Going to Print

Nothing like a deadline to bring a work to completion.  I am finally pleased with it.  I am taking it to print in the morning.   Now it needs a title.  the working title is "sacrifice," but it has spoken so much more than that to me over these last few weeks.  I've got a few days to decide on the title.  I am submitting this painting and Co-Heir in the Bear Valley Visual Arts Show, which will run through the 26th.  I'll let you know how it is received.  

I've was invited to speak at Cherry Hills Community Church.  This image will likely be the centerpiece of that engagement.  We haven't finalized the date yet.  It will be sometime this summer after I am through with finals.

The Sacrifice

How do you know when you have given enough?

When can you say, "I need?"

I might die before you right now,

But I will do so for you.

This is Sacrifice

And I give all

Like a Mustard Seed

This little concept sketch about faith was developed for a "make a gift for < $5" exchange. I'm not completely satisfied with it. The woman as "Faith rooted in prayer" needs to be a bit more stylized.

Split

I am the tree
Split by the Word
Shot like Lightening
Bone and Marrow
Soul and Spirit
Phased

I am the tree
Splayed all to see
Calm and frightening
Light and Dark
Turmoil and Tumult
Assuaged

I am the tree
Dipped in the blood
Like hysop brushed
Post and Lintel
Red right and center
Page

Unto A Point

"It is not by might, and not by power, but by My Spirit" says the Lord of Hosts.

We are under-girded and enabled unto a point!

Singularity!

Unity!

Co-Heir

I attended the International mentoring Conference, and participated in the creativity as mentor workshops. I was overwhelmed. Interacting with the people from around the country and world who were there and seeing the images I created impact their spirits blew me away.
Here are some comments I received about the co-heir image:

"It is so alive, the movement."

"I feel invited in."

"The spiral of people and the way it extends off the canvas makes me feel like it is a larger picture. There are more people involved in this connected chain. I am in that picture somewhere."

"The wounded hand in the center... It is all about that isn’t it."

"There is something of the resurrected body here."

"If I saw this when I died, I would be happy."

"The bowing/worshiping figure captures me."

"They are all connected!"

"This is the great cloud of witnesses, I am urged to run the race."

As I reflected on the conference, I realized that the co-heir image is where I AM. Where I want to be. I sketched a joyous picture “out of the mouth the heart speaks.” I could clearly say that Christ is what has overflowed from my heart. “No longer sin reigns in me.”

I had a hard time drawing light, joyous, happy images before. For the next several days that was all I could draw. I had connected with an inner place of great peace and joy. It felt sustaining. I made the co-heir image my desktop. Every time I look at it I feel reminded that Christ stands inviting me into that place of active joyful engagement.

Transitional

This is a yearning. A transition between sin and co-heir. A picture of repentance. A picture of found peace.

Sin

I had presented my sin image to my small group and saw that it did not just portray my sin. It sparked a discussion about sin that was real, honest, open. It allowed people to comment on what they saw about sin in that image. Many times what they saw was different from what I saw or felt as I made it. They were putting their own understanding and processing of sin into the image. It was an effective tool for delving into the heart of a difficult to discuss topic.

Here are a collection of comments I have had about the sin image in several contexts.

“That eye says, ‘ Don’t you look at me.’”

“That eye says, ‘I can’t believe I did that again.’”

“I am at one time repulsed by this image, and unable to look away.”

“This is sin in a person who knows it is bad. Sin could have looked seductive, but this is a view of sin as incredibly damaging.”

“That’s not what I thought it would look like at all. It looks pathetic. I thought sin would look more proud, angry and strong.”

“It looks sick, diseased, heavy…”

“Erik, that image has been in my head all week. It is something about that eye. I want to focus on the co-heir image, but I can’t get past the sin image.”

“Erik, I told my kids about the image. They want to see it. Can I have a copy?”

“I am comforted to know others feel the way I do.”

My eyes are welling with tears as I remember the insights that people shared as they processed the image. It really does have facility. God used and spoke through my art. I am moved. Humbled.

Expectations

I expected to see the fruit of artistic expression as an appropriate outlet for stress. I found that I did indeed feel relieved and refreshed through practice of art. I used to fear that being artistic meant I had to live in strong emotion. Instead I find that through art I can experience, express, and move on with emotion. Emotion leaves the tormented place inside my head, and finding expression, it takes residence on a piece of paper where I can reflect on it more objectively.

I expected the practice of artistry would provide time of silence, solitude, meditation, and reflection before God. I encountered this in spades. I have fallen in love with my sketch journal. Not only as a place to record ideas, but a tool for remembering and marking what God has shown.

I expected to gain a new model and praxis for artistry as part of a wholly surrendered Christian walk. This was a struggle. I had many doubts about the holiness and usefulness of art in life and ministry. I had relegated it to icing, instead of the core cake of my life. Indeed, as I surrendered my pen back to the Lord, I have found new joy and life in being a Christian artist. This has not replaced the call or yearning for pastoral ministry; it has colored it. It is now rendered lifelike, real, vibrant, and personal to me. I am very excited about this.

Raised

Baptism is a profound mystery. I love how God has left us physical cues (clues?) to his inner workings. We are burried in death and raised to new life in Christ. It is symbol. It is a statement of faith. It is an ordinance, a sacrament, a thing of beauty.

The Truth

We fight, we rest
We run, we weep
We grind ourselves up
We turn and turn and turn

He scolds, He holds
He comforts, He molds
He heals, He persists
He stays firm and firm and firm

We learn