Man in small town that is not in the USA

Oil on Canvas 16" by 24"

This was a fun painting of a face. I did it just because I needed to paint another face. It reminds me of so many little towns around the world.

Girl in our old village Wang I Po

Oil on Canvas 24" by 16"

This was a painting I been wanting to do. It brings back many memories of the 3 and a half years in the village we lived in. So many hard memories and growing times there. It was a dark place. But, many people heard about Christ and some came to believe. In the end we left and moved on to other places that were more open to the gospel.

Life of Christ painting.

Oil on canvas 120cm by 90cm

I had a good time doing this painting at the open market in Thailand. It was a great way to share Christ with people walking by. Eventually someone would ask, "What is this painting about?" So I would explain each small painting with in the painting and come to the ressurection and talk about the truth of Christ overcoming death, sin and satan. Most people would want to know about the part on hell and about Jesus coming back too. It was great to be able to talk to Thai people about the reality of Christ death, burial and resurrection. Then talking about the fact that he is coming back to rule on earth and asking them if they are ready? I have started on another painting the same size and it will be more of a creation to Christ painting. I hope to use it the same way at the open market and other open air events.

Heaven

It amazes me that God has loved us so much that we get to be with him forever. We will not be sitting around, but have responsibilities in His kingdom. He is our Father and we are in His family. Adopted as adult sons with all the privilages. This is an awesome display of Gods love to His church, us, those who believe in His son Jesus.

Eternally separated from God.

Sin is what seperates us from God. He is holy and just and must judge us. He is rightious. But, we can be thankful because God loves us and took our sin on Him, Jesus so that we don't have to be separated from Him for eternity in hell.

The world.

This is an image of where we are at. People still have a chance to believe. I am very thankful to bend my knee to the Lordship of Christ now and not have to bend my knee later as a person who rejected His son Jesus.

The white throne judgement.

I am glad I won't be there.

Jesus coming back.

Jesus arrested in the garden.

Jesus before Pilot.

Jesus bearing the cross.

Nailed to a cross.

Forgive them for they do not know what they do.

It is finished

Jesus is laid in the tomb.

The Ressurection.

This is what makes all we believe true. It is what the early church talked about the most. It is no miracle to die. But, to raise from the dead and return to heaven is a different story. I am so thankful God gives us this same power to live our lives. We serve a living Redeemer. There is not one life the lover of our souls, Jesus.

Baptized by the Holy Spirit.

I love how God takes ordinary people and comes on them, lives in them and uses them to change the world.

I am the vine and you are the branch.

Abiding in Christ is something we spend a life time learning how to do. I am thankful God, our Father in heaven is gracious and helps us in the process of being connected to the branch Jesus.

Jesus prays for himself.

John 17:1-8 "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life-to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the workd began."

Jesus the living water.

Water is a wonder picture of life. We die with out it. The same we Jesus is life. With Him, we die in our sin and can not be restored to God the Father. He is also the one who satifies our souls, spirits and gives us peace and joy. He gives us life abundantly.

I am the bread of life.

I want to desire Jesus as much as I desire to eat each day to sustain my physical life. I love this picture of Jesus being the bread of life. Jesus is the master teacher. He just fed thousands of people so, when he said I am the bread of life, or the bread that comes down from heaven, they were listening. He met their needs in a way that connected. He is truely the only one who can fill our spirits and make us whole again. He is truely life and the only way back to the Father in heaven.

Jesus heals a lame man by a pool.

"Would you like to get well?" Many times I feel like this man at the well. I need something desprately and when I have the chance to trust God with it, I see the problem and I can't see God's power to work in my life. But, God being the loving Father He is, works in my life and is gracious to me, just he was with this lame man. I ask myself, do I really want God to work in my life? Or would I rather just keep trying to accomplish stuff in my own stregth. When we try to do that we are just as bad idol worshipers. We trust ourselves over God. But, many times I don't think we realize what we are doing, much like little children. I believe God loves us and helps us see and believe and give us faith when we ask.

Jesus and the woman at the well.

This encounter is very encouraging when I think about who how Jesus sought this woman out. Unlike the situation with Nicodemus, Jesus does most of the talking and question asking. Jesus seeks this person out. It is a beautiful picture of how Jesus seeks out people and works in the heart. I want to see people like God sees people.

