by Matt Philleo | Apr 15, 2017 | Christianity & Culture, Encouraging Thoughts, How to Paint Instruction, My Art in Progress, Personal Inspiring Stories, Tips for Artists
It’s easy to get frustrated in the middle of painting an acrylic portrait. Possibly your skin tones aren’t looking natural, or the values are off. Maybe the portrait just doesn’t look like the person you’re trying to capture. When you’re going for realism, and it just isn’t happening, what do you do?
Although you may be tempted to give up, don’t.
I want to give you 3 reasons why:
1. You will save time, paint and materials.
Let’s face it. Painting is a labor of love. As artists, we could choose more lucrative jobs, where our exchange of time for money paid better. But we put a lot of hours into creating a high-quality unique work of art.
So if you have put several hours into a painting only to scrap it and start over, you lost that time. In addition, you lost money with the cost of canvas, paint, and wear and tear on your brushes.
Now, even if you paint just as a hobby, it’s frustrating to take the time to create something and then have nothing to show for that time you allotted in your busy schedule. Finishing the painting makes sense then, even from a purely material standpoint.
2. Pushing past a difficult point in your painting will build your resilience and grow your “artistic muscle”.
It’s easy to give up. Sticking with something when your thoughts and emotions are screaming, “This looks terrible…I’m done with this!” is way, way harder.
This is similar to weightlifting. Serious bodybuilders know they won’t get great results unless they push past the pain. As they break down their muscle tissue, they also break down barriers and limitations they previously had. With that, their muscles grow larger and stronger, because muscles don’t like to be in pain. Endurance and stamina increases.
Several years ago, I created a portrait to celebrate my pastor’s 80th birthday. It was a portrait of him and his wife, a 16 x 20 acrylic on canvas. During a certain point in the painting, it looked pretty bad. My wife came upstairs (where my art studio used to be) and peered in to see how I was doing. She said, “That just doesn’t look right. I don’t know if you can pull it off.”
Umm…thanks!
I thought for a moment, “Can I pull this off?” Well, God helped me to “pull it off” many times. He wasn’t about to quit now. I ignored the doubt and kept at it.
I figured I had a photo that shows me what it should look like. I had a roadmap, a blueprint to tell me how to get there, how to build. And even if I took a scenic detour for a bit, I’d get it where it needed to be, eventually.
A painting is never ruined. It’s just that it might take longer to fix than you would like!
3. You will learn ways of resolving issues in your painting that you can use in future paintings.
In the case of this particular portrait, I learned that even though mid-stage during the painting process, the likeness of the subject may be off, I can correct the facial features with additional layers and it will start to look like the person.
Here is the portrait in the beginning stages. Early on, there is a lot of excitement in creating a painting. I had great expectations for how it would turn out, and I cut myself a lot of slack, because I knew I just started it.
Portrait of Pastor & Mrs. Philip Palser, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, 2005 by fine artist Matt Philleo, Step 1
But then as I invest more time into it, I expect that a painting should start “behaving” and looking pretty good, for all the time I put into it. However, that doesn’t always happen. In fact, for me, it usually doesn’t.
Portrait of Pastor & Mrs. Philip Palser, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, 2005 by fine artist Matt Philleo, Step 2
Somewhere around these two stages. the painting looked pretty goofy, and it’s about at this point where my wife remarked, “I don’t know if you can pull this one off.” She said that the pastor’s wife looked like some weird “california girl.”
Even though I was tempted for a moment to give up, I thought something along the lines of, “I know what this needs to look like in the end. I’ve got my reference photo next to me. I’ve got some paint and a palette. Sooner or later, it’s going to look like it should and it will turn out alright.”
Portrait of Pastor & Mrs. Philip Palser, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, 2005 by fine artist Matt Philleo, Step 3
After a few more hours, the painting started to turn the corner. Even though I think I had painted certain areas of the faces a bit too dark, I was able to layer over them with just the right mix of colors to adjust what was off.
When you are establishing values and colors on your faces, sometimes the accuracy you had in your sketch will be thrown off. Capturing these shadows are vital to making a person’s face look like the person you are trying to capture. Since shadows describe the contours and shapes of eyebrow ridges, noses, cheekbones, jawlines, and so many other parts on a human face, it’s important to realize that during the in-between stages, you won’t have an accurate likeness. It’s like a sculptor who has to chisel off many fragments of marble or wood to get the beautiful sculpture that was hiding inside the whole time.
