Liberty's Lament

The Lord gave me this vision of Liberty in travail over this baby a few years ago, but I did not have all the elements of it in my understanding until just recently. I believed the Lord was saying I needed to paint it now. As I began to do my preliminary sketches, some new understanding dropped into my spirit. I knew Liberty was supposed to be in a city with the skyline behind her, but for about a year I had assumed it was to be New York. As I was sketching on that first day, I was listening to Lou Engle on a CD explaining why he was bringing THE CALL to Detroit on 11/11/11. I listened to the horrifying statistics on the number of black babies who are killed by abortion each year, and suddenly I knew Detroit was supposed to be in the background! And I then understood that Liberty held a tiny Black baby in her arms! Liberty is in deep travail, crying out for our American children's freedom - their freedom to LIVE - beginning in Detroit!

As Lou spoke, he declared that God is raising up a new breed of Nazarite Men: Black men from Detroit and from Michigan who would be consecrated to the Lord. These men will contend in prayer for the pre-born children in our land. They will become the force that will turn the tide of Abortion in America.

This swiftly rising wave of targeted murder is cresting today. It is so much more sweeping the the tsunami in Japan. Our precious tiny Americans are being washed away in a silent genocide, ...and so few cry out.

With this painting, I'm crying out.

Have Mercy, Lord!

May we work together to end Abortion in America!

To purchase this print, click on this link: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jenniferoakley.html

Great Smokey Mountains in the Spring

In this painting, I worked a little smaller (a half sheet of 300 lb. paper) and yet, I still managed to spend almost as much time on it as on my full sheet paintings. The level of detail was the issue again, and I just finally decided to celebrate that in this painting. It is the thing that draws me to an image, and I love to develop the contrasting textures and colors as well as I can. For me, that just requires the descriptions be done in great detail. So I am coming to terms with my Style! These things I mention are the reason why I paint. So, I am determined now to put the pressure to speed up my process on notice.

Rocky Rapids

I finished the fourth in this series from my Fall photo shoot in the Cherokee National Forest. This one was gruelling! I kept getting lost in the rocks in the foreground and it was a stop and start production as I worked on a couple of portrait comissions in the process. It seemed to take forever.

Did you notice the rope swing hanging from the tree in the center of the painting? The kids have a great time here in the warm weather, launching into the deep pool from the rocky ledges to the right. On the left side you can see the grassy area, which is a camp site that many of my friends here in Tennessee have enjoyed for years. They call this place the "Submarine Bridge" at the head of the Citico Creek. I was standing on the bridge when I took this picture.

Tommi & Marco

This comission was so much fun to paint! I love horses, and so I jumped right into this one with relish. I added some different trees to the background for interest, since the original photo I was working from had trees that were all the same - just foilage and no trunks or variety.

Summer's Childhood

What a beautiful little girl to paint, with her remarkable coloring!

Contrast is the key to this painting - and the dark treeline sets a foundation to make her skin tones glow and helps her hair reflect the light of the sunshine. Sharp edges vs soft edges - figuring out where to make the most of each is the big challenge here.

Night Mission Briefing

I just finished this painting this morning. I decided to take the advice of a friend who wanted to see a painting of one of my boys in uniform. I had always been intrigued with this image, with all of the anticipation of the mission: vehicles running, taillights glowing, and exhaust in the headlights. I love the challenge of painting textures, and capturing the mood of the moment. Granted, this is a heavy moment, and it was a bit disconcerting to be painting that knife that my son wears so confidently on his chest, knowing there must be stories that go with it that I probably don't want to hear. But that is the reality of life for our men in uniform. They are equipped and they are well trained - and none is more level headed and blessed with a deep and quiet honor than my youngest son, Ben. He is gunner on a Bradley fighting vehicle, and has served two tours in Iraq now. I'm so proud to know there are men like him, and Sandoval and his other "brothers in arms" keeping watch over our country. They are so young - and yet are trusted with so much. And rightly so!

Capturing the Moment

I just finished this watercolor of my son, Cory (Weber Photography) at work on a photo shoot. I thought the textures and lighting were so interesting in this photo, so I wanted to see if I could capture the same mood in paint. Not your traditional portrait, but this picture sure tells the story of who Cory is: focused, determined, thoughtful, pleasant, handsome, brilliant, and extrememly talented! Spoken like a mom... but still true!