Nicodemus and Jesus

This is Jesus talking with Nicodemus. I love how Jesus talked with this man if high status of that day. Jesus mostly listened as Nicodemus talked to him. Jesus is interested in all people for all walks of life. I am encouraged that Jesus took the time to talk to this man. Many people seem unreachable. They are religous and good people, but really don't know God. I am thankful God sees the heart of people and loves them, even when we don't.

Jesus, the Son of man.

I am reminded that Jesus is 100% human and 100%God. He is our high priest and knows all that we go through and feel.

Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

Jesus taught by doing. I want to be this way to. It is easy to talk about something and say what we should do or be like, but to do it is another thing. I am humbled by this act that Jesus did. Something I am working on in Thailand is finding others and going out and doing things more and talking less. I believe it is the best form of discipleship.

Entering Jerusalem

I am reminded by this that Jesus was recieved as a king, then soon after He was rejected by His people. I am thankful in Gods master plan for humankind, He is King of Kings who will riegn forever. It is great to know that I am willingly bowing my knee to Him now as his follower and friend.

This is My son and I am well pleased with him.

I love the word picture of Jesus being baptized and when he come out of the water and God the Father validates His son. We all need this and I find it very interesting that God did it with His son Jesus.

I am the good shepard.

I find this image strange because the sheep does not look cute and the image of Jesus looks very common.

Go and sin no more.

This is an image about the woman who was being acused of adultry and they were trying to trap Jesus. No one was able to throw a stone at her and she was set free from her sin.

I am the light of the world.

I am reminded again why we are in Thailand. Jesus is the light of the world. It is my desire to be light in a dark place.

This is an under painting of a person in the old village we use to live in when located in Esan, Eastern Thailand. I like the painting at this stage. I have finished it since and will post the finished one soon. When I look at this painting it feels like an image of a ghost town. In many ways the village was kind of empty and felt dark there. It was a dusty rual place with very stange people that lived there. I was one of the hardest places we have lived in so far. It was a spiritually very dark place. There was a high percentage of mental illness, murder and rape in this little village. It seemed like we went to a funeral every couple of month there. Suicide seemed high there too. If you think about it, pray for Wang I Po. These people have heard the gospel for 20 years and a church is still not been started there. Some came to believe and then moved or died. As a village they rejected the message of Christ and missionaries moved on. But, there is still one family there. Pray for Pong, Muun and there grown children. They have been faithful wittness in this village over the years.

Thai Youth

Oil on Canvas 120cm by 90cm

This image reminds me of the different circumstances that I have heard about that many young Thai people find themselves in. Most of the time I only hear the problems. It kind of reminds me of lava too.

This close up of a young boy in a room that is disintigrating, looking out a window that is very clear, speaks to me about the future of many young people I have met who don't know the Lord. I have been meeting more young people at a local vocational college and they seem like kids who have many challenges as far as the future goes. It seems they have few options.

This picture seems very Thai to me. To me it just depicts the private life of young people in the midst of Thailand.

This picture speaks of disappointment in relationships. Or expectations let down. We need to pray for the young men of Thailand to step up to the plate and be real men and do what is right.

The Head Hunter

Oil on Canvas

24" by 32"

This is a painting I did back in 2003? I was interested in different people groups of Burma at the time. I just really liked this mans face, so I painted it.

Across The Street From My House

Oil paint on Canvas

90cm by120cm

This painting is what I have seen close to where I live. We live across the street from a Moklen village. For a month my friends and I would go for a prayer walk in the morning and pray for the people and for God to open hearts to His Son. We have a large population of Muslim people that live in our area, too. I started this painting with these ladies in mind who sell fruit. In the end it ended up being more than just an individual, but many people and places that I see often here. The word that comes to mind when I look at this painting is disappointment. When I look into the eyes of many people here they seem happy, but when one starts to get to know them, they seem disappointed. It reminds me that I need to keep praying for the people of Southern Thailand.

The World The Flesh and the Devil

Oil on canvas 48" by 52"

This painting is about the freedom we have from our enemies as believers in Christ. below I have tried to explain what some of the images mean to me. The main thing I wanted people to see in this painting is the risen savior Jesus Christ. The resurrection is paramount to our faith. Without it we would be the most pitied of people. We would be living a lie and Jesus would be the biggest con artist in history. We can praise the Lord for the resurrection of Christ. It happened, it is real. Because of the gospel we have victory over the the world, the flesh and the devil.

