This stubby screwdriver was a hand-me-down from my dad, if I remember correctly. And I’ve been thinking about a very large painting of it for a few weeks now. I couldn’t find it for awhile, but then, just the other day, it turned up again, and the timing was right to paint away. Drawing this old stubby, I remember working alongside my dad in the 1970's service station, learning how to loosen tough screws and nuts without banging your knuckles or stripping it out completely. I remember the conversations and all of the pointers he passed along. And I find myself thinking about the tools we use and how those tools actually shape us, shape our lives. Every generation has had it “go to” tools, and we’re all shaped by whatever tools we use, and how we use them. Our ongoing formation is inevitable, and it’s all linked.
I love painting objects for this simple reason; each object brings with it no only a long and wonderful history of it's past, the people and the places it's touched, but also it's brimming with an invitation and with possibilities for the future. Not to mention that these objects are just stunningly beautiful within themselves, works of art which deserved to be noticed and cherished.
And I love to paint them much larger than life, in an effort to highlight how deserving they are of our attention, our notice and appreciation, our care and nurture. And whether the object is a simple screwdriver passed down through generations, the tree in our yard, or the person seated next to us, they are deserving of our notice and presence.
This painting was awarded Second Place at the 2025 Member’s Show for the Colorado Watercolor Society by juror Colleen Nelson.
This stubby screwdriver was a hand-me-down from my dad, if I remember correctly. And I’ve been thinking about a very large painting of it for a few weeks now. I couldn’t find it for awhile, but then, just the other day, it turned up again, and the timing was right to paint away. Drawing this old stubby, I remember working alongside my dad in the 1970's service station, learning how to loosen tough screws and nuts without banging your knuckles or stripping it out completely. I remember the conversations and all of the pointers he passed along. And I find myself thinking about the tools we use and how those tools actually shape us, shape our lives. Every generation has had it “go to” tools, and we’re all shaped by whatever tools we use, and how we use them. Our ongoing formation is inevitable, and it’s all linked.
I love painting objects for this simple reason; each object brings with it no only a long and wonderful history of it's past, the people and the places it's touched, but also it's brimming with an invitation and with possibilities for the future. Not to mention that these objects are just stunningly beautiful within themselves, works of art which deserved to be noticed and cherished.
And I love to paint them much larger than life, in an effort to highlight how deserving they are of our attention, our notice and appreciation, our care and nurture. And whether the object is a simple screwdriver passed down through generations, the tree in our yard, or the person seated next to us, they are deserving of our notice and presence.
This painting was awarded Second Place at the 2025 Member’s Show for the Colorado Watercolor Society by juror Colleen Nelson.