What does this painting mean?

Sometimes when I paint, I don't see the meaning of the piece until it's almost done. But this particular piece wasn't clear for days... I even asked the opinion of friends who have been known to interpret my art for me in new and strange ways.

It was after my morning devotions today that the "scales fell off my eyes", and the answer was so obvious, I laughed. Steve Bell had confirmed one of my earlier ideas that it looked like something from creation, and he encouraged me to look at it in a horizontal format. He suggested the name, "Emblem".

The painting fits nicely into my Creation Series. The swipes of colour representing (in order from left to right) the Father, Jesus (the sacrifice) and the Spirit, in the creation of our world. They meet in a neat little triangle at the bottom. So there!

Of course art is meant to be interpreted in different ways by different people. Everyone "sees" in their own way - right, Byron?

Technology Nightmare

Sometimes technology doesn't work, and you have to depend on God to speak through you and with you. I had that experience last week. I was speaking to a group of art students at the King's School in Winnipeg.  I had met their teacher, Andrea Atkinson at last fall's Manitoba Art Expo at the Assiniboia Downs. She had asked me at that time, if I would visit and talk about my art to her class of students.

Well, the time came for the class. She and I had met earlier in the week at my home to discuss the content, and I prepared a powerpoint presentation showing some "progression stages" of certain paintings, to demonstrate technique. I put the presentation on a thumb drive (brand new), and tested the presentation on my computer at work.

At the last minute, I sent the presentation via email to the teacher, and even attempted to burn it on a disc. I thought I was ready. A half hour before class time, the thumb drive would not work on two different computers. There was nothing on the disc, and Andrea was unable to access the personal email from the school computer. Time for more PRAYER! Carol, a fellow teacher, joined us to pray for the class. I drove the 10 minute distance to my home to re-email the presentation (feeling remarkably calm, I might add), and arrived back for the class at exactly the start time.

Once again, the email (large file) did not arrive in time, so we accessed my website from the computer and showed it on the screen and I began to tell my story, along with stories of some of my paintings. Many of the stories included those of Steve and Nanci Bell, whose photos contribute to much of my portfolio.

I had brought along 8 actual paintings for display, and was able to describe technique and "stages" without the presentation. It was a full class, and while I initially thought that I would not have a lot to say, there was much that went unsaid! The class of about 30 people took a close look at the paintings and asked questions at the end of the class.

Lessons learned? Don't depend on technology!!!!!!!!!!!! Depend on God!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

PS: The email finally did arrive later on, and the teacher will use the presentation in another class to demonstrate the stages. Cool.