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Hey friends, before we dive into
today's conversation, I wanted 

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to share something with you. 
If you've been listening to this

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podcast for a while, you know we
believe Christianity is bigger 

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on the inside, that faith and 
imagination and beauty all 

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belong together. 
Well, that vision doesn't just 

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happen by accident. 
It is sustained by people who 

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have experienced this fuller 
Christianity and want others to 

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discover it too. 
Right now we are looking for 

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monthly partners who can help us
set more tables so to speak, 

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bring more people together to go
deeper together and Kee creating

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content like what you're about 
to hear. 

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If you become a monthly partner 
at any level, even just 10 or 

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$15.00 a month, we will send you
the complete video recordings 

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from our recent fall retreat. 
That is 6 hours of content from 

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Amy Lee, Lancia Smith, Grace 
Hammond and more that you can't 

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get anywhere else. 
Check the show notes for the 

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link or just go to 
anselmsociety.org/fallgiving. 

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Thanks for listening and thanks 
for helping make this work 

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possible. 
Now let's dive in. 

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Hello everyone, welcome back to 
the Imagination Redeemed 

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podcast. 
I'm Brian Brown, your host. 

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Earlier this summer, the Anselm 
Society had the privilege of 

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hosting internationally 
acclaimed artist Josh Thiessen 

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for an event at the historic 
Peel House here in Colorado 

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Springs. 
Josh creates what he calls 

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narrative hyper surrealism. 
These are incredibly detailed 

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oil paintings that can take up 
to 1700 hours to complete. 

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But Josh isn't just a master 
Craftsman. 

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He's also a thoughtful 
theologian who sees his studio 

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practice as a form of 
contemplative stewardship. 

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That evening, Josh shared 
insights from his latest book 

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and painting series, Vanitas and
Viriditas. 

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Latin for vanity and vitality, 
the series explores the biblical

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theme of wisdom in creation. 
His presentation challenged us 

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to think more deeply about how 
we steward both our creative 

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gifts and the world around us. 
Drawing particularly from the 

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wisdom literature of 
Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, we 

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recorded the lecture in What 
You're About to Hear embodies 

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exactly what we mean by the 
Christian imagination. 

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Seeing heaven in the things of 
earth, finding the sacred not by

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escaping the material world, but
by diving deeper into its 

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God-given meaning and beauty. 
So settle in as Josh Thiessen 

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helps us discover streams of 
wisdom flowing through the 

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wasteland. 
Welcome to the Imagination 

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Redeemed podcast where we follow
the great stories further up and

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further in In Pursuit of the 
Life of Christ. 

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OK, well, good evening everyone.
It's great to be with you today 

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and thank you so much to the 
Anselm Society for having me 

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speak this evening and also for 
hosting me for a few days. 

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Well, as a Canadian, Colorado is
actually one of my favorite 

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states to visit. 
And I'm not just saying that 

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because I'm in a room of 
Coloradoans, but I just loved 

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outdoors. 
And so you have the mountains, 

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the Garden of the Gods, and also
the mining towns. 

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So this painting here is called 
New Sheriff in Town and is 

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inspired by Saint Elmo Ghost 
Town. 

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Now of course there weren't any 
6 foot tall castleberries 

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roaming around, but I actually 
photographed this one at the 

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Denver Zoo, which apparently had
escaped its zookeepers a few 

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years before. 
Was literally roaming Colorado. 

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Well, the last time I was here 
was for the Imagination Redeemed

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conference in 2021, which some 
of you were there and I was the 

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featured artists and they used 
my painting, the chiral Stones 

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for the poster and it was on 
display. 

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And I just couldn't get over 
Glenyard Castle. 

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Like, wasn't that just a 
spectacular venue? 

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And of course, all the rich 
conversations I had with people 

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were just a huge blessing. 
And I've enjoyed keeping in 

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touch with several of you over 
the years. 

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And Brian Brown, who graciously 
also wrote an endorsement quote 

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for my new book, which is very 
kind of him. 

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And you're also blessed to have 
the Ansalem Society. 

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It's a really special and unique
community that you guys get to 

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be part of. 
Well, to begin, I'd like to 

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share a bit of my story. 
So I was born in Moscow to 

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Canadian parents who are 
professors, teaching Russian 

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pastors and overseeing a team of
missionaries working in drug and

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alcohol rehab and youth and 
children's camps. 

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I spent the first six years of 
my life happily living with my 

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parents and younger brother in 
southern Russia. 

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Now I had a Russian nanny who 
did lots of arts and crafts with

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me, showing me how to draw my 
stuffed animals with shading and

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perspective. 
And she began to quietly believe

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that I may just have a special 
gift for art. 

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Well, after returning to Canada,
I was discovered by a local 

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artist who took me under her 
wing. 

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One day she asked my mom if she 
could book me for an art 

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exhibition. 
And my mom said, Al, he's 10 

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years old. 
And she said, So what? 

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The public needs to see this 
child's work. 

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So the following year, at age 
11, I had my first month long 

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solo exhibition in a hospital 
art gallery. 

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My exhibit served up a lot of 
interest where they had never 

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exhibited such a young artist 
work and were really shocked by 

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my abilities. 
I'd given away a lot of my early

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pieces to family and friends, 
but it was there that the first 

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strangers asked to purchase my 
work. 

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Someone also phoned the local 
newspaper and they did a big 

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article about my work. 
One of the pieces in the 

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exhibition was my pastel drawing
Aslan. 

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So like any good father, my dad 
read the Chronicles of Narnia to

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my brother and me growing up. 
And I loved The Lion, the Witch 

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and the Wardrobe. 
And of course, Aslan, who was a 

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powerful metaphor for Christ. 
So while my art is not 

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necessarily what you consider 
like quote UN quote religious 

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art, it's definitely informed by
a Christian worldview. 

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And so similar to CS Lewis, I 
like to draw upon a non 

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religious vocabulary in order to
convey deeper truths. 

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So this painting the wood 
between the world's, some of you

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will probably notice that from 
the Magician's Nephew where it 

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got the the inspiration. 
So from my Jewish heritage and 

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my Christian heritage, the Bible
has been a inspiration behind my

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work and an influence in my 
artistic practice. 

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So my painting series Screams in
the Wasteland was inspired by 

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the book of Isaiah and the 
prophetic books of the Old 

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Testament. 
And so I was able to study this 

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while completing a Bachelor of 
Religious Education in Arts and 

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Biblical studies, which I did 
very, very part time, only 

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taking me 9 years to graduate, 
but I kind of made it up with 

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for with my masters of art 
history, which I managed to do 

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in just nine months. 
Well, in Isaiah I was reading 

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about the prophecies for 
destruction for Babylon and the 

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surrounding nations and how wild
animals like hyenas would 

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inhabit these abandoned cities. 
So suddenly a flurry of ideas 

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came to me for new series 
depicting animals in deserted 

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spaces, bringing honor to their 
creator. 

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The title for the series came 
from Isaiah chapter 43, in which

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the prophet records the words of
God. 

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The wild animals honor me, the 
jackals and the owls, because I 

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provide water in the wilderness 
and streams in the wasteland, to

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give drink to my people, My 
chosen. 

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Yet you have not called on me, 
Jacob. 

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You have not wearied yourselves 
for me, Israel. 

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I really caught a glimpse of the
larger vision for animals 

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serving as coworkers with the 
Creator to confront humanity, 

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calling for wisdom from within 
the ruins of human moral decay. 

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According to Isaiah scholar Alec
Mulcher, the earth is seen as 

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actively participating with God 
by exposing what lay hidden. 

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This is part of the moral 
vitality of creation, which is 

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inevitably infected with human 
sin but never fails to be on the

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side of the holy purposes of its
Creator. 

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So in the paintings, wild 
animals have dominion 

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implicating humankind for their 
own faithfulness, ignoring the 

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Creator's call in Genesis to 
have a righteous dominion over 

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creation. 
In depicting nature's 

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reclamation with the colors of 
my palette, I seek to confront 

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things like human centrism and 
ecological exploitation, a 

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desire to offer streams of hope 
within what sometimes feels a 

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little bit like an apocalyptic 
wasteland that we're living in 

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today. 
Especially when we turn on the 

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news in my painting piece Like a
River, which was actually 

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inspired by the Colorado River. 
A pod of orcas released from 

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fictitious aquarium amusement 
park journey down a winding 

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Canyon river toward their 
intended home. 

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In Isaiah, the imagery of an 
Edenic river cutting through a 

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barren wasteland is symbolic of 
the future hope that justice and

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mercy will one day reign, 
ushering in peace and wholeness.

