Hey Jude

The subject of the piece below is not the Beatles' song, but the Book of Jude, which has many similarities with 2 Peter. Both books denounce the false teachers who have infiltrated the church.

Hey Jude (2008) (17 1/4" x 11")

collage and acrylic on tin panel

The photographic reproduction looks out of focus since the piece was done on a mounted tin ceiling panel which has a raised design.

Babel and Pentacost -- The Great Reversal

It has been often remarked by commentators on the Bible that the miracle on the Day of Pentacost (Acts 2), when people of all nations could understand the Apostles in their own language, is a sort of reversal of the  Tower of Babel story related in Genesis 11.  The assemblage below is an attempt to picture this contrast. The Genesis incident appears in the inside of the box and the events in Acts are shown inside the door.

The Great Reversal (2008) (13" x 15 1/2" x 8 1/2")

assemblage in surveyor's box

The Great Reversal (door)

Handling Disputes -- Matthew 5:23-26 and I Corinthians 6:1-8

Between the similar passages Matthew 5:23-26 and I Corinthians 6:1-8, Christians are taught both the practical and theological reasons for settling their disputes within a church setting rather than resorting to the civil courts. I know from personal experience that this can be a very effective means of resolving problems that could have resulted in a rather messy, time-consuming and expensive legal procedure.

Suers (2005) (16" x 20")

The Seven Deadly Sins

This assemblage was constructed inside the remains of an antique vending machine (probably for magazines or newspapers). The one metallic wall was covered on the inside with an inspiration collage. The items in the collage were then duplicated in three dimensions using a found piece of pottery, a wooden foundry mold, an old player piano roll, and shards of polymer clay.  The seven characters inhabiting this barren land were molded out of polymer clay and represent the Seven Deadly Sins. See if you can identify them all. They are each in a prison of their own making.  As C. S. Lewis said, "The gates of hell are locked from the inside."

Prisoners (2010) (12" x 16" x 10 3/8" high)

front view

top view

left

right

Literary Inspirations

Years before settling in on biblical subjects for my art, I took other literary works for my inspiration. Two examples are shown below:

Tales from the Decameron, Fourth Day (1961) (20" x 24")

watercolor on canvas board

This piece was a technical challenge since watercolor is not easily adhered to prepared canvas. To solve it, I added a trace of surfactant to the watercolor solutions. This procedure was not always successful, and some of my early pieces using this technique did not survive without significant flaking. When dry, excess paint was scraped off with a razor blade to expose the grain of the canvas. Final details were added with opaque watercolors.

Two Figures from "The Castle" (1962) (11 1/2" x 9 3/4")

oil on sand and plywood



Franz Kafka's novel was the inspiration for this piece. Sand was glued on the plywood board to form the two figures, and then oil paint was applied to complete the picture.

Peaceable Kingdom

Early American folk artist Edward Hicks (1790-1849) is best known for his series of paintings around the theme sounded in Isaiah 11:6-9: "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." (NRSV)

Peaceable Kingdom (2013) (16" x 20")

collage on canvas



I'm especially proud of the little touch of having the girl holding an Easter basket, since it is only because of Christ's sacrifice that Isaiah's vision will take place in reality.

The Book of Daniel

I am currently leading a home Bible study through the intriguing Book of Daniel.  Its literary structure is a bit puzzling since the first six chapters consist of stories and the last six of visions. However, chapters 1 and 8-12 are written in Hebrew while chapters 2-7 are in Aramaic. The best explanation is that Chapter 1 is  written in Hebrew since it introduces the whole book while Aramaic is used for chapters 2-6 since they portray the Jews living in a foreign land. Before reverting to the Hebrew language for the universal messages of the last half, Chapter 7 was also written in Aramaic to help tie together the two halves of the book.

Feet of Clay (2004) (14 1/2" x 30")

mixed media on canvas

The famous story of the statue with feet of clay appears in Daniel 2 as part of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  This piece was quite laborious to prepare and included a background of collaged paper scraps soaked in dilute acrylic paint/glue mixtures combined with a central figure built up with metal foil, gilding and thick acrylic paint.  The final result is not at all satisfying and resembles a soccer player more than anything else.

Handwriting on the Wall (2004)

collage and acrylic on canvas

This piece turned out a bit better and was prepared by use of semi-opaque acrylic over a paper collage.

