Struggling with Sin

In a comment to the previous post, a woman by the name of Rachel pointed out scripture that I would be honored to share. It is in the book of Romans, chapter 7 verses 14 thru 25, titled "Struggling with Sin".

Paul writes

"The law is good, then. The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.

I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.

It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at working within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, What a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."

Amen to that!

Spiritual Warfare

Lets just get right down to it. I know there is more than what we see, ghosts, spirits, angels, demons, call them what you will. But how many others persue them, truly believe in them, acknowledge them when they think they are there, or even talk about them to others. It is all throughout the bible-- demons, casting them out, using Faith and Prayer as your weapon, the armor of God. So much is spoken in terms of war and battle.

Sometimes I get nitty gritty about these aspects, and sometimes I wonder how crazy I really am. But when it enters my life, I find myself not knowing what to do, afraid to say anything, and when I do say something....not sure why I said it. Because of the battle it is a struggle to know what the word of God is and what the word of satan is. Either way, I take a step back and wonder what I was thinking! Most likely because I wasn't doing it. :\ If it is the Lord, than praise be His name and what events He has taken into His own two hands. If it is satan, then Lord help me and release me of this burden.

There is a good amount of uncertainty, doubt, sadness, pain, failure, and defeat being felt....I have lost the battle it seems. Or did I? Or am I to fall so that it will glorify Him? I ask, and wonder, that when I receive I do not believe it could be Him out of expectation.

I am worn, I am sore, I am bleeding from the heart, I ask only for courage today, to stand up, look up, and praise your name. My head is throbing and and just can't think any more. Do I go on or do I let go? Do I cast out demons or think I'm crazy? Do I fight on, feeling like I'm the only one on the battlefield, or stop and wait.

Most of the time I do not understand why I do things I do. I know I'm crazy, blow things out of porportion, sensitive, and offensive, so I know a lot falls on my poor choices.....made on selfishness and pride. But in some situations, I'm so split apart as to what to do that I do feel like I'm going mad, like I'm riping apart, and the only thing I can do is call out His name and cry my eyes out. What am I to think of that? I literally feels like a battle going on in my body! My heart screaming and fight for all its worth, my head racing through thoughts of what to do...mostly bad but my heart jumps in and turns it around with all its strength. By the time its done and I've done an action in sheer hope that it did something progressive, I'm exhausted, swollen, numb, and staring out into space. After moments I then begin to panic if what I ended up doing was right and have little spirts of arguement with myself, but have to take a deep breath, look up, and know that its in God's hands no matter what and pray for everyone to be alirght, everyone safe, everyone loved, no matter what. The evil has used the most dearest of my heart against me, and it tore me down last night, it ripped me apart, and beat me up. But this morning, swollen, numb, and exhausted I stand, looking out the window at the new sunrise, breathe deep, and know that the Lord is with me. I pray, I write to Him, I pray for what happened last night, and I ask for courage for this day, to trust, to have faith, to love no matter what, and to forgive...

o.Ø

Am I crazy? I truly believe we are at war spiritually, there are thoughts, actions, and feelings I know are not my own. The more I learn, the more it becomes, growing. Thank the Lord for my commission work, it has given me an outlet for my battle. Thank you Sterling for through you I have seen the Lord's work. I love you.

Thank you Lord for your unfailing love and grace for my soul. Thank you for humming me to sleep, for holding me and patching my sores. I am ready for this day, I know to others I appear as a fool, crazy, "imaginative", and overboard. But I agree, I'm not meant to be popular, not even to those close to me because of my choices. He is number one, He is priority, He is my life. I'm afraid that hasn't settled completely for me yet. I don't know if He's the one I rely and depend on 100%, until then, I believe this battle will become harder, stronger, heh, but thats where the Lord becomes glorified. I can't help but smile now seeing that I am only in the weening pen, but even in the pen....we are tested.

