We are truly blessed to live where we live and do what we do for a living. God has given us many great clients and  friends from around the globe.

On a sad note I want to mention that my friend and COO of my company Norvin has been affected by the recent typhoon in the Philippines. While his family all survived his step father was injured and Norvins parents also lost everything. The home where Norvin grew up was washed away. Norvins place is currently still knee high in water. Given my past experience (last year) with flooding most likely he will also have a total loss as well. Many of you know Norvin as he is the tech and email support as well as the one who puts up many of the websites.

My family and I are putting together a fund for Norvin and his family. Everyone has a cause to support and every time we turn around someone is asking for money.

So what we are doing is donating the sales of all of our products and services for the next couple weeks to Norvin. All of our print sales at timoneillstudio.com, and anything from digitalpaintmagazine.com as well as products from our cooking, gardening and homesteading sites which most of you here may not be familiar with. As our dollar is strong yet in his area even the few thousand dollars we might be able to raise will make a difference. Prices are reduced 50% on many items until January 7th to try and raise some funds for them. My seven-year old daughter Elise is giving some of her Christmas money to them, she loves Norvin and has chatted with him many times via skype.

Here is an excerpt from Norvin, note that while he is dealing with a major disaster that has affected him personally he is conscientious of his commitment to us.

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Hi Sir Tim,
Good morning! Sir Tim, thank GOD me and my immediate family are OK. But my step father has a lot of stitches because he was in Cagayan de Oro at that time and the water totally wiped off our house in there. Nothing was left. While here in Iligan (the one I lived in), the water was above knee level almost in the waist. Sadly, in some areas here in Iligan and there in Cagayan de Oro, the water was above a two-storey house. Houses that were not concrete was totally washed out leaving only a knee high mud. It happened really quick sir. The water was rushing and in a few minutes it raised way above the house. It happened Saturday between 1am to 2am where it was totally dark and almost everyone was asleep. I think that was also the reason why a lot of people died (children, females and old ones). Here in our place as 10,000+ families were already affected, 279 were dead and 230 were still missing. I am constantly listening to the radio news. It really was a horrible disaster sir. A lot of retrieved dead bodies were lying on the street.
Yesterday, we went to the evacuation center where there are 600+ families affected including two of my relatives. We gave some relief goods to them but wasn't able to give enough food because of lack of funds. We also went to the funeral home where some of my friends families were dead.
Due to the increasing number of dead people, all of the funeral homes surrendered to accept anymore bodies (due to lack of coffin and formaldehyde) and the local government just decided a 'Mass Grave'.
Unfortunately, my internet was gone due to the typhoon. I am now in muffet's (Editor's note: his fiance) house where there is an internet connection. Their place were not affected by the flood because its on a higher ground. I called my ISP and they said that it would take 1 week for them to restore the internet connection in my place.
Sir Tim, I hope you understand that in this week, its very difficult to work considering that our place is a mess and no internet connection for 1week. I really want to work soon sir because we need the money to help my family and the people here in my place . But I will still try to work this week despite my situation. I will find a way sir.
Sincerely yours,
Norvin
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If you don’t want any products or prints and still want to give you can send a paypal to me with Norvin in the subject line. All of the money donated (less incoming paypal fees will be sent) We will pay the fees to send it over via xoom. Even a $5 dollar donation will make a difference. If you choose not to send money please send your prayers or a short note of encouragement via comments here. Bless you for your help.

You can send a paypal to Tim [at] Digital Paint Magazine with "Norvin" in the subject line and we will get the fund to him. We will send a screen shot of the transaction to the emails of all who donate. We are acting as an intermediary for him. We have had employees from the Philippines for the last four years and it is really expensive to use Paypal direct to them. We pay them using a company called Xoom which is much less expensive, it also has a 50$ minimum. By collecting here and sending it once we can make sure more money gets directly to them.

Be Blessed this Christmas! The magazine is only a few days from release.

Following is one vid from you tube talking about the area.

