American Dream Art

Bustling holiday christmas scene, evening, bakery
serene landscape with mountains and water
wide landscape with natural scenery
still life arrangement of fruits and flowers
A pop star on stage
New York City
First love confession
Morning mist over lakes
A girl remembering her childhood
In days to come I stood amazed, walking through that forest, at the blazing symphony of color it brought forth, seemingly just for me.  I grew to love my friend’s words in a new way, through the astounding beauty of the spectacle he knew was coming when he said them.  I was young then, and didn’t know I had many autumns ahead of me.
Southeast Asia.  Modern day.  Back out on the open plain, our bus hurtles toward the city.
Smokestacks and temples rise up from the earth; two visions competing for the sky.
The woman on my right holds a chicken in her lap; rural wealth for a city friend?  On my left a Buddhist priest sits in quiet repose and presides over the world.
Trees are always trying to reach the sky;
arms stretched out toward heaven
‘til their leaves turn brown and die.
Then will come the winter,
when they stand the icy wind.
waiting for the sun to shine
and spring to come again.

The drama’s reinacted every year:
Leaves come down like clouds of doubt and fear.
While on the ground, the winter passes by,
every tree keeps reaching to the sky.
Trees are always trying to reach the sky;
arms stretched out toward heaven
‘til their leaves turn brown and die.
Then will come the winter,
when they stand the icy wind.
waiting for the sun to shine
and spring to come again.

The drama’s reinacted every year:
Leaves come down like clouds of doubt and fear.
While on the ground, the winter passes by,
every tree keeps reaching to the sky.
Life is all around for us to hold.
Spring will come again
when we forget the winter cold.
Soon will be the summer,
when the evenings linger long
with jokes and quips and camping trips,
a kindred summer song.

	The time won’t last forever, we can see;
	still, we should learn the lesson of the tree.
	In winter snow or summer’s long good-bye,
	trees keep reaching upward to the sky.
A koi pond seen from above, orange and white koi fish swimming among lily pads, clear water with subtle ripples, fallen cherry blossom petals floating on the surface, dappled sunlight
A koi pond seen from above, orange and white koi fish swimming among lily pads, clear water with subtle ripples, fallen cherry blossom petals floating on the surface, dappled sunlight
I lift up my eyes toward the sky;
know my heart and home are there,
where the ones before me lie.
One day, I’ll be gathered up
and carried to that place
where I shall know as I am known,
and see my Maker’s face.

	It’s appointed unto us just once to be:
	We linger here, but soon we’ll be set free.
 	No more reaching upward ‘til we die,
	Our roots stay here.  We stretch beyond the sky.
Personal POV scene. Me and Jesus in the desert on a cool morning at daybreak walking toward a bright star. Jesus is wearing old clothes and carrying a satchel. I’m wearing old clothes and sandals just like Him. The air is cool and crisp. The sky is bright blue on the horizon with deep purple fading into black at the upper atmosphere. The air is crisp and clear. It’s like the desert in California looking east toward Arizona. There are desert hills on the north and south sides and mountains in the distance.
a tree in nature
house with front view
Soft Pastel Idol Portrait Style Transfer Example
Soft Pastel Idol Portrait Style Transfer Example
animal standing in natural pose
still life arrangement of fruits and flowers
portrait of a person with expressive eyes
urban street with city activity
portrait of two people together
wide landscape with natural scenery
serene landscape with mountains and water
bicyle resting against a wall
still life with everyday objects
Place this text in the foreground of my newly generated Vintage Film Burn image…

“Dawn, gentle, beginnings of a new day lighting our paths and illuminating our way….

I’ve always thought of you with love and warmth and hardly questioned why… always felt a special bond that’s led to years of friendship  and smiles…

I found in you the gentle spirit of a certain truth and could NOT look away because in you I saw proof…..of HIM…”

Also include an image in the background of a soft sunrise seen over an ocean’s horizon 


A Dawn to Remember….by JPRussell
An interior scene.  An old Bible with dog-eared pages, a black leather cover, and words of Christ in red sits open on a table.  The camera sees the Bible at a 45 degree angle.  The table and chair are old and worn, sitting on a worn carpet on a wood plank floor.  There are some pens and highlighters, along with a  red ribbon bookmark, a half-empty drink and some paper clips.  The room is in low-light, and a small window is in the background.  Someone has been studying and just stepped away for a moment.  Some lines in the Bible are highlighted yellow.
I sat, long ago, on an Asian hill with a Shakya Mundi friend, and watched the autumn leaves fall down from high above, giants in the forest casting off their wakefulness, falling progressively into winter’s long, white sleep. 

“The important thing to know about trees” he said, “is that they are most beautiful in autumn; just before the winter snow.  They live and grow through the entire year just for these brief moments of stunning beauty.  We are like that.” He said, “but we have only one autumn, and a very long winter.”
Southeast Asia.  Modern day.  The damaged and the broken ones; all rooted in the past,
	live life the way it always was, from their first day to their last.
	Motes of dust in beams of light, in the darkness of this day,
	we tip the hat and give a nod, for the truth we can’t convey.

	Everything is real, but nothing matters, anyway.
	Where life is only what must be, from the cradle to the grave.
	Everyone does what they can:  Nothing less, but sure no more. 
	Tip the hat and give a nod to the ones who’ve gone before.
	We tip our hats and give the nod to the world we’ve all ignored
This day, though, I hiked another autumn wood.  Eastern Europe ancient; overgrown.  So thick the view was dark at just a few feet off the path.  All red and yellow; orange and brown, a million trees, each one in blazing preparation for long, frozen winter.  I cannot but recall my friend’s words, lasting long, though he did not, and the instant truth that follows.  Looking upward at the fiery canopy, matched against the bright cerulean sky beyond, I embrace autumn!  Winter surely comes one day, but spring beyond.  I have a winter to prepare for, but it is not yet.
An Asian Slice
At the dark end of an alley on a moonless night,
A youth squats low to the ground, turned toward the wall with his face in his lap.  Someone might think he’s sleeping.  He’s smoking heroin.  Soon he’ll fall over and soil himself, and stay right there until dawn.

Back at the neon-lit mouth of this dark alley, 
hookers walk back and forth, hurrying to get past the alley, either for fear or because is smells so bad.  Eyelids, all painted golden, Asian whores always look like they’re made of candy.  Candy it is; but a snarling cat awaits its prey.
A koi pond seen from above, orange and white koi fish swimming among lily pads, clear water with subtle ripples, fallen cherry blossom petals floating on the surface, dappled sunlight
The monster (Mt. San Gorgonio) rises in the North, 	all hoary-frost above behemoth shoulders.  Snake-like clouds adorning her, I crane my neck, Gaze fixed past the big white house toward uplifted boulders.
And at the South, like his namesake martyr, Hyacinth (Mt. San Jacinto) has lost his head in cloud.  Burned bones against a blue backdrop
	he wears that legacy proud.  Between the two, another sunrise gleams and beams of brilliant, white-hot day flash forth:  Accentuate Sonora’s west extremes, and last night’s moon forgot to go away.
animal standing in natural pose
portrait of two people together
Pastel Art Style Style Transfer Example