According to the dictionary: “an artist is one who produces works of art; someone who does something with exceptional skill.” Yet the artist is much more than this and, at best, he will have given his mind, body, heart and soul to us in the process of creating and communicating in a given medium. That process in itself is so cathartic for the artist that it remains quite a mystery for the onlooker. There seems to be something going on that is beyond our factual understanding. The artist is deeply meditative while he concentrates all his/her faculties and strains to mimic the Divine Creator.

For me, it is not unlike contemplative prayer where one starts with a blank page and then gradually marks flow into shapes and deeper into recognisable forms that grow in intensity and power as real communication is made. The process can be exhausting and difficult at times but there is always an inner excitement and joy that spurs one on. It is a God-given gift. As a Christian artist, God inspires me and gives me the joy of creating and I, in return, use my gift to honour him by depicting His creation or by using symbols and skills to reach for His perfection. Good art should communicate with our souls and we should feel the presence of God pulling us in.

I have always felt the Holy Spirit inspiring me and tried with my art to reflect my love of God. I remember as a young child, I drew the large heart of Jesus and my small hear and put arrows between with the words: “let my heart get closer to your heart”. In my paintings I use religious themes or try to convey spiritual or emotional states. They will often reflect my own spiritual life. I like to use high colour and modulations within the spectrum to create feeling. In ‘The Yearning’ (1995), for example, I tried to depict the quest of the soul to reach God. I painted a girl with butterfly wings looking up to heaven, hand clasped with a sunrise background and the words: “rise up soul” in the foreground. I was attempting to show the longing of the soul for eternity and for communion with God. The butterfly is a symbol of resurrection and the girl is being drawn up into a new dawn and a surreal existence. The girl I painted was my sister and she died suddenly some months after I finished the painting.

The marriage of religious belief and love of God with the artistic skill is extremely satisfying. It is a reciprocal experience, where god- the divine Artist- gives of himself so that we can enjoy creating and giving glory back to him. With God at the helm, art is a love exchange and will always strive for beauty. I thank God He let me play!