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My grandniece. I managed to finish this drawing while riding in an airplane. An unusually calm and smooth flight.

Digital illustration

Rachel Parker Plummer was born 200 years ago in March, 1819. She was married at 14 years old and gave birth to her first child when she was 15. At 16 she moved with the Parker clan to Texas which was still a part of Mexico.

Barely a month after Texas won its independence the Parker family fort was attacked by hundreds of Comanches who had approached under a flag of truce. Rachel, her toddler James, her younger brother John, her cousin Cynthia Ann and her aunt Elizabeth were captured and split up among different tribes. The men were murdered and scalped. Her grandmother was raped. She never saw her son again. Rachel, pregnant with her second child at the time of the raid, was only 17 years old. About five months later Rachel gave birth to her son, Luther. At six weeks old her infant was tortured and murdered.

For 21 months as a slave she was constantly abused until finally ransomed by Mexican traders and taken in by a family in Santa Fe. In February, 1838 she was reunited with her family. Emaciated and covered with scars and sores; her once bright red hair was gray. She was now 18 years old.

In January, 1839 she gave birth to her third child. In March of that year after her father had an altercation with another family they fled in the middle of the night. During that torturous trek, on March 19, 1839, Rachel Parker Plummer died. She was three days short of her 20th birthday. Her baby died three days later.

In 1843, her first child James, now 8 years old, was ransomed and returned to the family. At 27 years old he died of typhoid during the Civil War.

Digital illustration. I have seen only one photo of Rachel. Using that one I tried to modernize it. I also changed her hairstyle and blouse but they are based on 1830s fashion.

Several years ago my daughter brought back from one of her many world travels, a small crucifixion sculpture. It’s very nice. You can take the suffering Jesus off the cross. I like that because it reminds us that the crucifixion was not the end. I hadn’t really noticed until I really looked at it that it had a dove on it. Oh, I get it! It’s the Trinity. I was inspired to do a drawing.

Digital illustration

Click on image to enlarge.

Experimenting with color on my iPad.

Digital illustration

Taken from a photograph of a friend of mine.

Digital illustration

I found this oldie in the files. I think I did it in the 1970s. Maybe earlier. Very random. Mostly gold, sparkly paint on fabric covered cardboard.

Click on image to enlarge.

On my frequent drives to Houston I pass by an area that I think is interesting. There is a flat pasture where cattle graze. Immediately beside it is a hilly wooded area. A dirt road runs at the edge of the woods, separating the contrasting landscapes. The road follows the contour of the hills just a few feet from a steep embankment created by leveling for the pasture.

Inspiration can be strange because when I made up the image to paint, it not only doesn’t really look like what I see as I drive by but is a bird’s eye view.