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So from the study of Isaiah's 
prophecies, I envision multiple 

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ideas for wild animals 
inhabiting abandoned human 

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civilizations across vast time 
periods and geographic 

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locations, like in my painting 
Escape Artist, which references 

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the plight of temple elephants 
in India. 

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Now, amidst the heavier themes, 
I also threw in a little bit of 

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Comic Relief to lighten the mood
like in my painting Meerkat 

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Manor. 
Well, after five years of 

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painting, the works were 
displayed at my first 

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international solo exhibition at
New York based gallery Jonathan 

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Levine in 2019. 
However, years earlier I had 

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taken a great risk starting this
unusual body of work without any

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prospect for a solo exhibition. 
Painting in faith, I hope to 

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secure a major show at a 
reputable contemporary gallery. 

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Now older traditional wildlife 
artist told me that that would 

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be next to impossible since 
animals are often not highly 

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regarded well in the Fine Arts 
world. 

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But following artists online, I 
discovered that a gallery in the

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Chelsea Arts District in New 
York City was hosting an 

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international competition called
Search for the Next Great Artist

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where the winning artist would 
receive a solo exhibition. 

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It was a long shot, but I 
decided what do I have to lose? 

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So I submitted, and to my utter 
shock, I came first place out of

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2000 artists worldwide. 
Thank. 

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You. 
The gallery owner said it was 

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seeing my painting Occidental 
Babylon, uncreated and on 

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display in the finalist 
exhibition that really sealed 

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the deal for him. 
It kind of proved to me that 

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taking a crazy risk of spending 
1200 hours on a painting could 

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pay off. 
At the opening reception of my 

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solo show, I was thrilled that 
the gallery owner hung the 

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stories I write to go alongside 
my paintings. 

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As usually in the art 
establishment, the ethos is that

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we just let the viewers 
interpret the work however they 

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like. 
Interestingly, an aunt of the 

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gallery owner told me that she 
resonated with the passages of 

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scripture in my writings. 
And so Levine said afterwards, 

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with a bit of an impish wink, 
that it sure earned in brownie 

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points with his Born Again 
family members. 

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Well, the following year Streams
in the Wasteland Part 2 took 

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place at Corey Halford Gallery 
in Los Angeles. 

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For the better part of 2020, I 
toiled away on my largest work 

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to date, which took 1700 hours 
to complete. 

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As the finale to my Streams in 
the Wasteland series, I called 

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back all of the animals that 
appear in the other paintings, 

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so 17 species in total. 
Now a longer essay for this 

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painting is included in my book 
Streams in the Wasteland, which 

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there's a copy over there on the
table if any of you would like 

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to check it out and flip 
through. 

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So for this work, I drew 
influence from historical 

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paintings that have depicted the
symbol of the Lamb of God, such 

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as Jan Van Ike's Adoration of 
the Lamb from the Ghent 

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Altarpiece, as well as Francisco
de Zirberen's Agnes Day, which I

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actually modeled the sheep from 
in my own painting. 

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So in Isaiah chapter 53 we read 
a prophecy about a suffering 

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servant likened to an innocent 
lamb. 

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Now throughout history this 
prophecy is believed by 

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Christians and Messianic Jews to
be fulfilled by Jesus of 

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Nazareth, the morally perfect 
substitute who died for the sins

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of humanity to bring us back 
into right relationship with our

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Creator, Creator. 
But this reconciliation also is 

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cosmic in scope, the future hope
of a new heavens and a new earth

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where the wolf will live with 
the lamb. 

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In the meantime, though, we have
to recognize that, as the 

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Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, 
all of creation has been 

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groaning as a result of the 
curse from humanity's sin. 

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We can all be involved in 
rectifying the harm that humans 

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have done to creation, thereby 
foreshadowing a better future. 

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So after completing the 
painting, I was pleasantly 

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surprised when the Manhattan 
gallery that represents me, Race

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Contemporary, offered to take 
this painting to the LA Art 

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Show, and the gallery owners 
hung the work in front of their 

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booth very prominently. 
They also included my artist 

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statement in which I just 
explained inspiration from 

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Isaiah 53. 
And I was amazed that, you know,

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thousands of people saw this 
painting over the course of the 

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weekend. 
And they told me that it was the

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most Instagram painting of the 
show. 

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An interesting development with 
this painting is that this 

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January, it sold to some 
collectors in the Chicago area. 

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And they actually first 
discovered my art through 

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following the newsletter for the
Anselm Society. 

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And so they've been following my
work for a couple of years. 

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And they're just a a lovely 
couple. 

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And I couldn't have asked for 
better patrons of this work 

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because they're also willing to 
lend it out to various schools 

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and institutions for traveling 
shows. 

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Now, shifting gears a little 
bit, who's heard of the popular 

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slogan Art for Art's Sake? 
Yeah. 

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OK. 
So quite a few of you. 

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So I would never want to say art
doesn't have intrinsic value, 

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just on its own. 
It doesn't need any 

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justification. 
I firmly believe in that. 

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But the reality is that artists 
are still accountable to a 

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creator. 
They're not, you know, more at 

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least superior than everyone 
else. 

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But also I think what's special 
about art is that it's 

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historically engaged other 
disciplines outside of art. 

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So things like history and 
theology in the Bible, even how 

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we depict the natural landscape,
art has played a really crucial 

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role. 
So drawing on my series Vanitas 

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and Brititas, I'd like to 
discuss wisdom in creation, 

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playing on the double meaning of
the word creation, referring to 

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both creativity as well as 
creation being the natural world

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around us. 
And so I'd like to take you on a

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brief tour of several passages 
in the Bible related to wisdom 

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and creation, which I think 
really can enrich our 

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understanding of the church 
calendar season of Ordinary 

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Time, which I believe the Anselm
Society has been focused on in 

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this season. 
So to begin with, the Bible is, 

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of course, a work of art. 
It was written by 40 different 

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authors in three different 
languages. 

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And there's, you know, a 
plethora of literary genres from

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apocalyptic to prophetic to 
history books to poetry and 

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letters. 
The Bible begins with Genesis 

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one verse one. 
In the beginning, God created 

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the heavens and the earth. 
I think it's amazing that God 

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first identifies himself as a 
creator and he's really the 

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ultimate master artist. 
And not only that, he's a wise 

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creator because we read in 
Proverbs 3 by wisdom, the Lord 

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laid the earth's foundations. 
By understanding He set the 

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heavens in place, Genesis 
chapter 1 talks about how humans

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are made in the image and 
likeness of this Creator. 

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God gives each one of us the 
gift of creativity, even if we 

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don't think of ourselves as, you
know, professional artists per 

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SE. 
We all have a creative aptitude 

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in varying amounts, and it has a
purpose because we read in 

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00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,960
Genesis chapter 2 that Adam and 
Eve were called to be good 

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stewards of the Garden of Eden, 
which involve taking care of the

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garden but also involved 
cultivating the land to develop 

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00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,400
culture. 
They're also given 

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00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,760
responsibility to name the 
animals, which I think is really

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00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,640
the first creative task and 
command. 

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00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,400
And this continues up to the 
present, with biologists 

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discovering new species every 
year. 

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00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,560
We even take this a step further
with naming our pets. 

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This is Habakkuk and Zebediah, 
our lovable Boston terriers. 

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00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,120
We're just Hab and Zeb because 
most people can't remember their

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full names. 
We see creativity in the process

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in Genesis 4 with the fashioning
of musical instruments like the 

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00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,640
lyre and pipe and also tools of 
bronze and iron. 

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00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,520
Now it should be mentioned 
though that while we see culture

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00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,400
making affirmed early on in 
Genesis as seen in King's 

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00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,480
Descendants, it's perverted in 
the building of the Tower of 

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00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:33,640
Babel as well as Aaron crafting 
the golden calf in Exodus. 

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00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,000
This really shows me that 
creativity on its own is simply 

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not enough. 
Today we know many artists who 

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00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,720
have these amazing God-given 
abilities who have either abused

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00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:49,680
them or they've become so 
egotistical that the creative 

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00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,920
gift becomes an idol. 
Thankfully, though, we have 

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00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,120
numerous positive examples 
throughout Scripture for music, 

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00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,800
poetry, art, dance, and drama. 
We see this in the building of 

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the Tabernacle in Exodus 31, 
where the artisans Basil and the

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00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,040
Holy App are commissioned to 
design God's dwelling place for 

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00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,320
Israel. 
And this is one of the first 

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00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,800
times in the Bible that it says 
that the Holy Spirit works 

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through humans and it's through 
artists. 

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00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,320
They're filled with the Spirit 
of God, with wisdom, with 

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00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,200
understanding, with knowledge, 
and with all kinds of skills. 

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00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:30,240
And so the gathering things like
gold and gems and fine yarn and 

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00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,720
exotic woods reflects God's 
desire for artistic quality. 

