Melanie Stokes Art

Tag: Melanie Stokes Art

  • Clouds and Hay Bales

    Melancholy Sky – 24×30 oil
    sold

    On a windy day in central Texas, one will notice the fluidity of clouds, the constant change in the sky, the light and dark, the subtle shifts of color and shape, the strong gusts, the temperature rising, and the temperature drop, which happens when the sun goes down. When I go outside, I never know what kinds of clouds will appear that day. It’s entertaining, brings beauty, but can be frightening when the winds come on us too strong!

    I’ve been thinking about how I rather like the constant state of the hay bales. The weighty strength of just sitting there in a tidy package, unbothered, immoveable, seemingly content. They shine like gold in the heat of sun. They have promise of being useful one day.

    I have begun to compare myself to these bales, when I ponder the state of flux in my world in 2020. When I look at news, scroll Facebook, and listen to conversations around me, I can get swept up in a gust or two, I can jump on a bandwagon and spin around, or I can change from light to dark in a matter of minutes, just like clouds. But thinking about these hay bales… I find more peace in just hiding under them, just staying grounded in who I am and the God in whom I trust. He is grander than hay bales or clouds of confusion.

    I pray the winds of change, discord, frustration, and confusion will become calm when the temperature drops. I have never seen this country so divided and volatile, so explosive and angry, so hurtful and selfish. I am ready for the winds to blow over, in God’s timing and God’s ultimate will. Until then, I will hide under these mighty hay bales and look for beauty.

  • Can you tell I used the same color palette?

    Three new paintings – 20×20 oil – inspired by the land on which we live.

    The black and white cow, Muncher, entertains us when she comes by to be hand fed in the evenings. (If you know me very well, you know that it is not my hand that feeds her!) Nevertheless, I enjoy her personality, complete with her fancy earrings!

    Bovine Beauty or Do These Earrings Make Me Look Fat?
    SOLD

    The white cow and her baby have been moved to another pasture. But we have watched the calf grow from hours after she was born, as we watched the mother care for and protect her offspring.

    Maternal Protection

    And the third piece, the landscape, was painted with the same palette of colors. In my mind, it was the first painting, as the pink sky on that Pink Morning is what inspired all three in this series. Pink color to tie the three together – the land and the cows – my surroundings. (And they could be your surroundings, if you want to hang them on your wall, as a group or not.)

    Pink Morning

  • Coming Out of A Storm

    Coming Out of A Storm
    36×24 oil
    sold

    Maybe it’s because there were always trees in Georgia to buffer storms and hide the angry clouds. Maybe it’s because I have never lived in a house with a metal roof before this one, and couldn’t hear the pounding of rain. Maybe it’s because there is so much BIG sky in Texas! Whatever the reason, I have seen and heard a variety of powerful storms during this year and a half of getting settled into life in Central Texas.

    We had a storm, a few weeks back, that caused aqua, purple and green clouds to twist and churn across the area. I happened to be traveling from one side of Waco to the other. As the clouds chased me in the rearview mirror and circled my car to whip around on my right side, I raced toward blue sky as fast as the 75 speed limit allowed. All was well. I arrived at a safe location. And later, as I rode back home, I was relieved to find that the storm had passed, the sun was shining, and there was only a trail of hail that had been left behind on the sides of the road.

    As I worked on this big painting from my own photo, I struggled. I painted and repainted. The clouds seemed to shift shapes on the canvas as much as they do in real life. I would come back the next day and see something else to fix.

    We all come through so many storms, some larger than others. Often, they don’t pass as quickly as a summer thunderstorm. Often, they are problems we struggle with for years. Often, they are so heavy that we have to stop and rest. Often, we have to release them to One with more power than we have to pull us through the pain.

    Can you remember the biggest storm in your life? Even if you have come through it, it may be helpful to think back and be amazed at the light, the joy, the relief that broke through when you reached the other side. There is hope. While we are still in the storm, we keep traveling toward the light sky… and pray for breakthroughs to happen!

