Painted on a big piece of scrap dry-wall from the construction of the studio. The inspiration behind the painting came from a quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer written on April 14th 1943, in a letter to his parents:

"...my sins are covered by the forgiving love of Christ crucified."

Lincoln

Inspired by a book on presidential history and Lincoln, as well as, the Gettysburg Address. The painting is Lincoln with the Gettysburg Address (in his handwriting) written across the portrait.

Vietnam Painting

This painting is based on the colors of the Vietnam Service Ribbon in rough impressionistic style.

The green is representing jungle, the yellow a golden sky, and the red is the blood of our soldiers that never came home. The middle red stripe forms the country of Vietnam.

Along the bottom, a line of helmets on guns to represent the great loss of life.

March of Dimes Painting

My donation to the March of Dimes fundraiser in Des Moines. It's a premature infant holding a parent's hand.

Recently finished paintings...

William Wynne (a WWII Vet) sent this jacket for Bubba to paint. The top two planes are photo recon planes. William said:
"The Catalina Plane (upper left) is an Air sea rescue plane. I covered those missions on that type of plane to photograph rescues of downed crewmen. (3rd Emergency Rescue Squadron.) Smoky accompanied me."
In the middle is the famous war dog Smoky. At the bottom are two painted on patches. It was an interesting project...before this I didn't realize there was a Yorkie war dog. You can find out more info about this at smokywardog.com.

This is a piece Bubba did for an auction. The harvest is a big deal here in the Midwest and this makes for a unique item to auction as the harvest finishes up.

Garage Door Mural

A new mural Bubba created for R/T Motors (Used car dealership in Atlantic, IA). It's approx. 12 feet wide by 4 feet tall. Merged into this painting are his awning and display windows with the American flag waving in the background. In the foreground there's a new Dodge Challenger (which Russ, the owner of R/T Motors has) along with a motorcycle and an old hot rod. The mural is on two garage door panels that will be installed on his dealership. If you're interested in a mural contact Maria at Sorensen Studios at sorensenstudios@yahoo.com.

Lost/Stolen Painting...The Story.

Back in 1999, just before the start of the first Freedom Rock painting, Bubba was attending college at Iowa State University and completed a painting that would ultimately be the inspiration of his "2003 Freedom Rock". However, the painting was stolen shortly after Bubba turned it in as his final project for painting class. After looking into it and finding absolutely no lead, he assumed he would never see it again.

Meanwhile, a woman who worked at a VA Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa walked into a convenient store and noticed a similar style of painting on a lottery scratch ticket display (which was The Freedom Rock scratch ticket game <http://www.ialottery.com/Games/Scratch/IN644.html> ) and discovered the artist name and style were exactly like a painting she had hanging in her office; which incidentally she found faced down in a closet at the VA. She decided to look up the artist name and contacted Bubba. As she started describing the painting, Bubba finished the description. He discovered the painting which was taken from him from over 10 years ago was finally found!

When Bubba did pick up the painting this week, one of the ladies at the VA shared with him where the painting first appeared in the arts and crafts area of the substance abuse wing of the VA hospital. No one was really for sure where the painting came from or how it got there but did mention that a veteran entered it into a contest, and won. When Bubba finally saw the painting, he noticed it was faded and scuffed, along with water damage; but for the most part the painting was as he remembered it. A limited number of canvas prints will be available of this painting. The painting will not be restored or touched up and will include the damage done to it as the artist believes it tells a story beyond the actual meaning of the painting. The first print will go to the woman at the VA hospital who is responsible for reuniting the painting with its creator.

Bubba has proudly completed a mural in the mental ward of the VA Central Iowa Health Care Facility in Des Moines, Iowa. The painting is a 9 by 5 foot mural and consists of a soothing, mountain/valley landscape.


"It was great to be able to contribute something to the Veterans Hospital. The men and women in this ward have served our country proudly and are having extreme trouble. It's great to know my mural will be of some help," said Bubba.

IPTV Iowa State Fair Interview

Helping Iowa Veterans

"From Start to Finish" 2009 Freedom Rock®

The 2009 Freedom Rock

The 2009 Freedom Rock is finished.

We were so lucky to meet some very interesting visitors the other day. (top left: Nathaniel, Marion & Bubba)
Marion Lazan and her husband, Nathaniel stopped by the studio to meet Bubba and I. We were so honored that they were the ones who wanted to meet us and see our work. Marion is the author of the book "Four Perfect Pebbles, A Holocaust Story." We were lucky enough to receive a signed copy from Marion herself!
Check out the book at www.fourperfectpebbles.com
Thank you for your support Marion & Nathaniel.

Keep up the great work!

**Starting 2009 Rock**

I'm starting the 2009 Freedom Rock™. If you are planning a visit you won't see much for the next few days but a large white boulder and possibly me painting it. Thank you for your support.

Update

Hello!

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. We have been busy preparing for the 2009 Rock season! This year's Rock has already been thought up and painted, but it is top secret! A few people from the Iowa Lottery, myself and Bubba are the only ones who have seen this year's masterpiece. Bubba had to paint it early because this year the Iowa Lottery will be putting it on their scratch tickets, with all of the profits going to Veterans-what a great cause! http://www.ialottery.com/Games/Scratch/IN625.html
We are really excited about the opportunity and of course to be apart of helping our nation's heros. God Bless our military men and women!

We are also happy to say that we finally have new Rock merchandise available at the studio. We have everything from Freedom Rock postcards, prints, hats, t-shirts, patches and much more. These items will also be available at Jordan Creek Mall in Des Moines, Iowa, in a store called Iowa Favorites. We hope to get them up there next month, so be sure to stop by and take a look!

Oh and I can't forget to talk about the beautiful new paintings Bubba has been dreaming up. I keep wanting to take them all home to put on the walls, but Bubba makes me keep them at the studio-what a bummer! The good thing is, we have made canvas prints of these paintings and they can be yours to take home! Hurry though, he's only printing 100 of each painting in the series. Don't worry, I've already got mine =)
I have posted a few of them at the top of the page. Let me know what you think!

Well that is about all I have for now. Hopefully I will start writing more often, no matter how busy it may seem to get around here. Until next time, take care!