January
26, 2017
May
the Lord bless you with the deepest desires of your heart.
Well,
it's taken me a few days to get this all together, but the Lord
wanted me to encourage you with the story of how this painting came
about.
As
you may recall, I was finishing up the Tethered Thumb drives so that
we had something to leave behind. This was before we got the great
news that we had another three years, because of His mercy and more
time in response to our prayers.
I
had asked a very well-known artist who works in the motion picture
industry if I could use his portrait of Jesus for the drives so
people would be touched by His love in that difficult period in
history. After numerous tries, the answer was, "NO." I
tried to reason with them saying that this was like a time capsule
and his portrait would be a very tiny file in the midst of year's
worth of music and teachings. Anyway, I was crestfallen.
I
went into prayer afterwards asking God to help me forgive and let go.
It was hard, it really was. It was then that He said, "I can do
better than that if you will work with Me." Oh let me tell you,
I have only done about 10 paintings in my life, and every one of them
was a mammoth project taking gobs of time and emotional energy. I am
not an artist!!!
However,
when I need a picture, the Lord has blessed me to execute it. But
only on His assignment would I dare to try this. This was the first
gift the Lord gave me, right after I became a Christian. You see, the
only reason I took up photography - which I worked at for almost 30
years - was because I couldn't paint any further than a stick figure
and maybe a heart. Even rainbows were impossible.
Then
my black panther of avarice got the best of me when I thought I would
need a lot of pastels. It was two weeks before they all arrived and
got organized, along with pastel pencils. And I ended up with way too
many and crumpling up at Jesus feet, confessing my avarice A-gain.
Then He confirmed that He wanted me to use Acrylics and pastel. So
again I went to the art store and was very careful what I got, this
time.
So,
I began the process of getting materials together and different
renditions of the Shroud of Turin, some done by forensic artists. The
night finally came, the moment of truth. I had shared what the Lord
said to me with the channel and stuck my neck out - way out - boldly
declaring that HE was going to do something even better. Not me, mind
you!
I
mapped out His features and projected that onto the acid free
masonite coated with gesso. I carefully marked the details with
charcoal. Then I proceeded to begin to paint.
And
I wanted to share with you. Norman Rockwell wrote a book on how to
put illustrations together, and I used his technique, I studied it.
And I used that and it was highly successful for me. So, that again I
was the approach I was taking here.
But
the real challenge was capturing His expression. You know, I knew the
Lord would have to do this, there was no way I was going to be able
to do it.
My
first attempt looked like a cartoon...at least it looked like that
way to me. I used several photographs of actors that captured a
certain feeling about Jesus as I began the shading. My very first
attempt, His eyebrows were raised. I thought, that's funny - why are
His eyebrows raised? That's not right. So I re-did it and lowered His
eyebrows. That for sure didn't look right! I wanted so badly to get
some kind of loving expression in His eyes. I was getting very
frustrated after about four nights at 6 hours apiece.
Then
Ezekiel had a communion service just for me and at the end he said,
"I feel like the Lord is going to really do something through
you tonight." So, I enthusiastically set to work. I discovered
my proportions on the face were not quite right. I had to redo the
projection to get them lined up accurately. Almost at the end of the
night, I started filling in a few details roughly. And something
happened - the eyes said something, finally - but still like a
cartoon. The Lord really did capture His facial expression, or at
least a semblance of it. His eyebrows went up in a rather inviting
way, kind of saying... "Well, are you Mine or not?" Or kind
of like saying, "I am here - are you coming with Me?" and
just a very knowing smile, very gentle, knowing smile.
Then
I began working on the details. The eyes first. His eyes came really
alive one night and I began to feel His presence very strongly in the
draft. I needed a smile, but not too obvious. I thought, 'How in the
world am I going to do that?' I finally hit on just the right
expression. His beard needed texture and cheeks needed depth. It was
beginning to shape up! But He looked too...harsh and Arabic with the
strong beard...it needed to be softened.
When
I gave Him a neck, He really began to feel real. But what would he
wear? I got some lavender silk and draped it, looking for beautiful
folds to paint. But then I realized they were to too distracting.
Really, more than anything I wanted His face and eyes to be the only
attention-getting focus. Then I discovered His nose was about 3/4 of
an inch too far to the left, so I had to redo His nose and cheeks.
After
working on His shirt, I began the background. I started with clouds
but they were a bit distracting. And I wanted the feeling of
morning...'joy comes in the morning' was the theme, not clouds but a
fresh new day. And so after redoing the background about 5 times,
trying everything, I settled on a misty early morning - very, very
subtle background.
Returning
to the face, I realized the bridge between the eyes was too elevated,
so I added some shading. Then along came the need for a little hair
on His chest, as any Middle Eastern man would have. I didn't want it
overstated...I'll tell you what - some of the pictures of hairy
chests on Google were downright gross! But I finally settle on just a
tiny bit of hair.
I
redid His hair around His face several times. At first it was too
contrasty, too wavy. Then it was too dark. Looking at it now, I can
see it's' not faithful to the portrait because I did darken it a bit
on the digital one that's up now - and that makes His face not as
soft as in the original. So - stay tuned. There will be one more
revision! Ohhhh, boy....
Then
came time to photograph the painting, which they call image capture
now. And right around the corner is a wonderful photo shop that did a
superlative job on the digital capture. I couldn't have found anyone
more competent - not even in NYC or San Francisco. I was thrilled.
So,
that's the short story. Did I grow discouraged? Yes. Did I think of
giving up? No - I couldn't, because I knew God could do this if I
just hung in there. And true to His nature, He did! And besides, I
promised you that I was going to do it - and I couldn't let you down.
I
really don't know how it works. Grace is so invisible. Undetectable.
So difficult to perceive when it's actually happening. I can only
tell that He's been about His business through my fingers when I look
at the finished product and exclaim, "You did it, Lord! You did
it!"
Really
it is my absolute delight to translate into music, words and images
anything having to do with the love of God. With Jesus and His
personality. When I became a Christian, all I wanted to do was tell
the world about what He had done for me and who He is. And I thank
Him for giving me this opportunity. Truly though, it is His painting.
And if you want to see the part I did...well, look for the blemishes.
Lord,
do You have anything You want to share?
"Music is an especially treacherous in a gift, because people begin to worship the artist and it can go to their heads very quickly. For this reason, there is much tempering and seasoning and in fact difficult events in the past of my musicians. They must carry the anointing to bring you all into My presence. This is a priestly duty, and not all live a pure and priestly life. That is why you are seeing older musicians raised up. They have lived through the fancies and vanities of the world and have come into a place of realization: only I am important.
"I wanted Clare to share this with you so you could understand that you are perfectly fit for any assignment I impart to you. Your skill level is not needed; your heart and surrender are. In fact, I place My desires in your heart. So I would ask you to look inside and recognize your longings. I have placed them there for a reason. As you discover what lies beneath that throbbing heart, you can bring it to Me to turn it into reality.
"I am waiting for some of you to discover yourselves and what I have for you. Seek Me until you find Me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Even as it is written, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you."
"Remember, to bring you joy and fulfillment is truly My delight."
Source:
Heart Dwellers
Please watch the video here
