The Fishermen on the Mountain Brook Parkway

Matthew 4;19

" Come and I will make you fishers of men"

There is a beautiful small stretch of land called
the Mountain Brook or Jemison Parkway right off highway 280. It is a quiet setting rather like a Gainsborough painting with tall pines that make figures seem small in comparison.

You can see families, dogs being walked every age enjoying beauty while getting daily exercise. There are many lovely places in this city of Birmingham to enjoy nature, but for this artist it is special having walked and driven by so often through the years.

One favorite spot to paint or draw is the stone bridge with runners going by. This work was fun to do with
trying many sketches and planning the figures. The
fisherman was a real person that did not come often
to the creek but enough to put him in the picture and make him the subject. Putting a painter on the bank was just a fun part of imagination.

I wonder if he called out and said"Come follow me
and I will make you fishers of men " if anyone would have stopped running.

The fisherman
plainly seen neath
bridge stone
all running by
leaving him alone

He doesn't call out
only minnows swim
in the stream
The fish he wants are
men it seems.