I had a fun time imagining the abundance of pears pouring forth from this wide and gracious bowl. Looking closely, you'll see how the shape of the fruits is echoed in the motif along the edge of the ceramic bowl. In Chinese custom, the pear represents eternal life; while the Christian understanding of the pear tree is the love of Christ.
​You are sure to find that there will never be a dull moment with this painting in your space! The bold, lucky reds and rich bursts of the gold medallions will keep you coming back to this exciting and invigorating piece. 

To see more views of this painting, in its frame, click here. ​

 ​Please read the auction rules here: 
​
The original price of this piece is $5260. Starting bid for the auction is $1200. 

• Shipping is free in the the contiguous US!
• There will be a fresh blog post for the actual auction, entitled 'Auction for Mandarin Pears.'
• To place a bid on the painting, use the comments section below the auction post. 
• Feel free to use a pseudonym, but please be aware that winners will be informed via email, so it is imperative that you provide your working email when placing a comment bid. Your email will be kept private and will not be published along with the comment.  
• Minimum bid increase amount is $25. This means that you must bid at least $25 higher than the previously published comment. For example, if the comment above yours is $825, your minimum bid is $850. You may bid higher in increments of $25 (e.g., you may follow a $825 bid with a $900 bid). 
• The auction will run just shy of three days, ending at 9pm, EST, on Saturday the 6th, 2021. 
• The final bid to post in the comment section with a timestamp prior to 12:00am on the 6th will be the winning post. In the case of any confusion, we will refer to the corresponding emails that we receive for each comment; whichever email appears in our inbox as the final post before 9pm will correspond to the winning comment bid. 
• We will contact the winner via email to arrange payment and shipment. 
• Massachusetts residents will be subject to MA sales tax (6.25%). 

Now that this painting, which was commissioned for a fundraiser effort, has made its way to its final destination via an exciting in-person auction, I am free to make the official reveal: 

As I mentioned, this painting was commissioned for a fundraiser, in this case for the group Young Catholic Professionals.

The folks at YCP and I were in talks about this painting long before we knew that this year would be declared by Pope Francis as the Year of St. Joseph. The conference was originally scheduled for last September, but of course was pushed out until this spring. In the end, the timing was auspicious, as the Conference took place over the weekend of May 1, feast of St. Joseph the Worker. 

In the process of this painting, I was certainly meditating on St. Joseph the Worker. I tried out different poses with my model, considering painting the Saint with his hammer and square to emphasis his carpentry. St. Joseph the Worker is absolutely my patron in my studio and I am devoted to him especially as the model man who provides for his family with hands-on work. In the end, I chose to paint St. Joseph with his flowering staff. His head down, his brow somewhat furrowed, his mind pondering the tasks placed before him and his heart in prayer, he eventually emerged to me as a man most humble. Hence the title. 


I had the pleasure of traveling to Dallas, TX for YCP's annual conference and presented this work at the VIP reception before the concluding gala. 

Thanks, Jennifer!

After the unveiling, I painted on my signature as the very final step to complete this work. 

Here's a shot of the winner (left) and the gentleman who graciously agreed to let this painting go in exchange for a whole separate commission. So another St. Joseph painting will soon be underway!

The auction was very exciting, with two bidders eventually getting into a bit of a war over the piece! After considerable back-and-forth, time was running short. The auctioneer made the suggestion on the spot: would I be willing to paint a second painting for the runner-up? I agreed, and in the end, you might say, the painting sold not once, but twice to benefit YCP. 

And then to make it even more complete, a priest was available to give the painting a blessing on the spot! So the artwork was able to go to its new home all ready as a blessed object to aid in prayer and devotion. It was perfect! 

Many thanks to my model, an excellent study for St. Joseph -- my brother-in-law. We had a good - if quiet - time in the studio to make this come to life. 

As part of the Big 5 Event I'm running during the month of May for the members of my private email list, I'm celebrating the collection fo children's books I have in publication thus far: 5 major works as well as a handful of smaller projects.

As I've mentioned before, I think the quality of what we hand our children to read is very important. In our household, we "just say no" to children's books that have garish, unharmonious, ugly, or otherwise unpleasant illustrations. 

Although illustrating children's books is a departure from my fine art work, the creative process that goes into these works is just hard for me to turn down! You can thank my friend Matthew Mehan for really getting the ball rolling when he roped me into Mister Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals. Since then, opportunities for illustration have been beckoning, and I've had the chance to answer for the ones you see here below. 

Without further ado, a compendium of my illustrated work thus far!

Click through to read all the reviews on these engaging works by Kathryn Swegart!

Not too long ago I was a guest on the show The Brothers F Bookcast with my friend Francisco and his brothers. They invited me to pick an art-related topic for discussion, so I went with a short story by the incisive Dorothy Sayers. 

We had a fun time. You can have a listen here: ​https://www.thebrothersf.com/episode/dorothy-sayers-making-art-with-john-folley-

Let me know what you think if you listen! Literature fans may want to add The Brothers F to their regular list!