Local Artists Show 2008

I was invited to participate in this Art show at Premier Gallery.  This was a fun event, but getting ready for it was quite a challenge.  Each artist had room for about 5 or more paintings to for display and the pressure of getting ready was  a lot for me after just one year before having a serious bout with depression.

I remember the support I had received from so many of my friends. When I shared with them the pressure I was under and was honest with them about my  fears and insecurities about being in this show, they prayed for me, encouraged me and sent me some of the most wonderful emails.I  was so encouraged by my friends who not only prayed for me but also came.  I especially enjoyed one of my room mates from college, Donna who came with her family.

The painting yesterday, and this one I just found today were in the show. . . and coming up, I'll post a few more paintings that were there as well, one of which won a special award! This one below, didn't win an award, but is a pretty red tree.   I painted this at VAL right after I was coming out of my depression Pit mentioned earlier.... It was kind of like therapy to just hit the canvas with a brush full of red paint  I said before how much I LOVE  red.  It is kind of a modern picture,  not what I usually paint,  but it was fun to do and such a cheerful bright spot in the display.  This painting was also a part of the Pride and Prejudice display at Greater Lewisville Community Theater.

Red Tree
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 24"

Going, Going...Gone

I found this last painting when I  re organized my art studio. Trying to clean up a bit.  I found another pretty one, I'll show tomorrow as well.   This is another  tall water to wine piece I had done several years ago.  It isn't hanging in the guest bathroom, but I do have it very close to my easel and it's fate is very uncertain.  I thought it at least deserved to be seen before I paint over it.

Cana Bride And Groom
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x48"

Offering

I love the story of the poor widow in 

Luke 20:45-21:4

[45] While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, [46] "Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. [47] They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

[21:1] As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. [2] He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. [3] "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. [4] All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

The monetary value of her offering was less than two cents, but in God's economy it was worth more because of her heart  behind the giving.  Our heart matters to God.  This is so encouraging to me and that is what I thought about while I was painting this.

Offering
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 46"
$400.00

Prodigal Son Series

I love the story of the prodigal son and I've painted it many times.  These are 3 very different prodigal son paintings I did.  The largest one, I just completed today.  When I painted this, I thought about how good it would have felt to be the forgiving father and how humbling to be the forgiven son.  I've played both roles in my journey here on earth and I've also spent periods of time living life with out the ability to extend and receive forgiveness.  Those times were some of the darkest, most painful periods in my life.  I contrasted that feeling in this painting.  Light and color are exploding from the father son embrace, mingled with grateful tears like fireworks of joy!

Prodigal II
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 48"
by Cheryl Harris White
2011

Original Prodigal
Acrylic On Canvas
24" x 36"
by Cheryl Harris White
2006

             

Prodigal Banner
for CBC Parable Paint
by Cheryl Harris White
2008

Prodigal II
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 48"
by Cheryl Harris White
2011

Mary Did You Know III

2006
Mary Did You Know
by Cheryl Harris White
Posted Feb. 11, 2011

To the left, I posted some of the older paintings I did with this theme in progression from the oldest on the left and newest on the right ending with today's post, Mary Did You Know III.  By looking at these paintings side by side, I can see a progression in style and it really encourages me.  Growth and change is a process and it happens gradually.  It is illustrated here with my art, but also true about us spiritually, physically or in anything really.  The last one (below) is similar to yesterday's post  but taller.  It's my most recent and my favorite so far, but you never know, I may do another

2008
Two Sisters
by Cheryl Harris White
Posted March 2, 20

2009
Mary Did You Know II
by Cheryl Harris White
Posted March 5, 2011

Mary Did You Know III
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 48"

Mary Did You Know II

This is another version of the Mary and Jesus theme I revisited next.  About this time in my painting, I had transitioned from the stained glass look with dark lines and start trying more with this type of style.  This new method felt much more free and fluid, but still looks like light is coming through a window.  I liked the result and tried some more like this.  I spread the paint on layers at a time with palate knives.  It takes a long time, because the bottom layers need to be dry before each layer goes on top.    This is called Mary did you know II.  I kept working at this theme and have another one that is very similar to post soon.  Maybe tomorrow.