News Article Link

Hey everyone! I just finished the latest painting and thought I should get it up on the blog. The first offer always goes to my email list which consists of past clients, friends and various other patrons and stakeholders. If you would like to get on the mailing list you can do so at on the home page or anywhere else the opt-in box is.

While I am still working on an Angel calendar and have several native American pieces I am still working on I wanted to finish a few wildlife pieces for a November show I have. Bison one is the first of these. I also need a name. I havent thought much about this and nothing hit me as I was painting. Anyway this painting will be ready for a new home by the second week of September.

This piece is 20x24 pigment and oil on canvas. Price for the original is 2,300.

Mixed Media Painting Tim ONeill

Detail of Bison One

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This particular painting is near and dear to my heart. The story behind Grandma Rocks has many layers and really could fill a small book. I will present the Cliff Note version here.

Grandma Rocks!

All babies are miracles, some more than others. The bundle of joy in this painting is my youngest daughter, Elise.  Allison and I wanted children but like many couples had difficulty. We had Josh and Amber from my previous marriage and Noah who we were blessed with through the gift of adoption. (Cool story there also). Anyway the good Doctors told us we would not be able to have children, as you know in many cases a simple adoption will fix things in that area with a large success ratio. Anyway we adopted Noah and had been trying to move back home. Moving to a smalll community was a big bonus for us but most importantly we wanted to be around my parents and have the kids around Mom and Dad as well.

We moved from Colorado back home and immersed my older children in a whole new way of life. It took some getting used to.  Josh went from having a class of 1,200 kids in his 8th grade class to...35 the next year in 9th. Just a small adjustment. Kids are resilient though and he soon came to really enjoy his new school and friends. Josh is a really outgoing kid, big smile, positive and upbeat and a gifted athlete.  We really enjoyed going to his games and watching him play sports and just "be" in his element.

The community he went to school in is 12 miles from home. In Nebraska kids start driving early on school permits, in our case since he was 14 he drove himself to and from school. Josh had an out of town basketball game one evening. The evening of his game Josh got off the bus and hopped in his car to come home, it was his 16th birthday. It was after midnight as he began his 12 mile trek home. He made a brief stop at his best friends house to grab some of his clothes and then hit the highway. Between his school and our house he hit a Black Angus cow that was in the middle of the road. It was dark, no moon and the cow was turned sideways. He suffered only one injury. He broke his neck. No cuts, scratches or bruises to speak of just  a C-5 fracture that nipped the spinal cord.

The agonizing months that followed were almost unbearable as we watched our son teeter on the very brink of survival. We were certainly blessed in many ways during that ordeal,  Josh survived.  I saw a majestic resolve within him while in the hospital.  While there are many things I remember about our stay at Craig Hospital, one  marks a turning point for me as a parent. That was when I witnessed my 16 year old consoling a young (30 something) Doctor who broke his neck a few months after Josh.  I knew then Josh would be ok.

After months of being in the hospital Josh was released and we came home. Elise was born directly after that chaos, she bounced into the world and brought with her a beacon of hope and became the embodiment of all that is good and right within our little world.  She represented an emergence,  a special healing that said okay lets switch to the positive again, to life and  to living.

The impact and the timing of Elise's birth is hardly imaginable. This painting captures that whole story for me. Allison's mom is the Grandmother in the painting and I wonder as I study her face what communication is going on between them?

As for Josh, he got back in school right away and worked his fanny off to be able to graduate on time with his class. He went on to finish his first two years of college and is currently deciding if he is going back now to finish up or wait for a bit.  He has a special bond with his sister.