Behold, A Man (2004)

mixed media on canvas

The sky in this piece was prepared as in "Feet of Clay," with the rest formed with numerous small paper cutouts. The head is made of collaged polyurethane, and the translucent robe of the figure was added with an acrylic wash and gilt.  This collage pictures the start of Daniel's vision by the River Tigris described in Daniel 10.

Ezekiel 1 and 10 -- Wheels Within Wheels

One type of medium I enjoy working in is a combination of wood sculpture, assemblage and collage. The piece below began with an old hat mold, a shoe mold, and several wooden spools.

Wheels Within Wheels (2002) (12" x 9" x 4 1/2")



Some of the most perplexing passages in the Old Testament appear in Ezekiel 1 and 10 and I Kings 7.  They attempt to describe the undescribable: the four living creatures (or cherubim) and the vehicle in which they travel. Some of the symbology is obvious, such as the many eyes representing God's omniscience, but most of the details remain as puzzling as the sculpture above conveys.

The Days of Noah

As part of Jesus' "Little Apocalypse" recorded in Luke 17:20-37, he states that conditions right before the Second Coming will be like the days of Noah just before the flood. This has caused some commentators to turn immediately to Genesis and note that the people on earth at that time were evil beyond measure. They then draw the parallel to today's world and conclude that Jesus is bound to come within a very short time span.  What they fail to note is that Jesus goes on in Luke's account to explain that the people in Noah's time were carrying on their daily activities of life without a clue that judgment was about to hit them.  In fact, one could almost draw the logical conclusion from these verses that the more people talk about our living in the last generation, the less likely it is to be true.

As in the Days of Noah (2007) (16 3/4" x 15 1/2" x 4 1/2")

assemblage in old wooden cash box

Technically, this is more complex than most of my assemblages and involves collage, watercolor, acrylic, thread, clock parts imbedded in polystyrene, and a plexiglass sheet.

The Book of Numbers

Here is another piece utilizing Japanese playing cards; this one illustrates the Book of Numbers:

Numbers (2005) (8 3/4" x 6 1/2" x 3 1/2" closed)

assemblage in wooden slide holder

There were places for 36 slides in this box, which suggested the Book of Numbers as an appropriate subject for the piece since there are 36 chapters in that book. A small collage was created for each of the playing cards to illustrate the contents of each chapter. The inside lid contains a map of the Holy Land and a lion. The latter is quite visible in the picture above, but disappears when viewed from a slightly higher elevation due to a transverse row of translucent plastic strips.  This symbolizes the hidden Lion of Judah to come--the Messiah.

Cain and Abel

Fratricide (2009) (12" x 5" x 2 1/4") (inside view)

assemblage in wooden box

Fratricide (outside lid)

Fratricide (inside lid)

Peter's Denial and Restoration

Simon Peter is one of the most complex characters in the New Testament, by turns swaggering and cowardly, devout and doubting. C.S. Lewis has well captured his personality in the mouse Reepacheep of Prince Caspian fame.

Rockfalls (2009) (10" x 3 3/4" x 5")

assemblage in wooden box

This piece centers on Peter's denial of Christ and its aftermath. The crowing cock can be seen on the Japanese playing cards on the lid.

Rockfalls (inside lid)

 Images of Petros (the rock), Christ's command to "feed my sheep," and the serpent tempting Peter are intermingled here.

Rockfalls (interior)



Peter's dual nature and ultimate fate are portrayed in the interior of the assemblage..

Fleeing Phantoms

Proverbs 28:1 notes that "the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Besides being a good example of Hebrew antithetic parallelism and the use of simile, the thought of the parable is a good one to ponder.

Fleeing Phantoms (2012) (14" x 11")

collage on canvas

Matthew 18:1-11

Two of the Gospel writers record Jesus solemn warning against those who would mislead a little child (see Matthew 18:1-11 and Mark 9:33-42).  These verses are also a reminder that the penalty for sin is greater than merely dying and ceasing to exist.

Little Ones (2008) (9" x 11 1/2" x 4 1/2")

mixed media assemblage

Ecclesiastes 3

One of my favorite songs is The Byrds' version of Pete Seeger's "To Everything There is a Season (Turn Turn Turn)." The lyrics, of course, are taken practically verbatim from Ecclesiastes 3. This poem was the subject of my latest collage in which the various opposing activities of life are superimposed on the annual cycle of the seasons.

Seasons (2013) (3' x 1')

Revelation 4-5

My cubist phase was rather short-lived, consisting of only one painting, shown below. It is a rendering of the backyard of the house I grew up in, three blocks from MGM Studios (now Sony). You may be able to distinguish features such as clothesline poles, garage windows, garbage can and pet cat. However, there is no central point of interest--an apt description of my life at the time.

