Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 61
January 5, 2023
January 4, 2023
Sketch Sorrell Booke
Happy Birthday Sorrell Booke of Dukes Of Hazzard
January 3, 2023
January 2, 2023
The Rock And The Be.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Deuteronomy 32:13 (ESV)
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalms 81:16 (ESV)
At Point Of Mercy they’ve been singing a beautiful song called Honey In The Rock. It is taken from both Deuteronomy and Psalms. Such amazing lyrics, but for me it also connects with the producer of honey, the bee in two ways.
First there are bees who generate heat in the hive, and the level of heat in the different cells determines what role each bee will have as they grow. The pressure Israel endured in the wilderness was not designed to stop them, but to equip them for the promised land.
As Pastor pointed out today The Church has faced such pressure in the last few years, but God’s plan was for it to build us to where we are in 2023.
Second while singing it today I felt The Lord place something in my spirit. He reminded me of the bee, and it was as if He was saying “Believe, be and leave the rest to Me.”
Pastor Denny Livingston shared the theme for the year, Expectation. If we will be everything He’s called us to be, faithful, active, giving, and consistent, He will exceed our greatest expectations, and this year I plan to expect more than ever before.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20 (KJV)
Because of another Paul Scripture in Ephesians, I plan to seek Him to do more this year than I have ever expected. I will seek to be His hands and feet so the honey can flow to others. We want to reach our fullest potential, and to help others reach their greatest potential in Him. Ashley and I are in expectation of a year of greatness in Jesus Name!
January 1, 2023
Big Three
This is my Big Three goals for the year, what are yours? These are not resolutions but items to work towards. I’m a student in these things, but I want to make a better grade this year than last year.
December 31, 2022
Sketch General George Marshall
Happy Birthday To General Marshall
New Year’s Eve, Thinking, And An Oil Change
Today is New Year’s Eve, we talk a lot about the ending of it, and the beginning of tomorrow, but how are you starting today? I started it by waking up, or rather my alarm waking me up and going to the car dealership for an oil change. As I write this, I’m waiting for them to open in about an hour.
It’s not how I would want to start the day, but the sooner you get here, the sooner you get to leave. I’m the first in line this time. That’s the real reason I’m here, so that I can get back to my family as soon as possible. By starting early, and doing a few things I didn’t necessarily want to do, it will give me more time to do what I’d like to today, like being with them.
The preparation we put on the Eve of things is often the momentum we will need later, in the thick of things to accomplish our goals. I am a student not an expert, but I hope this new year to prepare more ahead of time. For example, I want to prepare ahead of meetings with family and loved ones, preparing to listen to their needs, wants, and dreams. I don’t want to just go in without an appreciation of how precious these moments are.
One of the reasons I love the holidays I think, is that there is a general sense of appreciation for what we have been given, not only the things but the people in our lives. Every moment is precious, not just the last two months of the year, but each time we see the face of a loved one. We are on the edge of a new year, there will be opportunities, adventures, and challenges, but there will also be family, friends, and moments with them.
As we pray over our goals, and we should seek God’s direction in every area of our lives, I plan to pay more attention to those I cherish. To hold them closer, listen more intently, and seek to help more this year in anyway I can. I’m waiting in line for an oil change on New Year’s Eve, and just like a car, we get sludgy, worn, and focused on the rpms. When we should be like more like my son on the way to see his friends. He’s just excited about the faces he will see and the time he will spend with them when we get there.
December 30, 2022
Sketch Rudyard Kipling’s Birthday
Happy Birthday To Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book
Art Unboxed Still Life
Personally I’ve seen still life paintings that were exciting, and those which I felt bored by, and that has nothing to do with the quality of the painting. For me it depends on what the still life is, for example if it’s a collection of objects that hold value to me, I appreciate them more. I’m afraid I’m not a huge fan for example of floral pictures.
There are amazing artists who do florals, but it’s not a subject matter that sparks interest for me. Ironically I enjoy drawing and painting them more than I do viewing them, because they are intricate work. The artists who do them are great artists, even if they don’t appeal to me personally.
Ironically still life paintings led me to discover this wonderful story of an artist I had never before heard of. His name was Peiraikos or Piraeicus. Though none of his paintings have survived as far as we know, but his skills were so advanced he was mentioned by name in the writings of a famous Roman Pliny the Elder.
“It is well to add an account of the artists who won fame with the brush in painting smaller pictures. Amongst them was Peiraikos. In mastery of his art but few take rank above him, yet by his choice of a path he has perhaps marred his own success, for he followed a humble line, winning however the highest glory that it had to bring. He painted barbers’ shops, cobblers’ stalls, donkeys, eatables and similar subjects, earning for himself the name of rhyparographos [painter of dirt/low things]. In these subjects he could give consummate pleasure, selling them for more than other artists received for their large pictures.”
By painting simple things extremely well, the artist not only made a good living for himself, his art outlived the canvas it was painted on. His skill made an impression on a man whose writings are still with us to this day. Because he was both skilled, practical, and a good businessman, he made an impression on someone whose writings are with us to this day.
While I don’t expect my recent western watercolor still life to last for generations, it has even more of an interest to me because it led to this story. It’s also a lesson I fill to all artists, yes you should paint what you love, but you should also find a way to paint something or in a manner others love. Whether you sell or give away your art, if they find beauty in it, it’s a success.
Every artist desires to find an appreciative audience, but the art has to appeal to the audience. This is true whether it’s a still life or a comedian. Interview a comedian and they will tell you that while delivery is important, the joke has to be funny. My appreciation of art led to appreciating brush strokes, but it didn’t start that way. I started liking the picture, and that led to learning more.
I’ve heard many times the discussion of an artist and a gallery. This is where the gallery says, “we sold the painting of the windmill, can you paint another?” The artist says, “I’m tired of painting windmills.” While I understand both, I admire those artists who find a way to paint both what they like, and still sell windmills.
I imagine there were many painters in Peiraikos’ day who would not consider painting cobbler’s stalls, but I have to imagine because I’ve never heard of them. I do know one painter who actually painted what the cobbler wanted, because him I’ve heard of. If you’ll pardon the pun, there is still life in his work because it out lasted the Roman Empire.