The flesh, or the sinful nature. I am reminded in Romans 6 that we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are given new life through the resurrection of Christ. We are no longer captive to sin. We now have a choice to follow God in obedience. We know this desire to follow God and often we find our selves living in Romans 7, doing the things we don't want to do and the harder we try not to do them the more we desire to do to them. We feel the war raging in us. Many times our worst enemy is ourselves. The things we think of in our minds is not that far from our hands if we are not walking in dependence on God. Who will save us from this body of death? Thank God, it is Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have been given all we need to be free from the bondage of sin for eternity in heaven and to live this life on earth while still in this body. The war is, taking it by faith and knowing it, accepting it and then acting on these facts by faith. Some of these images are of me and other people I know who are in a deep struggle with the flesh in there lives. The image of me is a painting of a self-portrait already posted on here. To me it reminds me of the flesh. One of my friends pointed out to me once that if you look into the eyes of a monkey you get a good idea of what the sin nature looks like. I went to the local park here in Thailand and found some monkeys and looked in its eyes. I saw what he meant. All you see is selfishness and fear. I don't like monkeys.

When Satan saw Christ crucified, I am sure he thought he had won and that he killed God's son. I wanted to show this some how in an image. But, in the end it is part of God's plan to bring humankind back home to the Father through the Son. God defeated sin through the cross, He paid the full price so we can be righteous in the sight of God. Satan was not counting on this. He was thinking he won, but in reality he was watching his defeat. It seems like Satan never realized he was defeated before he wanted to be like the most high.

Satan is a master a trying to copy God. I painted him this way because to me, it looks like some one in a costume, trying to be God. He is a lair. God has made a place for Satan for all eternity and that is a place of separation from God in the lake of fire. I wanted to depict Satan in this place, but keep a imagery of him being a fake. As believers in Christ we are in warfare with Satan as we live on this earth. Satan has a personal plan for every believer I believe and he wants to make believers in Christ ineffective for God. We have won already because of the resurrection of Christ. We need to be confident in this and believe it as fact and know we have the Holy Spirit living in us. Satan has no authority over those who are God's children.

This part of the painting speaks of the world system to me. The man standing on the deck is a person that represents what the world has to offer. I am reminded of all the the stuff we long for to make us happy. How many times as believers in Christ we loose perspective or just forget who we are. We find ourselves longing to be fullfilled, when God has made us rich in all He is in the heavenly places. We often will look to the world to fill that void, or that deep longing in us to know and be in love with God. The world offers to make us just feel good, to feel fullfilled. We end up feeling ripped off. All along God wants to give us something much deeper and much richer than anything the world could offer in power, riches or status. God offers us new life in Christ. To become like Christ. We can have total freedom from the things the world tries to tell us we need in Christ.

To me this image presents what it is like for us now on this earth. We are living in cursed world that is groaning for the future when Christ returns. It is a time of seeing dimly. Once we are in in the presence of God, we will have new bodies and a new clear vision. we will not be looking through the thick fog of a sinful world any longer.

Wendy at the Window

Oil on canvas 20"by 24"

This is Wendy when she was in the Army. I went to Germany once to go and visit her before we were married, that is when I took this picture of her. I was fun to paint because the image was not real clear, so I had to make up my own colors and use my imagination for the back ground. I enjoyed painting it very much. Wendy and I have been married now for over 15 years. In the picture she was maybe 22? She is a blessing and I am very thankful for my wife. We have enjoyed our marriage very much through out the years and we look forward to growing old together. God has been very good to us.

Oil paint on canvas board 10"by14"

This is of the same place, just closer up and at a different time of day.

Coconut grove by the beach

Oil paint on Canvas board 10" by 14"

I painted this out side down the road from our house. We live in a truely beautiful area.

"All the demons look like prophets and I'm living out every word they speak."