Soon enough, I could see the likenesses taking shape.
That excitement of certain areas of the picture starting to look great then compels you to work even harder to get to the finish line of a signed portrait.
Portrait of Pastor & Mrs. Philip Palser, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, 2005 by fine artist Matt Philleo, Step 4
There was still a lot of detail work to do: many nuances to add in the clothing, details in the face and bricks in the church sign. It took a lot of patience, but it paid off. After about 35-40 hours, I had a finished painting!
Portrait of Pastor & Mrs. Philip Palser, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, 2005 by fine artist Matt Philleo
I presented this to my pastor and his wife at his 80th birthday party. They loved it. That was 12 years ago, by the way. He is now 92, and still preaches (although not as much as he used to) today!
So again, I want to encourage you: if you are painting a portrait in acrylic, the next time you feel like giving up at a certain part in the process, push past it and keep going. Continually refer back to your reference photo, and paint exactly what you see. If you don’t give up, you will have the confidence knowing that you can finish what you started, and your paintings will never get the best of you. But you will give your paintings the best, and have something excellent to show for your efforts.
I’m writing this post on Good Friday, and this whole idea of finishing what you started, pushing past the difficulty, and seeing what good can come as a result, makes me think of Jesus’ passion. He could have decided as the going got tough–incredibly tough–knowing in advance what He would endure on the cross, to abandon his plan of providing salvation for the world by dying on the cross for our sins.
But instead, he headed for Jerusalem, knowing what would happen to Him there.
In the garden of Gethsemane, when it would have been easier to turn away from the preordained plan of experiencing God’s wrath for sin and even having His relationship with His father broken for a time, he prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.”
And three days later, we all know…”the rest of the story.”
Portion of “Perfect Servant,” acrylic on canvas, 2002, by Matt Philleo
All this to say, there is great reward for not giving up, both in this life and the next. Happy Easter…and Happy painting!
–Matt
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by Matt Philleo | Jan 18, 2017 | Christianity & Culture, Encouraging Thoughts, My Art in Progress, New Artwork, Personal Inspiring Stories
What do you do when you feel like you are at the end of your rope?
I recently finished a painting called “Smoldering Wick,” which I’ve shared on Facebook a little bit, and many people have asked what it is about.
Even though I just finished the painting just at the end of last year, the idea came to me several years ago. I was feeling discouraged about certain things in my life that weren’t measuring up, my failures and mistakes glaring me in the face, and I wondered if God could forgive me.
Many times when I feel this way, I get on my knees, open up my Bible in front of me and ask God to speak to me out of His word. Although I know God is forgiving and that He also will help me in all my discouragement and difficulties in life, I want to experience this forgiveness and goodness from God.
I want to know He is right there with me.
Some people may be able to, but I have a hard time shutting of the floodgate of my feelings. When I feel down, I can’t just put a smile on my face and pretend everything is OK when, inside, I feel like I’m drowning.
And I’ve found from experience that nobody knows me like God, not even myself.
And nobody cares to listen to me pour out the bitterness of my soul like God.
And nobody has the answers that I so desperately need like God.
And so this is what I do. I seek the Lord until He comes and reigns His righteousness on me. I know if I spend enough time there before Him, sooner or later, He will break through the hardness of my heart, or mind, and unbelief will melt away, and His light will cascade down upon me, breaking through the darkness.
And this all comes through His word, in the Bible.
So it was that one day, that I sought the Lord in my time of need, and I came across this promise in Isaiah 42:
Isaiah 42:3 ” A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out…”
In another translation it says, ” a bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out…”
As I came across this verse, my heart was lifted up with joy. I felt the presence of God right there with me!
I knew that if I had even a flicker of a flame left burning for Him, He would not snuff it out.
In context, this verse, written by the prophet Isaiah around 700 B.C. was speaking prophetically of Jesus, who would be that suffering servant, God come in human flesh, the One would know what it was like to experience our pain, and could sympathize with us when were weak and beaten down.
