Mary, the 'Morning Star', prepares for the New Day

With the coming of Aug.15 and the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the Mother oF God, I thought I might post a painting of Her I just finished. I've taken the title 'Morning Star" (Stella Matutina) from the Litany of Loreto as the title for this work.

The Romance of St. Francis

I've been doing quite a bit of pen and ink drawing these days of Capuchin Friars. Ever Since I lived among them in Italy in my early 20's, I have had a great fondness for the Order. Here is a little sample of one such work.

The Love of drawing

I thought I would put up a pen and Ink drawing of mine. Drawing is probably the most enjoyable form of Art that I do. Though I paint, drawing is something so old and so common to mankind...

If you look closely, the man is pouring milk from a bottle.  I do that myself almost every evening - with a cookie as well.

My book A VISIT WITH CHRIST

For the last few months I have been working on a book which is finally published. I wrote it and did the illustrations. It is mainly for the catholic reader thirsty for some spiritual refreshment but all Christians should find it refreshing . On the right column of this blog there is a link to the book at the publisher where you can preview it and order it if you like. Unfortunately, they require that you create an account with them before checking out. Very annoying!

-J.R.Howley

feast of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God

The first of January is dedicated (in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church) to Mary, the Mother of Christ. 

"Do whatever He tells you" she says in the Gospels.  Amen.  Happy New Year.

ALSO  I HAVE A NEW WORK FOR HARP click here to download. 

It is titled Impromptu 8.

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I could not let this day go by without putting a drawing up. Unfortunately the one I wanted to show had problems kin the scanning process. It was an ink on paper. Instead, here is a digital sketch.

Song of Repeats

As life sometimes seems to go in a circle from life to death to life, I composed a playful work that repeats, adding to itself, various other instruments. If you so wish, take a listen to my 

SONG OF REPEATS.

Divine Mercy Sunday

When Our Lord appeared to  St. Faustina  with the Divine Mercy message and asked that an image be painted of Him, a painter was commissioned. However, when she saw the final work she broke down in tears as it did not capture the splendor of Our Lord as she saw him in her vision. Being a lover of the Blessed Saviour and an artist, I thought I might humbly do a painting  as well with the prescribed words, "Jesus I Trust in You" on the image and the two rays of light emanating from His Divine Heart. While working on this, my mind began to imagine Our Lord with features more from the region He was from rather than the European style we here in the West are used to.  Not that the great painters of the past have in any way diminished his Majestic Presence -no, but more in thinking with how the Icon painters (writers is what they are refered to even though they paint) of the Eastern churches approached their work. 

May the Divine Mercy be a source of hope for all of us on this vast and difficult passage. Amen.

On His last journey to Jerusalem The Christ stops to notice a flower...

As Holy Week approaches, I imagined that Our Lord might have stopped along the way to admire a flower. This little image is a pen and ink sketch from my sketchbook. I wish I had more time to do these sort of little images.

I thought back when I played in a band.....

Tonight on my drive home I was thinking about various moments in my past. One such time was my days of playing lead electric guitar in a Blues band in Long Beach. I would be terrified now if I had to get up in front of a crowd and play, but back then it was different -maybe I was less self conscious (or was it a few beers) but all in all it was a lot of fun. 

So here is a track I wrote some years back and recorded. it's called JAZZ AT 6:10 PM (click on the title) and it's a fun groove that I finished recording one night at 6:10 pm.

As usual this track can also be found on the right hand column of this blog

ASH WEDNESDAY THOUGHT, 2008

The season of Lent has arrived and once again I am aware of man's insignificance. But a passing shadow, we humans come and go - and are gone.  On this brevity of existence (which we will all feel sooner or later) is a composition of mine based on. It is an orchestral meditation of sorts for organ, glass armonica and orchestra. The title is: O HOW SHORT THIS LIFE DOTH SEEM. (click on the link to hear it)

I composed this short work probably 7 years ago.   In case you are wondering, " What the heck is a glass armonica?" CLICK HERE and find out. You'll be amazed to know that our own Benjamin Franklin is the inventor or this unusual instrument.

Jan 29- the feast day of Brother Juniper

" Would to God, my brothers, I had a whole forest of such Junipers!"