In Thought

This morning, while finishing up my writing to the Lord like every morning, A.T. started to meow and I started to feel myself go deeper into the unpleasant thoughts from the night before. I rebuked in the name of Jesus any evil and demons surrounding me and my apartment. As I took a deep breath after doing so, A.T. came and laid on my desk infront of me, the cars on the street became quiet, and I could hear the wind rustling the leaves outside. The weight was lifted. I looked at my Bible so calmly sitting next to A.T. and just stared at it. All I could think of was "Wow, even the print wearing off of the front looks relic like." I got overwhelmed inside with the truth of what this book is. Not exactly what it is now, literally speaking...word for word...having been translated so many times, but what it means. I don't mean to sound like "Pppppft, its only a Bible." That is not what I am saying at all, but I believe for one to understand it one must also have a relationship with Christ and the Father. Like opening the book to the Neverending Story. If you believe, He will interact with you through the book, if you don't, you will scrutinize it, find the stories entertaining, or not understand them of Him at all. I pray that makes sense.

But the point I am getting at here is it's His word. I hold in my hand an ancient treasure, every hotel and motel room has one (or at least they used to). Whether you wanted one or not, there it was! Gold and diamonds right there at your finger tips, right there at your bedside, right there on a table and yet it is passed. It just blew me away.

I don't know about many others, and from what I have seen and heard maybe I'm just missing something, but I have a difficult time remembering scripture or memorizing it. While looking at the Bible I thought two things at once... "What do you want to say to me?" and "Where do I start to remember scripture?". I opened it up and right on the inside of the cover is scripture painted...I read it "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path" psalm 119:105. Huh. Interesting, kind of goes in hand with the last post. o.O "Start here." Love it when the heart talks don't you? I had to read it a few times but it clicked. Simple, about light, about my path, things that I seem to talk or write or paint about every day.

Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.

I can just see the painting for this one. :)

Painter of Light

Yes, I know it has been a while since I had last written in my blog. But sometimes we are called to other things, places, people, and sometimes just to sit and listen to God. In the state of change we get zoned and focused, in my situation I lost all focus and my head filled up with....stuff. Things were flying here and there, everywhere, and I realized I wasn't performing my mission, I wasn't seeking Truth, I wasn't doing my role in my relationship, I was living in a "me, I, and my" world. I was living in the frame of mind I was born into and not in the spiritual life that was given to me.

I know this sounds 'off' for my typical rant or discussion but so many pinholes of light have become larger and the darkness has started to be nonexistant anymore. There are still those dark and weary corners of shadow, where evil slithers and waits to gobble me up. I have hidden in those corners many times throughout this past month if not longer, but I'm not sitting in them for more than just a few. I find myself now staring at those pinholes while in the dark wishing, wanting, and pushing myself to make the decision of getting up and walking to them. To follow Christ is a decision having to be made daily, hourly, every second. I had not been doing that. As much reading of the word, talking about the word, and presenting the word I seemed to be doing, I was not walking the word. I wasn't performing it, showing it, doing it. In turn my life fell down the rabbit hole, or as we, in the class of Christ Life Solutions like to say, I was in the weening pen.

Financials became what appeared to be impossible. I took on a third job where the hours were nothing of what I asked for, working almost full time on top of Dreamflier Studios and the art teaching. My body ached and felt sick, I was battling to quit smoking while still smoking (try to figure that one out), in denial of what I was adding to my relationship with Sterling and wondering why "he couldn't see" or why "I was the source of all the pain and problems when I knew it wasn't me", when in fact I had a great hand in all of it and then wondered, or as it had seemed at the time, it was too late to do anything about it. I didn't feel connected to Christ while I prayed. I said the words and new that I believed them, but my heart wasn't in it. I placed my priorities in the wrong order, I was angry and tired a lot, I just felt like I was tumbling trying to get everything done, trying to make it 'right', trying to fix this, trying, trying, and trying. EEeeerp! Wrong! The point is not to try, that is, not to try to do it alone, or think that you can do anything about what happens after you do the action. God is in charge, its about Him. Duh! I wasn't even painting! I did an aceo here, a sketch there, but nothing extrodinary, nothing that really spoke out to me, or through me.