And that’s exactly what I felt that day. It didn’t matter what I was going through, really. The trial that brought me up to this point, even if it was my fault. (Which it probably was) All that mattered was, God was in the house! God was in the room with me! And in experiencing that intimacy with Him: of His love, His faithfulness, His mercy, His gentleness, His kindness–I had everything I needed.
And so I wanted to commemorate this moment. Back in the Bible times, when God showed up, the ancient Israelites would put up a monument or a memorial stone to help them remember what God did for them. And so in the same way, I wanted to paint a picture to commemorate how God brought such encouragement to me! Also, I thought, “this may bring encouragement to someone else, if they get a glimpse of how kind, how patient God is with us.”
So I sketched it out. The title “Smoldering Wick” came right away. And then I thought, “I need to pick a time where they would use kerosene lamps to illuminate what they were trying to see,” so I picked the Victorian era.
Original pencil sketch for “Smoldering Wick” by Matt Philleo
The servant would symbolize Jesus, who shows compassion on us when we are discouraged.
I wanted the pose of the man to communicate that feeling, with his hand on his master’s shoulder. The man would be obviously distraught, but reading the Bible for comfort.
Because I wanted this to be a large painting with a ton of detail, it wouldn’t be started for another couple years after doing this sketch. I was still working part time at delivering newspapers and later working at a local recycling facility, and between that and commissioned artwork, I didn’t have a lot of time to work on one of my own paintings.
But I had the sketch, and the idea was recorded. When the time was right, the next step was to get together the photography for the painting, so that it would look realistic enough to convey the emotion and the concept to whoever looked at it.
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If you have any comments or questions about what I wrote, please leave me your feedback below at the very bottom of the page! 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 at the bottom of this page. Thank you!
by Matt Philleo | Dec 20, 2016 | Art Shows, Christianity & Culture, Encouraging Thoughts, New Artwork, Personal Inspiring Stories
Several times, I have wanted to give up being an artist. The end of last month was the most recent time.
After Thanksgiving, we had our “Small Business Saturday” sales event at Artisan Forge Studios.
But the day before I was very discouraged. The month of October and especially November were slow months, with not a lot of art sales or commissions.
Rent was overdue. Our landlord called, after getting a partial payment on rent, and he wanted to know when we would bring our account up to date. I didn’t know the answer to that question. I didn’t know what to do–and I had already tried everything I knew. I felt like throwing in the towel.
Sharing these sentiments with my wife, she matter-of-factly and truthfully advised:
“God has always provided. He’s not going to stop now.”
Feeling just a tiny bit better, I went to bed.
Artisan Forge Studios, 1106 Mondovi Rd, Eau Claire
The morning of the show I prayed, “God you’re a big God, so I am going to pray a big prayer. I pray that I would sell ‘Smoldering Wick’ (my biggest and most detailed painting, a 30″ x 40″ ) today at the art show.”
There was only a trickle of people that came in. But I smiled even though I didn’t feel like it and talked about the painting and the message behind it to whoever showed interest. During the middle of the show, two middle-aged men came in, and drawn to the painting, they asked me what it was about. They listened openly to the spiritual message behind it, and although they didn’t seem to quite share the same perspective I had, they loved the luminosity of the brushwork and the compassion portrayed by the people within the picture.
Then, out of the blue, one man said to the other, “So, do you want to get it?”
My ears perked up. And I thought, What did I just hear you say?
And they discussed where they were going to put it, and if I took credit cards. I told them I could take their card on the spot with Square. So we rang up the sale and it went through! “Congratulations!” I told them as I shook their hands.
After they left, I prayed “Lord, what did you just do? I asked for that painting to sell and you answered!”
Well, needless to say, my family had rent money.
I later learned that the collectors of this painting just happened “by chance” to show up at Artisan Forge Studios that Saturday, the day of the show.
“Smoldering Wick”, 30 x 40, acrylic on canvas, 2016, by artist Matt Philleo of Eau Claire, in collector’s home.
The Lord has done this many times for us. You would think I wouldn’t worry, but I still often do. But my faith is growing little by little, and I’m amazed at what God does. And so, yes, it isn’t easy being a full time artist in some ways, but it’s an exciting ride! This is what I’ve been called to do. So I’m just stubborn enough to stick it out (with some encouragement from the right people) when many people maybe think I should have packed up my brushes a long time ago, and given up on the fantasy of being a full-time artist.
