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Some churches/steeples are dramatic, graceful architectural up-thrusts … beautiful, regal and formal. Fancy filigree, crisp whitely-painted defined moldings, beautiful shingling. An architectural equivalent of putting on your Sunday best … pipe organ strains of Bach flowing thru the double-arched doors. Gloriously uplifting and beautiful.

Other churches/steeples can be prosaic and humble … dare I say, plain. Here, the architectural equivalent that hums “Just As I Am”. Simple, honest … yet powerful and beautiful.

I love them all. You see, it’s not necessarily a height thing … higher is not necessarily better. I think it’s more of intent.

The original intent is often multifaceted (as mentioned in the image’s letterpresses text). For me, the most important is the symbolic architectural gesture, that mortal hand lifted aloft to meet God’s outstretched hand down to us. And, since God has a long reach, the height difference between a cathedral’s soaring. spire and a bungalow’s modest, cross-topped pitch, isn’t decisive. If the intent is to look-up … to reach-up, then it’s sincerity to the Source that’s key.

As I said, I like the variety, probably because I like the intent – or at least, the implied intent. Know this, reader: not all churches that have inspired my little paintings are churches I would attend. Others: gladly. If I ever get into painting restaurant signs, the same will be true. I don’t particularly like bad food. 🙂

When I first began this piece, I was thinking of letting the text remain full-black – it looked good and contrasty. However, in reviewing my previous paintings, I decided to lighten the text. While the contrast is indeed attractive, lightening the text still pushes the image forward … and that seems particularly important with the subtle, delicate nature of watercolor.

Here is the beginning sketch.

This very simple country church has that same stature as a man who, though his suit of clothes is warn and threadbare, still is. pressed and clean. “Humble”…”dignity”… “respect” … are words that come to mind. Also, “sturdy” and “strong”.

And final matted piece: very happy with the color and rendering 🙂

A detail of the stained glass window:

… and of the cross (and type treatment).

… this painting for sale in my Steeple Project Gallery …

Sometime back, I did a painting of what I called a Mission-style church steeple (Mission Style … steeple project Sept. 11, 2022). I grew up in Southern California. In what might be determined by someone with a deeper understanding of architectural styles (which is to say, any architectural sense at all), that my inclination to define these styles as “Mission” or “Mexican” is a well-intentioned, fondly recalled … yet perhaps ill-informed bit of wisdom. Happy to stand-corrected if need be. Meantime, it works for me 🙂

That said: here, we found a less-formal, simply-architectured edifice that has (again, to me) a “Mexican/Mission” feel to it. Clues, for me, include a stepped-design pitch with flat horizontals (instead of roof lines running straight to a pointed pitch), white painted stucco (faux adobe, if I may mix language references) facade, brightly colored trim boards … a stout and substantial presence.

Above: the beginning sketch … poorly lit … but, a peek at the start. A very simple look. I guess one needs to stretch a bit to find the actual “steeple” of it. However, it does have much of a high-point, but it is a purposeful vertical reach – adorned with a cross … so, this artist declares a certain steepleness to it – and, as-such, worthy of a little painting.

You’ll note a tree branch included … it is a purposeful, if not fully accurate, inclusion … an homage to the church’s neighborhood which was named for its incredible oak trees …

The detail above: yes, I’m including the turnbuckle/guyline. 🙂

And, below, the final. I’m very happy with it. A simple facade, but the blue eaves define well against the hint of stucco texture. From a growing artist’s technical perspective, I’m Very happy with the windows – especially regarding the glass. I think I’ve finally found a great look for window glass. My original temptation was to leave they white – glass is clear, yes? However, if you look at houses/etc from the outside, the windows are usually very dark with the defining look being how much and how bright the reflections are. I like how I’ve defined these.

And, below, a detail:

… this painting for sale in my Steeple Project Gallery …

Ok, yes … a month later … life happens, sometimes in capital letters … LIFE HAPPENS … so yeah, I’m late in returning to our little chat …

So, after another gap in time, here we are.

The hula dancer: we were on a walk and there it was: dancing in the wind above the weeds, amongst the firs … in the distance, beyond the soft sound of the wind in the grasses … I’m sure I could here a soft Don Ho song … na, just the wind.

But it struck me immediately: there’s God’s Own hula dancer! Sure enough, sitting atop a small tree (well, actually, it is the top of a small tree), there swayed a cute, swaying, God-created, dancer – grass skirt and all!

A perfect grass skirt … swaying about … no Elvis, but a scene from Blue Hawaii (or maybe Magnum … or maybe a visit to the Tiki House), beside the trail, in full array and choreography from on-High …

What a joy!

… this photograph for sale in my Photography Gallery …

Remember back when I first confessed to a peripatetic approach to art (watercolor/oil/letterpress/photography/on-and-on…)? I didn’t list welding/metal/sculpture on that initial list of semi-pro/wannaby art media dablements, my scattered interests. Who knew?

