With 2017 being the 500th year of the still-ongoing Reformation of the Christian church I thought it appropriate to do a painting of Martin Luther, the guy given most of the credit for starting it all.
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My goal was to illustrate how this movement helped bring the world from the stark, black and white of the Dark Ages into the color of the Renaissance. But there is also the hint of flames and smoke because with every great advance the world is also set afire.
Acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 36″
Forty days. Forty nights. Still no sign of rain.
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This painting is based on John 20:11-16, especially verse 16. It is dedicated to a high school classmate and good friend, Mike Minick, who died in 2014. He had given the canvas to me and after his death I decided to do a painting with a religious theme. I was inspired by that instant in time after Jesus says Mary Magdalene’s name but before she realizes it is Him. I feel that she represents us all because we have heard Jesus’ name but we don’t yet fully realize what that means.
I was also inspired by a sculpture by artist Bruce Wolfe of the same encounter between Mary and Jesus. I used his Mary as my ‘model.’ I originally had Jesus in the painting but I removed Him because I wanted the focus to be on Mary.
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It was unveiled December 11, 2016 during a concert at the Dallas Museum of Biblical Arts and dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017, Pastor Rich Pounds officiating, at Central Lutheran Church in Dallas, where it now hangs in the narthex.
Acrylic on canvas, 62″ x 62″
Our choir gave a Lenten concert at the Dallas Museum of Biblical Arts. The theme was “Following Jesus to the Cross.” The music also acknowledged Martin Luther and the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Christian Reformation. For the brochure I placed the Luther Rose on a wooden cross.
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Digital illustration
I offer a sincere Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends.
Acrylic on matboard, 9″ X 11″
I rarely repeat any art that I do. This is an exception. Last year about this time I did an Advent illustration for my church. Just to be different I did it in a mosaic/stained glass technique. I immediately decided I would do a different, more realistic version. I used it for my 2016 Christmas Card.
Click this link to see the earlier version. Las Posadas
Pen and Ink, Color Pencil on paper, 10″ x 10″
Another request from the church. This is for the Halloween “Trunk or Treat” event. Cars line up in the church parking lot and distribute candy to all the little monsters who happen by.
The church asked me to come up with a drawing for the Blessing of the Animals observance. Here it is:
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I was asked to come up with art for a religious concert. The event, titled, “A Journey to the Cross with Jesus,” was a chronology of Lent and Holy Week with musical selections in six sections. 1. Ash Wednesday, 2. Following Jesus, 3. Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday), 4. Gethsemane, 5. The Cross, and 6. The Resurrection.
I had to work quickly because I thought I might have to go out of town. I didn’t, but that’s another story. I chose to do simple drawings, concentrating on hands to illustrate the action. I positioned them in the shape of a cross and used typical Easter pastels to color them.
Digital illustration
