Devotional Drawing

Today I was reading Romans 9 and saw this verse. “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” Romans 9:21 (NIV)

Here’s what I came up with.

Ten Paintings One Canvas-or What Lies Beneath?

Back from vacation and I want to share my vacation project with all of you. Please share this video with others, I consider this to be one of the best things I have been blessed to make so far.

I’ll be the first one to admit it, this one started out as a mistake, well actually more of a misstep. I set out to document a new painting idea I had, but quite frankly it didn’t come out quite the way I wanted so I decided to paint over it. I was also experimenting with doing the video as stop motion so I decided to keep filming and what I came up with is probably my favorite video to date. What started out as a meaningless little experiment ended up being very profound to me.

The idea behind the video is pretty simple. Ten paintings on one canvas, one on top of another culminating in a self-portrait. To me, very simply it’s a reminder that when we look at someone, we never know what’s behind the surface unless we are willing to spend some time looking beneath the surface. More simply put, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Remember not all the pieces in this work are autobiographical though they become increasingly moreso as we go along. Strangely, I went into this piece not looking for any meaning to come out of it but as it moved along it became more and more meaningful. It even ended up being the illustration I used for my sermon on June 27 which can be seen on my Tangle page. I recorded this message in my studio prior to the service, as an experiment.

I am going to resist the temptation to explain all the elements of the video and let you make your own interpretation. As you’ll see in the sermon that is something I am not completely comfortable with. I usually like to explain myself so I am not misinterpreted but that is sort of the point of all of this.

When you look at people, resist the temptation to make snap judgements and actually get to know them. Meet them right where they are and find out what makes them tick. That’s sort of what Jesus did. We could argue that He already knew what made them tick, but no one could argue that He met people right where they are and took them where He created them too be. At least I know that’s what He did for me.