expression of my love and faith illustrated on canvas.

Journey to Bethlehem, 2006

18” x 24”
Acrylic on Canvas

The inspiration for this painting comes from Gospel of Luke (2:4-7):

"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife, who was with child."

The journey to Bethlehem must have been grueling experience for Mary and a constant worry for Joseph. The 100-mile journey would have taken from eight to ten days by camel or donkey.

Availability: If you are interested in a painting from this series, they will be available exclusively through my website.

Tribute to Mom

2007-02-20T10:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday. I owe much of my artistic ability to her. She was the first person I ever knew who painted pictures. She was also my first art teacher. She taught me from those "how to draw" books (the ones that teach you to draw boxes, circles, cones and then make them dimensional with shading) when I was only seven or eight years old.

My first acrylic paint was leftover house paint that my mom had saved for me to use. She allowed me to paint with the house paint on newsprint utilizing our bathroom counter as a surface to hold my painting. There I could paint to my heart's content. One of the first paintings I remember creating was of a hen and her chicks. She taught me to see the heart shape of the hen's body and the circle shapes of the baby chicks around her.

I love the smell of oil paint and turpentine. My first experience with oils was the paint-by-number set I received one Christmas. I guess you can see from my painting style that I still like to stay within the lines.

I attribute my love of gardening, flowers and small creatures to my mother. She and my brother built a goldfish pond when I was small. My brother, sister and I spent many hours watching the goldfish and playing with the small creatures that came to the pond.

The Water Garden Series is a visual tribute to those precious memories from my childhood.

Water Garden Friends
11" x 14"
acrylic on canvas

Thanks mom for all these wonderful memories!

My Web Site is Finally Published!!!

2007-02-18T18:13:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that my website has finally been completed. I has taken me several months to put all the graphics together, learn html, front page, etc. Brushworks by RFord is now official.

Now that it is up, I plan to keep my blog updated with my newest paintings and happenings in my life. I decided to leave my old posts available for viewing, the two three that are available anyway.

New Christian Artworks

2005-12-15T10:27:00.000-06:00

I just recently finish three new paintings for the Family Living Room at Smith Springs Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee.

The Vine
24 x 30
acrylic on canvas

"The Vine" portrays a sturdy vine growing with branches bearing fruit. The scars on the vine reveal the work of the Vinedresser pruning dead wood.

This painting is inspired by the verse John 15:5.

“I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.”

The Precious Book
30" x 40"
acrylic on canvas

The portrait is of a teenage girl who attends our church reading the Bible.

It is inspired by one of my favorite hymns “How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts?" By Isaac Watts which was inspired by Psalm 119:9

How can we stay pure? Living according to Your Word.”

A Child’s Prayer
30 x 40
acrylic on canvas

There is nothing more precious than a child’s prayer.

This portrait is of a young member of the church at Smith Springs.