Mary Did You Know II
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36"
$300.00

In Remembrance of ME

In Remembrance of ME
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24 " x 36 "
$300.00

This painting was done for one of the Christmas exhibits I did at Trietsch UMC .  I love working with red paint for some reason, so this was particularly fun for me.  When ever I have the opportunity to participate in communion, I focus on the blood of Christ washing me clean.  That's what I thought about while doing this painting...That and these verses... 


1 Corinthians 11:24-25 

²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”


This one is hanging in MY bathroom because I'm not quite sure if I'm done with it, but I do like looking at it every day.

Vinyard Workers

Vinyard Workers Banner
Acrylic on Canvas Banner
4 ft x 12 ft

My favorite painting of all time is.... A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884, 1884-86 by Georges Seurat   I love the curved lines, the dresses the umbrellas even the sails of the boats are curved.  I like how when I look at it, I hear silence and feel peace…even though it is a picture of what must have been a very noisy environment.  It makes me feel like I have the power to make time stand still. 

 

A Study for Parable Paint 
Vinyard Workers
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 48"

I was inspired by the shape of the women's dresses in that  painting when working on the vinyard workers for the parable paint banner series.  I wanted the workers to be tall and thin at different heights representing a bar graph....This was to symbolize their attempts to keep track and measure the wages they each earned during the day.  I also wanted each figure to be made of one unbroken line.  The practice painting is to the left.  The actual banner is to the  right. 


There were 11 banners in this series, but this is my favorite.  I did one a week to illustrate a sermon series for our pastor one summer.  Each Sunday he taught about a different parable and I had a banner hanging up that went with it.   More info about the other banners and the project I did is on my parable paint page.  Below is a picture of how all the banners fit together to make one big picture.

Two Sisters

Two Sisters
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36"

This painting is based off the same pattern as Mary Did You Know that I had painted over  from the February 11th post but for this one I used fast long brush strokes and bold colors.  The older sister's (my) hair is also like a hand placed on her younger sister's (Char's) face.  This was inspired by my relationship with my younger sister Charlotte.  While painting this, I thought about all we had both been through together and this quote by Benjamin Disraeli.


Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow. 
- Benjamin Disraeli

The PIT

No painting post today in remembrance of the PIT. 

When our family lost my mom to cancer, my sister and I were in our early 20's. Then my Dad met Peggy, a precious, sweet  woman, also widowed. They fell in love and they had a wonderful marriage for 15 more years.  She was like a second mom to me and a grandma to my kids.


When  Peggy passed away, I had just returned from a week of ministering to missionaries Mexico with Duke and it was more than I could handle.  I had now lost two mothers in my lifetime.  My dad had lost two wives.  I went up for the funeral to be a support to my Dad.  


I had to hurry home because all this was happening right between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I had a show to paint sets for the theater.  Our church had a new pastor and I wanted to attend the new art ministry meeting he set up.  There was a recital coming up that Courtney was singing in. . .Gingerbread houses to make . . .  I was going so fast and giving and giving and giving in every direction.  That is when I fell into a pit.


I remember the actual day my life seemed to hit rock bottom.. I was sitting in church and they were singing the song "Mary did you know".  It was so beautiful, but I could not even sing along.  I felt sad and I started to cry. I couldn't stop crying and didn't stop crying for days and days in a row.  I wasn't really even sobbing, it was like my eyes were leaking and the tears would not stop. It was so scary, because I didn't know why I was crying.  I felt sad, but I wasn't sad about a particular one thing... it was a very quiet, ever present deep sadness.


I went up to the theater to paint for the upcoming Christmas production and it was so hard.  It took energy to even lift a brush and I couldn't decide on the colors, which was very unlike me.  I started crying again and had to go home to rest.  Everything felt broken and difficult and totally overwhelming to me.  I didn't feel angry or mad or want to yell or anything.  I just didn't feel anything at all except sad and I couldn't make my tears stop.  I could be folding laundry or putting away dishes and silent tears kept coming.  I would lay down to sleep and wake up with a wet pillow.  I did not understand how I could even be crying while I was sleeping.  After 2 1/2 days of this,  I got in to see my doctor.