I did, in my defense, mention that my wife likes cattails, and yard art. A couple months back, while wandering thru a nursery on the other side of our state. we came upon a rusted, very cool metal yard art-thing that was cattails … but alas, not for sale, rather declared to be just a part of the nursery history. Of course, in my unbridled optimism, I declared that to be something I could build for her … no problem.

No problem. 🙂

However, Christmas sprung-forth, and I decided the cattail project to be the perfect gift.

So, off to the steelyard. found some really cool, octagonal rod (stems) and some 1 1/4″ flat iron for the leaves. I already had some beautifully rusted tubes (old brackets) and decided to use old car valves for the tops/top stems (I’m sure there’s an official name for those “top stems” … we continue to learn, right?). [Editors: after a question mark, and a closing parens, is that period correct?] [Editors: brackets vs parens… ?] [Editors: ….. thanks … but, never mind … ]

Anyways (focus), …. then came Production. I’ve done some welding on my little wire welder … works ok (though I’d never, never trust it (my skills) for something structural, like on a trailer or such) … but, I truly need to get some training: my welds are so messy, not the smooth/creamy looking bead created by someone who really knows how to weld. I spend more time cleaning it all up with a grinder afterwards

Ok, here they are. I made three …

And a detail …

A successful gift, she loves them!

I’m so excited to post these! It took several weeks longer to do-so because my first photos of the finished pieces were not-so-much, so I needed to re-shoot them. Problem was I’m was in the middle of a bathroom remodel. I, as I always have, did all the work myself (electrical/plumbing/tile/floor/painting/etc), so … priorities being what they are ….

Then, I got the flu …..

Alas, back in the saddle again. As I said in my last post, I actually have two pieces: God’s Own: corn dogs on-a-stick I and God’s Own: corn dog on-a-stick 2. As I also mentioned in my last post, it was so great to get into the darkroom again (true, frustrations abound: tight space, no plumbing, questionable light-tightness, etc.. But … quit complaining: what a blessing I have, truly! It’s a bit rough, but I have a darkroom!) So, yeah, what fun!!

As I mentioned, I decided to print a couple negatives, liking them both … and glad I did. they both have something a bit different (primarily composition/perspective) which gives them very different attitudes … both of which I’m very happy with!! (As I’ve said in the past, I’m not all that happy with my photos of art … just don’t look like they do in person …)

Ok, here’s God’s Own: corn dogs on-a-stick 1:

And, below, God’s Own: corn dogs on-a-stick 2:

I sure love b&w, silver gelatin photography …

… these photographs for sale in my Photography Project Gallery …

Ok, later, I re-shot the cattails with 35mm (50mm/2.1cm) and have been heading for the darkroom week after week … yes, life if busy …

Finally made it.

These show, in part (I have many reasons), why I love film vs digital: just look at the fabulous grain. Photoshop can fake it, but I love the real thing. I once had a fake Rolex that a friend brought me from abroad. Personally, I couldn’t tell the difference between it and a real one, but wearing it fell very-short from what I can imagine wearing a real one might feel. Anyways, I won’t get started on my feelings about Photoshop here … they are mixed and complex. And, the fake Rolex stopped running after a month …

Historical sidebar: there is some disagreement as-to the initial origin of the dog-on-a-stick/corn dog. From what I read, the dog-on-a-stick is the first noted use given there is a patent dated 1927 that describes putting a sausage/etc onto a stick to cook. Not sure corn batter was in play, but the dog and stick definitely are. Perhaps the squabble should be re-stated: one as-to the origin of dog-on-a-stick, and another to use of a corn batter. Troubling issues, those.

Academic note: I did a search thru my Bible concordance … no mention of “dog-on-a-stick”, nor of “corn dog” … so, definitely the early Greeks and Aramaic speaking crowd didn’t come up with the thing. But I’m convinced God foresaw the humor of the cattail/corn dog on-a-stick visual long, long ago … and still smiles.

Anyways … I did get back into the darkroom today to finally print God’s Own: corn dogs on-a-stick. Actually, I was torn between two negatives: two different compositions/perspectives … so I printed them both, God’s Own: corn dogs on-a-stick 1 and 2. 🙂

I was going you show them here, but this post is getting a bit long, so I’ll follow-up with the next post and show them both. I’ll telegraph what I feel: I’m so happy to 1) get into the darkroom again (it’s a magical place … to see an image appear out of the developer is so much fun) and 2) I’m very happy with both of the images!!

Here’s a teaser ….

Stay tuned!!

A couple posts back … no, by now, it’s a couple of months back … I said I was heading for the darkroom. It took quite a while to get there, life being what it is (!!!). 

And, life being what it is, and though I did get into the darkroom momentarily, I still am without any prints. 

I got ready … I first had to redo some things to sure my darkroom is (kinda) light tight … sealed/flapped/etc and got it pretty dark, even during daylight hours. Then, once inside and “ready-to-go”, I found several “issues” … tried art first to work around them, but there were so many … and so many that could really effect quality, so I bagged it. So, I’ve put a few days into fixing things (note: “days” to me means an hours or so max each day only – I have other things, life things, that often need to trump art things.

