Compassion
 
 
14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ... 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled;
                            Matthew 14:13-21
 
                                                                      Loaves and Fishes
                                                                      Serigraph by John August Swanson
 
 "The people in my painting (his original one) are wearing garments with many colors and patterns, inspired by the creations of the makers of cloth, the weavers, and the dyers of Central America, Mexico, and parts of Africa and India."
(See bottom of page for more information.)
 
 
 
 
 
True compassion is walking in the shoes
of those who have no feet.   
                                                            ~ Jackie A. Strange
 
 
 
Nobody who is somebody looks down on anybody.
                                                            ~ Margaret Deland
 
 
 
 
 
The dew of compassion
is a tear.
                                                            ~ Lord Byron
 
 
 
 
Bill and Kay at Bill's
90th Birthday Celebration
07-24-05
 
 
Lori demonstrating a painting technique
at Noel's place next door to the buffalo herd at Genesee.
07-28-05
 
 
Carolyn M. and Jackie
at Noel's
07-28-05
 
 
 
 
To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful
than to be forty years old. 
                                                            ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
 
 
 
 
 
July 31, 2005        Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
 
http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm?PID=1.2.15.1
http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm
 
 
The meticulous process of creating a drawing for each of the 54 stencils gave me the chance to build up the colors, patterns and textures, and develop the work much further than I could with the painting.  Drawing with fine technical pens, I built up stippling and shaping with each stencil.  After each stencil was printed, in responding to the changing image; I felt the work itself guided me to the next color.  New screens were made for each color to achieve the proper fabric tension required for very precise color registration.  I custom mixed the inks for each printing using a clear varnish and oil paints. The inks are alternately layered opaque and transparent.  This layering creates an effect of intricate built up textures, and rich saturated colors.

 

My image of LOAVES AND FISHES emphasizes and reminds us of the basic needs of all humanity.  We all share the need for food and for providing for our families and communities. If we take the cosmic view, that there currently exists enough of what we need to sustain the world; we urgently need to consider sharing the resources that have been entrusted to us.

 

                                                                                    --John August Swanson,

                                                                  November 2003

 
To see a step-by-step demonstration of the serigraph process:
View the Serigraph Process for Psalm 85
http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm?PID=1.2.14.1