Although I’ve already posted some images of the painting on Facebook, I’ve had a lot of people ask what the painting “Smoldering Wick ” is all about. I will share more about that and the inspiration behind it down the road, but for now, I want to say it has everything to do with the “the Light of the World.”
Jesus is the “Light of the World.”
“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” (Isaiah 9:2)
All of us were in darkness before Jesus came. Darkness in our sins, darkness in ignorance, or even willful disobedience. In my predicament here with the financial problem, I was in darkness. Not just the darkness of not having enough money to pay rent, but the despair of the feeling of hopelessness. A lack of faith.
I think Jesus may have said to me, like He said to Peter, “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?”
Nevertheless, He answered my prayer. I didn’t feel so confident when I prayed it. But God, in His mercy, answered it.
Now, should I have had more faith?
Yes.
But, God still answered my prayer, even with the little faith I had. And so it gave me more cause to thank God for how kind He had been to me, as I realized I got far more than my feeble faith deserved.
My wife, who teaches the children’s Wednesday night Bible class at church, used a line as a metaphor for faith. She shot out a line with a sticky end and reeled in the object she desired as the kids watched. As long as she continued to reel, she would get what was attached to the end of the line. But if she set down the line, because reeling it in (or trying to get the object to stick) was too hard, she would never get the object at the end.
This is a powerful picture of faith and I still remember it.
It doesn’t take a rope to reel in a big fish. You just have to keep reeling it in with the line you have and not give up.
But, now, I want to say more about the object of our faith: there are many objects we want to pick up at the end of that line. But whatever the object is–maybe a better job, a nicer car, a relationship restored, healing for a disease, even forgiveness of our sins–and these all may be good things to desire–ultimately the goal of receiving these transient things is to receive the true object of our faith, Jesus Christ. In other words, when we see how good He has been in answering our prayers and providing for our needs in the midst of the struggle, we will see Him more clearly. His generosity, His kindness, His consistency, His love, His power to deliver, His glory will be unfolded to us. When we see Jesus for who He is, we will be amazed. Our natural response will be to thank Him, to praise Him. And I don’t think there’s anything that pleases Him more, than when we rejoice at who He is.
“Smoldering Wick” 30 x 40, acrylic on canvas by painter Matt Philleo, with Isaiah 42
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 4-5)
None of us have ever seen God, but we do “see Him” as we experience His truth in the Bible, coming alive as we read, believe, meditate upon, and live it out. We stand upon His promises and we watch them come to pass.
Jesus said as recorded in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus will breathe life into the smoldering wick: the soul with a flickering flame that still yearns to burn brighter.
May God’s riches blessings come to you this Christmas, as the Light of the World shines brightly upon your path!
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If you have any comments or questions about what I wrote, please leave me your feedback below at the very bottom of the page! 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 you!
by Matt Philleo | Dec 10, 2016 | Art Shows, Encouraging Thoughts, Personal Inspiring Stories
This Thursday, I was excited to see the copy of the local paper, the Leader-Telegram, and the article they did on the book I illustrated, “The Boy in a Tree.” They did a great job in highlighting the main message of the book: being content, trusting God like a child, and seeing the value that people with special needs can offer the world.
The Saturday before, the author and I held a book signing event at Artisan Forge Studios, and we had a great time chatting with people interested in the story, listening to their stories, and eating too many cookies.
Author Pam Boodle and Illustrator Matt Philleo sign copies of “The Boy in a Tree” at Artisan Forge Studios in Eau Claire, December 3, 2016.
“The Boy in a Tree” book signing at Artisan Forge Studios in Eau Claire, December 3, 2016.
It was also neat that I had a chance to see an old friend that I worked with at Sears from years ago and catch up with him.
Today, a woman who had read the newspaper article walked into my studio and bought two copies of “Boy in a Tree” from me. We chatted for several minutes, sharing stories about the children in our lives who have special needs, and talking about how thankful we are that societal attitudes have changed so much in the last few decades towards differently able people.
“The Boy in a Tree” at Artisan Forge Studios in Eau Claire
I can recall a few years ago, when I had take take my son out of the store because he had a meltdown and, while trying my best to keep my composure, someone looked me in the eye and said, “Good job, dad.”