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00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,840
And some of the imagery includes
pomegranates, almond blossoms, 

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00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,480
cherubim, oxen and lions. 
And if that sounds familiar, the

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00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,240
Tabernacle was meant to be a 
mini representation of the 

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00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:51,400
Garden of Eden, built and 
designed by God's image bearers.

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00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,120
And this is also reflected in 
Solomon's temple, where we read 

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00:20:55,120 --> 00:21:01,200
about sculptors who fashioned 
palm trees and flowers. 

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00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:05,600
And so I just shake my head when
I hear people say that we can't 

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00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,400
have art in the church. 
Or somehow whitewashed walls are

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00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,480
holier. 
Well, we often think that wisdom

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00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,120
is just intellectual. 
It's just head knowledge. 

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00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,840
But according to a Jewish 
understanding of wisdom, it's 

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00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,200
really practical knowledge and 
can even extend to things like 

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00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,320
botany and music. 
You see, King Solomon 

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00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,800
considered, you know, the wisest
person to live is described this

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00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,960
way. 
He spoke 3000 proverbs, and his 

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00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,000
songs numbered 1005. 
He spoke about plant life, from 

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00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,480
the cedar of Lebanon to the 
hyssop that grows out of walls. 

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00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:48,120
He also spoke about animals and 
birds, reptiles and fish. 

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00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:52,320
From all nations, people came to
listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent

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00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,680
by all the kings of the worlds 
who had heard of his wisdom. 

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00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,800
Throughout the Old Testament we 
see how the Hebrew word for 

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00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:07,800
wisdom, hokhmah, is applied to 
even things like sailors and 

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00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,840
Goldsmiths and even women 
skilled in lamentation. 

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00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,320
I mean, who knew that you could 
cry wisely? 

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00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:19,560
But I guess you can. 
So perhaps the obvious question 

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00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:24,080
is how do we become wise people?
And so this is the question I 

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00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,280
ponder in Vanity Toss and Britta
Toss as I explore 2 divergent 

346
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,440
perspectives on wisdom through 2
characters. 

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00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,920
So there's Colette, inspired by 
the book of Ecclesiastes, and 

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00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,360
also Lady Wisdom, inspired by 
Proverbs. 

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00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:46,360
So while both of their paths 
diverge, the former affirming 

350
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,800
the the former, they're 
questioning life and wrestling 

351
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,400
with the enigmas that are all 
around, and the latter 

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00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,360
delighting in the wise blueprint
of the natural order, both 

353
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:01,400
affirm that the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. 

354
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,160
There needs to be a reverential 
awe for the Creator. 

355
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,120
So while Streams in the 
Wasteland represents the macro 

356
00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:11,800
perspective of human 
civilizations and their 

357
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,760
relationship with the natural 
world, Danny Toss and Rudy Toss 

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00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,480
represents the micro perspective
of human virtue, what it looks 

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00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,160
like to cultivate character for 
personal, cultural and 

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00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,520
ecological flourishing. 
Now, I'd like to begin by 

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00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,600
talking about the first Vanitas 
painting, Refracting Infinity. 

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00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,800
So the whole series began with 
this concept sketch, which is 

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00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,960
very simple. 
And so whenever I began drawing 

364
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,680
for a painting, I really invite 
the Holy Spirit to be involved 

365
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,760
in the creative process. 
And I usually find that ideas 

366
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,840
come to me when I'm in prayer, 
meditating, or reading 

367
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,160
scripture. 
And so I always keep a 

368
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,680
sketchbook close at hand on my 
night side table in case an idea

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00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:04,480
comes to me day or night. 
So my friend Felipe graciously 

370
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:10,600
posed for Colette It during a 
long outdoor photography session

371
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:15,080
on a very chilly December day. 
Now, coming from Columbia, he 

372
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,960
was not used to our cold 
Canadian winters, so I was 

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00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,480
especially grateful for his 
willingness. 

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00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,920
So to begin, I I devised a shape
for my paintings. 

375
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,160
In this case, I thought the 
pointed Gothic arch would fit 

376
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:36,600
with the architecture. 
And my assistant builds the 

377
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:43,480
brace Baltic Birch panels, AKA 
my dad and I do pay them so it's

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00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:50,240
it's above board and he primes 
them with grey gesso so that 

379
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,920
they're all ready to go. 
And then I transferred the 

380
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,840
sketch onto the panel with 
charcoal pencil and then spray a

381
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,480
fixative so that the charcoal 
doesn't smudge when I begin 

382
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,040
painting. 
And then I begin with an acrylic

383
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,920
under painting to block in the 
subject matter. 

384
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,880
And then after that, I switch to
oils for the subsequent layers 

385
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,520
because you can do a lot more 
softer blending because they're 

386
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,520
so lower drying. 
And you have the, you know, the,

387
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,120
the richness of the paint and 
I'm able to achieve finer 

388
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:25,480
detail. 
So the character I developed, 

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00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,080
like I said, is named cola, 
which is Hebrew for teacher. 

390
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,920
So in Ecclesiastes the teacher 
warns that the pursuit of 

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00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,560
knowledge, wealth and pleasures 
under the sun is nothing more 

392
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,560
than vanity. 
So the Hebrew word translated 

393
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,400
vanity is heavil and it occurs 
38 times in the book. 

394
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:49,520
And translators have wrestled 
over the meaning of this word. 

395
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:55,160
I bet the NIV Bible translators 
in the room tonight will will 

396
00:25:55,280 --> 00:26:00,280
have great insight on that. 
But the literal translation of 

397
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,960
heavil is vapor or smoke. 
So as you can see, I included 

398
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:09,160
the the smoke in this painting 
and the figure in this where 

399
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,880
whose silhouette is reflected in
the windows of what's an old 

400
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,240
university science lab is a 
modern version of the ancient 

401
00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,840
teacher. 
He's a disenchanted wanderer in 

402
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:23,200
a world of smoke and mirrors, 
pondering the question, what is 

403
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,160
the cure to the banality of 
existence? 

404
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,200
Similarly, the French 
mathematician and physicist 

405
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,960
Blaise Pascal described the 
predicament of being caught in 

406
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,520
the despair of human existence 
on all sides. 

407
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,720
I behold nothing but Infinity in
which I am a mere Adam, a mere 

408
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,880
passing shadow that returns no 
more. 

409
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,880
You see, Cola is intrigued by 
complex scientific theories and 

410
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,880
concepts. 
This painting depicts the idea 

411
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,880
of string theory, that at the 
subatomic level, all of life is 

412
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,440
interconnected through vibrating
strings of energy. 

413
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,800
And so the Criss crossing yards 
inside the window are being 

414
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,560
woven into a nest by these two 
indigo bundles. 

415
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,800
Through the window is seen a 
whimsical sunflower, like the 

416
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:17,600
ones in a Vincent van Gogh 
painting, and it treats cohlect.

417
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,120
Despite Van Gogh's life of 
depression and sorrow, he saw 

418
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:25,160
glimpses of the divine through 
nature. 

419
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:30,800
Likewise, Colette is fascinated 
by the golden ratio spirals of 

420
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,040
sunflower florets. 
According to scientists, the 

421
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:40,080
Fibonacci sequence is a cosmic 
constant ranging from spiral 

422
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:45,280
growth of a Nautilus shell all 
the way up to the spirals of 

423
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,080
galaxies. 
Well, Cola is tempted, though, 

424
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,680
to deem life absurd without any 
objective meaning. 

425
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,680
He's not wholly satisfied with 
that answer. 

426
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,040
He prefers to press into the 
mystery. 

427
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,680
Will the intelligent design he 
discovers in science and nature 

428
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,680
evoke in him wonder and desire 
for a world re enchanted? 

429
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,120
Or is it merely a human 
evolutionary survival instinct 

430
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,480
to ascribe meaning to a universe
of blind, meaningless 

431
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,840
indifference, in the words of 
atheist Richard Dawkins? 

432
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,440
In my next painting, Memento 
Mori, Colette finds himself in a

433
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:29,800
hidden cave of crystals, and the
intersecting quartz columns with

434
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,480
the colors of pink and purple 
and blue reminded me of stained 

435
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:39,280
glass windows in churches, which
are spaces where death is often 

436
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,200
contemplated, especially at 
funerals. 

437
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,080
The motif of skull was used in 
banitas. 

438
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,000
Still life paintings of the 17th
century Dutch Golden Age, to 

439
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,760
quote, remind viewers that they 
would die, which is the literal 

440
00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:01,200
translation of memento mooring. 
So 2 candles are used to be 

441
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,960
symbolic of the fleetingness of 
our lives, which at any moment 

442
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,760
can be snuffed out. 
So the book of Ecclesiastes has 

443
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:14,400
a lot to say about death, 
Colette writes. 

