Thrust In Your Sickle

Thrust in Your Sickle- 11" x 17"  digital, by Greg Newbold.

This recent illustration is a reminder to me that you are most likely to get what you work the hardest for. Farm iconography has always been appealing to me. Probably because as a young man growing up, I had many opportunities to work the land. We cared for animals, gardened and hauled hay. There was always some project or another that needed to be done and my Dad taught us all to work hard and do the job right. When time came for harvest, I quickly learned that you reap what you sow. If you didn't weed, water or fertilize well enough throughout the growing season, plants struggled. I am grateful to him for his example and gentle (or not so gentle if we were too grumpy about the task at hand) encouragement. He once said that he never worried about me making my way as an artist because he saw how much I loved art and how hard I worked at it. I am a firm believer that talent only takes you so far and the rest is just plain hard work. Though it is still a challenge, I credit my for Dad for showing me that a job worth doing is worth doing well and right.