blue eyes on easel, originally uploaded by bbmarie {studiobeerhorst}.

This painting is the first portrait I have done of Rain Song Beerhorst who is the youngest of the clan. She does a great job holding still for a 5 year old. The painting is shown here on the easel surrounded with the inspiration and drawing resources that typically accompany the paintings on the easel. I seem to need all this stuff crowded around the painting to help me feel cozy and creative. Some times I think I would like to exhibit the paintings this way giving the viewer a better sense of the context that the paintings arrive out of. Besides I just think they look kind of cool this way.

I also wrote a song inspired by Rain when she was just two years old and getting into a lot of mischief around the apartment when the family was living in Brooklyn. The song is called “Natural Disaster”. The hurricane Katrina had just happened and living with a powerful two year old and six other females in a two bedroom, one bath apartment all came together in that song. The final line in the song is;

“It feels like the end of the world, in a storm with the name of a girl”

If you are interested in hearing it I can send you the five song EP for ten dollars which is a foretaste of the new record due to come out the end of September in time for Art Prize and the Beerhorst Wonder Wagon.

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The double rose painting, originally uploaded by bbmarie {studiobeerhorst}.

I began this painting last year and just finished. It measures 3 1/2 feet by 4 1/2 feet which is a big picture for me since most of my portraits are in the 8 by 10 inches realm. This image is one of a series of paintings that are about living by faith. They are about developing a new way of seeing.

The back ground is based on the Grand Rapids sky line as seen from the Wealthy Street over pass. The third hand? well that just sort of appeared one day as the painting progressed. The frame is made out of hundred + year old pine interior house trim that was chopped joined and then stripped/sanded and lastly gold leafed.

I would like this to be included in the Beerhorst Gypsy Art Wagon but I think it may be too large, perhaps it can go in one of the tents…..

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Thanks for the Cake!, originally uploaded by bbmarie {studiobeerhorst}.

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” The Apostle Paul giving advice in a letter written to the church in Galatia.

I love this little piece of advice because it helps me continue living a life that is different from most every one I know. Some time I feel overwhelmed by our families peculiarities and uncertain future. We don’t have a car. We don’t have any medical insurance. We have little to no savings. The children have never gone to school. We make art hoping that eventually the right person will come by and purchase and take it home with them. We live in a city but our yard looks like a farm. Living by faith has taken us down a little zig zag path in a dark wood that occasionally opens up into beautiful sunny clearing were we can rest and get our bearings again.

We recently found one of those sunny spots in the form of a house show in NYC’s West Village at the home of Danny and Patty Gregory. They were kind enough to open up there home and invite their friends to meet a portion of our family and our art. The beautiful cake pictured above was part of a very plentiful offering of food from the Gregorys. When this cake came out I was truly overwhelmed by their gracious hospitality. We met a several very interesting people and sent off a number of hand crafted studiobeerhorst items to new homes. Together with our friends we created an event to bring people together for an afternoon filled with art, good food and interesting conversation. It required around thirty hours of travel in a van both ways. (We did the journey with our neighbor Dave Shaw and his two oldest children Nick and Rose along with my Rose, Pearl, and myself.) We stayed a few extra days in order to take in the city and reconnect with old friends there. I am so thankful for this particular adventure and the opportunities it opened up for us there.

The painting on this cake which is titled Braided Vision has something to do with living a life of faith. The girl has a book in her hands yet her braids are covering her eyes to block her vision. Her task is now an impossible one because she needs her vision to read.
When we follow the unique path God has created for us we will regularly be faced with what seems to be impossible situations which in turn force us to realize that we will need an intervention from God in order to continue. Remember Moses at the Red Sea with his stick. So living this way means an intimate walk with God and what could be more precious?

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Our new buggy, originally uploaded by bbmarie {studiobeerhorst}.

We are deep in the work of creating our Art Prize project. Cameron and Rachel VanDyke have come alongside our family to be our artistic collaborators in this venture. Our plan is to make a sort of mobile art studio modeled after a gypsy wagon which will be filled with our artwork. When completed we hope to pull it to an out door venue with either a horse, bicycles or people. We also plan to pitch at least one tent that we can use for hospitality and art work shops during the first week of the Art Prize event. Also we hope to have performances of music and poetry at our encampment.

The picture here is of the Amish buggy we purchased last week. We have since removed the riding cab portion and our designing an enclosed wagon that will be built up on the chassis of the buggy. We have a long way to go until we are ready to pull it down town and we would love your thoughts and help as we tug this crazy idea out of our collective heads and into some kind of physical reality with in the time of the Art Prize deadlines.

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