Gallery Two: More Oil Painting

"Under each painting thumbnail you will find a description and time period date. Each piece I create contains a story and time period on which it was based. Sometimes I know who the people were if I have used an old photograph of the period as reference or, of course, a model. At other times I do not know who they were. Every piece has a story associated in as much as my intention, as an artist, is to create a "real" snapshot in time. This story may be based on details I have from images I use, or they may be details I intentionally design and infuse into the image as it develops."

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The Spirit is Willing but the Flesh is Weak 1890 Oil on Canvas, 48" x 60"	View Closeup 1 View Closeup 2
Even the statue seems to notice the reverend Father's untimely nap while the lady waits not-too-patiently; could it be the result of one night too many burning the midnight oil? 1890 played out the final chapter of America's long Indian wars, with the U.S. Cavalry massacre of 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on a reservation in South Dakota. This is also the year that Indian police killed Sitting Bull. The President was Benjamin Harrison who extended the northern boundary of Nebraska in October - and extinguished all Indian claims to the territory in the process. He also welcomed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer in January. Idaho became the 43rd state in July. Congress created Yosemite National Park largely due to John Muir's efforts, as well as those of the newly founded Sierra Club. In May, Vincent Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and died. Christopher Sholes, the inventor of the modern typewriter (1866), also died this year. Born in this year are Agatha Christie, Author; Stan Laurel, Comic Actor; Dwight D. Eisenhower, future President; Jelly Roll Morton, composer, band leader, and jazz figure; and Ralph R. Teetor, inventor of cruise control. This is also the year in which the Mormon Church officially renounced polygamy and William Kemmler became the first person to be executed by electric chair. Although the phonograph was invented in 1877 and wax cylinders were mass marketed by the 1880's, in 1890 Charles Tainter patented the use of hard carnuba wax as a replacement for the common softer (paraffin and beeswax) used on earlier phonograph cylinders. Other new inventions were the zipper, the dry cell battery ("Ever Ready" - the National Carbon Company), and the Skyscraper. Popular songs of the year included Maggie Murphy's Home, Mary of Allendale Hook, The Beggar's Song, The Mellow Horn, The Happy Lover, The Merry Sailor Lad, Absence and Return, Away to the Hills, Come Fairies Trip It Parry, Espana Tango, and Goodbye to the Summer. Poems by Emily Dickinson was published this year.
Childhood Sweethearts 1927 Oil on Canvas, 48" x 36"	View Closeup 1 View Closeup 2 View Closeup 3
Although grandparents now, the two lovebirds have actually only recently exchanged wedding vows. These childhood sweethearts married other people, had lives and families - until fate left them both alone as widow and widower. Finding each other meant a chance to start over - even at 78 years of age! The grandchild between them is one of theirs...but which one? 1927 saw Charles Lindbergh, famous aviator and aviation record-holder named "person of the year" by Time magazine; the Oscars were first awarded with "Wings" receiving the best motion picture award and Emil Jannings best actor in "The Way of Flesh;” the country witnessed the tragedy of the Great Mississippi Flood; President Coolidge warned that the foundations of government and society would collapse if people did not pay more attention to the scriptures; the first demonstration of Television was given (on a two and a half inch screen); and the Supreme Court held that bootleggers had to file income tax returns and could not plead self-incrimination to avoid it. On stage, Edward G. Robinson appeared in The Brothers Karamazov, Bela Lugosi starred in Dracula, and Ed Wynn in Manhattan Mary, while on the silver screen Gary Cooper got his first lead in Arizona bound, and AL Jolson starred in The Jazz Singer, credited with being the first sound motion picture."
Calm Before the Storm 1934 Oil on Canvas, 48" x 60"	View Closeup 1 View Closeup 2 View Closeup 3
Between 1926 and 1934, American forces were deployed in Nicaragua, China, and Cuba, in order to protect American interests, including the American Consulate in those nations. Taking a much deserved break from action, nine men come together around a campfire, each dealing with his thoughts, feelings, fears, and exhaustion in his own way. They could not imagine what the future would hold in store for them, the U.S., and the world, just a few years down the road. In 1934, Alcatraz became a federal prison, the Flash Gordon comic book was published, all German forces came under the command of Heinrich Himmler, Rudyard Kipling and William Butler Yeats were awarded the Gothenburg Prize for Poetry, surgeon R.K. Wilson took his famous alleged photo of the Loch Ness Monster, John Dillinger had a price of $25,000 on his head and was later killed by FBI Agents, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Adolf Hitler became Fuhrer of Germany, The Soviet Union joined the League of Nations, and Persia became Iran. Births included Bill Bixby, Actor; Hank Aaron, Baseball Player; Ralph Nader, Activist; Jane Goodall, Zoologist; Harry Blackstone, Magician, Charles Manson, serial killer; and Del Shannon, Singer. Deaths included Alice Liddel (Inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland); Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Polish born scientist and Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and Physics; Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, outlaws; and Sergei Kirov, Soviet leader.
Carlisle Cooper as 'The Artist' 1931 Oil on Canvas, 36" x 48"	View Closeup 1 View Closeup 2
The Artist working at home with a tense new model. This is actually a portrait of one of my instructors of 25 years ago, Carlisle Cooper, placed in a setting far removed from the actual period - 1981 - in which I started studying under him. By 1931, the depression had hit hard. Unemployment soared to 25% and the average family income was reduced by 40%. Milk cost 14 cents a gallon, bread was 9 cents a loaf, and round steak was 42 cents a pound. Herbert Hoover was president. In 1931, the Star-Spangled Banner became the National anthem, Japan began takeover of Manchuria, New Delhi became the capital of India, the Chinese People's Republic was proclaimed by Mao Tse Tung, Nevada legalized gambling, and the Empire State Building was completed in New York City. Thomas Edison submitted his last patent application and died later this year. Knute Rockne, American football coach also died. Births included Tom Wolfe, author; Ernie Banks and Willie Mays, baseball players; actors Charles Nelson Reilly, Robert Duvall, James Dean, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy; also TV personality Regis Philbin. Popular songs included "Just a Gigolo" by Ted Lewis, "I Got Rhythm" by Red Nichols and also Ethel Waters, "Minnie the Moocher" by Cab Calloway, and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Dime Store) by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians. Books included "A Fighting Man of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, "The Waves" by Virginia Woolf, and "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck.