Commissioned painting: Thoughts on Angels and Light

Over the past couple of months, I have taken on a commissioned painting which takes an Angel as it's subject. This painting is large: just under 9' high and 6' wide.... large enough that I am painting it on-site. During in-depth interviews with the client and a couple of hundred pages of study on the subject, we came up with a direction and I had some imagery formulated in my head.

Angels, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, are messengers and beings of light. The word "angel" itself comes from the Greek and Hebrew words that mean "messenger". Through my studies, I came up with keywords that helped me characterize some visual qualities of Angels: light, fire and movement. In the Bible they have always been portrayed like men, while our visual heritage through centuries of painting shows them with wings. It is interesting to note that up until the forth century, angels weren't shown with wings, and then the first paintings show them with black or dark wings like birds.

For this painting, the client had a specific vision of an angel in action. One of her keywords for the painting was protection... a warrior angel protecting his charges and taking care of God's business. She was looking for the angel in a specific act... the Angel was going in one direction when suddenly it sees someone that needs help... the moment is of a change of direction in mid flight. This Angel was to have white wings.

The painting process is an interesting one, and working closely with a client on-site poses great opportunities for debate, stimulating conversation, brainstorming, and also opportunity for creative conflict.. After a couple of weeks, we had a discussion about the direction I was taking visually. At this point in the painting, what she was looking at and where I was going seemed to be two different emphases. I am attempting to create a painting of a being of light. Her desire is that I capture the intent of that specific moment. I realized that in this instance, she was reacting to what was on the canvas in front of her, while I was painting what I knew it was going to look like in a month. I could see the end result but she wasn't able to see where I was going.

Moments like this are defining moments in a project, and sometimes a career. She asked me to change what I was doing, and I was going to comply... it is her painting after all, on her wall, and she was paying me to create something for her. I was at a point where I was contemplating rolling up the canvas and starting over on a new one... one that I knew would be beautiful but that wouldn't have the magic I originally saw. I would just take this one back to the gallery and finish it there the way I knew it was 'supposed' to be.

I am fortunate to have a client however, that is sensitive and has seen enough of my work to have faith and trust in the process of the painting and the workings of the Spirit. She called me the next day and asked me to continue with my vision... she would trust that the outcome would be born of the Spirit. It was also an  excellent point within the painting process;   she was able to clarify for me that the intent of the figure was the key for her, but she realized that her vision would be different from mine.

Below are images of the progression of this canvas. With respect to the light rays, it is probably somewhere between 30% and 50% done... with the layering techniques I use, I expect the figure to be painted, then light painted through, and the figure again repainted. This has already happened a couple of times, and could occur multiple times as the process continues. The layers and light are important elements, and my goal is that as a viewer moves through the room, the reflective properties of the interference and pearlescent paints I am using will change and move with each step, both from within and without the figure. With the layering, the viewer will literally be looking through the glazes, making for depth in the movement of light as well.




The image that I am painting comes from my belief that if we were to see angels as they really were, spiritual beings, they would be a glittering and glorious sight to us that would leave us in awe, or fear and trembling. Since light is made up of all colors, this piece will have to have an array of color/light as well. Painting a subject like this leaves one to contemplate:  if Angels are said to be the lowest order of God's created beings, then they are merely a dim reflection of the glory of He who is actually "clothed in light".

Quite a thought to try and get one's brain around.

The announcement of the new C.S. Lewis College, and a story

Some few years ago, I was contacted by a company with which I was not yet familiar.

Being a Californian born and raised, I had never heard of Hobby Lobby. For those of you who don't know (and at the time I looked them up), Hobby Lobby is the 3rd largest arts and crafts chain in the United States (behind Michael's and Joanne's). They have no stores or presence, however, in CA.

Hobby Lobby was founded by an individual named David Green. His mother, Marie Green was a 1920's revival preacher.

Hobby Lobby is a store that supports different charities. One of these charities is called "The Book of Hope", which is a world evangelism organization. When the Book of Hope organization needed a new facility, Hobby Lobby stepped in, purchased a vacant building in Florida, and renovated it to become the new facility for this group. They decided to dedicate the building to Marie Green, David's mother... a fitting dedication for an evangelistic outreach.

I was contacted in 2004 by Hobby Lobby to execute a "Legacy Commission" for the Lobby of the new Book of Hope* facility. the resulting painting, pictured above, is called "The Evangelist".

After this painting, I was contacted by the CS Lewis Foundation, and discussions began about having me do some work for their upcoming conference in Oxford and Cambridge, England. What resulted from this encounter with the Foundation was my very next painting: "C.S. Lewis, the Spirit and the Man".

This painting was completed in 2005, in June, about a month before this conference ("Oxbridge" 2005). When one of the scheduled speakers became ill, I was asked to come to Oxford to make a presentation on my painting. The resulting trip was an eye opening experience for me. The attendees were scholars, university faculty, clergy and other interested parties. I was honored and not a little bit humbled to find that the list of mainstage presenters was varied and famous: among them Chuck Colson, Richard Foster, Dana Gioia (acclaimed poet, and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts), and Rick Warren.

Frankly, my ignorance served me well on this trip... I made a 15 minute presentation on the second day I was there, before I really knew who else was coming onstage after me... If I had known I would have been too nervous to even walk up on stage!

To be among the faculty, staff and participants was something I will never forget and look forward to attending again.

The C.S. Lewis foundation began in 1972, and among their many goals, two were to a) purchase, renovate and pay off the home of C.S. Lewis in "The Kilns", Oxford, England. The other was to find a suitable facility to begin the dream of founder J. Stanley Mattson... "The C.S. Lewis College".

I had not seen Stan Mattson for some years. I was pleasantly surprised, when I was in California last September, to be invited to the home of a friend for dinner which he was attending. After dinner, Stan told us he had some exciting news.. that they had a probable benefactor for the C.S. Lewis College, but couldn't reveal any more information until the planning was finalized.

I was speechless about a month later, when the email came announcing the news:
That vision is now about to become a reality as plans move forward to launch C.S. Lewis College on the beautiful campus in Northfield, Massachusetts, recently acquired for this purpose from Northfield Mount Hermon School. This property has been purchased for the use of C.S. Lewis College by Hobby Lobby, a privately held retail chain of arts and crafts stores based in Oklahoma City, OK.

Talk about a small world. I am pleased to announce that the original painting, "C.S. Lewis, The Spirit and the Man", will hang at the new college. I feel blessed to be a part of this whole chain of events...


Notes:

*"The Book of Hope" organization is now called "One Hope"

* After my presentation at "Oxbridge", I was asked by many of the attendees for a copy. I have made that presentation available here.