Love Your Enemies

5x7 

Oil on Canvas Panel

Available

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said, "I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 

bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, 

offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 

Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them 

again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those 

who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? 

For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, 

what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. 

Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind 

to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. 

Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, 

pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure 

you give will be the measure you get back."

_______________________

In this Sunday's scripture, Jesus continues to turn the world upside down 

with the call to love our enemies. I recently heard "love" defined as 

"willing the good for the other." (Fr. Mike Schmitz)

This abstract painting expresses the struggle to live out that calling. 

How does the call to love our enemies conflict with our definitions of justice and fairness? 

How does this calling translate in abusive situations?

How much of a difference would living this calling make in today's polarized society?

How different would the world be if we actually loved our enemies? 

Mirror Dim

8x10 

Oil on Panel

Available Here

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Hills and Valleys

Hills and Valleys

30"x40" Oil on Deep Edge Canvas

Available Here

God is LORD of the hills and the valleys. 

Come what may we belong to God.

Thank you for all of the blessings in 2018.

And especially for your prayers.

May God's love surround you all in the new year.

Bountiful

8"x8"
Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

Click Here to Purchase

Feeding the Five Thousand

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

John 6:1-14 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Stations of the Cross: Station II

Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested

Then, while [Jesus] was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 

His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, “the man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely.” He came and immediately went over to him and said, “Rabbi.” And he kissed him. At this they laid hands on him and arrested him.

(Mark 14: 43-46)

Stations of the Cross

The season of lent is a time of life in shadow. Our days are still full of hustle and bustle. We’re buying Easter outfits one minute and then attending a prayer service or practicing a Lenten discipline the next. It’s a time full of life in the shadow of the cross. And before we sing alleluia, don our Easter best and bring our flowers, we must first journey with Christ to the cross.

For centuries, the church has used a special way to enable Christians to experience the passion story. “The Stations of the Cross” involves 14 illustrations that tell the passion story from the garden of Gethsemane to laying Jesus in the tomb. 

As my Lenten discipline this year, I have chosen to paint contemporary versions of The Stations of the Cross to share with you. Each painting is a modern, minimalistic abstract depicting a piece of the story. They are designed to be stark signposts to help you to stop and contemplate the story in new ways. Rather than depicting the traditional gory details, I tried to focus on the emotional themes of rejection, isolation, betrayal, and other sufferings. 

Be on the lookout for these in the coming days. As you view the upcoming posts, I hope you will take a moment to contemplate the suffering love of God in Jesus Christ. 

May you all have a blessed Lenten season.

40 Days: Day 40: Come to the Table

40"x40"
Oil on Canvas

Commissioned

This is my final posting for this year's "40 Days" journey. It is a commissioned painting I have been working on for First Presbyterian Church, Franklin, TN. It was installed today—just in time for an Easter debut. 

“Welcome one another just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Romans 15:7

This painting is a vision of God’s grace and serves as a reminder of how we are to be to each other. The painting depicts a peaceable, abundant table which has been prepared for all ages, genders, races and abilities. Among the variety of food on the table, there are also sacramental symbols of bread, wine and water. The figures are vague and rough around the edges because we come together as we are, with all of our imperfections. Near the bottom, there is an empty place setting which is an open sign of grace for all people present, separated  departed and yet to come.

40 Days: Day 33: Touched

11"x14"
Oil on Canvas

Commissioned

Luke 8:43-48

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

This is a commissioned painting of one of my favorite stories. Thought the gospels, Jesus heals in many different ways. Sometimes with just a command, sometimes long distance, sometimes tactually and deliberately. But this time, the miracle was performed unconsciously. The woman touched Jesus, from behind, among a crowd of people. She was healed instantly. Then, Jesus does something remarkable. He sensed power leaving from him. He turned around to inquire about it. The power of God in Jesus was something real and physical enough for Jesus to sense it at work—and it was beyond his own control.

God was at work in Jesus without Jesus even knowing it until after the fact. This is a fascinating twist in the story for me.  To me, it means that Jesus was so much an instrument of God's grace ("Touched by God" if you will), that God was able to work miracles through him beyond his own actions. Have you ever tried so hard to make something go right for God? A ministry, goal or charitable effort? Sometimes they work great. Sometimes they fail. But then there are those times when something seems to go wonderfully right for God  and we had nothing to do with it—perhaps even in spite of anything we did. That is an amazing interaction. 