I had experienced a sudden onset of depression which I learned later had been gradually building for a long time.  I received some excellent Biblical counseling through this time and my doctor prescribed an anti depressant  which really helped.  God was faithful to me and my family.   It was slow and hard and a lot of work, but I'm so thankful I went through it because of what I learned through that time.   I learned that suffering is part of our journey here on this earth and through it we become stronger.  I learned about giving and receiving and limits and forgiveness.  I learned a lot about depression and how to deal with pain.  I learned who my true friends were and who God created me to be and how to extend acceptance and receive love. 


I  love this quote by Corrie Ten Boom which has always inspired me.  

She once said, " There is no pit, that God is not deeper still."

I also clung to Romans 5:3-5

³More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.


I've been to the bottom of the pit and now I am out, up on the other side.  

For A Sister AND A Friend

Press On

by Cheryl Harris White

Acrylic on Canvas

24" x 36"

SOLD

This painting was done for my sister whom I now consider to be one of my closest friends.  It wasn't always that way though.  I painted this several years ago during a very difficult time in our relationship. I think all sisters probably go through this at one time or another...and even though I knew that what we were facing was normal and to be expected, I felt a deep sadness about it.  A sister is both a sister AND a friend, so when there was distance growing between us,  it  felt like I was losing two people instead of just one.  I remember struggling so much, and feeling extremely drained and annoyed and frustrated about the frequent problems between us.  No amount of forbearance or  understanding or patience seemed to be enough.  I was so tired of spending energy and getting no where.  I wanted to just quit even trying to work on our relationship. 

About that same time when her birthday was coming up, her husband asked me to paint a painting for her based on her favorite verse...

Philippians 3:14   

¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize 

for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

It was the perfect assignment for me.  I thought about what I was painting and who I was painting it for.  I remembered so many times when most people would quit, she never did...so who was I to want to quit on her?  Any relationship takes hard work, and one with a sister is certainly worth fighting for.  She has an amazing tenacious spirit and is one of the most driven, committed,  focused people I know.  So, Char, this post today is for you.  I know life is hard right now, but I'm here to encourage you to keep pressing on.  You were born to be my sister, but I chose you as my friend and I love you!

A Boat Without A Painting...

 Or at least it would have been if I hadn't painted behind it.  This was the first scenery I painted for the Actors Conservatory Theater back in 2006.  That is Ratty and; Mole "out rowing"! 

Last night at a wedding reception, someone asked me how I started painting.  After I answered her, I thought the story would make a good entry for my blog... so here it is.  

It all began about 5 years ago... One day, Courtney and I just happened to witness a rehearsal going on for a production of Oklahoma.  Courtney just HAD to stay and watch and watch and watch.  The actors were in full costume so it must have been a dress rehearsal and nobody seemed to care that we were there.  She LOVED it!  She looked up at me with her little freckled 9 year old face and said,  "Mom, can I be in a play sometime?"  

I found a children's theater in our area and it all began.  Her first role was Dori the dwarf in The Hobbit.  They needed parents to help out with props, so I painted a door for the set.  The director liked it. A few shows later, the theater needed a set artist.  I looked at the huge wall on the back of the stage and just felt like covering it with paint.  I had NEVER done anything so huge before, but I wanted to try. 

 This was the result and I started to paint for each show after that.  Wind in the Willows pictured here is the first production I did, but many more are on my theater scenery page.

Courtney has continued her theatrical endeavors and I've had paint on my walls ever since.

A Painting Without A Boat

This was another study just for practice.  It seemed like such a happy painting, I had to try it.  It should have a boat on the beach, but mine doesn't.  I got this far, and my daughter really liked it and wanted it for her room.  I've tried to get it back, so I can have a go at the boat, but so far, it still looks like this.  If I ever get around to finishing it, I'll post it for you to see.  

Color Study Without A Boat
by Cheryl White

A Tree to Hug

This is what a real Rowan tree looks like.  They grow mostly in Europe.  The hard pale wood 

was used during the middle ages for making bows, walking staffs and tool handles.   It was also sometimes used to craft serving bowls and dishes.  Quite practical . . .but humble uses for such a wisend wonderful old tree in my opinion.  So, below is my attempt to give the Rowan tree the honor it is due.

