acrylic on 12×12 cradled board

©Teresa Kogut

Love the Autumn tones in this painting….love the quote……love the wisdom that flows from this great man…….love painting with acrylics…….love the PA dutch style artwork!!!!  Ok, I’m done…..

…for all the unconditional love, support and inspiration you have shown me, Mom, so that I can take what I’ve learned from you to help make me the best Mom I can be.

Hoping you all had a wonderful Mother’s day yesterday! We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day…..72 degrees, sunny and breezy. Best of all, we were all together at my parents house for a cookout and games.

Acrylic over collage scrapbook paper

on antique wood

©Teresa Kogut

I am offering the winner of the May give away a FREE 11×14 or 12×12 print on wood of their choice!! All you have to do to enter is “like” my business facebook page, then post a comment about how you found me…..via internet search, a friend, through Etsy, bought one of my licensed products, etc. Thanks for participating and good luck!! The drawing will be held May 31 and announced June 1.

I have a link to my facebook page to the left of this post 🙂 Oh, and if you would like to look at all my 11×14 and 12×12 prints on wood that you can choose from if you win, click here.

acrylic on cradled panel 12″ x 18″

© Teresa Kogut

….it is still the Easter season! Even though I have many deadlines at this time, sometimes I have an overwhelming urge (nudge from God, maybe?) to paint something “out of the blue”. That is the feeling I had Good Friday and Holy Saturday….and the above painting is the result of that nudge. 

Good Friday evening, Ryan and I watched The Passion of the Christ. I saw it at the theater the year it came out and was deeply moved and disturbed. It is a realistic and graphic depiction of the suffering Jesus endured for all of us. I remembered when we left the theater (Kevin and I saw it with another couple) nobody said a word until we were almost home……that is how powerful this movie was for us. Ryan was too young then, but I felt this year is was mature enough to watch it with me. I kept looking at him through my tears to see how he was handling it and he did better than me…….girls are obviously more emotional. And, too, I think because as I watched this time, I was looking through Mary’s eyes and trying to understand how she could witness the horrible torture her Son endured…..just thinking about it moves me. 

After the movie Ryan and I had a great discussion. When we go to church and see the crucifix at the alter or see paintings of Jesus on the cross, it doesn’t sink in how abused his body was. It would be too grotesque to have a depiction of Jesus’ bloody body on display at the front of the church.  But that is  exactly why we both like this movie….it gets our head straight about the intense abuse and suffering  Jesus’ went through for us….all of us….and it also shows us the amazing courage Jesus had.

One of the incredible scenes that shows the love Jesus has for all of us is when he is hanging on the cross and asks God to forgive the very people that scourged, beat, whipped and hung him on the cross. It is very powerful to think God will forgive us as we forgive others……this was my inspiration for my painting “Forgive”.

Easter was wonderful as always…..this year, however, the weather was mild enough to have an Easter egg hunt outside without jackets!!! After enjoying a beautiful Easter mass, we headed to Kevin’s brother’s house for dinner. I am extremely blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, loving and fun family. The children in the above photos are my great nieces and nephews……I so enjoy being around little ones…..they make the day even more joyful. (oh, the bottom two are my furry children 😉

I have been looking at my Pennsylvania Dutch style artwork and choosing the images that I think make great personalized gifts. The above image originally read “Live in Harmony”…..which I love that statement, too, and could still be used when personalizing. Not only would this make a great housewarming gift but also a gift to a family for any occasion….wedding, birthday, Christmas. I will be posting this for sale at my Etsy shop today……or tomorrow as today is already slipping away………

Tis the season for weddings! I have the honor of attending the wedding of someone special on April 30th. Witnessing this holy union between two people that love and honor one another enough to commit to a lifetime together always makes me think of my own wedding day….. my heart flutters, joy fills my soul and there is a twinkle in my eye when I gaze upon my husband. I am blessed to have found my soul mate and I’m thankful we are still going strong! 

I have many paintings that can be converted into wonderfully beautiful wedding or anniversary gifts. Above is an example of a painting where I removed the original quote I had painted and replaced it with a wedding quote and our names and wedding date. This print is an 11×14 available on my Etsy shop. If you see a print that you would like converted into a wedding/anniversary gift that is not already for sale at my Etsy shop, please email me (teresakogut@yahoo.com) to order.