Just those three words made all the difference.
I thought, “this person gets it.” It gave me just a bit more of a spark, and I think helped ease the tension a bit. What an encouragement that person was.
So now when I’m in a store or other public place, and I see a child misbehaving, and I’m tempted to give a disapproving glance, or maybe even say something, I remember I don’t really know the child or the story behind that child. And, although I hate to say I was that judgmental person (I never said anything, but I sure thought it, and maybe I did give that ice cold glance unknowingly) since I’ve been there myself…
…it’s a different story now.
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by Matt Philleo | Nov 29, 2016 | Art Shows, Encouraging Thoughts, Personal Inspiring Stories
Ours is a society of youth. Technology is constantly changing; everything seems to be getting faster.
We’re constantly looking for the latest young celebrity, while the older ones are being pushed off to the side to make room for the new.
And those who are old are being propped up to look younger, so that they can still be an acceptable part of society.
Years ago, we used to appreciate and respect the grey-haired for their wisdom. The older people were the living links to the past: they could share historical events first hand, what they learned, and pass it on to the next generation. But recently, we have increasingly diminished their role in society, often leaving them in nursing homes with little to no contact with family.
Over Thanksgiving break, we went to see my wife’s grandmother in the nursing home. Although she didn’t remember us very well, I think she was thrilled to see her children, and especially her great-grandchildren. Our two year old daughter connected with her over a stuffed animal that she shared with great-grandma. Earlier, I visited my grandmother in the nursing home before she passed away a couple years ago. I am glad I did, and now I don’t have any regrets. Now my grandmother, too, at the end, was not very lucid and so it was a bit awkward to visit.
But even though she couldn’t communicate, who knows how much ideas, hopes, and aspirations were still circulating within her mind?
Here is an excerpt from the book I illustrated, “The Boy in a Tree.” As I’ve shared in the past, the story follows Nick, a boy with special needs who loves climbing trees throughout his life.
At the end of the book, we read how, as an old man, he is still dreaming…
Excerpt from “Boy in a Tree,” by Pamela Boodle and Illustrated by Matt Philleo, featuring Nick as an elderly man
Interestingly, the Bible shares that sentiment with us–that the elderly are vitally important, and have great ideas. They have excellent, lofty ideas that have been founded upon wisdom and experience–perhaps dreams that never made it to fruition–and now they lack the strength to carry them out.
It is for us in the next generation then, to carry on this torch, to retrieve the baton, and keep the vision of the previous generation alive.
We see that with Moses passing the baton to Joshua, who finally entered the promise land in his lifetime, even though for his predecessor, it was only a dream.
We see that with Martin Luther King, Jr., who we all know from history had a dream that the white man and black man would stand together in equality and harmony. We’ve made steps toward that as a society, but obviously, as we see in current events, have a long, long way to go. Although he was not elderly at the time he gave his famous speech, if he were still alive, he would be an old man today and his dream would still most likely remain unfulfilled. But the dream is good, and the hope of it lives on.
We see that with Simeon, in the New Testament, who was waiting the long-promised Messiah, the deliverer of Israel. He dreamed that one day He would get to see this child that would the change the destiny of nations in person, and for him, the dream became reality, when Joseph and Mary entered the temple to perform the cleansing and dedication ritual for their Son. The elderly Simeon held baby Jesus of Nazareth in his arms, and he knew that his hopes of the healing of the nation of Israel–and the world would be realized.
Jesus is the fulfillment of all good dreams.
Peace on earth, goodwill to men, and everything good that we long for, is found and will be found in Him–this perfect man and God, in the form a humble human servant, who ultimately demonstrated this posture of service in laying down his life for us on the cross, to bring us forgiveness of sin, and the restoration of humanity.
Finally, God Himself promised, “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
Hear the dreams and aspirations of the elderly. Maybe these dreams can become your dreams too, and even become a reality in your life.
Excerpt from “Boy in a Tree,” by Pamela Boodle and Illustrated by Matt Philleo, featuring Nick climbing a tree
If you live near the Eau Claire area, the author of “The Boy in a Tree,” Pam Boodle and I would love to have you come and visit us at our book signing event this Saturday, December 3. More about that here.
