Generally I build a wooden panel. I will usually cut the wood myself, and then nail and glue it together. I then sand the edges to an imperfect roundness. I coat the entire piece with a layer of drywall mud, or what is called in Australia finishing plaster. There will usually be natural cracks and imperfections, I will apply another coat to lesson but not remove these. Then I will apply layer after layer of paint. Each layer I will sand thouroughly by hand. In the end the bottom colors will sand through the top colors revealing the flaws and imperfections of the surface. When the piece is done, I will rub it with my bare hand for sometimes hours. The oils in my hand in effect polishing the piece to an intense sheen. This is very labor intensive, and the process becomes the piece.
In my artwork, the process is like a mantra. It settles my spirit, it connects me to God, it is prayer. The end result hopefully will be the passing on of a spiritual calm, and truth to others.
In part three I will discuss the changing roll of the artist throughout society, and explain why I believe the church should embrace the arts again in our post modern culture. It is in my opinion one of the more exiting distinctives of the emerging church.
the rev
6 comments:
These pieces speak to me of calm and space - perhaps, a stillspace. Thank you for sharing them.
The church has never been great at embracing artists - at least not ones who don't sing or play an instrument.
But we are made in His image, and who is He. The original creator. It would make sense that creativity and Christianity should be synonymous.
"The process becomes the piece" - wow it's very meaningful Rev. Thanks for the insight!
I reckon we can move from being just a spiritual seeker to being a creator, and we are all artists in some ways. I definitely agree that arts are extremely important for the emerging church in this post-christendom era.
Thanks guys, I really appreciate your comments. I hope the creativity of the church becomes again one of our beautiful legacies.
the rev
These pieces are gorgeous! I just want to look at them all day. And does it make me sound like a freak if I admit I really, really would like to run my hands over them?
No it doesn't make you a freak, I actually like people to touch my pieces. They have a very sensual feel. Most people are surprised they don't feel like ceramic, they actually get mistaken for ceramic.
Glad you liked them.
you can see another series of paintings I did called wounds at picturetrail.com under the name reverend, as well as pictures of my family and friends
the rev
Beautiful artwork Rev.
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