My point of all this? When life gets overwhelming, and you find yourself racing out of breath just to reach that 'finish line', stop. I beg of you, stop! You will never be that perfect 10, you will never make it to the top because in the process we become what we have always been, zeros and nothing but dust. Greed, stress, anger, selfishness, etc. is the root of all evil, this we all know, but sometimes we loose sight of it and think "If I just stretch my hand out further...then I can ______." Your arm was made the length that it is, it won't get longer because you tell it to, right? If you stop you can breathe, if you can breathe you can hear, if you can hear then you know. When I stopped and just listened I knew that I was trying to be something I am not. I wanted to be the perfect 10 for Sterling but the harder I tried the worse it became...I will never be a perfect 10 for him, and that is great! What a burden to be lifted! I am who God made me to be and with Him I don't need to try to be a perfect 10! I wanted to be able to get all of my bills paid right on time and have a system for it all and control where all my money was going. Heh, throw that out of the window, its following God's system and where He wants it to go. Does this make sense? I suppose it doesn't matter if it does or not, because I know to some out there it does, and to some it doesn't.

After these realizations things flipped again, quickly. When all seemed lost with Sterling, he came and swept me off of my feet and light bulbs where going off, my heart opened and I felt Christ overwhelm me with warmth, love, and understanding, I began to understand my old structures and how to break them down, I quit smoking, I found rest, and I began to paint again. I broke down harder but they were more short lived and the answers came quicker and stronger, my quiet time with the Father became routine, and as I asked Sterling its like floating where every movement you make feels weightless and soft.

When we stop the things around us kind of stop. Or we realize that the world will not fall apart just because we take 5 minutes. In response to all of this, I painted this piece above and to the left. It is of Sterling (titled "Sterling") because of the inspiration he has given me through all of this. He has been the adventure I have riden through and the adventure Christ has used for me to come to Him and see Him. I am proud of him for all that he has done and for him still being here with me today, I am not an easy one to stay with, especially through these life changes of self. We as children of God are princes and princess of the King most High, we are warriors of Truth against evil, and I believe that Sterling is one of God's strongest because of the blessings given to him through his trials and adventures. He has become so focused and narrow that when I see and hear him, I feel, see, and hear Christ working. Without pressures, problems, discouragements, pain, and loss we can not persevere, and that is what we must do.

Must I go on? Not this morning, I'll save you of that. :P There are many questions I have had in the last year, but the main one for me has always been "who am I?" and "What am I here for?". I am a daughter, the warrior princess of God my Father, and I am to be a witness to His Truth and Promises. Some one recently told me that I am a painter of light, I pray that in some way the Lord has brought light to your life today.

Many Blessings.

Little Angels

Continuing the "Challenge in Commission"

I have added detail, made corrections, added ink, and finally...some color!

Holiday Shopping @ DFS

This season I would like to offer services to make gift giving a joyful experience! Anything is possible! This will also be Dreamflier Studios first Christmas offering these services! Check them out!

• Blank Greeting Cards for the season
• Large 2 x 7 protected Bookmarks
• Matted Prints of any size, just add a mat with your purchase.
• Original Paintings - add a mat for only $10!

Additional Season Services include:

• Working with you to best present a print or original (i.e. mats & frames)*
• Custom sizing of an open edition print *
• Commission a 5 x 7 painting for only $100!
• Quick delivery *
• Will deliver the gift directly to whom you are buying it for *
• Customize greeting cards and bookmarks *

* Low additional fees may be applied.

It's simple!

Please, if you don't see it, find it, or have any questions EMAIL ME and we can work together. The holiday season shouldn't be a stressful experience, it should be a joyful one filled with love and the giving spirit.

Many Blessings!
-Sara

Challenges in Commission

I've been accepting commissions for some time now but recently I was given one that gave me a new challenge. And I believe that challenges toward our skills make us stronger, wiser, and forced to learn something new in our work.

My good friend Liz Lynner is a nanny who has been watching over these two little ones for at least a year (I believe its more but I could be wrong). She's been featured in a local paper about her superhero skills in taking care of children, and I have, in the past, worked with her at a child day care were we taught in the same room (I was her assistant). Now, after time, this is where we are. She asked me to draw the two girls as angels for their mother, Sarah. Sarah's birthday is right around the corner and what a gift!