444
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,520
There's a time to be born and a 
time to die. 

445
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,480
However, in our death adverse 
culture, it's typical to even 

446
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,000
mention the fact that death 
awaits us all. 

447
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,680
Many are obsessed with 
transcending human limitations, 

448
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:35,080
uploading our brains into the 
cloud for some future robotic 

449
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,320
body. 
Yet with all of our medical 

450
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,720
advancements, there's still, I 
think, wisdom accepting the fact

451
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,720
that death is part of the 
natural world. 

452
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,360
It's still one of the surest 
things in life. 

453
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:54,280
That and taxes, of course. 
The Veritas paintings feature 

454
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:59,360
Sofia, which is a Greek for 
wisdom, her name inspired by the

455
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,080
female personification. 
From Wisdom, from Proverbs, she 

456
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:08,000
poetically sings, The Lord 
formed me from the beginning, 

457
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:13,120
before He created anything else.
I was appointed in ages past, at

458
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,480
the very first, before the earth
began. 

459
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:20,280
I was the architect at his side.
I was his constant delight, 

460
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,920
rejoicing always in his 
presence. 

461
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,120
And how happy I was with the 
world he created. 

462
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,520
How I rejoiced with the human 
family. 

463
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:35,200
Now much conjecture has been 
made of what Lady Wisdom means 

464
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,200
when she states in Proverbs 8 
that she was the Amon at God's 

465
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,760
side. 
Translations vary from 

466
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,800
architect, artisan to darling 
and delight, and even little 

467
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,600
child. 
Now, contrary to popular 

468
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,240
depictions of Wisdom as a solemn
old sage lady, Wisdom describes 

469
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,360
herself as actively 
participating with and 

470
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,760
delighting in her maker. 
And so this inspired my 

471
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,520
character Sophia. 
And so I envisioned her sort of 

472
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,800
like a medieval character with 
fiery ginger hair, akin to 

473
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,280
Tariel the Elf and Peter 
Jackson's adaptation of The 

474
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,760
Hobbit. 
And so, like Elf, Sophia has a 

475
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,720
youthful charm, but is as old as
time itself. 

476
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:23,720
And so I thought her freckles 
and red lips and green velvet 

477
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:30,760
dress and amethyst necklace all 
represented the abundance and 

478
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,440
spirit of plate that I think is 
really intrinsic to wisdom. 

479
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:41,320
Similar to Lady Wisdom, Sophia 
espouses virtue such as 

480
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,240
simplicity, humility, wonder, 
and awe, vital for cultivating 

481
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,000
ecological wisdom. 
The 12th century Benedictine nun

482
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,120
and Abbas Hildegard of Bingen, 
from whom the Latin expression 

483
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:56,440
in Veridicas originates, also 
informed my character 

484
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,960
development of Sofia. 
Now this generative word can be 

485
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,360
translated as holy graining 
power which produces new growth,

486
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:12,560
vitality, creativity and virtue.
So my studio is located a block 

487
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:17,320
down from a major hiking trail 
in Ontario which I often 

488
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,680
frequent, and it was there that 
I set up the scene for my 

489
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:27,120
painting All Creatures Praise. 
So featured here is a screen cap

490
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,840
of my workflow in Photoshop 
where I create a mock up from my

491
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,960
reference material. 
Also I create a digital color 

492
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:42,640
study and also a color scheme 
which informs the palette for 

493
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,720
the painting. 
And so, while journeying through

494
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,240
the enchanted woods, Sophia 
discovers an old hymn laying on 

495
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:54,840
a mess on a bed of Moss penned 
by Saint Francis of Sisi, 

496
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,640
Patriot St. of Ecology. 
In his famous nature hymn 

497
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:03,640
Canticle, the Creatures he 
echoes Psalm 148. 

498
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,280
Praise him, sun and moon. 
Praise him, all you shining 

499
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,880
stars, praise him, you highest 
heavens, and you waters above 

500
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,400
the skies. 
Praise the Lord from the earth, 

501
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,600
you great sea creatures and all 
ocean depths, wild animals and 

502
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,520
all cattle, small creatures and 
flying birds. 

503
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:28,640
In 2000, I mean in 1910, William
Draper paraphrased this canticle

504
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,640
into the well known hymn which 
you're all probably familiar 

505
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:34,640
with. 
All creatures of our God and 

506
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,680
King. 
And in my painting, those lyrics

507
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,800
are represented on the old 
parchment paper. 

508
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,320
And what I love about this hymn 
is that it's a reminder that we 

509
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:48,920
don't just sing to our Creator 
alone as humans, but we actively

510
00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,440
join in with the cosmic choir of
creation. 

511
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,600
My next painting is Creation 
Cathedral. 

512
00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,080
Now, while most Western 
cathedrals didn't include 

513
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:06,000
animals as artistic subjects 
matter, I decided to include 

514
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,560
stained glass creaturely Saints 
like the humpback whale, and 

515
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,520
also the orca. 
And in the center rose window, 

516
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,280
there's a dove hovering over the
earth. 

517
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,800
Scholars believe that the 
creation narratives in Genesis 1

518
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,639
and 2 poetically alludes to 
God's wise construction of the 

519
00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:30,960
heavens and the earth as a 
cosmic temple, later echoed in 

520
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,600
Basil AL's Tabernacle and 
Solomon's temple. 

521
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,600
In the words of Richard 
Middleton, it's a sacred realm 

522
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,520
for God's dwelling and role in 
which all creatures, human and 

523
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,000
non human, are called to worship
their Creator. 

524
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,480
The Canadian artist Emily Carr, 
who's kind of like our Georgia 

525
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,920
O'Keeffe, likewise painted the 
Canadian West Coast rainforest. 

526
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:59,760
Her painting Church in You Code 
inspired my painting. 

527
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,880
I love her reflection on faith 
found in our journals where she 

528
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:09,760
writes Surely the Woods, our 
God's Tabernacle according to 

529
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,880
the order of creation. 
In Genesis, plants and animals 

530
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:18,480
come before humans, and unlike 
us, don't fall into rebellion. 

531
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:24,040
The wise sage Job exhorts us to 
ask the animals, and they will 

532
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,640
teach you, the birds of the air,
and they will tell you. 

533
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,640
Ask the plants of the earth, and
they will teach you. 

534
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:31,920
And the fish of the sea will 
declare to you. 

535
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,800
Who among all these does not 
know that the hand of the Lord 

536
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,760
has done this? 
In His hand is the life of every

537
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:44,040
living thing and the breath of 
every human being. 

538
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,560
As Kola and his companion 
Brother Wolf stop to ponder the 

539
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,960
scene, the Chapel doors swing 
open. 

540
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,480
A blue light beckons the 
sojourners into this divine 

541
00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:00,560
mystery. 
The next painting I like to talk

542
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:02,960
about is called Greening the 
White Cube. 

543
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:08,240
So the white cube is a euphemism
for the modern art gallery, and 

544
00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:12,560
it represents this industrial 
space, usually with concrete 

545
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:19,240
floors and sterile white walls, 
which in my opinion, inherently 

546
00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:23,720
keeps nature out and sometimes 
the wisdom of creation. 

547
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:29,000
So when I was in my teens, an 
older friend of my parents gave 

548
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,560
me a book called Modern Art and 
the Death of a Culture by Hans 

549
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:37,160
Ruchmacher, a Christian art 
historian and colleague of 

550
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,560
Francis Schaeffer, who I'm sure 
many of you are familiar with. 

551
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,440
And so I found his apartment 
critique of the nihilism and 

552
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,240
ugliness in much of modern art 
very helpful for me in 

553
00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:52,240
navigating this very strange 
world that I was entering. 

554
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,920
Many modern artists spurn 
beauty. 

555
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,120
Abstract Expressionist painter 
Willem de Kooning admitted 

556
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,440
Beauty becomes petulant to me. 
I like the grotesque. 

557
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,600
It's more joyous. 
This is evidenced in his 

558
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:10,800
painting Woman One, which is 
pictured on the right wall. 

559
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:14,640
And throughout Western art 
history, the beautiful was often

560
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:18,920
associated with gorgeous women 
and sweeping landscapes, which 

561
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,720
are notoriously absent in the 
canons of modern art history. 

562
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,200
And so the works in my painting 
Greening the White Cube are 

563
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,600
among the most famous of the 
20th century, all completed by 

564
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,760
white men. 
According to designer Ingrid 

565
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:38,000
Fettlee, high modernism promoted
a rationalist mode of design 

566
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:42,560
free of sentimental flourishes. 
Artists of that period who were 

567
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:47,080
overlooked are now being 
embraced, such as Helma of Clint

568
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,400
and many others. 
And beauty is really returning 

569
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,840
again in the art world. 
Sophia appears. 

