This is Axel again. It has been a while since I have painted. We moved, which took work to prepare for, then getting the house set up took loads of time and then just when I was ready to get back into it we bought an LED 55 inch 3D + bluray. That took some time... About as long as it takes to play and finish Halo: Reach and the new Force Unleashed games on Xbox... If only my dad could see me now. The above is a Van Gogh of a Japanese woman he did. He loved these types of paintings and it influenced him later in life. This painting shows up on the walls of other paintings he did later.. This lady was fun to paint. I am finishing one now of a guy to go along with it.
Gauguin I painted. 30X42cm on oil painting paper. I like Gauguin, but his later stuff is all nudes. And I am pretty sure I can't get away displaying them in my work or even at home. So if I do more of his it is going to either be ones he did before the end or I'll add clothes...
The Tree of Life.
This is the biggest painting I have ever done. The canvas alone cost like $125. I actually finished most of this one before we moved. I was going through a Klimt phase and I really liked his Tree of Life. He also did a portrait of a woman I really liked. So I took those two paintings and made this one. It is made with real gold leaf for the tree and border and the chair Terah is sitting on is silver leaf. Here is my explination of it. Terah and I are hugging after completing this life and walking on the Shining Path. We followed the Iron Rod and made it to the Tree of Life. On the other side is Terah on her throne after she has been found worthy. Presumably I am out working in the celestial fields or playing Celestial video games with my brothers... (actually I didn't have room and Terah is much more pleasing on the eye...)
Close up of us hugging. Terah has some of the fruit from the Tree ready to eat it and we are hugging because we finally made it. On my cloak I have references to our lives. There are references to our four kids, the priesthood, our birth months, wisdom, love, and Heaven. See if you can find them if you are bored.
Close up of the Tree of life.
On top of the gold leaf I wrote in silver paint several things that are important to me. I used different alphabets to do so. I used Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Demotic, Hieratic (reformed Egyptian), Greek, Chinese, Runes, Elvish, and even Deseret. I even used a few other made up ones that are supposed to be the alphabet of the angels.
The Gates of Heaven.
This is the gates of Heaven being opened to us. The Celestial, Terrestial and Telestial are representated. The word is EMT or 'Emet' in Hebrew which means "Truth". It also contains the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph - or A for Axel) the middle letter of the Alphabet (Mem or M for Messiah) and the last letter of the Alphabet (Tav or T for Terah). So you could read it as my truth is Axel and Terah are joined through the power of Jesus and between the three of us we make up everything that is good and bad from begining to end in our lives..
Scale
This is the one I did for our neighbors back in Michigan. I hope she likes it. It is my first Chagall type painting (he is not as easy as he looks to do!). And I had to work in a lot of pictures she sent me. I had to choose to do it detailed or more impressionistic like Chagall. I went with more impressionistic. Again, I am not sure how her reaction will be, but I hope it is good. This one took me forever to come up with how it would work. Alas, I am not a painting master and I have no delusions at my abilities...
This is actually a painting from one of our pictures. See the Greek Islands post and you can see the real picture I painted it from.
This is another scene from Greece. The island Ydra. Terah and I had an awesome day there. Painted on oil paper 30 x 42.
I have always loved this VG. The three blue trees with the scene of the farm and villiage in the background. I actually painted it to fit this frame. I bought the frame first with painting this picture for it in mind (I am starting to do that more! It is much cheaper to buy the frames and then paint the picture rather than painting the picture and taking it in to get custom framed)...
A VG he did of a Japanese painting. So I guess this is me copying his copy... I love his use of color. He is so bold and unforgiving about using color. This is one of three Japanese paintings he did. There is one left for me to paint. It is small one I did on oil color paper (24X32)
Sower
Another small one (24X32). VG did a loads of religious overtones in his paintings and the Sower ones are fairly easy to think that they are missionaries doing their work. He thought of himself as a missionary for a new painting lifestyle. Gauguin killed that. He got the last laugh though, after his death his paintings became worth much more than Gauguin's and Gauguin tried several times to capitalize on his 'friendship' with VG later on. Too bad he was largely the reason for VG cutting off his ear! Another interesting thing to note is this is the painting that was stolen from Egypt just a few months back. I think it has been recovered.
Blue Trees
This is another small one (24X32). I love how VG did the blue trees with the blue (lake?) in the background. And then the dominant sun shining through.
Another small one I did. I actually painted a barn behind those trees. But then as I was adding the blossums it just didn't go so I covered it up. But it is there!
I call the below one "Hope" but that is not the name VG gave it. If you have ever seen this picture then you know it. It is such a great work showing insanity and saddness (it was of another patient when VG was in the asylum). I decided to make it a bit lighter with the colors and add a picture of Christ in the background. You decide what the guy is feeling, though I already have.
Starry Night.
I have hesitated doing this one as it is so recognizable. But I did it on a medium sized oil color paper (30cm x 42) pad I have and it made it more managable. It was fun to paint. I am really surprised he didn't do more like it. He painted like 9 variations on his sunflowers. Why not more night skies?
Well, that is it for now. I have loads of more ideas. I am going to get into a Spanish artist painting kick next. There are a ton of paintings Terah and I saw in the MNAC that I want to do next. Honestly having nothing to do at night and on weekends is helping out my painting time!
At Sarita's request, my mom, Asa and I went to Nepal for a week before the wedding to help Sarita prepare. I wasn't sure what I was going to do there, especially with 2 year old in tow, but I think Sarita just needed emotional support before her big day. She has been my security blanket for almost 3 years and I didn't realize that I was hers as well. It was so great to see her. I missed her dearly. 
Sarita was so happy to see Asa. I am not sure if Tim is aware of his competition. The minute Asa saw Sarita he said, 'I looking for you.' He has been a butt for the past two weeks while she was gone. He never said anything about Sarita but his actions spoke loud and clear: 'I want Sarita back!' The minute he saw her he beamed, and then his mouth didn't stop running. I have never seen him so happy. It was a joyful reunion. 
Asa also found a playmate at Sarita's sister's family compound. This young boy is the same age as Asa. It is funny how toddlers break all the language barriers. Give 'em a stick and some mud, and they are the best of friends.
Sarita and I did quite a bit of shopping. Grass necklaces were on the list. You have to make sure the grass is healthy and plenty green. The one I am wearing did not make the cut. 
We went shopping down this street. I wanted to get a photo of Sarita before the real stress began. She was a classy bride. She took everything in stride. I was so incredibly proud of her, and in awe of her grace and composure. She was about to marry a man she never physically met. I would be doing some serious boot shaking. But for Sarita, not so.
Asa was a champ and a fart at the same time. Kathmandu is not an easy city to navigate. It takes some tough skills to endure the traffic, smells, climate, etc. December is the worst month to be in KTM. The pollution is high, the weather variation between night and day is drastic, and the conditions are rough. Asa endured it all and seemed to be at home. I realized he has spent more of his life in Nepal than anywhere else. It must have triggered something in him. He was a little fart because he had to touch every germ infested surface and try everything--especially riding all the dragon/lions he could find:
You know how many dragon/lions their are in Nepal? A LOT. You really notice when you only have 10 minutes to get to a store before it closes.
Asa loved all the attention. He was also willing to kindly bow his head, make prayer hands and say 'namaste' to all those who addressed him. He is a cute little stinker right now. I enjoyed his company. 
This photo is completely random and entirely off topic, but check out the tumor on that Nepali man's eye. This advertisement is for Western Union. That jovial man is paying for the removal of his tumor. So thoughtful. 