Below is the sketch so far. The reason I bring up challenges is because, yes, I used to do portraits A LOT, now...I'm a bit out of practice. Also, I'm going to be creating this portrait in watercolor....that is a bit scary and new to me. But at the same time I'm incredibly excited about it and hope that I can continue doing portraits with my beloved watercolors.



My question for you today is this...

"What challenges have you faced in either commission, freelance, or at school? How did you respond to it? How did it all turn out in the end? Did you learn something?"

---

The Faeries of the Year

Wanted to let you know about my "other" current project...as if I didn't have enough. :P

I am creating 12 faeries, one representing each month. Here's a sample....



Please check out the others over at my Project Cloud!

Christmas Card/Bookmark

disclaimer: poor scan quality, but with finished piece it will be more clear. thx. :P

Project - The Bookmark

This piece was originally commissioned by a local artist who, for Christmas, with his wife and other volunteers, serve the homeless. Every year they hand out small gifts to those volunteers and this year he asked me to make an angel with cookies bookmark. The piece isn't finished, still in the works, but here is what I am going to send him. Its 50% finished.



Project - The Christmas Card

Since the commission was for Christmas, I decided to make the piece 9 x 12 so that this year I could hand out a home made Christmas card to friends and family. So here is what the full image looks like so far. Again, only 50%.
The style is a bit different for me, leaning more towards classical imagery. Her face is more like, in my opinion, Leonardo's style of drawing. I really am pleased with the outcome of this piece, the Lord knew what emotion I was wishing to convey and helped me out. :)



Detail

Queen Kitty's Party

The other night A.T., our cat, was staying at my place (she travels from Sterling's place to mine) and ended up keeping me awake ALLLLLLLLLLLLL night, literally, I got like maybe 2 hours of sleep. I emptied an entire water bottle on her trying to keep her out of my room so that I could sleep. Once I got up, she of course, went to sleep. I was so peeved that I decided...since I didn't have anything new to place up onto Ebay for the week, that I would make fun of her in an ACEO.

Ha! That'll teach her. Heh, right.

So thats the story with this piece. Big and center of all attention, fat, drama queen, being served her food whenever she wants it, holding everyone's tails, and has free constant entertainment for her enjoyment. Yup, sounds like our cat A.T. ;)

Top Ten at Artwanted.com

I got Top Ten placement as #4 at Artwanted.com for the image "Jorah" today. Whoo Hoo! Go check out the other artists who got in as well!

http://www.ArtWanted.com/browse/topten.cfm?Artist=7593

Artist in Motion

WARNING: Loooooong post!
Jorah
Recent piece done out of free time. Playing around with new techniques and process. I plan on doing yet another seasonal faery series, but this time with more of a christian feel and purpose. Jorah's name means Autumn Rose in Hebrew.



Heh, and I speak of free time. I have so much to do and yet I feel like I haven't done any of it and have just been sitting around. But alas here is what I have done.

Website
Okay, so there is a lot coming for September, but not finished yet. New prices (mark downs) will be posted, especially for the ACEOs. Also I will soon be offering, yes, thats right.......*drumroll* 11 x 17 Limited Edition Prints! I'm debating whether or not to make the 8.5 x 11 LEs 11 x 17 too, but they are LE, so who knows. Might just have to wait till I make a lot more new work to make them LEs. ;) I know some people would love to see what has already been done into LEs. The 8.5 x 11 LEs are a run of 75 and the 11 x 17 LEs are a run of only 30. So I don't know. Still pondering on it.

Any ideas or comments to that?

Also on the Christian Gallery section of my site is being redone. The Christian fantasy art will be replaced in all galleries, but also in the Christian Gallery were you may view only the CFA (Christian Fantasy Art). Its a project, let me tell you, but a good one. :) I like the look and feel of it so much I might change how this blog looks to match just because its purdy. :D

And yeah, there's a lot of other things too, little things, that I can't remember. o.O

Art
Okay, after finishing the Seasonal Faeries series, I received three commissions all at once. Trying to keep my head looking forward I decided NOT to submit a cover image for the Seasonal Faeries book coming out this winter. I really really really wanted to (this is where Jorah came from at first), but I just don't have the time. Most of my deadlines are at the end of this month or September...gotta get those done. Been busy there.

