Harold, age 6, with his palomino horse Silver on the family ranch in the Glass Mountains east of Alpine, Texas.

HJN. Oil on canvas, unsigned, undated.

The humans are cartoonish, with unsettling ocular highlights. The man’s buckle and spurs gleam unexpectedly. The beakish woman (clad in denim?) grasps a shepherd’s crook. A bucket dangling from block and tackle drips water drawn from an artesian well.

It may be a mash-up with ranch flavor of a Biblical scene. The Bible beckoned Harold. In an early painting he portrayed himself as a soulful “Isaiah” bisected by a shaft of heavenly light. He tackled crucified Jesuses and grieving Marys in later years, but seemed stretched beyond his element in them.

HJN. “Isaiah,” oil on Masonite.

HJN. Oil on canvas.

Something poked a hole in this still life. I repaired it several years ago, and my handiwork is crudely apparent. The club-like object is a wood carver’s mallet.

(c) 2019 JMN