self portrait

"When Michelangelo was starting to paint unclad people, his teacher said to him, “Why are you doing this?” He said, “I want to see man as God sees man,” and the teacher said to him, “But you’re not God.”"
--Ravi Zacharias

There is an element of taboo in all art. Art has been described as something that awakens an emotion. Good art incenses people, either out of anger or joy or laughter or distain or fear. Art, like drugs, can be used for good or for bad; and like drugs, again there is a certain taboo about art.

St Luke is traditionally considered to be the patron saint of painters. Though there is little to no evidence that he actually painted, Luke is widely understood to have been a physician (Colossians 4:14). Physicians before and at the height of the rennaisance were often in the field collecting herbs and such in order to use to make drugs. Painters too were often in the field, but to gather materials for pigments; thus they were often classified together.

I was born in Prince Rupert, BC on Sept 16, 1980. My mom raised both my brother and I by herself and she did a darned good job at it. Also, my step-dad had no small part in our upbringning; he bought us our first computer and this was what ignited my passion for computers into what it is today.

I would consider myself to be an introvert to a certain degree. My dad is more the extrovert than I am. This often opened the door to numerous opportunities for my dad, but this all too often opened up other doors when he fell in the wrong crowds. He has spoken out about the dangers of drug addiction to youths in the Rupert high schools on several occasions. My dad still has a lot to offer and he has amazing artistic talent.

I had a pretty happy youth. My mom would often send my brother Les and I to Ontario to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa who would spoil us rotten. I always felt so privileged to be able to travel across the country every summer. Grandma always encouraged our artistic side and would often buy us model cars and planes and boats that we could build, not to mention the endless supply of comic books, from which much of my artistic knowledge of the human anatomy is derived. I would often spend hours copying out a page from a favorite comic and then go and show it to grandma who would give her meaningful seal of approval and comment on the details.

My grandma was a huge part in my spiritual development, too. She sent my brother and I to camp when we were younger, and that is where I met Jesus. This would stay with me for years until Jesus brought me into his fold with 12 stones church in Kamloops where I would paint as a worship artist on sundays. And though I moved to Topley after a few years, I still remember with very fond memories, my time with the gang down in the loop. I hope to go back there sometime soon but that may not be what God wants.

Oh yeah, how could I forget the catalyst to much of my artistic expression, my newly wed wife, Amy. We got married on 12 April, 2008 and went on a pretty crazy honeymoon in eastern Canada and have been enjoying each other's company in our first married year together.

So, back to my original point, I do believe that, as a creative soul, I am quite vulnerable to drug and alchohol addiction and abuse. I am not sure why this is, and perhaps it's a gross generalisation, but I don't think I need to rely on statistics to tell me what creativity is or isn't. I have seen the plague of drugs, alchohol and narcotics take the lives of friends and families--both figuratively and literally. Creative people are more susceptible to addiction.

In the bible, there were people set apart to God through the nazarite vow. These people were to devote their lives, almost exclusively to seeking God. There is a component of the nazarite vow that states the the nazarite shall not drink any alchohol or strong drink. As an artist, I am seeking the Lord in any way that he want's to reveal himself to me. This is very similar to being a nazarite, especially when it consumes me more than sex, friends, money, anything. The Lord knew what he was talking about when he said that such people must not drink. You're either consumed by his creative force inside of you or you're consumed by destructive forces like greed or addiction. I refrain from alchohol because I know that I can't have it part way. I have to be totally engrossed in whatever I put my hand to. It's not just about me, either, I refrain from alchohol because I don't want to trip up others.

That's how I plan to be successful in art. This is where I am right now.