570
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,360
Into an. 
Abandoned art gallery though 

571
00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,600
lamenting the industrial complex
of modern art. 

572
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,560
In Proverbs, Lady Wisdom is 
contrasted with this other 

573
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,160
female character named Lady 
Folly. 

574
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:11,360
Contemporary artist Christopher 
Wolves painting Untitled Fool, I

575
00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:15,240
think poignantly illustrate that
in the art world, sometimes the 

576
00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:21,560
emperor has no clothes, as this 
painting sold in 2014 for a mere

577
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:24,920
$14 million. 
Lady. 

578
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:28,920
Fawley is alive. 
And, well, in the art world, she

579
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,760
may have been deconstructed in 
Picasso's prostitutes entitled 

580
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:39,480
La du Monzel Davina, but her 
seductive allure for wealth and 

581
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:43,560
status and material goods is all
too present. 

582
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:48,360
Conversely, Lady Wisdom knows 
that she is far more precious 

583
00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,400
and profitable than silver and 
yields better returns than gold.

584
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,560
She is a tree of life to those 
who take hold of her. 

585
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,000
Those who hold her fast will be 
blessed. 

586
00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:02,080
Really. 
My painting envisions a future 

587
00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,560
of natural reclamation, a time 
when the hallowed halls of the 

588
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:09,040
art elite will no longer reject 
beauty. 

589
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:14,040
Now don't get me wrong, there's 
much of contemporary art that I 

590
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,560
really do appreciate. 
And so I'm critiquing the art 

591
00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:21,760
world as someone within this 
sphere, hoping and praying for 

592
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:24,960
its ultimate redemption for 
artists of faith. 

593
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:30,560
I believe that we can be part of
a new movement animated by a 

594
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:36,600
wisdom filled uriditas greening 
vitality that can create new 

595
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:42,440
life in the fine art world. 
So my series first debuted in 

596
00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:47,320
2023 as a solo exhibition in New
York City at Ray's Gallery, 

597
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,720
located around the corner from 
the Museum of Modern Art. 

598
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:54,440
I was encouraged that the 
gallery owners actually relayed 

599
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,560
the biblical inspiration for my 
series in the press release. 

600
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:04,520
And the Ray's owners, although 
they're secular Jews, seem to 

601
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,080
respect the Bible and even 
allowed me to put my artist 

602
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,000
statements. 
Up on the walls along with the 

603
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,440
paintings as well as my synopsis
in which I quoted from the book 

604
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,200
of Job. 
And I also had the privilege of 

605
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,480
giving the private tour to the 
head editor of Fine Art 

606
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,960
Connoisseur magazine. 
And after seeing my work, he 

607
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,800
said to me that he really thinks
the art world is ready for work 

608
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:33,000
like mine that seems to seeks to
Plumb the depths of the human 

609
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:37,440
condition and re evaluate our 
relationship with the world. 

610
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:44,000
Sofia then appears. 
In my painting the Cairo Stones 

611
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:49,040
with her trusty companion their 
time travelling through the 

612
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:52,400
past. 
In this pre modern area, time 

613
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,160
was apprehended as multi 
dimensional and a greater 

614
00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:00,600
emphasis was placed on sacred 
days within the liturgical 

615
00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:05,040
calendar, distinguishing the 
holy as higher time from the 

616
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:09,400
profane Ordinary time. 
Sophia, like the ancient peoples

617
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:13,560
who erected places like 
Stonehenge, expresses her 

618
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,680
connection to the land 
ecological wisdom through 

619
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:21,720
celebrations such as the winter 
and summer solstice, new moons, 

620
00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:24,200
harvest times as well as 
Sabbath's. 

621
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:30,000
In the Bible, the prophet Samuel
established Ebenezers, or stones

622
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:34,880
of help to revive remind the 
Israelites of the Lord's favor. 

623
00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:39,480
The floating megalith stones in 
my painting symbolize these 

624
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:45,360
higher times where sacred events
are often reenacted and time 

625
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:49,080
stands still momentarily. 
According to the philosopher 

626
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:53,600
Charles Taylor, a casualty of 
our secular age is that time has

627
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:57,920
been disenchanted and made 
purely horizontal, which means 

628
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:02,080
secularizing holidays or 
thinking of just, you know, 

629
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:07,520
having to kill time. 
We no longer really embrace. 

630
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,920
The vertical dimensions of 
higher times nor really see the 

631
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:17,240
beauty of ordinary time. 
The seasons of of nature which 

632
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:23,080
are really not ordinary at all. 
Considering the ways in which. 

633
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,600
Secularism has shaped me in 
modern society. 

634
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:31,240
Sophia reminds us of the crucial
need for re enchantment of time 

635
00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:35,640
to become fully human being in 
tune with nature and the creator

636
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,560
for whom a day is like 1000 
years. 

637
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,600
As each of my paintings take 
quite a long time to complete, 

638
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,760
hundreds of hours, my subject 
matter has really a profound 

639
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:54,160
influence on me. 
I find that animal art has the 

640
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:59,000
potential to evoke wonder, 
reorient our affections, and 

641
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,800
also become more empathetic to 
our fellow creatures. 

642
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:09,080
And so this is essential for 
cultivating wisdom amidst an 

643
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:13,840
ecological crisis where there's 
widespread biodiversity loss, 

644
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:17,880
which in many ways reflects our 
lack of attunement with the 

645
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:21,440
natural world. 
In the words of Hildegard of 

646
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,480
Bigging, we shall awake from our
dullness and rise vigorously 

647
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,680
toward justice. 
If we fall in love with creation

648
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:33,120
deeper and deeper, we will 
respond to its endangerment with

649
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:36,560
passion. 
So in the early. 

650
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,240
Church The. 
Legend of a mother Pelican who 

651
00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,640
pierces her breast to feed her 
young was likened to Christ's 

652
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:47,400
self sacrifice on the cross. 
In the gospels, Christ likens 

653
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,720
himself to a mother hen. 
Jerusalem. 

654
00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:54,680
Jerusalem, you who kill the 
prophets and stone those sent to

655
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:57,440
you. 
How often I've longed to gather 

656
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,120
you together as a mother hen 
gathers her chicks. 

657
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:05,560
But you were not willing. 
Over the centuries, many 

658
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,000
cathedrals adopted the symbol of
the mother Pelican and her 

659
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:13,120
chicks in the form of colorful 
stained glass windows and 

660
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:15,880
carvings. 
Drawing on this. 

661
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:18,840
Theological. 
Symbol My painting depicts a 

662
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:23,520
Mother Pelican's valiant attempt
to rise from the holy oily muck 

663
00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:27,240
to save her chicks. 
I actually had in mind the Deep 

664
00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:32,320
Water Horizon oil spill in 2010,
which was this terrible 

665
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,480
catastrophe in the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

666
00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:39,760
All Creatures Lament is really 
an intentionally unpleasant and 

667
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:45,120
sober in painting to illicit 
compassion and to spur us on 

668
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,680
toward environmental stewardship
of the love for creation. 

669
00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:52,960
And so if we recognize God's 
care for all creatures and adopt

670
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:58,320
this posture, what might this 
change in us as we relate to 

671
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:00,520
nature? 
How would our lives maybe look 

672
00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:03,920
differently? 
Perhaps we'll limit things like 

673
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:08,640
single use plastics, as hard as 
that is, as they're a petroleum 

674
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:12,840
based product, or curb our 
reliance on fossil fuels or 

675
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,680
holds polluting corporations 
accountable. 

676
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:22,160
The final work in this. 
Series is Alpha and Omega. 

677
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:27,280
I first sketched the concept for
this back in 2015, seven years 

678
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:31,160
before I began painting it. 
Eventually, I envisioned this 

679
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:35,800
scene to be the culmination of 
my series where Colette and 

680
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:40,200
Sophia finally meet. 
Now, Colette is afforded the 

681
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:44,520
opportunity to pursue everything
under the sun, trying to find 

682
00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:48,680
meaning in a modern age, even 
with virtual reality and 

683
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,640
technology. 
As a lone wanderer, though 

684
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:56,720
fighting his demons of nihilist 
despair, he meets Sophia, Lady 

685
00:45:56,720 --> 00:46:01,720
Wisdom beckoning him from within
the portal of the new creation. 

686
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:07,880
So Zen rock gardens are dry 
landscapes, which in Buddhism 

687
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:13,160
are meant to represent the 
absence of organic life and also

688
00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:17,880
nothingness that is believed to 
be essential to life. 

689
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:23,800
Well, Colette is attracted to 
this worldview, compelling him 

690
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:27,120
to let go of all of his worldly 
attachments. 

