About Me

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I began drawing and painting at a very young age and knew early on that I would choose art for my life. I achieved success early on in high school and college in the arts, but after college, I felt compelled to a career in ministry and have spent many fulfilling years helping others find their purpose in life. Through the years, I continued to paint mostly for enjoyment and as an outlet, but in 2007, I realized that an important part of my own life-purpose was creating and painting. The internet, which of course was not available 25 years ago, is such a useful tool for artist, opening doors and providing exposure that would otherwise not be possible. With this new opportunity, I have been pursuing painting and marketing my art whole heartily, usually painting on a daily basis. I live in Tucson, love to jeep, love to paint and study art, and my paintings are often inspired from some remote mountain location in the high desert.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

"Family Values" - Teach them to Fly

New on EBay today is a painting that I have named Family Values. Family truly is important to me. I have a married daughter in Indiana, a college daughter on a mission trip throughout Africa, a third daughter that is maneuvering through 8th grade and following in last, a son. I remember some wise soul giving a young couple words of wisdom after the birth of their first daughter. It went something like this: "Don't assume that she is yours to keep - You are just taking care of her for awhile. She really belongs to God." Yes, sure - In my naive kind of way, I understood perfectly! We were just taking care of her for awhile. Of course I did know that... But somewhere along this incredible journey, my wife and I maybe forgot or just didn't quite understand the implications of this wisdom. Even with the best intentions and even with the noble thought of being a temporary care-giver, we just got to thinking that she was "ours" as were each that came along. Years later after we dropped our oldest off at college and waved good-bye, my wife, through tearful eyes and a sincere mother's heart, whispered out loud, "fly away little birdie" only to many times since retract the command.Less than a year later came my "fly away" moment as a married off my baby girl. My wife and I really don't want our brood to return after they leave - we want to give them wings to fly to be all God intended them to be - but sometimes we wonder why someone didn't tell us a long time ago to prepare our hearts because one day they would take wing.   Then I remember... oh yes, someone did ...  Enjoy your kids today and give them wings to fly.   - Jeff