Christmas at Halloween

Happy All Souls Day,

Thanks so much to everyone who checked out the website and especially those who left such kind and encouraging messages. I am really touched.

This past week we celebrated T-Bird's (Thaddeus) feast day on Tuesday, and subsequently got down to carving some seriously mean jack-o-lanterns. I was pretty happy with the results. Check out the intricate details on the hair of Cindy's"Bell" pumpkin which she carved for Abby. 

Meanwhile, I've started working on my next painting, the Nativity. In case you were wondering, I am trying to do a painting for each Mystery of the Rosary, starting with the Joyful Mysteries. So I am basically on #3 out of 20. Let's see if I finish in my lifetime. 

Here are some pictures of the preliminary sketches. I've decided to do a full charcoal drawing to make sure the figures and everything look just the way I want them and then I will see about tracing the drawing onto the canvas. Let me know what you think.