painting scripture

(this is a photo of the final painting. i call the painting "You Shall Not Pass" it's based on Revelation 12:7-12.)

when i first became a Christian (just before i entered high school in the mid 80's) i remember going to a youth rally weekend in Wisconsin. the theme of the weekend was the Book of Revelation. i had never read Revelation...actually at that point i hadn't read the Bible in any length at all at that point. all i remember is that the leaders of the weekend had the youth split up into groups and we were to give a presentation on a chapter. i remember my group drawing a huge poster of a dragon. i thought...whoa, a dragon...in the Bible! jump ahead a couple of years and i remember a lot of my Christian friends in high school (who had been raised growing up in the church) had their theories of what meant what in Revelation and they read all the latest books on end times prophecy. me...i wasn't sure what i thought...but Revelation sure was full of imagery and some crazy stuff!

many years later as i attended Bible college, it was mandatory for me to take a course in Biblical Eschatology, and a class solely dedicated to Revelation. they were probably the 2 most boring classes i had ever taken. the professor was one of those monotone types who had graphs and charts plotted out on overheads and we were forced to sit through hours and hours of pre trib, mid trib, post trib theory...and i fell asleep in most of the classes (could explain the D's i got). needless to say...those classes taught me nothing about Revelation.

again...jump forward several years as i was starting my art business. i desired to partner with God in how & why i create art. i began to see new things as i read Revelation. symbolic, artistic, creative, layered, crazy, mysterious images popped out of the pages and realized that Revelation was God's story. it's not just about gloom and doom and fire and hell. it's really about God...and how the world is redeemed, restored, renewed, reformed through Christ. and God is a creative God...it appears that He didn't want to "spoon feed us"...He wanted us to think on it, chew on it, grapple with it, all the while seeking Him and His glory.

i decided to call my art business Revelator Art (but putting the words together as one) because i wanted God to be revealed through my life and my art. yes...i named my business after John the Revelator (that God would be revealed). so this is why most of my paintings are not typical "religious" art...whether i paint a landscape, a portrait, or an abstract...my prayer is that God would be revealed in a creative way to the viewer.

the book of Revelation is not black and white. it's not "this is this and that is that". it's God's art. it's meant to be freakin mysterious...and by that mystery we get to experience God in a creative way.

anyways...back to my point about this post.

tonight i got to paint during the "Revelation Uncorked" class at VCF Boise. the teacher is giving all of us a creative and fresh look at the apocalyptic scripture...focusing not on plotting eschatological charts & interpreting the news as end time prophesy...but rather, giving recognition to a God who is so creative that He purposefully gave a vision to be written down that would speak of the depth of His mystery. the class is not a theological dissertation on what is what...but it is an opportunity to give glory to God for who He is. we're being challenged by the utilization of film clips, book quotes, and a reading from "Word on the Street" a paraphrased Bible from the UK, along with me painting an abstract expressionist collage).


these photos were taken as i painted while the teacher read Revelation. the painting is not finished. i will finish it next week in the final class time. i am doing a painting of Rev. 12:7-12 when Michael the ArchAngel defeats the Dragon and the Dragon is thrown out of Heaven down to earth. i will call this painting "you shall not pass" (using the line that is spoken by Gandalf to the Balrog in Lord of the Rings). i layered the foundations (using printed Scriptures from Revelation, images, and paint) mostly with my hands and fingers and then later i did a little bit of brush work. tonight i added in the "bad bits". next week i will finish up the painting by adding in the "good bits". the painting, to me, represents WORSHIP....for that is what i think the Revelation is about.
ok so after talking about all of the recent events that i'm painting at, i've had a few people in the last week say to me, "so you're becoming a 'performance artist'". wow...i guess i hadn't thought of it that way (i'm just saying yes to requests from friends who have asked me to do this stuff)...but what i'm doing right now IS actually a "genre" of art that i have always wanted to do. "performance art is a form of art in which the artist creates a live performance, often using a variety of media." But to call me a "performance artist" actually makes me cringe...cuz i don't feel like i'm performing when i paint (although i am painting on stages in front of hundreds and sometimes thousands of people). in fact, i wouldn't want to "perform". i just want to be me. i just want to paint. in my heart and in my mind when i paint like this...i'm worshipping God with my talents and allowing Him to be revealed through my art.

photos taken by E.M.