God-Breathed: A New Series

Greetings friends,

Today, I finished a new piece that is part of a new series I've decided to do.  I'm calling it "God-Breathed", and it includes two pieces that you've already seen - To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain and Wake the Dead.  This new one is called Heavy Laden.

Heavy Laden
oil on canvas
36x24 inches
2015

So, the idea behind this series is to show themes that are directly inspired by some of my favorite passages of Scripture.  I'm also trying some new, bolder techniques with paint texture and abstraction.  I've been inspired by some other painters and pieces recently, and I'm hoping these new works of mine will take the viewer to a different place and a different atmosphere than many of my previous works have before.

One thing you will notice with each of the paintings in this series is a literal, visual play between black and white - the Light and the Dark.  Good, and Evil.  The Holy Spirit, and Satan.  In the Gospel, there is always this spiritual battle.  And the good news of it all is that we are victorious over sin and death by the love, grace, and power of Jesus Christ who has defeated evil and given eternal life to those who confess Him as Lord and Savior.  Though we die, we live again.  We are burdened, but He gives us rest.

Some of the themes of this series involve a few in-your-face issues of our time - Christian persecution, sin and indifference, burdened lives, vanity, the value of human life, and others.  So with that, I'm trying to conceive some bold imagery in these pieces.  Not necessarily to just paint a pretty, comfortable picture.  My hope is to not hold back.  To present the truth of the Gospel in visual form (as I've always tried to) in a way that honors God through the gifts with which He has graced me.

Hope you will stay tuned for more to come in this series.  I'm excited for all that is to come!