The Story Behind “Creepers” (and all my other paintings too!)

It was sometime in December back in 2002 (that’s 22 years ago as of this writing!) and I was very frustrated! My woodworking business was very slow, we would probably need to move again, and family trials . . . which of course were always there . . . a part of life . . . especially with 11 children . . . seemed to be increasing daily. Did I say it already? I was VERY frustrated!!

Because it was close to Christmas time, I was reading all the passages in the Bible about the birth of Christ and the events leading up to it. I read about people having dreams and God speaking to them through those dreams. So, I prayed: “Well Lord, you told Joseph in a dream about Mary and the forthcoming birth of her miraculous Baby and even what to name Him; You told the wise men in a dream to return to their own country by a different way then by which they came; again, in a dream, you told Joseph to take Mary and the Baby and flee to Egypt because of the threats of Herod. That’s cool, Lord. But what about me?!?!?! I could sure use a dream right about now too!!

After reading and complaining (I mean praying), I fell asleep. Guess what? The next morning, I woke up having had the most vivid dream I could ever remember having! In the dream I was painting the scene which I now call “Creepers”. I saw every detail of the painting so clearly that I had no trouble remembering it all. I told Clare, my wife, how God had been so faithful and answered my complaining (I mean my prayers) and given the dream I had asked for!! I knew He was telling me to start painting once again!!

Though I always knew God had given me a talent for art since I was born, and though I went six years to art school, I had not painted in years! So, we took the little bit of money we could scrounge up and went to the store and bought some acrylic paints, a few brushes, and a canvas panel.

I started painting.

(Details about the painting “Creepers” in the next writing)