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.
This is a depiction of KingEtzel from a beautiful sculpture (Nibelungen-Brunnen, “Nibelungen Fountain”) in Tulln, Austria by Michail Nogin of his meeting with Kriemhild. Etzel is my German family name and I claim him as my ancestor. That’s how I got the Sir Colby nickname. According to the Nibelungenlied (the Song of the Nibelungs), it was in Tulln that Etzel saw Kriemhild and proposed to her. The fountain was dedicated to this event in 2005.
This is a depiction of Kriemhild from a beautiful sculpture (Nibelungen-Brunnen, “Nibelungen Fountain”) in Tulln, Austria by Michail Nogin of her meeting with King Etzel. Etzel is my German family name and I claim him as my ancestor. That’s how I got the Sir Colby nickname. According to the Nibelungenlied (the Song of the Nibelungs), it was in Tulln that Etzel saw Kriemhild and proposed to her. The fountain was dedicated to this event in 2005.
My church asked for a cover for their Veteran’s Day service.
In addition to the United States flag I included:
Dog tags to represent our military veterans. Poppies to illustrate the hope for an end to all wars. Military service seals for each branch of service (as gold medallions). References to two bible verses from John 15 and Psalm 18.
With 2017 being the 500th year of the still-ongoing Reformation of the Christian church I thought it appropriate to do a painting of Martin Luther, the guy given most of the credit for starting it all.
Click on image to enlarge.
My goal was to illustrate how this movement helped bring the world from the stark, black and white of the Dark Ages into the color of the Renaissance. But there is also the hint of flames and smoke because with every great advance the world is also set afire.
