A New Painting

I have been working on a commissioned painting for several months and finally finished it today. It's 4'x8' so I painted it in 3 panels.

Artist Inspiration

I was thinking about what it takes to be inspired, well...I can only talk from my vantage point.

One of my biggest inspirations came years ago from another artist named Manuel Lepe. He was from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Our family vacationed there for years and one time I went into a local art gallery and spied his work. I was overtaken with the colors and subject matter. He reminded me of myself and the art I felt too embarrassed to show anyone but my mother!

He painted angels in the sky that looked like children. I couldn't believe that was okay. I did the same but figured people would think that was silly or childish. Any way, when I came to know there was actually a genre called naif or naive art... it set me free.

One of Lepe's paintings was owned by Queen Elizabeth II and hung in Windsor Palace! And he had a list of famous celebrities that owned paintings. 

I had a chance to buy one of his fabulous paintings. The price was $1600. I didn't know how to transport it back to the USA and didn't know if that was too expensive. (I was in my early twenties) I passed it up, thinking next year I would have another chance.

The next year when I went to PV I heard the tragic news that Manuel Lepe had died at age 43. I was crushed and the price of the painting was now $16,000.

Behold

This past weekend at Mayfest in Ft. Worth, I had a woman come up to me in tears. She said I had moved her heart through one of my paintings. It turned out that the scripture on the painting "Behold, I will not forget you. I have engraved you on the palm of my hand", is one that she often uses at her job. She is director of the Pregnancy Assistance League in Ft. Worth and uses that verse to remind young women that God has a plan for their babies and he has not forgotten them.
I gave her the painting and they are going to hang it in the children's playroom at the Pregnancy center.