Gold Leaf Painting and Calligraphy

Gold Leaf Painting and Calligraphy by Steve A. Smith

The pictures posted here were painted by my dad, Steve, who loves to try new things like this pen and ink drawing using gold leaf metallic powder and calligraphy pens.  Today, I'd like to pay a tribute to his art, as he is the very best artist that I know.

My mother is also an artist and paints well, but her gifts were of a different kind..actually more practical and similar to mine. I will talk about her art on another day..she is quite multi-talented!

I have mentioned my father many times as the artist I most admire and how I hoped someday to be called by that name too.  Sadly, I have almost no pictures of his art: no paintings, sculptures, etc.  In fact, I do have one chalk painting that I will post in the spring and I think I will start getting my mom to hunt up some of his stuff that she may have and take some pictures for me.  She was often the subject of his paintings and sculptures.  He once sculpted Christ's hand.  How I would love to have a picture of that, but I don't even know where it is.

He was always so timid about what he did and afraid that no one would like his work, so  he never entered art shows.  He faithfully worked all day in a blue collar job, inspecting helicopter parts, and then he came home and drew, painted, sculpted and later on did a lot of 'urban homesteading' projects.

Like me, he loved learning and was fascinated with how to 'do things himself'...things people had forgotten how to do, like making leather and tanning fur, raising animals, digging wells, making his own sausage, cooking on a wood stove (wow was he a good cook!), gardening, and his favorite thing, raising bonsai trees. (He always wanted to live on a farm and be a cowboy!)   He was meticulous in all he did. One year, Tim and I gave him a gold leaf painting kit for Christmas  thinking he might like to try something new.  I didn't make the connection the next year, that this was why he sent us this. (I had too many babies to take care of at the time!)

Yesterday, I didn't post at all, because I was too busy calling the doctors and nurses trying to find out whether it was 'time' yet, to go stay with him.  He has lung cancer mostly from years of smoking, and certainly from years of chemicals and asbestos. The smoking made him more vulnerable to the chemicals.

We spent a couple of days together, because he just wanted me to cook with him. We haven't done anything with just us two together since I left home when I was 17.  It was really a special time. He wanted to try a new Scottish stew. He's become enamored of Scottish cooking and wanted to try this but he just didn't feel up to cooking and had no appetite.  He could hardly swallow anything due to the radiation, but he was so please when we were done because this he could swallow.  I was so so glad I made that trip to Grand Prairie this spring!



I'm a planner and I can't plan anything because I'm not 'calling the shots' and just have to wait...and trust the Lord will show me what, how, and when to do what needs to be done.  For now, I will just do my best to be there for him.  It is enough for now...