How do you find certainty when you’re making a decision? Just the facts? Prayer? Look for signs? Go with your gut feeling? Or are you a numbers person? This is a love story about moving in together with your partner in the Appalachian Woods.
Adding my “Singing with Mermen” acrylic painting to Joey’s wall.
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My partner, Joey, sends me a spreadsheet on what moving in with him might look like financially.
“We can do this,” he says, “and we save $12,000 if we don’t get this apartment. Please consider it. I know we’ve been reluctant to do this before, but I think we can do it now.”
He’s run the numbers. We’ve always heard numbers don’t lie. This gives him certainty — or a good probability of success. It’s the end of February of 2026. This is the very last day before we take possession of an apartment for me in Knoxville. Deep down, in this economy, with my uncertain gig work, both of us are worried whether I can afford my part of the expenses. We are on the brink of committing to draining his savings to keep me afloat and having me work 3 jobs.
detail from “Consider the Half-Life of Roses,” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 14) watercolor, pen and mixed media, 2025.
Craft him from Sunday School stories, Daniel and those stoic lions, men walking in fire, stormy Elijah, placid Elisha, prophets intimately bound together. Show him a God
who parts seas, walks beside his people a tornado of flame, doles out miracles, and makes donkeys talk and angels rescue, and bones live. Show him giants, and Ezekiel’s wheel- like spaceship, Elijah’s fiery chariot
in the sky. Tell him of Jonathan and David’s love, the eunuch’s favor for Daniel, the Roman Centurion and his boy. But if you don’t tell him they were queer, he will queer the stories anyway from
what he doesn’t see. Read him C.S. Lewis’ talking lion, brave children voyaging across seas and Narnia; those satyrs and centaurs will be his. You tell him stories and myths, and he will do the magic himself
to make those bones live. They will rainbow-shield his faith from the wrath of your Church. When they throw stones, a hundred storied lions will surround him, saying “I am here.” When your waves threaten to capsize his spirit, he will remember a friendly whale
of a way out. And he will dive deep, and imagine a world where queer heroes save the people, like they did in the Bible. But he’ll have to hide them in satyrs, starships, and lions like Lewis did, because you can’t bear the truths of the Divine
outside of Story. Oh, he will tell you of miracles you can perform, of fiery chariots you can pilot, of love you can have. He will save you, with the Spirit you unleashed in him—and—if you’re truly blessed, he will walk beside you, a pillar of fire
I have to think birds came to Jesus as he ascended into the heavens. In my mind, they would have come to say goodbye, or hello, or just to be playful with the only person they’d ever seen fly. We are told many times in the Bible that Jesus cares about the fates of birds, specifically sparrows, common in Jesus’ area and time, as plentiful and as associated with humans and human habitats as they are today. People thought they were annoying. Some still do.
When I was a child I had a neighbor who killed sparrows on purpose.
He was an older gentleman with the largest house on the block. LD was his name. He had erected a purple martin house at the back of his fenced property, which adjoined the back of our unfenced property (we were living in the church parsonage while my dad was pastor at Braymer Baptist Church). When one puts up a purple martin house, I was told, you want purple martins to come and nest there–not sparrows, or any other bird. It seems to me in retrospect that it’s arrogant to think you open up free apartments and reject whatever birds they attract. He didn’t want those bird houses filled with “nasty” sparrows, so he installed cages at the bottom of the pole of the purple martin house, cages where he placed enticing food to attract sparrows.
So for the birds he wanted, he created homes; for the birds he didn’t, he created cages.
“A Healing Breakfast on the Beach (After Easter Series),” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 15) watercolor and mixed media on paper. 4-22-2025.
A good meal can heal us.
This is a depiction of a beautiful story (John 21) of Jesus, after he comes back from the dead, visiting his friends. It’s not unlike stories from friends I’ve talked to who have had someone pass recently. Stories of healing conversations with loved ones who have died. These stories have a similar theme, though maybe they didn’t see their friend quite so “in the flesh,” but the idea of a healing conversation still rings true and is common. We need to have old wounds resolved and healed after someone dies. Part of grieving is healing wounds that we might be keeping alive inside ourselves.
