Cross House
A new painting.
One day back in 2024 I was milling around the lakeshore area - those small cities that dot the shore of Lake Michigan in central eastern Wisconsin - exploring corners I hadn’t yet peeked into. As I walked through an old residential neighborhood I turned down a dead end where one side of the street was fenced off with stacks of construction materials behind it. I was really wrapped up in the geometry of the building site and didn’t even glance across the street until I reached the end of the road.
There stood a ratty two-story house with haphazardly placed Christmas decorations still up on this hot sunny day. The best part was a giant red cross mounted on the side of it. I quickly snapped a photo - being both mesmerized by it’s presence and afraid to gawk too long.
I’ve pulled that photo out for review many times since then. I’m used to seeing run-down homes and yards full of stuff on my photo walks - I mean, I practically seek it out. But the giant cross, painted the same color as the trim, gave me fundamentalist creeper vibes.
I had seen neon light rosaries popping up - mostly in between the small rural towns around here. They were usually on a church, or on the front of one of those long beige ranch houses that cropped up next to corn fields in the 1960s and 1970s. They were neat and tidy, and would probably be tossed in the trash as soon as a portion of the light burned out.
But this cross was more akin to what the cross guy of Green Bay can bee seen dragging around at every farmers’ market and Packers home game. It looked like it was built of scrap lumber and slapped onto the side of the house. If this house was a face, the cross would be the prison tattoo near its eye. Last year I added the photo to my stash of reference images for painting. It is Cross House, my first painting of 2026.
If the title Cross House sounds familiar - you may have seen it on two small studies currently on display at newARTSpace. The first is an experiment in trying to recreate an accidental abstract look, which I wrote about in this article back in September 2025.
The second is an actual practice at something in my Real Places representational style. At this point I knew I wanted it to be a larger painting.
Here is the photo I took back in 2024. I haven’t decided if I want to paint in the disintegration of the siding, though I’m leaning toward not. And I think it was a happy accident that the garbage and recycling bins sort of match the house trim and the cross.
I went to Google maps to see what other views of the house were available and there are only two - I guess Google doesn’t go down dead end roads very often. The first is from October 2024 - just a few months after I took my photo. Halloween decorations are out alongside the wreath and cross.
The second is from way back in 2013. At first I noted no cross, but a flag front and center. Then I realized the cross is on the little pink shed. Still creepy. It makes me wonder what kind of snake dancing went on in that shack.
I have nine paintings (including Cross House Study 1 and Cross House Study 2) in the newART: six invitational exhibit at newARTSpace in DePere! See them during gallery hours through mid-March!
I facilitate a Weekly Sketch night at The Art Garage, Wednesdays 5p-8p. Free to attend. BYO supplies and snacks. It’s a safe space and everyone is welcome.
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Prison tattoo! 😆
This is fascinating. I can't decide which version I like the most. Love them all and enjoyed the behind the scenes process. I wonder if you did or plan to show your paintings to house owners? They might be interested to see it.