People With No Names - The Undocumented #49

It is Christmas time.  The story of Christmas is the story of a journey...both before and after the birth of Jesus.  First the trip to Bethlehem...then the flight into Egypt because Herod is seeking to "destroy the child".  The Christmas story continues to be acted out today. There is birth, there is human need for safety, flight to find a safe place to live; and above all the need for 'angels' to say, "Be not afraid".

Doubting Artist #6

Two nights ago I was painting and DID NOT have a satisfying/successful (by my very subjective standards) painting session. I had been wrangling with a canvas for days, and though sometimes it got "better", I always managed to keep on going and make it worse. I was scheduled to teach a painting class the next day. I went to bed, thinking that the last thing I should do was try to teach someone else how to paint. The next day I woke up with a big idea for the class. We would talk about 'what to do when a painting is NOT working'. It was a very 'successful' session. As I reviewed approaches and methodology for resolving problems, my own tangled 'brain palette' got straightened out. I regained a modicum of confidence and felt a sense of possibility as I re-approached my own work. I was reminded again that the most effective teaching in my own life has been the "sharing the journey" sort...not the long-winded expert sort.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #19

This is a very loose oil sketch of a table of immigrant men right before they are served breakfast/lunch. (one of two meals a day). They are looking at a piece of paper on which their stories have been typed up. Every few days a visiting student hands these two-sided/ one sheet of paper, accounts to the immigrants to read. They have evidence in their hands that their lives, their journeys, matter. Isn't this what we all want?