“The Challenge Ahead (after Pope Francis),” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 15), watercolor, mixed media on paper. 4-21-25.
These are pivotal moments in world history. Today, every election seems to either put a weight on the scale for fascism or against it. There is no middle ground, no neutrality, when fascism is expanding. You are in the fight already, either by capitulating to dictators or through doing what you can to block or limit fascism regimes and plans. The Pope is a power position. The Catholic Church must be in the fight against fascism. The world needs them to elect a strong pope who will protect the weak and push back against the powerful.
This is not a sure thing, though. I don’t know if we will get a Pope as centered on the poor, the marginalized, on broadening out the care of the church and pulling back its exclusionary tendencies. But that is the challenge.
Pope Francis was a great pope, but he wasn’t a perfect Pope. Who is? He certainly moved the Catholic Church towards real inclusion and re-centered it on Christ’s mission. He took necessary steps forward. I found hope in his small moves towards full acceptance of LGBTQ individuals, and hope in his condemnation of American fascists, the war in Gaza, and his hands-on approach to leading.
We will need that kind of Pope again, one that progresses Christianity forward, not one that plays politics and power or eases the minds of social conservatives who want to deny rights and inclusion to those who are most hurting in society. We need someone fearless to take on those in power who seek to hurt others. Particularly, we need a Pope who can stand up to dictators and fascist leaders around the world. We can’t have a Pope who capitulates because he is afraid.
Give us a lion — a lion to protect the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized against the wealthy and powerful; a lion who roars mercy, grace and love at those who would condemn and incarcerate those who are different. A lion who condemns instead the practices of fascists and dictators all over the world, and emboldens the people to resist and create change to remake the society into a place that upholds equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion in every way.
One Pope (like one person) can be powerful if they can help empower others for positive change. This is a huge platform where the right person can help change society for the better of all. Pope Francis started that great work. Who will wear those shoes now?
“Orange is the New Backdrop,” Jerome Stueart (11 x 15) watercolor, mixed media on paper.
I believe in using art to create the future I want to see.
This is the Justice we need.
Now, I believe mass incarceration in the US is a huge problem on many levels–not to mention that it’s a money-making scheme for those who own the prisons, but I also believe in Justice. Many of us are watching the Trump Administration break the law by the Trump administration and wondering– isn’t this illegal? Is no one going to catch them on this? It reveals to us what many already know that the justice system works differently for those with money and power than it does for most of us. But I still have hope.
Judges are still fighting for us, and justsecurity.org is cataloguing all the lawsuits currently being filed against the Trump Administration. I have listed a few of the charges there–including some that are just Trump’s personal charges. But there are LOTS of lawsuits being filed right now. Justice may be slower than we want, but it can be more lasting.
My illustration may be a fantasy: two current prisoners as (hopefully) future plaintiffs in one of many lawsuits against the Trump admin already forming, but it gives me hope.
I was disgusted by the PR stunt Kristi Noem did with the men as backdrop for what amounted to an ad for Homeland Security. MSNBC revealed that the men rounded up for the El Salvador facility included men with NO charges against them, but who sported a tattoo that would look good in the public relations message Trump wanted to send to his voters about the “good job” he was doing on immigration.
In my painting, I imagined a future I wanted to see.
I want to believe that Justice will happen. We are being flooded with Executive Orders and State’s Bills whose purpose is to scare us into giving up. It may look hopeless, but people are fighting back. And I want you to take heart.
Many people are fighting for us, and we can join that fight.
Two people that are helping us know HOW to fight back are AOC and Bernie Sanders, and you can watch one of their stops on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in its entirety, below. AOC begins about 11:40 into the video:
I believe in using art to create the future I want to see. I don’t have to be confined to ONLY what is happening, or what happened. I can create a new future.
I hope you make art creating the future YOU want to see. May your art inspire you and others to create that future.
“Mama Just Got Added to the War Chat,” Jerome Stueart (11 x 15) watercolor, mixed media on paper. 3-25-25.
This was perhaps too easy to make fun of–as public incompetency is its own caricature. Of course, as an artist, there is a representation which reflects my own idea of attractiveness–as every artist does throughout time. But this is also a nod to adult gay son’s taking care of their moms/parents. Shoutout to family caregivers. And it’s a nod to gay representation in editorial illustration, and a positively-presented unique body image. Hey, we deserve that!