Mixed Media Painting by Nebraska Artist Tim ONeill

I have been a racing fan since I was kid. Many who know me are acquainted with our family racing heritage. My father Bob ONeill raced dirt short tracks in Kansas and Nebraska for over fifty years. Dad was still piloting a sprint car a few years ago...he is in his seventies. Anyway I had the privilege of many hours of windshield time cruising the highways with my parents always on the way to another race. For a kid like me it was a dream childhood.  Our family raced frequently, sometimes three times a week. My mother did a stint running 250 micro sprints until a stuck throttle caused an accident that nearly took her life. I raced Sprint Cars, 1200cc Mini-Sprints, carts and even some stock cars. My son Josh showed promise as he came up racing carts. Anyway you get the idea. I am a big fan of racing and Nascar is really the only sport on TV that I watch.

It is surprising that I have rarely created any art to reflect my passion for racing.  When I was a young military photographer we used to get press passes from Navy Times or Army Times and cover many of the Nascar races. I have had the opportunity to watch the sport since the late seventies. With the Sprint Cup Chase this year I was truly enamored with the stories behind the story. A driver with dirt-track sprint car roots, Tony Stewart forms a brand new team and both cars make the chase. A guy my age (considered to be the old timer) Mark Martin makes the Chase and almost pulls off a Championship. My youngest son's favorite, Jeff Gordon, has a chance of another points Championship and finally Jimmie Johnson three time champion has a chance to make history. No one has ever one four in a row. Incredible. Even if they are not your favorite team you have to marvel that one team can do that in a sport that is hyper-competitive.

So anyway, my tribute to Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motor Sports, Four Cup Championships....in a row. AWESOME.

This painting will be reproduced in several ways.  Oil reproductions are available at 875.00, giclee prints on canvas are 325.00, giclee prints on  photo paper are 59.00.  The size is 20x24.

If the cart is not up and running you can email Tim at tim@timoneillstudio.com.

This mixed media (pigment & oil) painting portrait has been in the works for awhile and is a part of my Limbo Gallery.

A Native American Portrait from Nebraska Artist Tim ONeill

The original is available, a 30x40 oil and pigment on stretched canvas the price is 3,500.00 Giclee prints on canvas are 375.00 and reproduction oil paintings are 875.00.

I Miss you Daddy

This mixed media oil & pigment painting portrait is done  from an image that is near and dear to me. The original photograph was shot at the Veteran's memorial in North Platte, NE several years ago.  The photograph I chose to work with ended up being a spot color. That is, everything was black and white except the main point of interest, the small boy. The silver gelatin print has sold well but I really wanted an oil painting so I decided to create one.  I had seen several stunning images from the famous memorial in DC and was hoping to shoot some stills that I could use for painting.  As the memorial in North Platte sits facing north, that gave me two prime opportunities each day to grab the lighting I was hoping for, in this case cross-lighting so the texture of the sculptures would show nicely. So, sunrise and sunset were my choices which is often the case. I chose to go down at dusk. Noah, my youngest son was 7 at the time and wanted to hang with Dad so we happily schlepped out to the site which is on the south side of I80 in North Platte.

As I was shooting around the site Noah was checking out the relief sculpture carved in brick. It is a beautiful piece and Noah was really taken with it. Like seven year old's will do he was asking a bunch of questions. Most of them garnered the normal uh-huh, yea and so forth answer that a distracted father would give. Then he asked, "Where are there kids?" ...that got my attention. Other questions came up as we talked about soldiers, war and the sacrifice the men, women and families in the military make for us. The question that came up that stuck with me was, "Daddy, are they gone? "  as his hands delicately touched the hard cold brink. I stood back watching and shooting a few frames as I answered his question by telling him that yes these soldiers, these hero's were gone from this earth and were being watched after by Angels just as the soldiers had watched over us. With a huge sigh he put his head on his arms and crying softly said, "I would miss you Daddy".  I admit it, I am a softy, I cried.

That became the title and is perfectly fitting. I had not given much thought to what my family might be thinking about me being a combat photographer and going back in during a time of conflict. Noahs words stayed with me.

While the original will stay in our private collection oil reproductions and giclee prints on canvas are available. The oils are 875.00 and the prints on canvas are 375.00 for a gallery wrap. The finished size is 24x30 but larger sizes are also available.