March 2005

The Point

I will inaugurate this page with one of my favorites, a piece I call "The Point." This is actually a detail of the painting. The whole piece is painted on a four foot by one foot mirror I purchased at WalMart for five dollars.

The Inspiration

I was out on my prayer walk one morning and I began to think about what Jesus has done in my life. The image came to my mind a few moments later. I consider this piece to be a symbol of the whole point of Christianity. When Jesus died on the cross, I was on His mind. What He did on the cross, He did for me, the individual Christian. When it becomes that personal, He truly becomes a personal Savior. As the viewer looks at the piece, they see their face in the thought balloon above the Savior's head and it drives the point home.

How I did it

I started with the aforementioned mirror. I carefully removed the frame and painted it black so that it would compliment the colors in the painting better than the rather unsightly brown it was painted. Next I cleaned the mirror and sketched the thought balloon on the mirror with a Sharpie marker. I then covered the rest of the piece with white latex paint, (three coats) and allowed it to dry.

The Service

I then sketched the final image with a colored pencil and painted it with acrylic (tube) paints, remounted the frame and prepared it for display.

This was a pretty involved piece and so I painted the whole image in advance of the service. Before the service began, I placed the piece on the easel and covered it, revealing the piece at the end of the message, after which I gave an invitation to bring your burdens to the Lord and to look into the mirror and remember that Jesus gave His life to take them away.