-St. Francis of Assisi.

I couldn't let this day go by without giving some homage to this most interesting fellow. If you have never read that great 14th Cent. classic, The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (i fioretti di San Francesco) you should. In it you will find many wonderful stories about the early days of the Franciscan order; about Francis and his early companions. One such lovable fellow, was Brother Juniper. His simplicity and innocence got him in trouble; often he gave away what few possessions the friars had if a poor person came begging at their door. After being scolded, he once made some porridge and took it to the one who scolded him because he noticed that in the heat of the scolding the other friars' voice was getting hoarse!

He died in 1258 and is buried at Ara Coeli Church in Rome.

From the diary of an obscure painter

Within a week, I arrived. Earth is indeed lush; more so than I had read about. I spent a fortnight painting various scenes  of the place.  The inhabitants are very friendly, the few that are left here. They told me that in their distant past there were many people known for their paintings. In fact, they claim that there are ruins of large monuments to the arts. I would like to see these someday, but I recently received an odd commission to paint a portrait on the moon of Aura, so I must depart.

-Tyraine  son of Minuriat

 AD 3246 

If You wondered about what kind of Harp I play....

Today I thought I would show my harp. It is a high headed Harp that I designed with the help of Rick Stanley of Celticharps.com. who also built the harp as well. This fine instrument is made of Maple and sounds very nice. Now I am not the best harper, I'll tell you that much. I usually have the best intentions of leaning new pieces of music (I don't read well-have trouble with black spots on lines) but when I start to play I usually get wound up in the overtones and just ad-lib. I've managed to ad-lib so much that I go from Renaissance, to 2oth century romantics, to Baroque, and other places....so, as I said I have trouble with concentration.

Well, that being said, if you want to hear me play this harp a little, CLICK HERE.

In his youth the old man saw Angels....

With not much longer to live, an old man goes back to the fields he played in as a boy. He has composed a poem for the occassion. Unable to speak anymore, his robot companion reads to him.

CLICK HERE to hear the Poem and read the text.

New Music added

 I wanted to put up another composition of mine (music) for some time but have been at a standstill as to which one. As the years have gone by, I have moved away from blues, jazz, electric guitar and all that. Not that They aren't viable forms of  musical expression; no, but rather that I find the Orchestra as a new instrument, one more suitable for expression. Yet there were times when a certain mood could only be accomplished with elements of the pop culture. One such composition of mine, THE DARK SIDE OF NIGHT fits this bill.  I wanted  to compose something that suggested the darkness of young, street wise detective and the life that he lived. These were the beginnings of my character Eddie Skate. To hear this track CLICK HERE, or go to the right column and look for the songs title.

'SQUIRT'-the little surfer kid

I started surfing back in 1964. Every time Surfer

magazine came out, I dug into the comic section

to follow the antics of 'Murphy', by Rick Griffin.

Inspired by Murphy and the wacky humor or Mad magazine, I have managed to make a living

in the arts.

So a few years back (2002) I had an idea for a strip, drew it up but never really promoted it. So I dug it out and and publishing it here.

So here it is. CLICK HERE

The New Year comes.

Since I can't help but draw and do art, I thought I would do something for Jan. 1st, which other than being the first day of the new year, is also in catholic circles, the feast of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God.

I did this little work as a small honor this great Mother of mothers who has been given such great titles by humanity throughout the ages: the Mystical Rose, the Morning Star, the House of Gold and so many other sublime names. 

May the new year bring peace to peoples of all creeds the wold over. 

6TH and 7th movements of Requiem up.

The 6th and 7th  movements of My Requiem for Choir and Orchestra are up.  Click on AVE CHRISTUS here for the 6th or the IN PARADISUM here  for the 7th movement to hear them (or go to right side of the page to the links).

A sad day for humanity

My heart goes out to the Pakistani people over the  loss of Benazir Bhutto. May love of  peace and freedom win out over hatred and destruction. 

Also, If you have been following these posts, I would like to mention that the 5th movement for my REQUIEM FOR CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA, the AGNUS DEI is up.

(click on AGNUS DEI or go to the column on the right of the page for the link.)