Author: virginiacmccoy

This is a commission of an adorable curly-headed baby boy. When I was finished I felt the urge to grab that boy and kiss those fat cheeks! LOL! Alas, kissing a piece of paper is just not the same… Also, he is now 14 years old and those cheeks are past history. This is an 8×10 graphite and white charcoal drawing on Canson Mi-Tientes paper.

Although I had to get a new computer (actually refurbished and very cheap), Mr. Beloved was able to recover the old hard drive and I have all my files and photos. Whew! I also have a new external hard drive for backing up. We knew better, but we just never got around to it. I’m thinking it would be good to get around to it, now.

So, here are a few photos from this fall:

So, I was wondering if you all would share some thoughts with me. I was wondering what art means to you. Some people seem to make art their whole life. Some people don’t give a passing thought to art at all. What does it mean to you? To me, art means beauty and I cannot imagine living without beauty, because God is beauty and he created beauty. Art/beauty is part of breath and life. I thank God for it. I also realize that art, like everything else in this universe has been affected by the curse and fall of mankind, so there is much ugliness in art. But, I love the beautiful art, even if it is a little weird and difficult to understand. Does anyone else want to share their thoughts? If so, please leave a comment. Thanks!

“Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it.” — Flannery O’Connor

This poor man walked up a hill and was caught leaning on a rock wall recovering from his efforts. This artwork is soft pastels and pastel pencils on 11×14 velour paper.

I have also been taking lots of walks around the county and taking lots of photos, but my computer has just possibly given up the ghost. I have lots of art files and photos that I may lose, if Mr. Beloved cannot fix my problem. That is very much of a bummer. Technology… Sigh…

“O murmuring heart! thy pleasures may decay,
Thy faith grow cold, thy golden dreams take wing;
Still in the realm of faded youth and joy,
Heaven kindly leaves some bird of hope to sing.”
— Albert Laighton (1829–1887), “In the Woods,” c.1859

This was a commission. I had never heard of a Carolina Wren, until this commission brought it to my attention and now I see them all over the place, especially on our back porch. The other day, Toby was doing his business while a Carolina Wren was giving him what for. Poor boy! LOL! They are very nice little birds and I love to hear them.

“I know all the birds in the hills, and all that moves in the fields is mine.” — Psalm 50:11

This is pastel pencils and soft pastels on ingres paper. I hate this paper, but I have a whole pad of it, so I am determined to use it up. LOL! This is the second piece that I have done for my kitchen walls.

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” — Miles Kington

Or is it a chair of pairies? LOL! Well, this picture is pastel pencils on velour paper. I want some fruits and veggies for my kitchen walls, so this is the first one.

By the way, you may recognize the quote, below. Yes, I have used it before, but it really seems to fit this post.

“I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.” — Joseph Addison

Soft pastels on 11×15 toned velour paper. I loved his eyes and his color. It is amazing just how much variety is in the Lord’s creation! It blows my mind.

“Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.” — Winston Churchill

I finished this drawing. I started it with graphite and white charcoal. I got to a point where I thought I needed a little boost, so I thought I would spray it with fixative and finish the drawing on top of that. I took it out to the garage, opened the door, and put the drawing on the usual spot for spraying. I got distracted while spraying and made a mess of it. LOL! I can be so stupid, sometimes! In a panic, I tried to fix it by rubbing and scraping. No good. So, I tried putting more graphite on top. Didn’t work. I tried using pastels. Nope. I tried starting over on another sheet of paper. Not the same. So, I gave it one last try with black charcoal. Jackpot! I worked and blended and worked some more and I think I have a nice little drawing. It is not what I was hoping for, but I like it. I just fell in love with the photo of the little girl looking out the window and I knew I had to have a drawing of her. I hope you like it.

“A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.” — Victor Hugo

My beloved parents came for a week and we had a very good time. Mom and I took many walks on the various trails around the county and went to Ariel Foundation Park at sunset. Of course, we took Toby whenever possible, which was not all the time, because he had some mysterious malady that caused him to be unable to jump up into the truck for a few days. He is over it, but Bertha is in the shop right now. Dad and I went fishing one morning and we also went to see the train at Gambier and the two train stations in town. We also went to the Knox County Historical Museum, which was very interesting. He also kindly indulged my love of the game Battleship. LOL! Here are some photos. Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of every place we went.

I have also been slowly getting back into my art. I think that I have been morbid in trying to glorify God in my art. I was overanalyzing and making my own life difficult. If I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then it must follow that I will glorify Him in all aspects of my life as well as I can as long as I am dragging this old flesh around. So, I will relax, work on my relationship with the Lord (by His grace and with His strength), and get to work on my art!

I am working on a pencil drawing and preparing for another bird picture in pastels.

“Beauty unites all things, links together flower and star, with chains more certain than those of reason. The poet, the artist, thus finds the clue which guides them in their pilgrimage throughout the world.” — Henry James Slack

Mr. Beloved took a week off and we went around to some local bodies of water and tried a little fishing. We did no catching, however. Like Mr. Beloved has said, many times, “Fishing and catching are two different things.” The fish we left behind are much fatter, though. LOL!

First we went to Knox Lake:

Then we took a walk around the Clear Fork Reservoir to scope out fishing spots:

The next morning, at sunrise, we went back to Clear Fork to fish:

And, today, we went to Kokosing Lake:

I have a video from each of our fishing trips and they are taking forever to upload. Maybe by the time you see this, they will have uploaded. You can check them out on my youtube channel .

Oh, art! Yes, I have something to share:

“I thought maybe I could become like the next Van Gogh. I bought a sunflower and painted it, and it looked like the work of a 6-year-old.” — Takeshi Kitano

“As Christians, we are to be concerned about three qualities: the good, the true, and the beautiful. These three are virtues that touch the very heart of Christianity. It is a triad of values, each of which points beyond itself to the character of God. We are concerned about goodness because God is Good. We care about truth because God is Truth. We care about beauty because God is Beautiful.” — R. C. Sproul (The Christian and Art)

I am still thinking, researching, meditating, musing, etc., about art and my walk with Christ. I feel like this search/journey is getting to be a little crippling, but I also believe that the Lord is working in my life and I am expecting to break out any time now. LOL!

I would like to thank all those who have prayed for me. I certainly can do nothing in my own strength. Everything good that I do is because of the Lord doing it in and through me. Praise the Lord!

I have not really been doing any art, but I did throw some pastel on some paper a couple of weeks ago:

This is from one of the photos that I took at the Indian Mound in Heath, Ohio, in November. I loved the big orange tree in the background, seen through the trunks of the other trees. The ground was covered with autumn leaves and it was just a beautiful day. I can feel it, even now. Sometimes, beauty causes my heart to swell up with praise and adoration to my God and I have even been known to sob over it when confronted with something overwhelming like mountains. And, to think! The beauty we are able to see now is nothing compared to what His people will see in glory! Hallelujah!

“The beginning of art is found in the act of creation itself. The ultimate foundation and basis for aesthetics is the work of creation. Here we encounter God the supreme artist. We are all aware of the beauty that surrounds us in creation. We rhapsodize about sunsets and about the Painted Desert in Arizona. We talk about a breathtaking panorama as we look from a mountaintop and see the display of beauty beneath us. These vistas of creation bear witness to the artistic virtue of God Himself. The psalmist says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork’ (Psalms 19:1).” — R. C. Sproul (The Christian and Art)