Oil Paint on canvas 150cm by 90cm

To me this painting is a spiritual picture of Thailand. Every image is from an event or place that I have been to or has influenced my view of the spiritual warfare going on here. The woman is a young woman who lived next store. I took picture of her at her wedding day. She was tired and the situation seemed to be more for the others than for her. The marriage did not last long. To me Thailand is a lot like a beautiful woman who is tired overwhelmed and always looking for a new prophet in the spirit realm. I have taken some pictures of this painting and tried to explain the meaning of the images. I gave this title "All the demons look like prophets and I'm living out every word they speak" by Jars of Clay, from the song Work. because where I live I see people worshipping demons and these possessed people are dressed up as holy men. It is a blatant picture of mankind seeking God in the wrong place. A picture of Satan's lies, murdering and deceiving God's master creation, people. I am privileged to be here as an a church planter. I pray that God will use my family and I as light and salt in a dark place. My hope is that my art will be a catalyst for prayer for Thailand. To see God glorified in this beautiful land. Thai people are wonderful people and my heart broke as I painted this painting. I believe the Lord wanted me to paint it and use it in this manor. Some of you might be offended by my lack of sensitivity to the Thai culture in my statements, but I believe I must speak about these things.

All the demons look like prophets and I'm living out every word they speak., originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

The man with growth on his forehead.

The man with growth on his forehead., originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

As I was sitting next to a coffin eating rice and bambo shoots a man walked in. The room was dark and he was partly lit by dim lights. I took his picture. To me he is a good image of the what I see in the spiritual world here in Thailand. He looked very unhappy and he had a large growth right in the middle of his forhead. I was thinking that the growth is sin in our lives, something we are born with would like to get rid of it. For this poor man, it would not happen. He is another one who heard the gospel for years, but rejected God.

A melting pot of religion

Painting 2007, impression of Thailand 028, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

This is a image of a monk that I saw many times in the village we lived in for 3 and half years. Later he died of stroke. the woman is another possesed person ran into in Thakua Pa. The point is that Thailand is a strange mix of Buddhism and spirit worship. From my perspective it is demon worship with a mask of false religion.

Looking for Freedom

Looking for Freedom, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

This is two Burmese boys on the end of the bow of a small going out to sea. We took this boat across the bay from Ranong to Burma to renew our visas once. The Burmese are some of the most frightened people I have seen. They are also the most feared people I have seen. They are the lowest in society where we live. What is interesting that a church is going fast amoung the Burmese in Thailand. I think they come to Thailand looking for a new life and now some of them are finding true freedom in Christ.

Middle age ladies possesed.

Middle age ladies possed., originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

In Phang-gna and in Phuket every year they have the vegetarian festival. This last year the people that own our house invited me to come and look at it in their home town of Thakua Pa the old part of the town. This is a place that is about 2000 year old. When I went there was a relative who was a medical doctor. He was explaining to me what was happening. It is a time that people follow a particular time spoken to them by one of the spirits who was a one of the 10 kings that came from a certian part of China. The whole festival is ran by these spirits and people follow their directions. Many people become possesed by these spirits and they stick long knives through their cheaks and through the flesh on their arms. People speak Chinese, but they are people who have never studied it. Other strange thing happen during this time. This is a picture of a couple of ladies possesed by spirits. They go along the street shaking and blessing the people as they go. It is a dark time. The whole town turns out in white specail clothing for these spirits. Big parades are held and lots of fire crackers are lit off. Hundreds of possesed people walk the steets bleeding with knives hanging out of their mouths and legs and arms. It is a good picture of being a slave to sin and to Satan.

Float your sins away

Painting 2007, impression of Thailand 023, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

Recently across the street from our house there was a large group of people. They were very busy building this little ship to launch out to see. We live right on the coast were the tsunami hit. As a matter where out house sits, there use to be 2 houses, but they were washed away by the wave. All the cars, people and debrie washed up around where our is situatied. So, we are very close to the ocean. I started to ask them, what is this ship about? They said every year we build a little ship and every person who wants to have there sins taken away will come and put into the ship some their hair and some clipping of their finger nails. Then at a certain time they will do some Buddhist cerimonies mixed with this animistic sea worship and lauch the ship. I included it in the painting because it is another picture of poeple trying to take care of the sin problem themselves and not turning to God's provision of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Chosen to die.

Chosen to die., originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

The object my friend and I were talking about is the Jettie that each city builds before it starts as a city. It is the pointed object in this painting. These particular ones are in Autiaya. They are very old and very important. As my friend began to talk to me about these objects he got very serious and would not speak to loud. He explained in every major city of Thailand when they build these things there was a chosen family involved with a particular person chosen to be the ruling spirit of the city. That person would be taken to the site of this jettie and he would be beheaded and his head and body would fall into the large hole that the main post of the jettie would be put into. He would then be the guardian spirit of the city. All over Thailand there are these jetties. When we travel around the country and we see these structures they take on a new meaning for us. I know in these particular jetties there must have been some major things that happened. I would not be suprised if people were sacrifed.