In the painting, The woman touches Jesus among the crowd of people. Both Jesus and the woman are highlighted so subtly that it is easy for the crowd (and the viewer) to miss. The power is real, as illustrated in the painting. But it may be only noticeable to those who have the faith to realize it. 

Miracles can happen, unexpectedly, in the most unlikely of circumstances. You are an instrument of God for the world. We are all called to serve in ways both great and small. But always remember that we belong to God. God can use us for the kingdom when we don't even know it. 

Now that is Grace.

40 Days: Day 4: Water to Wine

6"x6" Oil on Canvas

Commissioned

John 2:1-11, The Wedding at Cana

On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

There are no parables in the Gospel of John. Jesus' miracles are parable enough. They are "signs" revealing the kingdom reality. There are so many things to meditate upon in this story. Mary's perspective. Jesus' perspective. The servants' perspective. Spend time with this story however you like. But as for this commissioned painting, the focus is on the the jars of water. 

The wedding and the main characters in the story are represented in the festive colors in the background. The focus is on the stone jars now filled with wine, reflecting festive colors dancing on the surface. They jars are filled to the brim with plain water. But after being changed by Christ, thanks to the faith of his mother and executed rather quietly, the water is transformed to wine and becomes the star of the show and an abundant gift of grace to all. 

God can take the most ordinary of things and, with grace and love, make them extraordinary. Simple canned goods can become life-savers for food-insecure families. Smiles can become ambassadors of hope for hurting souls. Everything in our very ordinary lives can become extraordinary gifts of grace. Our very lives can be used as signs of God's grace to the world. With God all things are possible.

40 Days: Day 3: Wilderness

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

email me to purchase the original art

For those of you taking on spiritual disciplines for Lent, I have questions for you. Is the Honeymoon over yet? Are you tempted to break those commitments you have made for the season? Do you feel more like you're wrestling with your will to stay disciplined? Does the struggle with Lenten disciplines remind you of the way you struggle with sin? 

You're not alone. Everyone feels that way at some point in the journey. Some wrestle with these feelings every day. Since the first temptation in the garden, humans have struggled to live up to their potential as God's people. Even Christ.

Every temptation is a challenge to our identity. It is that moment when we want to be our own god and be in control of our own lives. We forget that we are human—dust creatures, lovingly made in the image of God. 

Our lives belong to God. We are totally dependent upon God for our existence and sustenance. We are broken and in need of repair and salvation. And God has big plans for us.

We are made in the mage of God. That's something special to consider. Too often we excuse our failures to temptation with the phrase "I'm only human." Jesus showed us how to be "Fully Human." He showed us our potential as a people made in the image of God.

So don't let the temptations and failures define you. You are a beloved child of God in need of God's grace. You are never alone. Let's follow the way of Christ. Let's move forward together in humility and gratitude as people of God.

40 Days: Day 2: Lent

5"x7" Acrylic on Paper

Available for Digital Download

email me to purchase the original art

This project is all about experimentation and exploration. That includes techniques, medium and subjects. This one was on the road to failure. However, the more I worked on it, the more interesting it became. The painting took on all kinds of layers and textures. Just when I was about to give up, something beautiful happened. Cross turned into Christ. If you look carefully at the top of the cross, circled by the thorny halo, is a christ-like face. It almost looks like a South American or Gothic European carving. What an unexpected joy!

This painting is an invitation to the journey of Lent. It sets the stage for all that is to come. The cross, palms, purple cloth, blood, a crown, and most importantly, Christ. Welcome to Lent. Come along with Jesus as he sets his face towards Jerusalem to suffering the cross.

This painting is proof that  I need to let go of my personal expectations for this series. There may be failures. There may be surprises. Thanks be to God for both.

Dust

5"x7" Acrylic on paper

Available for Digital Download

email me to purchase the original art

You are dust. And to dust you shall return. That is the theme of Ash Wednesday. It is what is said when a cross of ashes is placed on the head. The sobering kickoff to the season of Lent hammers hard on getting us to face reality. God is God. We are not. We are but creatures of dust. Apart form God, we are all mortal, broken, suffering, lost, naive, delusional, hopeless failures.

