Waiting for the Shepherd

16x20 acrylic on panel, © 2019

Private Collection

On a trip to Idaho we were on some back roads when a pastoral scene struck me. It was sheep grazing with their heads down tending to the moment. I thought of the metaphor of us who are working everyday with our heads down doing the best we can at the moment. The title came to me of waiting for the shepherd to come and take His sheep into the sheep fold for the night.

    A friend saw the painting in an exhibit and said that it reminded him of his grandfather who ran some sheep. He wanted an alteration to make it even more meaningful. So I adjusted the composition to incorporate the head of his grandfather. I drew a picture of his grandfather and made a copy of it and lifted the pigment from the paper, painted the back like you would a cartoon cell, and pasted it on the picture and integrated into the composition. I'll look for a picture of that finished piece, so check back, and I'll see if I can post that also.

Sketch of Grandpa © 2020

Private Collection

Since I addressed some of what went on to obtain the completed work, I thought I would share the drawing that I did for the finished work.