691
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:31,520
Sophia draws him back to 
everything that is good, true, 

692
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:36,040
and beautiful. 
And so the black sand is a 

693
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:40,760
picture of Colette sole and the 
gushing water spilling out from 

694
00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:43,840
the portal represent the living 
waters. 

695
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:50,120
Sophia also carries this tree 
sapling which is symbolic for 

696
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:55,440
the Tree of Life, which is a 
Jewish symbol for wisdom and it 

697
00:46:55,440 --> 00:47:00,080
represents the wisdom that may 
also grow in Colette soul. 

698
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:06,240
The 12 Stones in the arch bear 
monograms for the 12 tribes of 

699
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:11,800
Israel, and the Cairo stone at 
the top, which is a historical 

700
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:16,040
symbol for Christ, fits into the
portal. 

701
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:21,080
And I was thinking about the 
line in Psalm 118 which says the

702
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:24,760
stone the builders rejected has 
become the capstone. 

703
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:31,320
Sophia, you see, is also a 
signpost to Christ in Scripture,

704
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:36,440
whom Colette comes to understand
is the wisdom from God, as the 

705
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:42,560
Apostle Paul articulates in 
First Corinthians so. 

706
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,720
The concept for the. 
Portal in this painting came 

707
00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:50,040
from what the Celtics called 
thin places where the veil 

708
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:52,880
between heaven and earth is 
thin. 

709
00:47:53,520 --> 00:47:56,960
Colette Quest may be coming to 
an end as he arrives at a 

710
00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:58,960
newfound reenchantment with the 
world. 

711
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:03,600
Yet despite Sophia's call to 
embrace the wonder that's all 

712
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:09,480
around in the world, we still 
live in a world where human 

713
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:14,320
injustices and environmental 
injustices and all the enigmas 

714
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:19,200
of life still persist. 
Colette and Sophia understand 

715
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:24,320
that relying solely on human 
wisdom itself is not enough and 

716
00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:28,440
can't fix the brokenness. 
It's only the creator of the 

717
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,120
cosmos, referred to as the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the

718
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:35,760
end, who can ultimately restore 
a broken world. 

719
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:41,720
Employing a story based. 
Approach Through this series, 

720
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:45,480
Antos and Brititos seeks to 
critique vices such as greed, 

721
00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:50,120
self centeredness, arrogance, 
while also commending virtues 

722
00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:53,680
such as humility, justice and 
love. 

723
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,440
Through presenting 2 dialectical
perspectives is a way to 

724
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:03,000
discover what it means to become
a wise person in everyday life 

725
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:07,040
on this planet, we're challenged
to live up to our name, homo 

726
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,320
sapien, which translates to wise
human. 

727
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:14,880
In theologians Stephen Bauma 
Predekar's excellent new book 

728
00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:18,800
Earth Keeping and Character, he 
writes the virtue of wisdom is 

729
00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:21,760
shot through with an abiding 
awareness of life's 

730
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:26,640
precariousness, an understanding
and prizing of the excellence of

731
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:32,520
life, and an unwavering sense of
Thanksgiving for the sheer gift 

732
00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:36,240
of life. 
Well, hopefully this has given 

733
00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:40,480
you a feel for my painting 
series, an example for how the 

734
00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:44,600
arts can help us illuminate the 
timeless truths found in the 

735
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:48,640
Wisdom books. 
You can see more of my Vanitas 

736
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:53,160
and Veritas paintings in my new 
book, in which all 23 of the 

737
00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:58,200
works are presented along with 
written commentary that goes 

738
00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:03,120
into greater detail. 
I also just want to honor Doctor

739
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:06,440
Mark Boda, who is with us here 
tonight, and he was the 

740
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:10,720
theological advisor for the 
project, and I didn't know he 

741
00:50:10,720 --> 00:50:13,000
was going to be in the Colorado 
Springs area. 

742
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:18,640
We both live in Hamilton, ON 
Canada so if if there are any 

743
00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:23,760
errors still in the book I fully
take responsibility But but. 

744
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:25,680
Mark was. 
A a huge help. 

745
00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:31,000
I think the book makes for a a 
great gift for creative types, 

746
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:35,000
deep thinkers, nature lovers. 
It could also be used as a 

747
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:39,000
devotional book focusing on one 
painting a day for spiritual 

748
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:43,080
reflection. 
And here's the book on the the 

749
00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:46,920
screen here. 
And also percent of all the 

750
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:51,320
proceeds are being donated to 
the Christian Conservation 

751
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:57,000
Organization of Russia, as I 
really believe in using art to 

752
00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:00,160
make a difference, especially 
because my work has a lot of 

753
00:51:00,560 --> 00:51:04,120
environmental themes. 
Well, the book is also 

754
00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:08,920
accompanied by the Vanitas and 
Riditas soundtrack composed by 

755
00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:11,800
Zach Teeson, who happens to be 
my brother. 

756
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:17,040
The original soundtrack was 
composed at the Budapest Scoring

757
00:51:17,040 --> 00:51:21,560
Orchestra in Hungary, which I 
was honored to accompany my 

758
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:24,800
brother. 
And so you can listen to the 

759
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:28,880
full soundtrack on Spotify and 
Apple Music. 

760
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:32,240
And so the concept was that as 
you're flipping through the 

761
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:36,520
book, viewing the art, you can 
listen to the instrumental 

762
00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:40,000
orchestral tracks, which were 
inspired by each of the 

763
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,680
paintings in the series. 
Well, thank you. 

764
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:45,040
So much for your. 
Time. 

765
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:47,800
I really appreciate you 
listening to my talk tonight. 

766
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:59,520
Thank you very much. 
So I think we have some time 

767
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:02,600
for. 
Some questions or comments. 

768
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:08,800
So yeah, I would be happy to 
field any questions you might 

769
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:11,080
have. 
Yes. 

770
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:13,640
Do you spend time in other 
locations? 

771
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:18,080
For inspiration, I was thinking 
about the time to mention. 

772
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:20,000
The. 
Sounding show, yeah. 

773
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:25,240
Yes, at the same time I do. 
Yes, I I have been. 

774
00:52:25,240 --> 00:52:29,760
Fortunate to travel quite a bit 
around the world and when 

775
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:35,240
possible I try to visit the 
locations that I paint in order 

776
00:52:35,240 --> 00:52:37,360
to get the photo references 
myself. 

777
00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:42,920
Sometimes I source the image 
material from other photographer

778
00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:48,120
friends if if needed, but I 
think that just kind of adds to 

779
00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:51,360
the authenticity of the work 
when you could actually like 

780
00:52:51,640 --> 00:52:56,440
experience these places. 
And so like several of like the 

781
00:52:56,440 --> 00:52:59,360
the ghost town paintings, for 
instance, somewhere inspired 

782
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:05,120
from here in Colorado and 
California and and elsewhere. 

783
00:53:05,120 --> 00:53:09,160
And so it's, yeah, really fun 
because then you could also tell

784
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:14,000
a story when, when you're 
sharing about the the painting. 

785
00:53:16,720 --> 00:53:19,680
Yeah, set the pack which. 
Painting is your personal 

786
00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:23,040
favorite. 
Oh, I have to get that question,

787
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:30,160
I say. 
I really OK on that. 

788
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:33,920
My painting Whale Ham. 
Which I'm trying to think if I, 

789
00:53:34,040 --> 00:53:37,560
I think I have it, I'll go back 
in my presentation here. 

790
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:41,840
So Whale Ham was completed when 
I was going through very 

791
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:45,640
intensive treatment for chronic 
Lyme disease with my family. 

792
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:48,880
And it was a very therapeutic 
painting. 

793
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:52,480
Let me just pick it up here. 
Yes. 

794
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:57,320
So here it is. 
I, I puttered away on this while

795
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:00,840
we're going through very 
intensive IV treatments for 

796
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:04,560
three months. 
And in with the strength I did 

797
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:08,920
have in between going to the 
clinic, I was able to to work on

798
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:10,480
this. 
I was very therapeutic. 

799
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:16,160
It was a reminder to me that as 
whales sing these incredibly 

800
00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:21,240
haunting chants that are 
actually songs that are passed 

801
00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:23,160
down from generation to 
generation. 

802
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:27,200
It was a reminder to me that 
even within my chronic illness, 

803
00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:30,400
in this difficult time, that 
that I need to give praise to to

804
00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:34,200
my creator. 
And so, yeah, this painting has 

805
00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:41,040
a a special place in my heart 
for for that reason and will 

806
00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:45,360
will him is, I think my my 
favorite painting, although it 

807
00:54:45,360 --> 00:54:49,800
might change. 
Yes, what? 

808
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:52,320
Makes you choose like this. 
Specific. 

