ART & INSPIRATION FROM PAUL & KATHY BOECHER

It started when he was a young lad, spending his summers at the lake.  He met an old Native American who was building a log cabin from scratch.  Each log was perfectly hewn. Paul pitched right in to help, but more so to learn all he could about outdoor life.  The native was eager to teach – how to whittle interesting creatures out of sticks – how to build a campfire, unlike the white man who builds a large fire and has to sit far from it – how to dig deep into the ground and build a natural refrigerator and many survival skills. This early exposure to nature helped shape Paul as a lover of the outdoors and a student of God’s creation. He used what he learned in his art. Most of his work is done in the multitude of grandiose locations provided by our God.

Paul was a diligent student of this world throughout his life. He would go on to teach his own son and grandsons the splendor within the world through his art as well as his many stories. A painting would often result from the many sketches of various plant life, animals, insects and terrains. Those sketches would be the studies for a future masterpiece. An artist needs to know their subject. When we really get close to the subject – touch, smell, see, taste and hear it – we enliven the senses to the glory that transfers onto a canvas. We can never really capture the true beauty, but certainly Paul knew his subject.

As I venture through the remainder of my own life, I am blessed to have this treasure of his art to remind me of Paul’s love of nature and especially his love for our God.

“Ask the beasts and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10