Amounts those “issues” was the fact that I needed a new negative carrier for 35mm film. So, since there was only one on ebay, and it was pretty expensive, I set out to build one myself. Here it is:

I used steel flashing material, it’s in two parts: a base with slightly larger-than-35mm frame size with grooves/guides for the enlarger … and a second layer to actually frame the negative. I filed this piece slightly larger than 35mm image size to add a black frame around the image on the print. I wonder who started that idea (the black frame around an image … ). I wonder if it was a statement: “hey, this isn’t cropped, I am responsible for the whole frame”. Or, maybe it was a design thing. I recall seeing it first in my teens and thinking that looked and felt “Pro”. I like the idea that each and every print has the same “fingerprint” black frame – no two enlarged frames are alike: some are very rough, some a bit lopsided, etc..

Then, it was Thanksgiving (I love Thanksgiving!) – with it’s accompanying time dedications – and now, I think I’m getting close to taking another whack at it … day or so away!! (ha! it was weeks!)

(Photo trivia: negative marked #6 will be the first of series .. God’s Own: corn dogs on a stick 1).

Stay tuned …

We often, on our daily constitutional (in better weather than present), walk past a little pond filled (at that time of year) with cattails. However, they don’t look to me like a cat’s tail at all. And, they don’t flick inquisitively as a cat’s tail does. To me, they more resemble a beaver’s tail after it’s been forced thru a knothole. Cat tail? No. If I were to come upon a critter with a tail like that, it’d accompany some soothing self-talk and maintaining eye contact while backing away slowly.

Anyways, I was thinking of taking a picture of one of those. As we passed them one day, I remarked aloud “hey, those look like corn dogs, they’re even on a stick!” Must have been around lunchtime. So, why did God make these plants (which for some reason are referred to as cattails) look so much like corn dogs!?! What fun though, and what an exposition of God’s sense of humor. My wife is continually pointing out His sense of humor (and most particularly, and most often) when in the presence of a dog .. any dog … she loves dogs.

At any rate, I decided to take a few shots of a “cattail”. For some reason, the notion cried-out to me for square format (don’t ask), so I chose to lug my 2 1/4” camera on the walk. I have an 80mm and a 135mm lens… the 135 I figured, in hopes of keeping depth-of-field shallow, as-well-as my feet dry.

Several days later: ok, I developed the film … a disaster. Here’s the problem of being a peripatetic artist: some of the activities are done so rarely that an efficient and quality level of ability is hard to maintain. In this case, I mis-loaded the film in my tanks and ruined it. I have done 2 1/4” so rarely, I’m just not competent with it these days (note: I once was very good at 120/220 processing … a while back though). Rather than fight it, I’m going to re-shoot 35mm … where I’m very comfortable and confident. I need to get them shot while they’re still in good shape.

Bummer.

I’ll end with a personal sidebar on cattails: my wife once created a very pretty bouquet of dried grasses and a couple cattails in our family room. Very nice. However, month’s later, the cattails apparently burst open – I assume in a natural manner so-as to propagate – setting aloft hundreds of little feathery, light-as-air seed poofs. I still find one here, one there … everywhere, when dusting. Cattails explode – who knew?

Double bummer.

Life is busy … I mention that often …

But just now, I went out to shut my gate, as I do every night … it’s cold tonight …

Well, out there, a pause. I looked back at my house … frozen by the moment … what a Blessing I have … this place, this house … those windows … those shutters … this porch … the plants … this home …

Sure, over the years, we have worked on it all by ourselves … expanded it’s square-footage, it’s size over the years, every nail and wire and pipe …

It’s not a huge place, but it’s our home … it’s such a Blessing that was given to us, for our family … oh, so … So! … what a Blessing …

Sorry … not an “art” moment … but, perhaps a more important moment, a needed moment all the same …

“… patience required beyond this point …”

Perhaps, not a non-aesthetic moment after all…

Love to you all … and, dare I say, humility and thanksgiving as well …

Ok, I’ve repeatedly said “life is busy,…” and, well, here’s another proof.

Shifting thru some watercolor paper in my art/travel bag, I found this one. I had worked on it while traveling, and, as usual, life set in … and it fell thru the cracks. Well, between other sheets of watercolor paper, that is … only to be found a couple days ago.

So, I got busy on finishing it … working on deepening/defining the mountain in the background, tightening up the lapstrakes … and here it is. 🙂

And, a detail …

I think what led me to this steeple is it’s simplicity: white (of course) lapstrake, a steep steeple (I like that phrase), tall and slender – reaching heavenward. this is a narrow one. Not much room in the bell area (still wondering what that “area” is called, architecturally) for much more than the bell.

Simple, basic: to the point. 🙂

… this painting for sale in my Steeple Project Gallery …