  • This Moment of Happiness

    Moment of Happiness
    9×12 oil
    sold

    This moment of Happiness was brought to you by the Septic Tank! Really!

    Erma Bombeck said, “The grass is always greener over the septic tank.” Well, apparently sunflowers thrive there also. While I have volunteer sunflowers growing in several places in the yard, the best view of the flowers from the shade of the house is by the septic tank.

    I had a lot of deep thoughts about this. Most of which have slipped away now that I’m inside. So, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, based on your own life experience.

    And while I was painting, despite the septic tank, there was a moment of happiness in the yellows reaching toward the light. Happy thoughts developed through an hour’s worth of paint meditation. Then, sings my soul!

    melaniestokesart.com

  • This Too, Shall Pass

    This Too, Shall Pass
    11×14 oil

    It had been raining for about a week – a week of “social distancing.” As an artist, I’m very comfortable with being alone in the zone. But it was the lack of sunshine that was about to pull me under.

    The fog was thick from the moment I opened the window blinds that morning, yet beautiful, in a peaceful kind of way. The fog hovered until mid afternoon. The weather forecast for the next week said plenty of sun and heat! I couldn’t wait. I knew that “this too, shall pass.” And I felt, hope.

    I had heard the words before. “This too, shall pass” are reassuring words. Mammy had said them to me last week as we talked on the phone about the crazy state of things.

    We are looking for reassuring words in these very different days. Corona Virus, Social Distancing, Shelter in Place, Essential/Non-Essential …have all been added to our vocabularies. But the reassuring words, the familiar, encouraging words, are the ones we all want to hear.

    We know that this too, shall pass. We want it to happen quickly, suddenly, instantly, over and done. But most things don’t happen that way. The challenge for us is to hang on to the ancient words, the words of promise, while we wait for it to pass. Words like trust, faith, abide, prayer, encourage, redemption, eternal. These are the words we cling to and share, as we wait…with hope.

  • On This Road Together

    melaniestokesart.com
    On This Road Together
    24×36 oil
    $550

    The huge bare tree in the stark winter landscape filled the sky in larger than life proportions. When I took the photo in a Texas State Park, I noticed how small my grandsons looked in comparison. Although these brothers argue and fight like any siblings do, they are walking in the same direction on most days, looking out for each other. It only emphasized the message that jumped out at me. This road we travel in life can be spooky at times. There are huge obstacles growing before you that seem unsurmountable. The shadows seem to come out of nowhere and cast gloom on some days. We can’t always see where the journey is leading and it takes courage to keep going around that corner to the unknown.

    May there be someone to walk with and talk with on the journey, someone to keep you company, and someone to love and love you. We are on this road together!

    Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

  • Titled “Redemption”

    Redemption
    24×30 oil

    It had been the kind of day that makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and watch tv. The cloud cover and fog made it hardly worth looking out the window. And the damp cold did not beckon one to go anywhere on that January day.

    But, about sunset, on the day when I thought the sun would never shine, the wind began blowing the darkness away, the clouds broke open and the light burst through! The beautiful, multicolored, warm light, made my spirit soar! I posted the photo on social media and remarked that “the day had redeemed itself!”

    With that in mind, the title, “Redemption,” is placed on this painting. The day redeemed itself so that I didn’t strike it off the calendar as meaningless. My attitude was redeemed by recovering from dreariness. And I was reminded of how beautiful it is when a wrong is corrected, or when things are made right.

  • Dark Before Light

    Sunburst
    30×40 oil

    This 30×40 canvas has been on my mind for a few weeks or months. I wanted something big on a particular wall in our new home and I wanted to capture the sunrises that we enjoy on this Texas Prairie. Using one of my photos, I painted big and was pleased enough to hang it, …only to walk by later and take it down to rework the sky, …several times.  After another afternoon of painting and reworking, I walked out to “let it sit.”

