MY GIFT TO THE WORLD
The images you see here are free to use any way you like. They are all tried and true best sellers. They are great for decoupage art, to give as gifts, and for creating things to be sold at fundraisers. You can have them printed on all sorts of things; puzzles, tote bags, coffee cups, etc. You can put them in a frame and hang them on your wall. You can use them as patterns, or to go by so you can paint your own versions of them. If you copy them I would be honored, not mad at you. A very wise person once told me that when another artist copies your work, it is the highest form of flattery, so I am not stingy with my images. Please post pictures of your creations in the Creative Minds Forum so we can all enjoy them.

MY LIFE
I was born March 30, 1956 in Whitney, Texas, on Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday. I always considered that a special honor, and felt a strong connection to the artist. Like me, Vincent just loved to paint. Art was so important to him that he dedicated his whole life to it, even though he had to live as a pauper. Painting was his passion. He is remembered today not only for his wonderful art, but also for his kind and loving heart. He was a very spiritual person and attempted to be a minister. But Vincent was way ahead of his time. His art and his theology were not accepted. In his whole life, he only sold one or two paintings. Today his work is worth millions of dollars. It’s a shame that many artists are not appreciated until after they are gone.

I always felt that I was appreciated for my work. Though I never became financially wealthy, I was rich in so many other ways. My childhood wasn’t always easy but for the most part it was happy, safe and secure. I had a great family life, and two of the sweetest parents who ever lived. I miss them every day. Their kindness and compassion was like a priceless jewel to me. They taught me that success is not always measured in dollars and cents.

My mother was a baker and my father was a house painter. They worked very hard to provide for our family, and though we were far from rich, we always had what we needed.

When I was little I loved to draw. My first drawing, at about age 3, was of Tony the Tiger that I copied from a cereal box. My mom was so proud of it and showed it to everybody. She kept it for years.

Since my dad worked with paint, I was especially fascinated with him. I loved to follow him around when he was at home and probably drove him crazy with my endless questions. I watched him carefully cleaning his brushes, paint trays, rollers, and spray gun. I saw how he thinned, strained, and stored his paint. These were the tools of his trade and he took very good care of them. Today I try to do the same with mine. I loved to find a little board and get some of his paint, so I could try to paint a picture on it. It was also my dad who taught me how to mix colors.

Many things shaped me into the person I am today, experiences that taught me empathy, kindness and compassion for others, especially those who didn’t seem to fit in. When I was 7, I fell out of a swing and hit my head on a big metal pipe that was held in the ground with concrete. I remember coming home that day with a splitting headache and a high fever. That was when I started having Grand Mal seizures. l was a very shy and awkward child who couldn’t sit still. At school I was often cut off from the other kids because I was not allowed to take P.E. or play sports. Sometimes I felt isolated, inferior, and lonely. In those days Epilepsy was not as well understood as it is today. People had all kinds of crazy ideas about it. When people found out you had some kind of problem with your brain, they automatically assumed that you must be dumb. I wasn’t dumb, but I thought I was, so I didn’t really try very hard to be a good student.

Church didn’t help me much with my self esteem. There were whispers that those who were afflicted with Epilepsy were really demon possessed. I remember learning the Bible story about Jesus running a bunch of demon possessed pigs off a cliff. I felt like one of those poor doomed pigs. If I could have found a cliff high enough I might have jumped off of it.

These negative feelings carried over into my adult life. I wasted a lot of good years feeling like I was stupid and weird. But art was a precious gift from a loving God that helped me so much. Art was my pony in the barn full of manure that I felt like was my life.

But things did get better thanks to my parents, who recognized my talent, and helped me make the best of it. They saved up their hard earned money to buy me the best art supplies they could afford. When I was 12, my dad took me with him one day to the local paint store he did business with.

He let me get my first set of oil paints, brushes, a palette, palette knife, linseed oil, turpentine, and a few small canvasses. That day will always be one of my most treasured memories. When we got home I went right to work. In no time I was producing my first real art pieces, and they were not bad, not bad at all. In fact, they were so not bad that my mom started showing them to all her friends and neighbors. She even sold a few of them. She and Dad were so proud of me, and I had never felt better in my life.

The next step was to let me start taking art lessons. I was so excited! We heard about a local artist, Mrs. Agnes, who was teaching kids to paint. It was so much fun and I learned so much from her. I so admired her beautiful work and knew I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.

As I grew and matured, the artists I admired the most were the ones who were willing to share their knowledge, and I was like a sponge, just soaking it all up. I adored the Walter Foster art book series, and all the various artists who helped to create it. I spent many happy hours trying so hard to copy the lessons in those books.