But here's another truth. God chose to lovingly take the most meaningless of stuff to create a masterpiece—us.  And flawed and frail as we are—destined to be dust—we are God's beloved. The cross that is placed on our heads also remind us of God's saving love that endures beyond death itself.

In life and in death, we belong to God.

Offering 20x20

20"x20"x1.5"
Oil on Canvas

with Palette Knife

Click Here To Purchase

You may recall my previous posts in 2013 about on a series of florals titled "Offering." Today, I'm revisiting the concept with a looser, more abstracted painting technique on a larger canvas. 

Every Sunday, our church displays fresh flower arrangements during worship. They remind me of the beauty of creation, and the frailty of life. After worship, the flowers are composed into smaller arrangements and delivered to people who are home-bound or in the hospital. They truly are an offering of love and grace. 

Source

12"x24"
Oil on Canvas

with Palette Knife

SOLD

What is your source? What grounds you and keeps you sane during the week? What gives you a sense of identity, purpose and belonging? My source is in God. It is faith in God that gives me courage, strength and freedom. In God, I find belonging, identity and calling. 

This is an abstract exploring the concept of source. It resembles water trailing down a rocky hillside from an unseen source above. In the painting, there is strength and grace as well as mystery and certainty.

Hope #1

2.5"x3.5" Oil on Board

with Palette Knife

ACEO

As a new member of The Arts Council of Williamson County, I'll be attending my first holiday event soon. At the event, members will be exchanging  ACEOs, "Artist Card Originals and Editions." They are 2.5" x 3.5" in size and are hand painted trading cards. For inspiration for my cards this year, I'm running with my abstracts based on Advent themes. Here is my first one of four paintings based on HOPE and the Advent color of blue.

40 Days: Day 30: I Am the Vine

6"x6" Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

SOLD

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.  You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.  Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

John 15:1-17

40 Days: Day 1: Ash

6"x6" Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

SOLD

Today begins the 2016 season of Lent. Ash Wednesday. The season starts with a service where a cross of ashes is drawn onto worshipers foreheads. The words, "From dust you came and to dust you shall return" is proclaimed. We are reminded that we are imperfect, temporary, fragile creatures. It is a very humbling experience. 

But here's another truth. God chose to lovingly take the most meaningless of stuff to create a masterpiece—us.  And flawed and frail as we are—destined to be dust—we are God's beloved. The cross that is placed on our heads also remind us of God's saving love that endures beyond death itself.

In life and in death, we belong to God.

The Sower

8"x10" Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

SOLD

30 Paintings in 30 Days: January, 2015—Day 6

Today's painting is another illumination. This time the subject is Jesus' parable of The Sower.  

"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold."

We tend to reflect on what kinds of soil we are. But recently, I've been thinking about the Sower. The Sower doesn't worry about getting ALL of the seed into the good soil. The seed is liberally thrown about everywhere. Once distributed, nature takes care of the rest. Jesus tells this parable to his Disciples, I think, to prepare them for ministry. We should spread grace the same way God gives us grace—to all—not just those who appear to be worthy.

So this painting's view of the Sower is from the ground up—for we are indeed the soil. What we see from that vantage point is a prodigal Sower, joyfully throwing seeds of grace to all the world. 

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

6"x6" Oil on Gessoed Panel

with Palette Knife

Click HERE to Purchase

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: September—Day 14.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, 
tune my heart to sing thy grace; 
streams of mercy, never ceasing, 
call for songs of loudest praise. 
Teach me some melodious sonnet, 
sung by flaming tongues above. 
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, 
mount of thy redeeming love. 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; 
hither by thy help I'm come; 
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, 
safely to arrive at home. 
Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
wandering from the fold of God; 
he, to rescue me from danger, 
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor 
daily I'm constrained to be! 
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, 
bind my wandering heart to thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
prone to leave the God I love; 
here's my heart, O take and seal it, 
seal it for thy courts above.

Text: Robert Robinson, 1735-1790 
Music: Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second 
Tune: NETTLETON

Acoustic

6"x6" Oil on Gessoed Panel

with Palette Knife

SOLD

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: September—Day 13.

I think the acoustic guitar is a marvelous instrument. The variety of sounds that can be made with a single guitar is amazing. In a world full of electronic sound, it's so refreshing to hear the unplugged mellow tones of the acoustic guitar. This is my guitar. Sadly, I don't know how to play it very well, but it was certainly fun to paint for today's post.