As we get into the Christmas season, may it be a blessed one for you and your family.
All the best,
Matt
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by Matt Philleo | Nov 11, 2016 | Encouraging Thoughts, My Art in Progress, Personal Inspiring Stories
It was November 11, 1919.
A year ago on that same day, Germany and the Central Powers agreed to put a stop to the war, laying down their arms and agreeing to the terms of peace set forth by the Allies. President Woodrow Wilson wrote a message to the people of America on this first commemorative Armistice Day:
“…The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men. To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with – solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.”
“Cafe on the Somme,” 24 x 30, Acrylic on Canvas, 1993, by artist Matt Philleo
Armistice Day was later officially changed to Veteran’s Day in 1954. This is a day that we honor veterans, not just those who have died in service, but the living as well.
Both my grandfather and grandmother served in World War II. My grandfather was a pilot who did bombing missions in the Philippines, and my grandmother was a troop transport pilot, spunky and zealous enough to get in the army at age 16 (beats trying to get in a bar under-aged, right?). They met there during service and later got married upon returning home at the conclusion of the war.
My brother in law is a veteran from the Iraq conflict, having served two tours of duty there. He sacrificed a lot of time to serve our country.
I know we say it so much that it seems cliche, but it’s true…
Our veterans served our country well and kept our freedoms secure–either by paying with their life, braving the ever-present threat of losing their life, or perhaps the worst: enduring the trauma of seeing their best friends dying in horrific ways.
We owe them a debt of gratitude.
A few years ago, I created a portrait for a friend from my church who served in the army. He lost his wife due several health problems, and I wanted to encourage him by giving him something to commemorate the memory of his wife.
This is the photo that he gave me to work from:
Photo of Gerald and Mavis J., on their wedding day
Since it was black and white I didn’t know what the colors were on his uniform. He offered to give the uniform to me, but I thought, “No, I better just take a picture of it instead. I sure don’t want to get paint on it!”
As for the colors of the flowers, I didn’t think he would remember after nearly 60 years, but I asked my mother-in-law. Without any trouble, she advised, “Oh yeah, those must be pinks, and those are carnations, and here’s the colors they would probably be.”
So with that information, I got to work.
Here are some in-progress pics of the painting. I start off with just a sketch, and then build up several translucent layers of acrylic paint using the Renaissance Master’s glazing technique.
Portrait painting of Gerald and Mavis J, by artist Matt Philleo, in progress
A painting like this can easily take 30+ hours. But when considering the final goal of the project: encouraging a friend in his loss, every minute is worth it. After he received the painting, my friend wrote:
“Dear Matthew:
RE: Wedding Portrait–
Your loving kindness and genuine concern has deeply touched my heart, and will impact the hearts and minds of other for generations to come……….
God’s anointing on your work is a very special blessing–that reaches beyond the materials and talent–and moves with spiritual brushstrokes to paint love on the canvas of our hearts………….
E.M. Bonds says: God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They live outside the lives of those who utter them.’ Know that I am praying for you!
Like prayer–your work can be deathless, touching the lives of other for God’s plan through the strokes of eternity hidden in them…
Mavis always loved you–and I know she would be pleased and emotionally moved by your work.
Till she sees you again someday–thank you for your kindness and friendship and your Love.
“Shalom”,
Gerald
P.S. This small military remembrance is a token of our love.”
With that, he gave me some of his uniform accoutrements–buttons and his insignia. It was a blessing to be able to do that portrait for my friend and encouraging to get a letter like that. And here is the final 16 x 20 acrylic on canvas portrait.
Wedding Portrait of Gerald and Mavis J., 16 x 20, Acrylic on Canvas, 2013, by Eau Claire fine artist Matt Philleo
I am hoping I can run into a veteran tomorrow. Many times you will see veterans in front of stores and at the post office on Veterans day. It’s more than worth it to spend a dollar on a “buddy poppy” and shake their hand and thank them for their service. Do you know a veteran who’s shut in? Pay them a visit. Just spending some time with them will encourage them and you may find yourself encouraged too as you listen to them share their stories.
Who are some veterans you know, and would you like to share any of their stories right now?
Share Your Thoughts!
If you have any comments or questions about this post, please leave me your feedback at the bottom of the page! 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 you!
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