    Funny how when you are in the middle of a painting, it seems to sit there in your unconscious state for days, just waiting to be worked out. Anybody else? Well, our pastor made a statement that was an “aha” for me. He said, “You have to paint the whole picture, before you can see the light.” Now, he was not giving painting advice. It was much more spiritual than that. But those words wedged their way into what was going on in my own mind about how to solve this puzzle of putting light and dark on my canvas.

    I wiped off as much as I could of what I had painted the day before, mixed up a dark blue and covered over the light. And I left to let it dry. (such patience) Only then was I able to pop in the light of the sun, waking us to another day.

    So often we have to see the whole picture, the darkness that was there to begin with, before we can appreciate the change that is made with light.

    Another fun fact to share — this 30×40 canvas has a painting of a dark swamp underneath. It was one of the darkest paintings I have ever done. When it didn’t sell, I decided to cover it with white gesso and use it again. So it truly has gone from darkness to light!

  • Painting and Praying

    My best prayer times seem to be while I’m painting outdoors. Maybe I’m listening better when the only sounds I hear are those of nature, the very creation of God. Maybe He speaks more vividly when I am studying visual images and analyzing how the light shines on them. Maybe I am more focused, for at least an hour or so, and easier to speak to when I’m all alone. I paint and I listen and I pray.

    This morning I have been thinking about my friend who challenged us to read a chapter in Proverbs each day for the 31 days of November. As I read, I apply it to myself, but can’t help but think of her, as I know she is reading the same verses.

    Though my friend is from Crawford, Texas, she lives in Thomson, Georgia! (Yes, there is a parallel to my move from Thomson to Crawford, TX.) Our paths intersect in so many other ways. But this morning, the intersection comes from prayer, from a common faith in Jesus, and from the Holy Spirit hearing prayers from TX to Thomson and back again.

    As Wide As A Texas Sky!
    11×14 oil

    I’m often reminded that I live miles away from many people I love. When they hurt, I long to go and be with them. But this big wide state of Texas is a looong way from quick trips. I can be with them through the power of prayers. Though it may sound trite, prayer is anything but! “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much.” (James 5:16) And the Holy Spirit can carry those prayers from here to there, from me to God… from God to me, and He hears. The impact of prayer is As Wide As A Texas Sky!

  • End of Summer

    melaniestokesart.com
    End of Summer
    11×14 Oil on panel
    sold

    I am coming to the end of a season, in more ways than weather. While the fall breezes are beginning to tickle at the edges of the intense summer heat, our time at The Ranch is coming to a close, also. Our new build is finished inside! We are moving in this week! After nine months of being in a transitory state, I think we have birthed a barndominium!

    Before and After

    You might remember, we began with a metal barn on 29 acres. Steve took walls apart, designed a new floorplan, and we secured a contractor to get this project underway. We chose this site because it is six miles from our son’s family. The acreage gives “room to breathe,” and be close to nature. Interior photos coming soon!

    Since November 2018, we have lived in a log home at the 85 acre ranch on the northwest side of Waco. (If you missed those adventures, scroll back and read the blog.) It has been the perfect Artist Retreat for me with access to almost daily plein air painting. And, I have more than 50 or so new paintings and studies from this place.

    I’m in the process of revealing these new paintings in a special online art show on this website! Also, many of them will be featured in my space at the Brazos Fine Art Show, to be held at the Waco Hilton, November 8-10. All paintings are for sale!

    The end of a season is usually welcomed. Most of us are glad to pack away summer clothes and get out sweaters. (Most of us are just as glad to pack away those sweaters when the warmth of spring rolls back around. ) Yet, there is something melancholy about coming to the end of a season. And while my knees are ready to live on one level again, and I am eager to bid the outside laundry room goodbye, I will miss the sunrises over the pond, the surprises of wildlife strolling by, the shade of the front porch swing and the ever present hospitality of the Covington Family, the owners of the Ranch.

    With gratitude, and a bit of anxiety, I close this chapter and look forward to what’s ahead on Red Gate Road. —Melanie Stokes

    End in Sight
    8×10 oil