The Assumption continued

Third sitting....a complete change of color and tone.  The figure now comes to the forefront.

I think I will call it a work. Artwork ©2012 John R. Howley.

Feast of the Assumption part 2

I took up my brush again, though I said I wouldn't after yesterday's posting.  Here is the painting with an hour more work to it.

The feast of the Assumption is at hand....

In a few days, we arrive at the Great Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I had no work to post in honor of this Queen, This wonder of God, This tower of Ivory.
So, I started to paint tonight thinking I might be able to add my voice. However, When I consider the great paintings of the past on this subject, done by such masters of the art form, I had to cease at the point shown in the image. Do I continue and perhaps pay poor tribute to such a sublime mystery? Perhaps I think to much, but with such a subject at hand, one must.

Oh, if only I had studied true art at a young age a hadn't fiddled around drawing silly pictures.

St. Francis Searching

Thinking on the early days of St. Francis during his conversion, and how he saw the world as naught but a fools paradise, I began this work. It is a piece still in progress and I am curious to see where it will go.

Regarding the story behind this. When Francis Bernadone was still in the wold, yet seeking God to show him what he was called to do, he often spent time praying in caves in the hillside above Assisi. He would take a trusted companion with him.  His pleadings and deep union with God in those dark recesses had a visible stamp on his being; he no longer was the fair looking and fun loving youth of his former days. His transformation at this stage required a full and utter letting go of his former ambitions to be ready for the call which would in due time come most miraculously.  This painting attempts to depict Francis Bernadone at that time.  Artwork ©2012 John R. Howley