40 Days: Day 32: Geometric Crosses

8.5""x11" Digital Art

Click Here for Digital Download

These cross designs illustrate the beautiful mystery of grace through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. They also express the complexity (and simplicity) of following Christ in today's world.

40 Days: Day 31: Infinity Crosses

8.5""x11" Digital Art

Click Here for Digital Download

Still making up for lost time, here are three infinity cross designs. These crosses have no beginning or end. Likewise, God's love for us never ends. Trace these crosses and think about all of the ways God continues to love you. Try drawing infinity crosses of your own. 

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.

40 Days: Day 20: Rugged Cross

5"x7" Oil on Canvas Panel

with Palette Knife

SOLD

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51

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.

Painting Petals

6"x6" Oil on Gessoed Panel

with Palette Knife

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge—Day 26.

Today, my daughter and I painted together. We found a photo that we took last summer of some wild petunias. She loved the color. I loved the cross-like symmetry of the leaves. She painted with acrylics and finished much faster and, in many ways, better than I. She came up with the title "Petals." It was a lot of fun, and great memories.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Here we are, at the end of the Lenten season, about to remember the last supper and death of our Lord. I wanted to post this painting I made of our church's cross as a reflection of this season. Ironically, I took the photo on my way to Ash Wednesday service, at the beginning of the season. Our church is blessed with beautiful sunset views. I saw this scene and snapped a photo with my phone. But as I painted it, I realized this image reveals a lot more about Lent than I had initially seen.

First is the time of day. Dusk. A time where colors become passionate and vivid as the light of day descends to the horizon of darkness. The lenten story remembers the death of Christ, the "Light of the World." When he died, the world fell into shadow. I like how these dusk colors show the light not yet gone, struggling to illuminate with the stripes of mint blue, pink and purple close to the horizon.

Next is the moon. Good Friday and Easter are not celebrated on the same day every year like Christmas. The calendar is lunar-based as they are tied to the jewish Passover. The Passover was the context for the Last Supper.

There is the purple cloth. The cross is draped in purple during Lent. It conjures up thoughts of Christ's passion. He was mocked as "King of the Jews," adorned with a robe and a crown of thorns. Purple is a color associated with many lenten images. It is the color of royalty. It is the color of wine, the cup poured out for us. It is the color of bruising, for Christ was beaten, scourged and crucified. And I would contend it is a color of deep, deep love.

Then there is the wind blowing the cloth. The Holy Spirit is often described as wind. It makes a good metaphor for the Holy Spirit because like the spirit, wind itself is invisible and can only be seen by its effects. There was a lot of unseen power at work in the saving death of Christ. A power we can now see in its effect in our lives.

Finally, there is the cross itself. A shape resembling the manner in which Christ died. He was crucified – a tortuous, brutal death. But this cross is not really a cross of death. It is a cross of victory over death. It is empty. Christ is no longer here. He is risen. That is the surprise ending to the story. It is the good news and the Easter hope to which we cling. This is a Celtic Cross. The circle represents the halo of victory and the ring of eternity. Even as we take time to pause and reflect on Christ's death, secretly, deep down, our souls smile in the assurance that sin and death no longer has a hold on us.

So there it is. A brief moment at the end of an average day. A moment almost missed in the hustle and bustle of life, even going to church. A moment that, when seen with eyes of faith, can reveal a lifetime of mystery and an eternity of grace.

A good Holy Week to you all.

And a most happy Easter.

The Vine

Every fall, for the past few years, I have had the honor of exhibiting my work in an art show/sale for St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. The premiss of the show is to raise funds for the church by selling "faith-inspired" art. Although I’m not Catholic, this is right up my alley. Many of the pieces you will see on my blog have been in these shows. My wife, Rhonda, and I have an agreement: I can devote the time to paint for the show as long as I come up with something we would put up in our home in case it didn't sell. Fair enough.

The inspiration for this piece came from three origins. The first creative germ came from the Gospel of John, chapter 15. "I am the vine, you are the branches. Remain in me and you will bear much fruit." This scripture was read at our wedding, and has always been a core scripture for us. The second germ came from a childhood memory of Rhonda's. As a child, she used to play hide and seek under the beams of grape vines in a vineyard. She told of how light danced about underneath the canopy of grapes. She described to me how the support frames for the vines reminded her of a cross. And finally, Rhonda has always wanted a piece depicting the elements of communion in a natural way. So after blending the three ideas together, and doing some research, I created this piece entitled "The Vine".

There actually is a lot of things going on in this piece. At first glance, it looks like a cross with grapes hanging form it. But the support structure is actually "T-shaped". I deliberately hid that fact with a bunch of grapes to create the "allusion" of a cross. This makes the connection to the verse. It also speaks to one of the great "I AM" sayings about Jesus and God's Sacrificial Love that is the foundation for our love. There is a lot of light dancing about in the scene, peaking thru the leaves, ripening the grapes and casting shadows on the beam. This makes the piece very elemental with themes of Earth, Light and Communion. The grapes are turning to full ripeness. They are in the process of turning. Some faster than others. Not yet fully ripe. Not all green. So is the community of faith, or our own personal faith.

Happily for Rhonda, this piece never sold. Probably because it was really meant for her. It now hangs in our foyer. There is a lot of natural light in our foyer which accentuates the light in the painting. So if you ever stop by to visit and see it, you'll know the backstory behind it.

Wherever you are in the vine of God's Love, may you continue to bloom. And as we play in the fields of our God and come to the table of Grace, may this painting be a reminder of our identity and relationship to our Lord.