Rowan Trees

By Cheryl White

Acrylic on Canvas

30” x 40"

I  love this painting.  It makes me want to take off my shoes and feel the cool grass between my toes... and after that, I would lay down for a nap under the big tree in the middle.  To me, this painting contrasts youth and old age.  The grass looks supple and soft, blowing in the breeze...  it makes me want to run and  play in it.  In contrast, the gnarled bent tree trunks are stiffened and hard, but strong after years of supporting the heavy berry laden branches.  If I ever had the chance to meet this tree, I would give it a good strong hug.


   

After Monet

In honor of the three daffodils that bloomed at my house today... I'm posting this painting.  It was my first attempt at a study of Monet's Spring.  I splashed this out about 5 years ago and I had so much fun with it.  

I love how the tree is bending over the girls like a shelter and everything fresh and new. The whole world seems so be bursting forth with new life, the trees…the grass and even the water is exploding with spring color.  And right there in the middle of all the excitement, two girls sit sharing a quite moment.  


I LOVE quiet moments... and there's nothing better than having a friend to share one with.

After Monet
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36"
Not Available

My Matisse Friend

After Matisse
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36"
Not Available

A friend of mine really loves Matisse...Our appreciation  of  art is just one of many things she and I have in common... but in my heart, I call her my "Matisse" friend because we went to see the Matisse exhibit  together at the Dallas Museum of Art when it came in town. 


This is a study I did of one of his paintings.  The particular painting by Matisse is called, "Odalisque with Yellow Persian Robe and Anemones" and is exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art . 


My version of it (left) is called "After Matisse " and is "exhibited" at my "Matisse friend's " house.  I gave it to her as a gift and every time I look at this picture of it, I am reminded of a moment when God's grace and forgiveness triumphed in our relationship. 


Many months after our museum day,  in a moment of weakness, she betrayed me.  It's not important what she did really . . . just that my trust had been broken and what happened between us hurt me very deeply in a very public way.  She was sincerely repentant when she realized what she had done, and wrote me the most beautiful letter of apology.  But at this point, the damage was done, and there was nothing either of us could do about it. I, however, had a choice...  I could forgive or not forgive, it was up to me.  I had been wronged publicly and I alone had the job of deciding whether or not to extend forgiveness. 


Forgiving wouldn't make what she did less wrong.  Not forgiving would not have made me more right. So why bother? Why not just write her off as a lost friend and move on?  I was entitled to be bitter and angry after all that had happened right? But,  I did choose to forgive. It was so humbling and hard, but when I did so, we shared a wonderful moment of reconciliation.  We hugged each other and we were both crying happy tears... We were friends again.  I know that it was not me who forgave her, it was God through me.  He alone enabled me to forgive graciously and freely without condition or requirement.  This is what GRACE is.  It is the same kind of forgiveness God extends to us.  


I didn't forgive because my friend was really sorry or sincere.  I didn't forgive because she is an excellent writer and her letter was so beautiful.  I didn't forgive because she liked my painting or we had things in common or even because she deserved it. None of those reasons mattered.  The reason I forgave, is because Christ chose to die on the cross to pay for my sins and HE forgave ME of so much more.  Because I had accepted His unconditional love and forgiveness when I didn't deserve it, I was able to extend it to someone else when they did not deserve it.  It was such an honor and a privilege to be able to do that. So . . . when I look at this painting, I remember the joy of our reconciliation day and I am grateful for "my Matisse friend."

Everyone Has A Story...Artists Just Tell Theirs With PAINT.

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), modern Spanish artist.


I was asked if I only paint stories from the Bible.  The answer is no, but I paint what is interesting to me and what I feel passionate about.  This really all began when I was painting murals for children's theater, but because God has been working on me and is living in me, that is what comes out.  It's all part of my story.  


I'm getting close to the end of my "stained glass window style paintings"...This one was "The Holy Family."  I say WAS because I have to confess, I painted over this one also. 

The Holy Family
by Cheryl White
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 48"
Not Available

Coming up soon, I'll start posting some studies I've done of different artists.