LIGHT ARISES IN THE DARKNESS:
A Journal of Comfort, Encouragement, and Inspiration
Top 10 Things I’m Thankful For
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. For most, it’s a wonderful time of getting together with family and eating delicious home-cooked meals, maybe watch a football game. It’s also a great time to think about…what are you thankful for? Here are the top 10 things that I am thankful for. 1. God. I am still amazed, after nearly 18 years of being a Christian, that God still loves me and has stuck with me. I know some may say, “of course He loves you. He’s God.” But I know my own failings, my own sins all too well. And God knows more. I don’t deserve His mercy, but rather His punishment for my sins. And yet, amazingly, through Jesus Christ, He has thrown my sins into the sea of forgetfulness, cast them as far as the east is from the west, sealed them up in a bag, cleansed them and made them whiter that snow. I continue to find new promises of God’s love and mercy all the time within the pages of my Bible, and more circumstances in life that He has walked with me through. Not long ago, someone urged me to give up on my trust in Jesus. “How can I?” I replied. “I’ve walked with Him, and I’ve talked with Him. He has been with me all this time.” If you count yourself a Christian, it’s not just that you get a ticket punched for heaven. No. You get God. And that is the best of all. As author John Piper puts it, “God is the Gospel.” 2. My wife. I owe so much... read more
More Progress on the 48″ x 72″ Portrait
Slow and steady wins the race. Little by little, I’ve been chipping away at this 48″ x 72″ acrylic portrait painting that takes up almost half of my studio. I want to show you the progress on it. Here is where it was at a couple weeks ago. Here is a video I did showing the process… Lately, I’ve been adding a lot of detail to the people, layer after layer, using the glazing technique. That allows light to pass through the translucent layers of color, giving the painting more richness, depth and luminosity. I’ve got a lot work to do, but I’m happy with where it is at right now! Just wanted to share this with you and keep in touch on the progress! Have a blessed day as always! If you have any comments or questions about what I wrote, please leave me your feedback below! I will personally get back to you. Can you help me spread the word? Please share this post with your family and friends by using the social media links on the side or below. Thank... read more
A Wonderful Weekend at Falling Leaves
I’m still getting things back together in my studio from exhibiting at the Falling Leaves Art Tour, over the weekend. I had a great time! Sold several prints of my paintings and picked up a few commissions. I thank God for that! Here was my display on a wall of stacked firewood. It’s always interesting to try to hang artwork on it…:) The best part of all were the great conversations I had and being able to stay at my friend and fellow artist Ron La Blanc’s house in Augusta, WI and just hang out. Always a blessed time. They make me feel like part of the family. 🙂 Here is a photo I snapped of their backyard. The colors are just intense at this time of year! Fall in Wisconsin can get cold! So we had a little outdoor wood stove to keep us warm! Ron La Blanc’s son Travis supplied the muscle power to get the wood small enough to fit in! Here is Ron chatting with a friend (and customer) about his pottery… I prepared a few more prints of my painting “Smoldering Wick.” I sold one of them, and several others, at the show. But soon enough, it was over. And now we have a regular wood stack again! It was a wonderful weekend again this year. I’m looking forward to next year…it goes by very fast! Thank you to all who came out to the tour this year. God bless you! Have a blessed day and... read more
Getting Ready For Falling Leaves with New Acrylic Paintings
It’s amazing that just the weekend before last, my family and I were out camping in a tent. We thought we were doing some fall camping, but with temperatures of close to eighty degrees at night, it was still summer, for all intents and purposes. But how the weather in Wisconsin can change on a dime. As I write, next week we’ll hit freezing temperatures at night. The days are getting shorter again. The trees are starting to see bright red patches in the middle of green. Fall is here. And of course, for me, that means my biggest art show of the year is almost here: the Falling Leaves Art Studio Tour. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago when I pulled my paintings off the wood-stacked wall in my friend’s makeshift gallery space, nestled in the beautiful countryside of Augusta, WI. But soon I’ll be traveling over there again–next weekend–to set up. My goal is to get there early, and set up before the wee hours of morning. Every year it’s a bit different. The wood-stack is a little taller or deeper, and you never know how your art is going to hang on it. But there’s plenty of places to drive a nail! I am looking forward to connecting with you and all the others who can make it out there this year. It’s always a great time. Here are some of the new paintings I’ve been working on this year (or at least since the last art tour…) Some of these paintings will be at the... read more
How I Fixed a Stabbed Painting
What do you do when your son stabs your painting with a spoon? This is the question I had to answer when a customer asked me if I could fix this painting. It was a special painting in his family, a collectible, and his then 2-year old son got a little excited one day with the silverware, adding a new dimension to the surface of the picture. “I haven’t done anything like this before, ” I more or less told the customer when he asked if this kind of repair was possible. “But let’s give it a try.” And so I laid the canvas out on a table and assessed the damage. There were several punctures in the canvas, so it wasn’t going to be easy. I researched on how to repair paintings, and many websites suggested using a patch, but that it might be possible to see it from the other side, so you have to be careful with a repair like that. What do you use for a patch? I had some canvas lying around, so I figured it would be good to use the same material. And then just to make sure it didn’t leave an impression on the other side years later, I cut the fabric to match the shape of the painting’s contours–in this case fruit in the still life. I applied gloss medium (clear acrylic without pigment that also can be used as an adhesive) to the patch and praying a quick prayer, weighted it down. This step is critical. If I misaligned the patch or caused the holes in the canvas to... read more
About Me
Hi, I’m Matt Philleo. I create artwork to comfort, encourage, and inspire. For those who are discouraged, brokenhearted and experiencing loss, my artwork has special meaning, often by guiding them to the One who can bring true peace and lasting joy.
I’ve been doing art on commission and exhibition on a part-time basis since 1991, and exclusively full-time since 2013. Â Currently, I live in Eau Claire, WI with my wife and three children.
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