809
00:54:53,600 --> 00:55:00,200
Animal Oh, OK, yes so a lot of 
factors like the, the the 

810
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:07,280
lemurs, I just like they're they
in Madagascar, the word lemur is

811
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:11,920
actually like word for same word
for ghost and in its original 

812
00:55:12,200 --> 00:55:18,720
like linguistic background. 
And so I also thought they look 

813
00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:21,840
very like sentient because they 
have these big eyes and they 

814
00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:26,440
have so much personality. 
And so that was tied into 

815
00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:30,320
Ecclesiastes where it says like 
the fate of humans is the same 

816
00:55:30,320 --> 00:55:33,840
as animals. 
Both go to the grave, but other 

817
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:37,800
other paintings, it's just a a 
feel. 

818
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:42,120
Maybe it's just like the color 
palette that I feel the, the, 

819
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:46,880
the texture or palette of the, 
the species just works with the 

820
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:53,080
environment because often I will
put animals in unusual 

821
00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:56,080
environments that are not 
necessarily like their their 

822
00:55:56,080 --> 00:56:00,080
natural environment. 
And so sometimes like 

823
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:04,920
documentaries I watch too, like 
I watch the BBC documentary 

824
00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:07,920
Ocean Giants, and that's how I 
really got into Wales. 

825
00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:11,840
So yeah, yeah. 
It can come from a a variety of 

826
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:13,600
places. 
Good question. 

827
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:16,040
There was a question behind, 
yes. 

828
00:56:16,040 --> 00:56:20,000
Curious, as a Christian artist, 
how your interaction with 

829
00:56:20,160 --> 00:56:23,240
organized institutional church 
has been as you're working to 

830
00:56:23,280 --> 00:56:26,800
see, what sort of interception 
has your mission found 

831
00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:30,320
reception? 
Is it chilly reception? 

832
00:56:30,680 --> 00:56:32,280
Maybe talk about. 
Yeah, yeah. 

833
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:37,160
Both. 
I would say I, I've experienced 

834
00:56:37,160 --> 00:56:43,760
some positive things where like 
I would say most of my 

835
00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,840
collectors haven't been 
Christians. 

836
00:56:47,680 --> 00:56:55,240
I'd say maybe half or have been,
yeah, like secular and then 

837
00:56:55,240 --> 00:57:01,200
maybe 1/3 are believers. 
I I found, though, that, you 

838
00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:04,160
know, I've been at different 
churches growing up and some, 

839
00:57:04,240 --> 00:57:06,160
some can be more supportive than
others. 

840
00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:10,040
At one church, I helped curate 
an art gallery and artist 

841
00:57:10,040 --> 00:57:14,040
community. 
At other places I find like 

842
00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:17,240
they're very supportive in what 
I do outside of the church, but 

843
00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:20,400
it's a bit tricky for them to 
figure out where I fit within 

844
00:57:20,400 --> 00:57:23,560
the church because like if 
you're a musician, you're on the

845
00:57:23,720 --> 00:57:26,720
ownership team. 
If you're a graphic designer, 

846
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:32,040
you can do the, the promos and 
website design, but visual art, 

847
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:35,200
it's a little bit harder. 
And especially with a lot of 

848
00:57:35,200 --> 00:57:39,360
contemporary churches that don't
have dedicated spaces for art or

849
00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:45,080
who have more of a minimalist 
design, there's not really kind 

850
00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:50,240
of even a conceptual framework 
for how do we fit art in. 

851
00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:56,640
But I, I've been encouraged that
like I have a, a Catholic priest

852
00:57:56,640 --> 00:58:01,720
who's collected my art and has 
used my paintings as like sermon

853
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:05,160
illustrations and is in 
homilies. 

854
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:10,120
And so I found, like, one of the
benefits is that I've had like a

855
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:13,600
very kind of ecumenical 
connection to the church with 

856
00:58:13,600 --> 00:58:17,440
people from more like liturgical
backgrounds interested. 

857
00:58:18,320 --> 00:58:21,960
But then again, I am still 
surprised that some more low 

858
00:58:21,960 --> 00:58:25,000
church kind of evangelicals have
also embraced my work and 

859
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:28,960
purchased it. 
They may have not really come 

860
00:58:28,960 --> 00:58:30,560
across a Christian artist 
before. 

861
00:58:30,560 --> 00:58:33,800
So often times pastors have just
never met someone like me. 

862
00:58:34,080 --> 00:58:38,560
And so I try to have a posture 
of like, not coming in expecting

863
00:58:38,560 --> 00:58:44,000
them to understand everything 
that I'm doing, but try to come 

864
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:48,160
with like a humble posture. 
There's often like an 

865
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:52,520
appreciation of art history and 
the Sistine Chapel that a lot of

866
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:58,000
pastors, you know, will will use
as, as examples of great art in 

867
00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:01,080
the past, but also for them to 
know that there are still living

868
00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:05,160
artists of faith creating new, 
new and fresh work. 

869
00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:09,120
So that's kind of a meandering 
answer to your question, but 

870
00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:12,040
it's it's a good one. 
Yeah. 

871
00:59:12,080 --> 00:59:16,080
I think you yeah, an interesting
you talked about the. 

872
00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:19,840
Removal of beauty from modern 
art or from worship. 

873
00:59:21,160 --> 00:59:24,200
But you also kind of without 
directly saying you talked a lot

874
00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:26,280
about the removal of beauty from
science. 

875
00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:29,240
Yes, particularly. 
You were mentioning. 

876
00:59:29,240 --> 00:59:31,960
Ecology and zoology, but even 
physics as well. 

877
00:59:32,080 --> 00:59:35,200
Yes. 
What drew you into that and how 

878
00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:37,680
do you? 
Science isn't necessarily 

879
00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:40,600
something you're going for no 
innovation in. 

880
00:59:40,800 --> 00:59:41,560
All of your. 
Work. 

881
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:44,680
So how is that apart? 
Wow, I've never been asked that.

882
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:49,240
Question, that's beautiful. 
I think so. 

883
00:59:49,240 --> 00:59:55,240
I have definitely really 
appreciated, you know, 

884
00:59:55,520 --> 00:59:58,840
scientists who have seen like 
the the benefit of the 

885
00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:02,440
imagination. 
Like I I read this book on fungi

886
01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:07,040
by Merlin Sheldrake Entangled 
and he was saying that all 

887
01:00:07,040 --> 01:00:11,520
scientists actually have to use 
imagination and metaphors 

888
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:16,720
because they're trying to 
describe a new phenomenon. 

889
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:21,960
With using metaphors and 
language which is essentially 

890
01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:25,880
all based on metaphor and and so
there has to be like an 

891
01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:32,000
imaginative scope. 
I I think also in in, but I 

892
01:00:32,040 --> 01:00:36,320
think the Enlightenment 
influence on on science has very

893
01:00:36,320 --> 01:00:40,520
much like disconnected it from 
the arts or philosophy. 

894
01:00:40,880 --> 01:00:45,720
And I think more and more we're,
we're recognizing that Stephen 

895
01:00:45,720 --> 01:00:49,960
Balmain Prediger, who's a 
theologian and also heads up 

896
01:00:49,960 --> 01:00:53,080
like the environmental studies 
program at Hope College, says 

897
01:00:53,080 --> 01:00:58,200
that we only care about things 
that we love. 

898
01:00:58,520 --> 01:01:02,800
And so love and affection for 
the natural world has to 

899
01:01:02,800 --> 01:01:05,600
actually come before we can 
study it in depth. 

900
01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:09,560
Because usually once we have 
love for something, we then want

901
01:01:09,640 --> 01:01:13,040
to seek it out and, and study it
in greater detail. 

902
01:01:13,360 --> 01:01:17,640
And so I, I think that art can 
have like a very fruitful 

903
01:01:17,640 --> 01:01:23,880
relationship with, with science 
to remind us that the natural 

904
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:27,880
world isn't just here for 
utilitarian benefit, for 

905
01:01:28,080 --> 01:01:32,240
scientific studies or for human 
moral progress, But it can be 

906
01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:37,080
something that we can enjoy and 
appreciate and find wonder in 

907
01:01:37,080 --> 01:01:41,440
and how it directs us to praise 
for a creator and, and all of 

908
01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:44,200
these, these cool things. 
And so I think artists have a 

909
01:01:44,320 --> 01:01:47,440
unique role. 
I mean, the history of Natural 

910
01:01:47,440 --> 01:01:53,560
History work from Audubon and 
onwards has has shown that that 

911
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:58,120
kind of spurred on scientific 
inquiry by being able to 

912
01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:04,200
visually depict the the natural 
world and get people excited 

913
01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:08,200
about studying science further. 
So. 