Then I keep getting new ideas and my head is just swarming with images. My hands are anxious to get started on something big, but then I remind myself I am working on something big...."Blue Eyes". Yes, that piece is still in the works. I try to work on it during the weekends.

I also ended up, I think, giving myself too many expectations. I really want to do Illustration Friday, and I have done quite a few, its just I never get around to posting them! :\ Let alone I don't post nearly enough here. Eeek! Hum..what else...just keeping up has been a struggle lately, all I wanna do is paint, and because of that I have been very forgetful. :( I'm sorry to all those who have been effected.

Community
As most know, I am at the FAE forum, or in long scribe..the Fantasy Artists Emerging forum. You can most often than not find recent postings by me there. Everything from critique, wonderful comments, support, and just a place to rant, to product design, marketing, licensing, and advice. They also have a beautiful website where there are other fantasy artists' links, an Artist of the Month feature, and more! This place has it all for the emerging fantasy artist!! Its easy to find a comfortable seat at the FAE forum, there's something for everyone! Fantasy Artist Emerging Website

Another forum that I just became a member, that most do not know about, is the Fellowship of Aslan Forum.

For anyone who is a Christian Fantasy Artist, you know its hard to find a community that meets our needs and questions as Christians who work in questionable subject matter or themes according to many of our brothers and sisters. Or if not, its a place where we can all feel comfortable if we don't feel like other fantasy forums and artists who are pagan meet our needs in affirmations Christ filled. Or you just want to expand your fellowship as a Christian and as a Fantasy Artist. Any reason other places haven't met or felt right, come to Fellowship of Aslan. We talk about topics that I know cross your mind. Please visit and join! I have search and this is the only Christian Fantasy Artist forum I could find! One of a kind!
Fellowship of Aslan Forum

Personal Life
I have also been rethinking my personal life. In church our series this month is about making room for life. We were shown a schedule that the Hebrews used to live by. Their day, and according to God's word, starts at 6pm. So from 6pm to 10pm you have relationships. this is where you sit and have a meal together, talk, spend time updating with one another, and so forth. From 10pm to 6am you sleep. The all important 8 hours of sleep. Then from 6am to 6pm you have production or your work time.

Okay, so this sounded like a simple, yet effective plan that I felt a need to have. I have tried to follow it. Going to bed by 10pm is the hardest, and getting 8 hours of sleep even when I do go to bed at 10 is hard. A.T., our cat, always wakes me up before the 8 hour mark. -_- But as far as work and relationships, I think I have done pretty well. I have decided to not work on the weekends. I might work after 6pm, but rarely does it have anything to do with DFS or any other "work" that I do during the day. Its usually painting or making my own personal projects for me. :D I've started eating dinner earlier around 6pm, which is good, and I have been reserving that time to forum chat, talk to my friends on the phone, spend time with Sterling, play with A.T. and more. Lately I've felt like I've lost some connection to my close friends, like my sister and best friend Brittany, and needed to spend a little quality time with them both. Its not that you have to do it every day or every week, but doing more outside of girl's night (every other wednesday) with those to at least is something I feel a need to do. But I try to spend most of my free time with Sterling. :D

Rambling on...

I think I'm going to end the post for now. Time for a break and then back to work. Got ebay auction to do today, and since I'm at Ster's the website will have to wait on updating. I'll be sure to update everything else tho. :)

Cheers.

ACEO of the Week 8/3/06

Mermaid's Treasure


GO TO AUCTION >>

ACEO week of 7/24

English Maiden



All ACEOs posted from here on will be available the week of their creation (above title) on eBay.

Go To Auction >>

"Blue Eyes" and The Project Cloud

I have created a link and blog just for my projects. So to continue watching the progress of "Blue Eyes" tutorial and other projects, please follow this link...

The Project Cloud

You will also find this link in the side bar to your right. Below that link you will find the title "Musing Feathers". This link will, from now on, hold all of my Illustration Friday projects.

:)

"Blue Eyes" - A Tutorial Project

I thought while I did this piece I would show you my process from beginning to end.