Later on I would discover the artist Bob Ross on TV. I watched every episode of his show, paying close attention, that is, when I could stay awake. His voice was so soothing. It was amazing to me how he could paint so fast.
I often thought of my first teacher, Mrs. Agnes, and her constant reminder to “keep it loose.” I learned not to get too bogged down with details, and to paint fast like Bob Ross. But it is still a challenge to me today to keep my art loose. Sometimes it’s best to put sort of the suggestion of a detail rather than a perfect representation. Whenever I complained that my art was not good enough I remembered Mrs. Agnes saying that “There is nothing more beautiful than the imperfect touch of a human hand.” I think Bob Ross must have known that. That’s why he was my super hero.

Many people come into our lives who have something they can teach us, and sometimes those lessons can be hard. Not everyone is as kind and giving as Bob Ross and Mrs. Agnes. When I was in my early 20’s I was at an office in Houston applying for some sort of art related job. I met an older artist there who was also applying for the job. She was amazingly talented and so much better than me, so I asked her if she had any advice for a young artist just getting started. I was floored when she looked at me with obvious disdain in her expression and answered, “Absolutely not!” Even though her paintings sold for thousands of dollars, I promised myself right then and there, that I NEVER wanted to be like her.

I loved sharing what I had learned with others who wanted to learn more about art, especially kids who were dealing with hard problems. Art is wonderful therapy, a great ice breaker, and a huge self esteem builder. I have always had the simple philosophy that art should be fun, and it surely can be, as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

My best experiences as an artist was seeing people’s eyes light up when they received a piece of my art. When I was able to give them exactly what they had wanted, it made them and me very happy. I have won awards and recognition for my art, but the rewards of just making people happy was far greater than any prize.
I have always believed everyone should be able to experience the joy of owning a piece of real art, even if they didn’t have much money, so I tried to paint things people could afford. I have given away and sold so many paintings very cheaply. People often told me that I sold myself too short, but it kept me humble, and helped me to make so many great friends along the way.

I hope you find a little inspiration here. Even if you have never tried to do any kind of art, it’s never too late to start. If you find you have a talented child, please make the sacrifice to buy them the best art supplies you can, especially if they seem to be struggling with life. Creativity can be life changing and should always be encouraged.
I have two grown kids of my own. Both are highly intelligent and creative. I have very little in the way of wealth to leave them when I’m gone. So I have decided to stop taking commissions and orders for custom art, and just focus on working from inspiration to create some new originals for them. All artists know that we do our best when we work on inspiration.

Also, I have taken up a new hobby that I want to focus on more, writing songs. In 2019 I met Gordon Norrell, a gifted singer and musician. I had always loved to write poetry, but had no musical ability of my own. Still I hoped that one day I would meet someone who could make my dreams come true by turning my poems into songs. There was one in particular that I shared with many musicians, but none of them ever made it into a song. But when, at last, I shared it with Gordon, within a week he had 3 versions of it and they were all good. That was when I knew we would make a great team. Since then we have written many songs together. Please visit his page and listen to a playlist of his music. Some of the songs on it are our own original songs. You can find us on YouTube and Facebook under our names.

SOME HELPFUL ADVICE
If you are interested in art, I can tell you how to save some money on your supplies. I never buy canvasses anymore. Instead, I paint on thin wood. A 4 x 8 foot sheet of it can be cut up into many small pieces for paintings. Smaller paintings sell better. I begin every painting with a frame that I buy at thrift stores, yard sales, etc. I cut the wood to fit into the frames. I paint or refinish the frames to match the art I put into them. People also give me frames all the time. I have many artist friends and sometimes they also give me their old paintings that didn’t turn out well, and I paint over them. The frames that have glass in them are ideal for any art that you create on paper, or prints that you make.

All my wood and frames are first primed with white 123 Bullseye. This is an excellent product. It sticks to just about anything and most paints stick to it very well. By putting white behind your colors it makes them brighter, and colorful pictures tend to sell better.

Certain subjects tend to sell better. I learned that iconic images, such as the Phoenix Bird rising from the ashes almost always sell. Pictures of cats and horses sell well. All fantasy animals such as unicorns and dragons sell well. Some people collect art of things like owls and elephants. Pictures of sunflowers will sell. Abstract art is fun and great therapy but can be hard to sell. Ordinary landscapes are hard to sell, but if you add a “tree lady” to them, they will.

Never try to work a water based paint over an oil based paint. The water based paint will bead up on the oily surface. But you can work oil paints over dried water based paint.

I hope that my little corner here of the world wide web will inspire you and help you to make some money with your art.

YOU CAN CONTACT ME AT
paulearl58@gmail.com

     MIRACLE