Gathering Storms

"Gathering Storms," 16" x "20 acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

Violence seems to rule our lives these days, at home and in the world, as storms gather on all horizons.

The only places where people are smiling, completely out of touch with reality, are in the stupid TV commercials, trying to sell happiness, no matter the product.

Gathering storms--the war in Ukraine, with a real threat of another world war on the horizon. The infuriating proof of the Jan. 6 treasonous riot at the capitol, with another coup threatened. The string of mass shootings, as the NRA ownership of Congress, looms as more disaster at anyplace, anytime. The variant spreading pandemic, and climate change threatening human extinction. 

I find relief and peace from the maelstrom of threats and bad news only in reading the insights of religious mystics, in happy moments with families, in traveling the back roads, and in painting.

Even it takes effort to shake off the gathering storms. But again, I somehow returned to the valiant colors of The Ukraine, in a similar effort to my earlier smaller watercolor, "Storm Over Freedom."

Here it is, after a week of work, dedicated again to the Ukrainians fighting for freedom and survival against the war criminal Russians and their neo-Hitler.

"When there is no peace"--Ukraine and U.S.A.

"Storm Over Freedom," 8 x 10 watercolor, 140 lb. Fabriano cold press paper

 "They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying,'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace."--Jeremiah 6-14

The colors of Ukraine keep unintentionally cropping up when I paint something these days.

That must be how deep in by subconscious the Russian war crimes against freedom  have me occupied.

Thus came to mind the verse from Jeremiah while I painted, but then it's obviously appropriate for America, this so called Independence Day.

The United States of Afraid, and Anger.

We are more divided that anytime since the Civil War, and there is no civility surviving in this country, in governments, in speech, in media, or in the streets. Right-wing "pro" lifers have rammed their vehicles onto protestors. Right-wing bigots have  threatened and  disrupted a patriotic parade in Texas with a decorated Marine as grand master. Mass shootings and murders are the norm, not the exception. 

What are we "free" from?

Where is the "Peace"? 

Today's painting was supposed to be titled, "Storm a' Coming." Not today, that I think about it. 

Sizzling Solstice.

"Sizzling Solstice," 5 x 7 140 lb watercolor

Heat storm...upper 90s and 100s all week. Saps everything, including motivation. So this was only thing that came to mind. And like everything else today, an effort. Drought in Oklahoma and the West.

The Green Leaves of Summer...Calling...

 

"Calling Me Home," 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb. paper

Summer sets in...as the heat rises and memories of summers past flood back.

Several songs capture those moods, and for me, one of them is "The Green Leaves of Summer," by Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Weber.

That's probably because I first heard it as a teenager as the theme song to the movie, The Alamo. So romantic, especially for a youngster,  a Texas native, reared on the myths and glory of that Texas bastion, even if the battle occurred in a cold springtime.

Now, after reading and aging, I know the John Wayne movie was more myth than reality, and other movies have been more accurate, and less racist. But the song remains, better than the movie, always stirring haunting personal memories, and a memorial for brave men who died.

Thus today's return to watercolor.

"Twas so good to be young then
To be close to the earth
Now the green leaves of summer
Are calling me home."

Sunset and sandstone

"Sunset and Sandstone," 8 x 10 acrylic on canvas panel

In the Southwest, where the geology is an open book  on the past, on time, sandstone dominates much of the landscapes.

 Laid down layer by layer as sand in ancient seas, the strata takes multitudes of landforms and colors, up close or on far horizons. The rocks themselves, plus the ever-changing skies and weather captivate me attention, telling uncounted stories.

Today's painting, started last week outside during downtown Edmond's First Thursdays VIBES art event, needed finishing touches to fit the mood of wide-open spaces and dramatic  colors. 

Painted out of memories of New Mexico, it will soon to be framed and available at In Your Eye Studio & Gallery in Paseo Arts District.