This piece has been in my mind for some time now. With the day being a hard one, I figured it was a sign that it was time to bring this to paper. During the weeks I usually stay here in Des Moines while Sterling lives in Grimes (about 20mins away). With gas prices so high, we don't see eachother much throughout the week. Missing him greatly also brings this piece to paper. Sorry babe, but you're gonna get posted. ;)

Finding the References

I usually search through my many folders of cut outs, magazines, and prints to find the posture or objects I wish to include. For this piece I printed out an image I found that sparked the idea a long time ago.



After I got the idea I went to Sterling and asked him to pose. Since I wanted this piece to be about him and how I saw his heart and strength, it only made sense to have him as my reference for the pose. The teddy bear is an obvious choice for baby holding. ;)



The Sketch

Then I sketch the first part, the figure, out on tissue paper. I find tissue paper very easy to work with and it makes transfering simple and clean.



To be continued...

Illustration Friday - Sacrifice

Sacrifice


"I am Jesus of Nazareth."

Help Us Help African Children!

Sterling and I are wishing to join our church's mission, Point of Grace, in helping the thousands of homeless children in South African learn about AIDS/HIV, provide food, shelter, health care, and education. It is out church's mission to send groups there to help build the health center, housing, and school. We so greatly feel a need to join and help!!! Below is more information provided from Point of Grace's website.

We need help raising money to go. Sterling knows carpentry, frame work, and everything under the sun. I hope to paint, help educate where I can, and hopefully use my illustration skills in murals. With helping us, you will be helping children who need ALL of our help!!

As a thank you, if you donate $20 or more you will receive an open edition from dreamflierstudios.com of your choice. Also, no matter how much you donate you will receive a handmade thank you from both of us and a certificate noting your help in the fight.





10.8% of population living with HIV/AIDS in 2005: 5.2 million
New infections 2004 – 2005: 530,000
Deaths from AIDS 2004 – 2005: 340,000
Untreated in need of antiretroviral treatment: 520,000
Deaths due to AIDS since 2002: 1.5 million
To be infected by 2010: 5.8 millio

No ONE person can make a difference in the lives of millions but you can make the difference in the life of ONE. For a decade we’ve prayed for our unique role in international outreach. God has now answered ...

The Pines Christian Village
The Pines Christian Village is a compassionate Christian solution to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the city of Welkom, South Africa.

They offer:

A flagship resource center for HIV / AIDS intervention
A holistic system of coordinated care and prevention for HIV / AIDS infected and affected children and adults
An educational center to prepare the next generation of leaders
A center for church planting

Brian and Lois Niehoff are the directors of The Pines. Brian is a building contractor and Lois is a registered nurse. Brian will lead the building upgrades and all facility management. Lois will develop the clinic, provide all front line medical care, as well as superviseand train the house mothers who will live with and care for the children with HIV/AIDS.

Click here to read more information and to see a video broadcasted on FOX.

Seasonal Faeries

The seasonal faeries are finished. I've been working on these pretty ladies since January, starting with Winter. They are all in order of their creation.


The purpose of these beautiful ladies are for a book created by the artists at FAE forum. Christian Davis aka Autumn Moon, has blessed us with her talents and skills to put this book together. It was her marvelous idea from the beginning and the results have been stunning!!! Please, if you have the time, visit the forum, if you're a fantasy artist, I highly recommend joining!

Currently Spring and Summer are on eBay as Open Edition, 8.5 x 11 prints. Go visit them if you'd like.

Who is the warrior princess?

The Warrior Princess is I. I know, it sounds like a pretty high title for such a small creature like me. But let me explain. My name is Sara, which in translation means "princess", while at the same time, since that is the translation, I am a princess, the daughter of God. And since I am a daughter of God, I am also a warrior in God's army. I defend the love, the inheritance, and proclaim the good news. The dream? Well the Dream is my imagination...my story, how I see the world, myself, and God.

Here you will find project updates of my work, tutorials, my processes, my stories through paintings, and hopefully more down the road.

Up above is a painting I did recently. Simply put; my boyfriend and partner in crime, Sterling, is also a warrior of God. He is a soldier in the Iowa National Guard, so to me, he's every prince, ranger, knight, and hero imaginable. So in the painting he is the renegade warrior rescuing the faery princess...me.