Palace Walls

Palace Walls, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

In this painting all of the brick wall are from a real place located in Lop Buri. this is located in central Thailand about a hour and a half from Bangkok. We lived there for 6 months doing an advanced Thai study time. Since then I have been learning more about what Thai people have done in the history concerrning specail places like this.
Around the time that Buddhism was just starting to come to Thailand, Thais practiced many different animistic practices concerning building of their cities and palaces. Some of these involved human sacrifices. One Eruopean who visited during this wrote about live infants being thrown into the base of a wall as a protection in the spirit world. I would not be suprised if human sacrifice was involved in Lop Buri many years ago when this palace was built This was an interesting place. The king of this kingdom was killed by the monk of the palace because he was spending time with some Frenchmen who were introducing him to Catholism. He showed interest and they offed him.
I have noticed that many things in Thailand are wrapped up in the spirit world including the wall of the palace in Lop Buri.

Where I Use to get E-mail

Where I Use to get E-mail, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

I use to have to drive 7 miles to a small row of cement house to get my e-mail. I had bought a phone line and it was located in a small room at the end of the row of houses. I used this room for about 2 years. During that time it was not being lived in. It only had some things that the owner stored. It collected dust, dead animals and gaint spiders seem to be taking over the place. I remember very large orange and blue lizards living in this room. the line was slow and so as I waited I would watch these lizards watch me and I would keep an eye out for gaint spiders. Wasps were a problem also. One time as I opened the sliding metal door one stung me on the nose.
In the area there were 3 rows of houses and a large covered open market style structure that no one used for a market, but mostly parked under or took a nap under. There was a very large spirit house in front of this area, the one I painted. It was a very expensive one and kept up well. The thing that struck me was that the area was a dump and the businesses there did not do well. This would strike the residents as bad luck. They might think the spirit living in the spirit house was not happy. He was considered the owner of that plot of land and an offering had to be given each day for him to be happy. The monk is of no one in particular, but the Thai blend spirit worship with Buddhism often. There is a strong feeling of spiritual warfare in this area. The woman is a picture of Thailand for me.
Posted 3 minutes ago. ( permalink | delete | edit )

No Hope

3 men at funeral, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

I included these 3 men because I watched them for some time at a funeral. It was the funeral of the gramdmother of the man on the far right. He had rejected Christ and now they had to live with their choice. These men have heard the gospel for over 15 years.

Wong Oil on Canvas 18" by 24"

P1010035, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

This man came to know Christ at a later age in life. He had a very hard time reading, but he was good at memorizing scripture. One of the things that impressed me about wong is that he held to his faith in Christ when other critisized him for believing. He is a gentle man who tries his best to walk by faith. He has been a farmer all his life and survives in a out of the way village in Eastern Thailand.

Gona oil on canvas 18" by 24"

P1010028, originally uploaded by artscapesofthailand.

This man is a Lawa tribal man who lives in the rual part of north Thailand. He came to know Christ and was taught by others in the Lawa church. I listen to him speak at a tribal church conference and he was a great speaker. The Lawa people have many beleivers now because of people like Gona.

One of the things that I found fasinating about this man is that he is very Lawa and very Godly. He did not change his culture in that sense, but I found that we had all things in common because of Christ.

It was a privilage to be taught by him and have met him.

Impression of people problems

59" by 36" oil on canvas

This is a large painting that I have been working for a couple of years. I feel like I can leave it alone now. It is a painting that reminds me of the problems I have seen and experienced first hand here in Thailand. I found this painting rather fun and enjoyable to do. The more I look at it the more I enjoy it.

Oil on canves 24'' by 18''

Self Portrait

This painting is not done yet, but I really like it at this stage. It is very expressive to me and if I finish it and it is not as good at this stage, I would be sad if I didn't have a record of it.

When I am finished I will post it again.

Oil on Canvs 24'' by 35''

Untitled

I am still working on this one, but I am debating if I should be finished. I am not sure what it means just yet, but I do believe it has something to do with loss.