Backyard (1959) (9" x 12")

oil on canvas board

A more recent composition is somewhat similar in its haphazard arrangement of subjects, but this one definitely has a center point.

Around the Throne (2010)

collage on canvas

The scene is the heavenly throne room described in Revelation 4-5, and the composition was inspired by Paul Klee's "Around the Fish," another painting utilizing religious symbolism.

Nichos

The word nicho usually refers to a small wooden or metal shrine used in Latin American countries for adoration of a saint. Living in Texas, I have had access to discarded nichos to utilize for some of my assemblages.  Two are shown below:

Sighted in Gaza (2003) (10" x 12 3/4" x 3 3/4")

This nicho was picked up at the annual Round Top Antique Fair along with the doll shown above. They seemed to go together and were used for illustrating the final event in Samson's life when he brought down the Philistine temple by toppling its main pillars. Interestingly, archeologists have only excavated one Philistine temple so far, and its two supporting pillars were located very close together.

A Wonder in Heaven (2005) (8" x 13 1/2" x 4")

This rather crudely made nichos was used as the basis for an assemblage depicting the vision in Revelation 12 concerning a pregnant woman in heaven delivering a son which a dragon attacks. There have been several interpretations of this symbolic vision with disagreement as to whether the son represents Israel, the church, or Jesus. All of these references may have been in mind by the author.

Back in Time

My very early forays into art were few and far between. When I was in the second grade, I painted a picture of a liquor bottle surrounded by abstract visions. My uncle liked it so much, he took it home to display. I didn't do any other original art until I was 17 years old. That piece, shown below, is still untitled since I have no idea what the subject is. It was intended to be hung from the ceiling and is a mixed media composition (oil, sand, cardboard, cloth, wire, wax, map pin and cork) on a wooden board.

untitled-side 1 (1959) (12" x 17")

untitled-side 2

Luke 17 -- Healing of the Ten Lepers

One Came Back (2004) (8" x 4 1/2" x 1 1/2" closed)

The above assemblage was constructed using ten needle holders and a sewing machine attachment inside a wooden box. It represents the ten lepers described in Luke 17 who were healed by Jesus. They were all physically healed, but only the one who praised God and fell at Jesus' feet was spiritually healed as well. How often do we pray to God for help but forget to thank him when he answers us?

Revelation 20

The Revelation to John is a wonderful source of artistic imagery whether one is a post-, pre-, or a-millennialist.  While the exact meaning of the symbolism in the twentieth chapter of this book is hard to grasp, it obviously pertains to a time when Satan is let loose to wreak havoc on the world for a limited period after being bound for a long time.

The Beast Unleashed (2005) (15" x 4" x 4")

The materials used to construct this assemblage were as diverse as the images in Rev. 20. They include a box for storing microscope slides, the mechanism from an old shoe stretcher, a child's wooden block, a spindle, and an antique dentifrice bottle.

The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross

Famous Last Words (2008) (8 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 3")

assemblage in wooden box

The so-called Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross are actually seven short sentences.  The most controversial of these is "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Most preachers explain that God had to turn his face away from Christ since he had taken on all the sins of the earth and God cannot look upon sin. A more plausible interpretation involves the fact that Christ was actually quoting the beginning of Psalm 22. That psalm does begin in despair but ends by proclaiming God's deliverance to mankind.

I Corinthians 15:21-22: The Second Adam

The Second Adam (2007) (5 3/4" x 7 3/4" x 2 3/8")

assemblage in shadow box

"For since death came by way of a man, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a man; for as all die in Adam, so will all be made alive in Christ." (I Corinthians 15:21-22)

"First Examine Yourself"

In I Corinthians 14, Paul gives instruction that those in the church taking communion should first examine themselves. He follows this teaching with the statement: "For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves."  Some have felt that "body" meant Jesus' body given in sacrifice, but a more likely interpretation is that it refers to the church body. There is probably no need to chose between these alternative explanations since the church is the body of Christ.

"First Examine Yourself" (2010) (12" x 12")

collage on canvas

Matthew 7:13-14: Two Ways

One of the many problem passages for those who believe in universal salvation is Jesus' pronouncement given during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by way of the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. But the gate is narrow and road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Two Ways (2010) (12" x 12")

paper collage and gilt on canvas