Improved Paintings

The previous post (September 20^th) showed three paintings that were completed during a service at Eastern Hills Bible Church. As is described in the previous post, these paintings were partially covered by other painting done during the service. Remnants of that painting are present in the “He Saves” painting. Also, time constraints left the face of baby Jesus (in “He Came”) and the swaddling cloth weakly rendered. Therefore, portions of “He Came” and “He Saves” were repainted. Their final forms are shown below. Red was added to “He Saves” to more directly suggest the blood of Jesus. Also, in the lower torso of the person in praise is a hint of the washing away of the “crimson stain.”

STORY BEHIND THE FOLLOWING THREE PAINTINGS

Occasionally, art is created on stage during our church services. The purpose of creating the art is to augment the messages delivered in the sermon. During one particular service, my job was to visually present, in paint, some of Jesus’ impact on the world. I chose to illustrate Jesus’ role in creation (He Spoke), His incarnation or arrival on Earth (He Came), and the salvation He offers (He Saves). All three paintings were partially completed before the service. Large portions of two of the paintings (He Spoke and He Saves) were covered with frisket, a plastic material which sticks to the painting surface but can be easily removed without disturbing the painting beneath. Prior to the service the frisket was painted to obscure the painting beneath and to set the stage for the painting that occurred during the service. At appropriate times during the service the frisket was removed to reveal the painting beneath. This technique allowed one panel to be used to show two different images related to the same event. The paintings below show the final paintings after the frisket was removed. For example, the picture of our present day Earth (He Spoke) was revealed when the frisket was removed from an abstract painting of creation painted during the service.

HE SPOKE

This 36” x 36” painting started as a black square with a white rectangle at the center. Painted frisket obscured the painting beneath. The white rectangle was there only to allow me to show a bright red form at the center of the painting. During the service, the Earth as a formless mass, the waters above and below, and light were painted abstractly to illustrate some of elements of Genesis 1. After people had a little time to view the finished abstract painting, the frisket (and abstract painting) was removed to show the Earth, as we know it today.

HE CAME

This 30” x 75” painting started with the graduated sky leading down to a low horizon line with the upside down cross painted lightly at the bottom (to foreshadow the sacrifice to come). During the service, the star was added at the top of the painting, the swaddled baby Jesus was painted, and the hills and land mass were added at the bottom. Actually, the face of baby Jesus had been painted prior to the service and was covered with frisket which was removed during the service.

HE SAVES

This 40” x 75” painting started with the orange-yellow color down the sides leading to the bottom of the painting which showed a darkly painted head of a downcast person. The central area of the painting from the top down to the head was painted white or with light values. During the service a large, rusty Roman nail, representing Christ’s suffering, was painted toward the top of the painting. A narrow stream of red (blood) was painted down from the tip of the nail toward the downcast head. A drop of red separated from the stream and headed down toward the head. Toward the end of the service the congregation sang the song entitled, “Jesus Paid it All.” The refrain for that song is: “Jesus paid it all, 
All to Him I owe; 
Sin had left a crimson stain, 
He washed it white as snow.” As the refrain was being sung, the frisket was removed from the top and bottom of the painting to reveal a smiling Christ and a person in praise with outstretched arms – He Saves.

Brooke Flying for Susan Ogilvie

I've shown this painting before on my blog. I've copied it again here so that Susan Ogilvie can easily find it.

Ellie WC

This is a watercolor portrait of Ellie the year she graduated from Syracuse University. Ellie used to work in the coffee shop in Hendrick's Chapel. Ellie knew everyone's name, knew how they preferred their coffee, and met everyone with enthusiasm and a great smile. She was also delightfully "crazy" and yet had a "no nonsense" side to her as well. She would make a wonderful teacher and eventually entered a graduate program leading to teacher certification. Just before Ellie graduated, she posed for me in the great light of the Hendrick's Chapel. I've turned two of the over 100 photos of Ellie into paintings. My first painting was done with pastel and the second (shown here) was painted with watercolor. Both paintings show Ellie in a serious or contemplative mood. I'm not quite sure why I was drawn to the more somber mood, but it surely wasn't her typical demeanor. The more technical goals of this painting were: to loosen up, cut back on detail, leave white paper, and reveal some of the defining properties of watercolor. I made some progress toward meeting those goals, but I still have a long way to go.

Watermelon Party 1903

This is a watercolor painting from a picture that was published in a book entitled "The Way We Were." The book was published by the newspaper company (The Pilot) in our town of Southport, NC. Wanda Cornelius, a member of our watercolor painting group, arranged with the Associated Artists of Southport and two local galleries to show paintings based on images in the book. My entry shown here leaves out some of the people in the photograph and takes liberty with color and some of the buildings in the background. Around the turn of the century a Quarantine Station was located just off shore from the village of Southport. When the station was no longer used for its intended purposes, the station became a place to visit for recreation. The painting is of the watermelon party on the dock of the Quarantine Station.

Fish Factory Evangelism

This is a watercolor of an old fish processing factory. It's on the waterfront in Southport, NC. It's abandoned and falling apart. But on it's exterior is a white, wooden cross someone has attached to the building. I've learned, but have not verified, that a group of Christians at one time used the vacated building as a meeting place. The old building has been about gathering fish from the beginning until the present. Jesus at one timed asked his disciples to become fishers of men. What started out as a place to receive and process fish, became a place where human "fish" gathered and fished for others.