Kid Care Mural Eleven

Kid Care Mural Ten

Kid Care Mural Nine

Kid Care Mural Eight

Kid Care Mural Seven

Kid Care Mural Six

Kid Care Mural Five

Kid Care Mural Four

Kid Care Mural Three

Kid Care Mural Two

Kid Care Mural One

When I joined the gym the kid care had a jungle theme, but no animals. The plants were there and the trees, but no animals, bugs or details. I decided to add some. Here's my progress so far.

Children's Church Chair Number Twelve

I had been out of the painting gig for a while and then, after getting back into it through my paintings at the gym (to be posted soon), I decided to do another chair for Children's Church. This one is of the Armor of God. It's also a tad cartoony, but, instead of using a armored child (as most artists do, though I have no idea why) I went with a bearded man. So, in some ways it's more realistic than what else is out there.

Children's Church Chair Number Eleven

Back to realistic paintings. This one is of a popular parable that Jesus told about the seed falling on different kinds of soil. It is found in Matthew 13:1-23.

Children's Church Chair Number Ten

I thought it was important to have at least one chair have a picture of the Bible on it. I found the best picture of a Bible that I could and copied it. That's the thing with most of my paintings at this point, I have to look at something in order to make a realistic representation. Perhaps one day I'll have an eye (and a memory) for detail. Today is not that day.

Children's Church Chair Number Nine

I felt that this one turned out mediocre. I liked everything except the two shirt-less dudes in the boats. Skin tones are still very difficult for me.

Children's Church Chair Number Eight

I really began to branch out with this one. It's probably the best of my realistic chairs. I even used a special glitter glaze on it to look like tiny, shiney stars. It turned out quite nicely, I thought.

Children's Church Chair Number Seven

When I did this one, I really liked it. I know, I know, it's still cartoony, but I really liked that there were three stages of the butterfly on there and that it goes so well symbolically with what Jesus can do in a person's life. I thought the kids would get something out of it, too. Of course, looking at it now, I can see every mistake--the squigly lines on the butterfly, for example, but it's still one of my favorites.

Children's Church Chair Number Six

I believed this chair to be something of a catastrophe. I didn't like the lion. His face turned out weird, I thought. The lamb was mediocre and, worst of all, there is NO mention of "the lion will lay down with the lamb" anywhere in the Bible! I looked in three different versions and they all say "the wolves will lie down with the lamb"! Can you believe that!? Of course, the meaning remains the same, but that meant that I couldn't put a verse up there to represent the picture (which I had, foolishly, already painted). So, I just put PEACE up there and felt like some kind of hippy. Well, I guess it's a good thing that kids are easily pleased.

Children's Church Chair Number Five

This was my first attempt at a more realistic style. Shading is difficult when you use pre-mixed acrylics. They often contian a variety of colors that, when mixed together, end up a muddy brown. This one turned out alright, though, I thought.

Children's Church Chair Number Four

I really liked the way this one turned out, even though it was still, basically, a cartoon. I am getting better at my free-hand. I did the circle free handed, if I remember correctly.

Children's Church Chair Number Three

I didn't like the way this one turned out. Jesus was supposed to be in the middle, but because I started off wrong, He ended up too much to the right. Oh, well. I learned a lesson from that one. At least, the kids didn't seem to notice.

Children's Church Chair Number Two

This is the second chair I painted. The kids liked this one. As you can see, my early work was mostly cartoon style stuff. I've tried branching out from there since then. I feel that I am slowly making progress. I've never had any formal art lessons (not since middle school, anyway) so it's a kind-of learn-as-you-go deal for me.

Children's Church Chair Number One

I began painting chairs for my church's Children's Church program. I've painted about 12 so far and I'd like to post them here for you to see. This one was in honor of Thanksgiving Day.

My Purpose

I feel that I am a novice painter, but I love the feel of the brush in my hand and the feeling of deep satisfaction I get when I finish a painting. I will shortly be posting snapshots of my work on this site as a running record of my progress. If you want to see a larger image, click on the picture.