Oil on Canvas 11''by 14''

The American River

I grew up on this river. I would go swim in it every day all summer long starting at about age 9. There are many days we would jump in with all of your cloths on and float down the river about 2 miles. The current was strong, I remember stretching out under the water and watching the rocks under me fly by. It was as if I was flying in the water.

The one thing that we feared as kids was the Lamprey eel. It had a round mouth with teeth and it attatched its self to fish and would suck the blood out of them. Me and my friends found them on the bottom of the river many times.

Oil paint on board 11'' by 14''

The Delta

This is a plain air painting I did of the Delta near my in-laws house in the vally of Central California. It was about 105 degreeds out side when I did it and it took me about 2 hours. In the future I plan on doing these types of paintings in less then an hour. When I get better at them It should not take me more than 30 minutes. I can take them in doors later and touch them up.

Poppy at 9 years old

Oil paint on canvas 20''bt 24''

This is resent portrait of my daughter. She is a wonderful person and I am very blessed to have her as my daughter.

This is from a seen from out behind our house when we lived out in a village for 3 and a half years in Esan.

Scene of Mahongson Northern Thailand

Oil Pastel 11"by14''

This is from a scene from 2 years ago when we drove up to one of the farthest points in Northern Thailand. We were visiting with friends there and they had 2 litters of Siamese cats. There were 7 kittens total. My wife talked me into taking one home. The next thing I knew we had 7 Siamese cats in the truck with us. We had a 2 day drive & we ended up taking them all with us because there was concern the Red Karen tribal folks would eat them. After we got home we went to the local market in Lop Buri and sold 5 out of the 7 cats to a pet sellar, who in turn would find homes for them.

We kept 2 of them.

Oil on canvas 20"by 32"

Untitled

This painting and the next 4 were done a long time ago. Some done in the late 80's other done in the 90's. I wanted to post them to just because I like them and I hope it give a good variety of what I have done through the years. I will soon be posting some paintings that I recently done. I hope you see some difference in being a better skilled painter. But, one of the things I really like about these earlier paintings is that they are riskier. I think they are more creative then my latest paintings. I want to revisit some of this style of expressive painting, but incorporate more skill.

I am not sure what this painting means, but it reminds me of hollowness.

No more money

Oil on canvas 28" by 18"

This is a Mexican lady who was just turned down by the bank for a lone. It reminds me of many people around the world who are trying to get ahead in life, or just desprate because they don't have money.

No consience

2' by 3' 6" Oil on canvas

This painting was done when I was in the military living in Texas. I was looking at a picture of 3 teens who attacked and killed a woman. They didn't seem to have much remorse or understand what they had done. I built the painting around their story and used other images that didn't really fit, but I enjoyed doing it. It reminded me that we have the potentual to do evil. That we are born into a fallen world and out side of the gospel we have no hope to live a life that is truely holy. I am thankful we have a choice not to sin, we are no longer slaves to sin, but set free in Chrst to live lives that are holy. Romans 6:6, 11 and 13 have become some of my favorate verses in my life.

Madona painting

32" by 42" Oil on canvas

I named this Madona, because it looks like one. I am not Catholic, but thought the name was fitting. I was painting this in the late 80's. One person said that the last time he saw someone paint like this, they were on LSD. I was not. As a matter of fact I was starting to consider going into to the military at this time. This is my first real attempt at a large oil painting. It is also one of my favorites. Not very good in skill, but I think very creative and fun to look at.

Oil on canvas 28" by 36"?

National Geographic Lady

This is a painting I did about 18 years ago. I, like many other people chose to do a portrait of the Afghan Woman on the front of National Geographic. I then added my own style of painting in the back ground. Can you guess which artist I took ideas from on the back ground? This painting to me deals with the time we have left in life before we die. We have choices to make. Some people say, why do you have to bother those people, don't they have their own religion? Yes they do and they will spend their whole life climbing a latter and one day they will get to the top and nothing will be there. I picked this Afghan woman because she represents so much to us in the west that is far from Christ.

Oil Pastel 11"by14" on paper

Ohio River

This is recent painting I did while we were in the states in Indiana. We were visiting good friends who are pastors to missionaries. We have the privilage to be able to travel around the United States and see many different places. I hope to in the future find time to paint land scapes of the U.S. too as we travel.

