Untitled

As an artist, I usually begin with an idea. A little spark of inspiration that sets me on a path; usually into some pretty late nights, fervently working paint onto canvas or charcoal onto paper. During the course of my work though, many things change, and RARELY does my work ever come out exactly as previously planned. In my experience, what I have discovered though is that, by my art, I am not so much trying to convey precisely what I have in my head; rather, it is a process of discovery. There is an element that I am even unaware of, and my job as the artist is to discover that, because there is something that I am attempting to find just as much as there is something I am trying to portray. It is a small, but pertinent journey of spiritual discovery.

Drawing from another subject entirely, but which, I promise, that I will relate in a moment; names are severely important. They are our IDENTITY. And the name of a piece of art or a book is no exception, for the title is what sparks our interests, sparks our judgments.

As an artist, I am severely critical of what I do. I could honestly spend a lifetime on one work, and NEVER get it to look precisely how it does in my mind. I could waste my life away in front of a canvas, miserable and never content. Now, tying in the spiritual discovery I experience in my art as well as the significance of names; it is in the naming of my artwork that generally symbolizes the completion of my small journey.  I never begin a work with a title in mind. But, over the course of the work, eventually, one will be revealed to me. Whether it be in reading, in conversation, sudden inspiration, ANYTHING, it doesn’t matter how it’s revealed, the important part is that it is. At that time, and at that time only, do I know the work is complete. It is finished. My work has fulfilled its identity, its purpose, its message.

We are God’s artworks. His creation.

Biblically, names are very, very important; from Genesis through Revelation. He brought the animals to Adam, to see what he would name them. God already had a true name for every living thing, but He brought them to Adam regardless because He wanted to see what Adam would name them. A gift perhaps, to share in the creation process; we continue to name things today. Every new discovery, humanity bestows a name upon it; Creation continues.

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

Later, in the New Testament, names are changed; Saul becomes Paul and so on; possibly to indicate the baptism that occurs within a person when they invite God into their life. For one cannot accept Jesus into their heart and then walk away as the same person.

 Then, in Revelation, we are promised a white stone, and on it written a new name known ONLY to God and our self; a name is an identity on both a very public and a VERY private level. I believe that when He grants us that new name, that new identity in Him, I feel that signifies our completion. We, His creation, have attained our identity, our purpose, our message.

17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Until then though, we remain unfinished. And each experience we go through, even our daily experiences, only continue that process of our individual creation. One day, we will be completed; but not yet. Each person is still a work of art in progress. But God is working on us daily; and until we stand before Him, now completed by His no longer obscured presence, we must say:

Until that day I am yet unfinished.

I am Untitled.






.