Also, just to note, V.P. is not J.D. I suspect it is only a matter of time before our own troops will be used to help V.P. in the Ukraine.
While the sheer incompetency of the Trump Cabinet and other Appointees is what this illustration is about, I was most appalled by the sheer lack of empathy by any participants in the chat about the lives they were taking. War is a serious business, and I can’t imagine Obama’s team or Hillary’s team using prayer emojis and cheering on the deaths of those who were NOT the target. I expect my elected officials to be grave and reluctant to use weapons of mass destruction to end the life of one person–and if they have to use that kind of weapon, I would hope that they would have more respect for life than this. Trump and all his team disgust me.
Everything I see from this administration comes from a lack of empathy and compassion for the humanity of anyone but themselves. They are all drunk on power.
I also hate the kidnapping of Christianity to promote hate. I’ve seen it many times, and of course, Christianity has promoted slavery, and the subjugation of women, and the cruel treatment of the LGBTQ community. So it has a history just in the US of being used to hurt people– not to mention WORLD history– but that is not what the core of our faith teaches.
I hate how the US is being run now in OUR names—as if we all agreed this would be the right thing to do. I can’t imagine a single Christian person–if they truly followed Christ–approving of this kind of behavior or of the “disappearing” of people who don’t agree with Trump–students and professors taken off the street and shuffled into prisons in El Salvador for exercising their rights of free speech while Trump’s team are committing crimes against the country and humanity every single day.
I pray Justice comes, and she comes swiftly, against this fascist regime.
Until then, illustrations and essays, and calling my representative and protesting when I can. I’m going to try to start illustrating more of what we CAN do–and not just the shock at what is happening. I think there’s a place for prescriptive illustration– a tool which has been used for propaganda before can be used to model ways to fight back. Show us winning, show Justice coming, show the paths.
Thank you for listening. I’m just one bear bearing witness. I just didn’t think I would be witnessing this.
“The Return of the Judges,” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 15) watercolor, mixed media on paper. 3-24-2025.
Judges are fighting to stop wide sweeping illegal actions of Musk and Trump.
Judges are fighting for us! This is ONE way we fight back. This is ONE group that is fighting for us. But people ARE fighting back–and you are part of that resistance too. Do what you can, find a buddy to help too!
Judges are part of the #resistance. They are doing their best to delay, stop, and to annul the sweeping changes T and E are making to our country’s structure.
When you saw #StarWars for the first time, did you ever imagine becoming a #Jedi? The Empire we now discover is made up of Billionaires and Corporations. The Empire is about money and power and control, aka Capitalism and income inequality.
They don’t care about you, and they now own the Federal government.
But we are the 99% and they are the 1%.
Will you join the resistance? #WelcomeToTheRebellion
“Hope is a Mother Bird Teaching Us How to Fly,” Jerome Stueart, (11 x 15) Watercolor, mixed media on paper.
Relaunching this after putting some words across the bird for clarity. I forget that political cartoons sometimes need words… sometimes. Better without them, perhaps, but in this case, better with.
Bernie Sanders launched rallies across swing states and red states. They are attracting thousands of people in each spot. His goal: teaching us how to handle this current fight, and how to fight back. He is listening to how folks are hurting from the poor decisions made by the Trump administration and their decimation of the structures that support people across America. You can hear some of this in his new video on Instagram.
Sanders is also teaching folks how to not lose hope. I remember his 2016 moment when the bird flew to his podium and was dubbed thereafter as Birdie. It was a sign of Hope. I have imagined that Birdie is back — much larger, and able to instruct a whole flock of people how to fly.
He’s one of many keeping people informed and giving power back to the people.I find myself also listening to AOC, Pete Buttigieg, Chris Murphy, Jasmine Crocket, Sarah McBride, and others tell us what is happening in our government behind the scenes, and how we can fight back.
These people representing us in Congress inspire me. Add them to the political activists outside of Congress and I have feelings of hope.
Hope is not dead. It just needs US to learn to fly.
Bear Witness 