Sugarcain field

Oil pastel 11" by 14" on paper

This field is special to because the sugarcain grown here supports a pastor, who is also a church planter. It is next store to a Buddhust temple. I have spent some time with a large gas powered weed cutter in this field clearing grass so that it would grow better, get sun light into it. One of my fears was that I would find a snake in the sugarcain field while cutting grass. Cobras are known to live here. They are useally about 4 feet long and raise up to look around. They make a strange barking noise. I figured if I found one I could always cut him up with my grass cutter.

Mansampalang field in Esan

Oil Pastel 11" by 14"

Mansapalang field

One time I had the opportunity to help work in a Mansapalang field. I went out and started to cut off branches to replant another field. We spent all doing cutting this stuff. My field worker partners were 2 middle aged women who had been doing this kind of work all their lives. I worked hard that day and I noticed after a couple of hours that these 2 women had done about twice as work as I Had done. We broke for lunch and they pulled out a basket full of all kind of specail country Thai food. They pulled out a large bag full of small black objects. One lady pourded it into a bowl and offered me some. It was a large pile of fied termites, or flying ants. I tasted them and then watched these to women eat large hand fulls of insects. Not long after they both complained of stomach pain. I was told that bugs are a rich food and one needs to be careful not to eat to much.

Mansapalang is a staple crop of the Thai country side in Esan. Much of this area use to be large areas of hard wood forest, but now it is divided up into areas to grow crops. It is still a beautiful place full of strange shaped hills and small mountain ranges. There is no wild life left to be spoken of out side of cobras, rodents and birds. It is encouraging to see the Thai goverment set aside large areas as national parks, were a person can go back in time and see what it might of been like here a 100 years ago.

As I look on the landscapes of Thailand I thank God for His creation and I am more convinced of who He is. He is a magnificent creator and nature displays his glory.

Running out of Time

Oil on board 20"by 14"

I wanted to paint a image that reflected what I am experiencing on a day to day basis. When I started to paint this I had others in mind. The idea that of biulding a kingdom on a foundation that sinking sand. Then it evolved into images of struggle, confusion and being limited. I feel like this much of the time in the work that I am doing in Thailand. I see so many building on faulty ground and I have to be honest and look at my own life and take the time to apply those same things to my self. I have turned a corner in some of these things that I see as dead religion, building on sand and not on rock. I am starting to see slowly how life can be lived here in this country in power of Christ. It rubs against this culture and against what the world tells us what we should do with our lives. I am thankful for the time that I have in Thailand and I hope for many more years, but I feel like my life is a vapor in the wind and is passing way to fast. I don't want to waist my life living for dead religion if it be Christianity or some other, I want to live my life full of Gods power, life in Christ.

Veiw looking to the North

16"by 12" oil on canvas board

This is what I see out the front of our home that we are staying at. I hope to paint many more of these plain air paintings. My goal is to produce at least 20 of them of the Phang-nga area to remember this place.

Waiting

16" by 12" oil on board

This painting I did recently and it is the idea of waiting in the middle of transition. There is so much in our lives that we plan for, but in the end we really don't know what the future holds and life can change in an instant. Much of my life has involved waiting. As one friend said, or lives are kind of like a roller coaster, we wait as we climb the up the tracks and then for an instant we see it all before us and then off we go down the other side very fast and very excited. Then it is over in a matter of seconds.

Backyard view

16"by 12"Oil on board

This is the view from my backyard in Southern Thailand. I stood on the second story and painted this scene. We live in such a beautiful place, many times I can't believe we are actually living here.

I want to mention that I am using an impressionist approach to painting landscapes. Some people call it "full color seeing". I will be doing more of these in the future.

Mong person

27" by 20" oil on canvas

When I look at this painting it reminds me of the young lady named Pin that came to work for us when we lived in Chiang Mai. She helped watch our son after he was born and Pin became very fond of him. She worked for us for 2 years and we all became very close friends. She was part of the Mong tribe. One of the things that struck me about her was her good work ethic and that she was very quiet. She did not show a strong reaction to situations, but was very in control of herself. The only time I saw her cry was when we left Chiang Mai to move to the Eastern part of Thailand. She is still a close friend and when ever we can we go and see her and her husband.