914
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:11,000
Christina Yeah, yeah. 
So part of. 

915
01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:14,000
What I love about your pieces is
how much architecture you also. 

916
01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:16,200
Yeah, all of them. 
And. 

917
01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:17,640
So I kind of let you know. 
Why? 

918
01:02:17,760 --> 01:02:19,880
Well, first of all, cuz all your
boards right your, your actual 

919
01:02:20,440 --> 01:02:22,920
pieces are shaped. 
Very unusually. 

920
01:02:23,160 --> 01:02:25,240
Yeah, I love. 
That they're all custom assets. 

921
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:28,080
But also there's like and and 
again, like the triptych, the 

922
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:30,480
altarpiece, yes, I wanted to 
like speak into. 

923
01:02:30,480 --> 01:02:32,240
That what made. 
You choose a triptych. 

924
01:02:32,240 --> 01:02:35,280
Why is there that like 
artificial, like computer, old 

925
01:02:35,400 --> 01:02:39,560
church symbol, Yeah. 
I love that question. 

926
01:02:40,160 --> 01:02:44,880
Yeah, yeah. 
I was actually for my Masters of

927
01:02:44,880 --> 01:02:49,000
Art History program, wrote a 
final paper on, on that very 

928
01:02:49,000 --> 01:02:53,360
question that you posed, because
what's fascinating in, in my 

929
01:02:53,360 --> 01:02:57,960
studies is that the further you 
go back in like Renaissance 

930
01:02:57,960 --> 01:03:00,520
painting and a lot of these 
altar pieces, they were actually

931
01:03:00,520 --> 01:03:04,240
designed to echo the 
architecture of these spaces and

932
01:03:04,240 --> 01:03:07,400
to be very integral. 
So that's why you get these 

933
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:11,920
altar pieces and, and triptychs,
which is, you know, 3 panels 

934
01:03:11,960 --> 01:03:15,480
that into one painting for, for 
those who don't know. 

935
01:03:15,880 --> 01:03:22,280
And so for when, when art kind 
of left the church and the 

936
01:03:22,280 --> 01:03:25,880
church stopped being kind of a 
major patron, there's a 

937
01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:30,320
transition to like the the, the 
French academies and the salons 

938
01:03:30,360 --> 01:03:33,520
and framing became very 
homogenized where you just got 

939
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:39,880
rectangle frames and artists 
weren't as involved with like 

940
01:03:40,120 --> 01:03:44,120
sculptors and carvers who would 
make these elaborate frames that

941
01:03:44,120 --> 01:03:47,240
would be kind of like separate 
from the process. 

942
01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:53,120
But then it was in the mid 20th 
century where color field 

943
01:03:53,120 --> 01:03:58,280
abstract painters like Frank 
Stella is the best example, 

944
01:03:58,440 --> 01:04:02,760
broke away from rectangles. 
And some of those abstract 

945
01:04:02,760 --> 01:04:06,880
painters actually cited 
altarpiece frames as being an 

946
01:04:06,880 --> 01:04:08,840
inspiration. 
Even though a lot of you think 

947
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:12,320
of modern art is breaking with 
religious tradition of the past.

948
01:04:12,680 --> 01:04:16,920
They found that those altar 
painting altarpiece paintings 

949
01:04:16,920 --> 01:04:20,280
thought about like the 
sculptural aspect of a painting,

950
01:04:20,280 --> 01:04:24,440
the shape and how the shape 
could imbue meaning into the the

951
01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:28,080
work. 
And so as you saw in some of 

952
01:04:28,080 --> 01:04:33,560
the, the paintings, like the 
choice to have a, a circle goes 

953
01:04:33,560 --> 01:04:39,160
back to the Italian Tondo 
format, which was associated 

954
01:04:39,160 --> 01:04:42,480
with Mary and wholeness and 
perfection. 

955
01:04:42,480 --> 01:04:45,400
And so like a lot of these 
shapes have so much meaning. 

956
01:04:45,400 --> 01:04:48,760
And so that's why I like kind of
exploring because I find like 

957
01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:51,320
rectangles and squares get 
boring, honestly. 

958
01:04:51,840 --> 01:04:56,080
And so that's why I like to let 
the the subject matter dictate 

959
01:04:56,080 --> 01:04:59,160
like Tabernacle, frame, 
etcetera. 

960
01:04:59,160 --> 01:05:00,960
But yeah, thanks for asking 
that. 

961
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:05,160
Do we have any more questions? 
Do. 

962
01:05:08,160 --> 01:05:10,040
You still have Occidental 
Babylon? 

963
01:05:10,040 --> 01:05:12,360
Or is it sold? 
That one's sold. 

964
01:05:12,480 --> 01:05:14,840
Yes, at the Jacksonville Art 
Auction. 

965
01:05:15,880 --> 01:05:20,960
Yeah, that was a hard one to to 
let go because it was like a 

966
01:05:21,360 --> 01:05:26,680
custom made frame from rustic 
barn board wood and then 

967
01:05:26,680 --> 01:05:31,280
designed like I designed the 
corbels and plants and all these

968
01:05:31,280 --> 01:05:35,200
these elements that reflected 
like the Western Gothic 

969
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:38,680
architecture of the Bodhi ghost 
town where it was inspired. 

970
01:05:38,680 --> 01:05:43,360
Yeah. 
Maybe last question a little bit

971
01:05:43,360 --> 01:05:45,400
about. 
Just kind of your workflow like 

972
01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:49,240
how do you OK yeah, how do you 
create your pieces and so many 

973
01:05:49,320 --> 01:05:52,040
hours Yeah, sure. 
Yeah. 

974
01:05:52,040 --> 01:05:55,040
So, so I tried to paint around 8
to 10 hours a day. 

975
01:05:55,440 --> 01:05:59,400
And of course I take Sundays 
off. 

976
01:05:59,400 --> 01:06:05,120
So I have my, my Sabbath, but I 
also have to, you know, do the, 

977
01:06:05,120 --> 01:06:09,480
the boring administrative work 
as well, emails and updating 

978
01:06:09,480 --> 01:06:12,000
websites. 
So it's, it's not all glamorous 

979
01:06:12,320 --> 01:06:16,040
as, as an artist, but yeah, I'm 
painting in my studio and I 

980
01:06:16,040 --> 01:06:19,520
listen to audio books and 
podcasts and music while I'm 

981
01:06:19,520 --> 01:06:23,240
painting. 
And yeah, I, I love what I get 

982
01:06:23,240 --> 01:06:26,680
to do. 
Painting is the most enjoyable 

983
01:06:26,680 --> 01:06:30,360
part of, of, of what I do. 
It doesn't even feel like a job.

984
01:06:31,520 --> 01:06:34,680
It's not always easy. 
It is hard work. 

985
01:06:35,520 --> 01:06:38,920
But for me, I have like, the 
patient attention to detail and 

986
01:06:38,920 --> 01:06:43,080
so I like the challenge of 
working on a painting for such a

987
01:06:43,080 --> 01:06:45,080
long period of time. 
So yeah. 

988
01:06:45,080 --> 01:06:47,760
But I also start my day in 
prayer and scripture. 

989
01:06:47,760 --> 01:06:51,320
And so I try to, I'm still 
learning how to have a good, 

990
01:06:51,360 --> 01:06:55,760
healthy work life balance and 
spend time outdoors and all of 

991
01:06:55,760 --> 01:06:58,840
that as we as we all do. 
But thanks so much everyone. 

992
01:06:58,880 --> 01:07:02,000
And again, so glad to be with 
you tonight. 

993
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:07,600
Imagination Redeemed podcast. 
Is a production of the Anselm 

994
01:07:07,600 --> 01:07:09,880
Society. 
It's easy to see this world as 

995
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:12,320
disenchanted and to give up hope
that there's more. 

996
01:07:12,600 --> 01:07:16,360
But you were made to see the 
world with the eyes of heaven, 

997
01:07:17,040 --> 01:07:21,280
to experience a joyful Sabbath 
and experience the world as a 

998
01:07:21,320 --> 01:07:25,800
place to meet God and live a 
bountiful life that participates

999
01:07:25,800 --> 01:07:28,960
in the life of God. 
Like in the great stories, the 

1000
01:07:28,960 --> 01:07:32,800
Ansam Society is a place where 
you can come in and experience 

1001
01:07:32,880 --> 01:07:36,200
beauty, joyful celebration, and 
ancient wisdom and go out 

1002
01:07:36,200 --> 01:07:39,880
renewed, bringing that life to 
your vocation, home, and church.

1003
01:07:40,040 --> 01:07:43,400
Join us next time as we pursue a
renaissance of the Christian 

1004
01:07:43,400 --> 01:07:45,160
imagination together.