Ants, The Mona Lisa and Haboobs Oh My!
/Image #4
Physical Inspiration: Arizona Sand Storm or more appropriately titled "Haboob" named after a Sudanese sand storm, surfaced in Arizona for the first time in 2012.
Time lapse videos of the sand storms have been my only moving source of contact with the exquisite cloud of dust. I was not fortunate enough to be in my home town to witness this marvelous natural occurrence. Although, I have a nice little collection of newspaper articles and photos courtesy of my mom, that documented the event.
When you look at the orange erasing, you will see that it is a hanging cloud of dust with lines that represent marching ants as they crawl in and around the cloud of dust. What I found most fascinating was that this enormous cloud of dust caused by wind and other conditions moves through a place with very little damage at an almost invisible speed to the naked eye. Unless, you are in the eye of the storm or very near.
Spiritual Inspiration: The Holy Spirit as a Person
All of my drawings are tall vertical portraits of a "person" in front of a landscape, much like the Mona Lisa. Think about portraiture from Leonardo Da Vinci's perspective for a moment. "The Mona Lisa" comes to his studio and sits for him day in and day out. He observes her under light, they speak about matters significant or not, and recorded her natural essence and physique. During a painting session or two, he decided to place her in front of a beautiful spacious landscape for final effect.
I did almost exactly the same thing with my erasings, what you see is an abstract portrait of the Holy Spirit (an abstract concept in its' natural form) in front of an abstract landscape. These drawing were made over 15 months restricting all secular information while in my studio and almost all of my time outside of the studio. This was a strategic decision to invite "a person" ie. the Holy Spirit into my studio and life, to be the subject of my drawings. I had to become familiar with God's Spirit in order to observe and record Him properly. So, I began with the most basic definition. The bible states that the Holy Spirit takes up residency in the hearts of believers at the point of conversion. And, according to scripture, "The Holy Spirit" or as stated in the Old Testament, "God's Spirit" is the third PERSON of the Trinity and is ascribed the same divine attributes that belong to the Father and the Son. So, in a few words, when you look at my drawings they are portraits of God ie. "The Holy Spirit" an abstract being (made manifest by wind conditions and likened to an ephemeral dust cloud) in front of an abstract landscape.
I'd love to know your thoughts. Send them my way when you the have time or the inclination. Stay tuned for more about how I observed and recorded God's Spirit and why nature tells us so much about God.
Enjoy!
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Title: Observed and Recorded Permutation of The Holy Spirit - VII
9.5 inches x 21 inches-pastel erasing on dura-lar
Location: Bakersfield Museum of Art
Event: #OpeningReception Extended
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*price available upon request
*images will be posted in a random order every Saturday night at 11:59 p.m.
*each erasing has the same title with a roman numeral: Observed and Recorded Permutation of The Holy Spirit - I, II, etc.