Talking around the fire

20" by 16" oil on cavas

In our early times living in the country side of Thailand we spent many an evening sitting around a lamp that burned diesel fuel and most of the time there was a smoldering fire. We were usually in a field talking with a family about where everything came from? What is our purpose for being here? Who is God? What does the Bible have to say about God? This picture reminds me of those times. She does not look anything like the people that we talked with because this person is from Tibet, but I remember many faces that had a similar smile on them. The man of the family is dead now. He got malaria and he was a heavy drinker. Because of this his liver failed. The wife is a very strong believer in Christ and is a leader in the church that was planted there. Her children struggle, but are making it as they make there way through life as adults.

Religion

24"by 34" oil on canvas

I called this painting Religion because it is a good picture of it. I often wonder why humanbeings like religion so much? It is our natural tendency to try and do good verses bad and build our way with our own two hands. It is hard to deal with Jesus words "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me" Life verses religion. This is a hard issue for me in Thailand as I spend my days in relationships with people who are good people, but do not want the truth. They can't see that God is real, that He is the creator, the one true God. As one person said. "I have tried three different types of cookies. Buddhism Islam and Christianity, I think the Christian cookie taiste the best". It is the idea that there is a big market of religion and one goes and buys, trades and practices and gets religion there. But, it is not like that according to Jesus. There is truth and there is false religion. When I look at this painting I am reminded of the facade of false religion.

Mein Girl with baby

14" by 20" oil on canvas

This image to me speaks of many young south East Asians in the United States. Before we left for Thailand we spent a year working with South East Asians in California, working with kids in a Bible club at a pubilc park. I am reminded that many times they stood alone in there situations as strangers in a strange land.

Broken places

33"by25" oil on canvas

This painting I did while living in the North of Thailand. I was inspired to do it after reading a report on the 10 worst countries in the world. It made me realize that Thailand is one of the better places it live in the world.

Goy

12" by 18" oil on board

This painting is of my daughter's best friend from when we lived in a small village in Eastern Thailand for three and a half years. She was a girl that really had patience with our children's foreign ways of doing things. She often did not show up to play because she had to take care of things at home while her mom and dad worked in the sugarcane fields. At the time she was about 7 years old. Most of the girls in this village grew up fast and ended up getting married in their teen years.

The Painting of Everyone

36" by 48" Oil on canvas

This is one of those expressionist paintings I mentioned. I wanted to post this painting because it was done at a time in my life when I was trying to find out what I was to do with my future. I was in the military then and I had some time left before I would be out. It was a time of waiting and trying to look at many different options and dealing with many different people. Today, 16 years later after I painted this, I asked my 6 year old son, "What should I name this one?" He said, "The painting of everyone." I like that title because it sums up the time in my life.

One of my passions in life is to do art. I mainly do oil paintings of people and landscapes of Thailand.

At the Funeral

32"by 24" oil on canvas

The scene of this painting is of my wife and daughter with a local woman at a funeral. Not the same funeral that the other painting was done at, but another one. In the small village we lived in for 3 and a half years there were many funerals. One year it seemed like a person was dyeing every month. I painted this because often we felt over welmed with the heat and all the activity, but our children rather liked them because they got all the soda pop that they could drink. It is a picture that depicts well what we felt like as a family and captures the feeling of the environment.

NOY

Noy
31'' by 24'' oil on canvas

The setting of this painting is at a funeral in a small village in eastern Thailand. He is from a family that is known for its members to be mentally ill. His brother is a known pedophile and rapist. Noy seems to stay sane because of medication. The reason I painted him is because of how I met this man. On one occasion I had to drive to the hospital to pick up a close friends mother-in-law who was very ill. He asked to come along to give his brother, the one who is the rapist, a goverment medical card to pay for his bill. So, I agreed and he came along. We got to the hospital and went up to the third floor and carried my friend's mother-in-law to my van and laid her on his lap. Noy sat in the back. About halfway home my friend's mother-in-law died in the van. This was a very frighting experience for Noy because he believes in bad spirits and to have a person die in the vehicle with you is not good luck. He was afraid of her spirit. So, my friend (a Thai man) who is a Christian began to explain to Noy how evey one dies and we are all going to face judgement for our sins. This was very interesting to me. It was a very teachable moment with this dead woman on his lap. We still had another hour to go before before we reached home, so my friend continued to explain that Christ is the only way if we want to have eternal life and that some day we all die. The funeral that this was painted at was the funeral of the woman who died in my van.