Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross Oil and gold on canvas 30″x20″
My closest artist friends and I were a part of the Art & Faith Life Group. One year, 16 of us decided to create our Scriptural Way of the Cross. For this project, I chose to do Way #8: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.
But, as usual, I needed the right model. My son Jonathan worked at Starbucks at the time, and through him I met Oliver, one of his long-time customers. I shared the story of the Encounter Gallery and my idea for this next painting. It turns out that Oliver knew the story well and said he would be my Simon of Cyrene. He even agreed to change into a suit & tie and meet me at our church where I knew I could borrow a large cross. Then, as my friend Andy carried the front, Oliver carried the back end of that cross up a hill many times while I took pictures.
WestWind Christian Church, Keller TX Maundy Thursday 2025
Simon of Cyrene did not volunteer his service for Jesus. He was forced to serve. But, he did it.
We might think that this was just an accident, because he was somehow noticed by the soldiers. But I think he was noticed and singled out by God, who used the soldiers to pull Simon forward.
However Simon did not shrink back when called – even forced – to serve. I’m sure that a direct order from armed guards was quite convincing. But he did not complain, he was not too proud to carry a cross for a convicted criminal.
Disciples Serve the Five Thousand
Oil on canvas
24″ x 18″
This painting began after listening to my friend Takiyah tell me about the gospel story that most resonated with her. She described in detail an evening when she was young, and her mother was crying because of their lack of food. Unexpectedly, to her at least that evening, God provided. That was the first time that Takiyah knew that God was present and that she could talk to him. She talked about the abundance of God and how he has constantly provided in so many ways throughout her life, and that was the reason that Jesus feeding the 5,000 was her favorite gospel story.
I imagined Takiyah as one of the followers at the front of the crowd that day, who saw the fish and loaves multiplying, pitched in and helped deliver the food to all the folks on the hillside. Her contemporary clothing and the modern dishes are my way of imagining what it would look like if this happened again today. It brings the story into the immediacy of now.
Takiyah’s story is one of my favorite evidences of the power and abundance of God. I was invited to share this story in a message to Midway Hills Christian Church in Dallas a few weeks ago. Eight of the Encounter Gallery paintings of saints impacted by Christ are exhibiting at Midway Hills during this Lenten season. We retitled the painting as St. Takiyah Serves the Five Thousand for this exhibit as we know that all who trust in God are truly saints in His eyes.
March 23, 2025 at Midway Hills Christian Church
The church members did a wonderful job of hanging the five paintings in the sanctuary and three more are just outside in the gathering space. It was an honor to speak on the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand and God’s abundance through the eyes of Takiyah.
The Healed Paralytic Oil and 23k gold on canvas 18″ x 24″
This depicts the well-known story from Mark 2 in which the paralyzed man is carried by 4 friends to get him in front of Jesus. But the crowds have pressed in from all sides. These friends are the heroes of the story, humanly speaking. Even though they must have been exhausted, they didn’t give up. After their way was blocked, they persevered and found the stairs to the roof. They carried him up the stairs, removed the tiles in the roof, and lowered him down through the hole.
Then Jesus performed 3 miracles.
The idea behind the halo is borrowed from the pop-art print “Explosion” by Roy Lichtenstein. As I thought about the paralyzed man, it’s interesting that we don’t know what he thought about what was happening to him. He did not speak during the entire story, even after he was healed. So, his halo is one of “surprise and wonder”. He must have been shocked to find himself actually standing on his own two feet. As that is happening, his mind “explodes” with realization.
Encounter Gallery paintings are hanging this summer at Redeemer Bible Church in East Dallas. A number of families and folks from St. Bart’s Anglican Church, which is currently co-located there, also stopped by with their children to look at and talk about the paintings and their stories.
Pastor Eddie Hill preached at Monica Park Sunday on Jacob wrestling with the Angel. He mentioned how we often wrestle with sin and also with global events. That might have been referencing Monday’s total eclipse! He mentioned that this biblical struggle was a real fight at a real place. He also noted that Jacob’s struggle left a scar and our struggles with God leave us scars and injuries. He encouraged us to use every opportunity to be a blessing to others. This reminded me of the verse to”carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”.
Today is Palm Sunday, leading into Holy Week. I’ve been attending Monica Park Christian Church in Garland, while the Encounter Gallery paintings are installed. I place the paintings on the easel at the front before the service so it is easy to move it closer to the center before the Pastor starts the sermon.
Earlier this morning I noticed Kelly lighting a candle next to the painting “Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross”. I liked this visual and Kelly agreed to a picture. This practice is not something we do in my tradition, so I also asked her why she lit the candle this morning. Kelly said “My BFF had a 5 bypass heart surgery last May, and a couple of weeks ago she had a defibrillator put in. I light it to help me put focus on my prayers.”
I am often reminded how easy it is to wander mentally while praying. Holding the lighter, and touching it to the wick takes some concentration and allows for a moment to focus. I appreciate the beauty, effort, and effect of this practice.
Discussing the self-portrait “Man Born Blind” with Robert Virkus.
The Encounter Gallery is showing through December 2019, in the Christian Life Center at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas. We had a Sunday Morning opening a couple of weeks ago and lots of folks stopped by to look and chat between and after the services. I met Robert Virkus and we had an interesting conversation about the art work and some of our favorite artists. Above is the installation on the south wall.
The North Wall installation of the Encounter Gallery
The church is usually open during the day and they often have extended hours. But I recommend calling ahead to make sure the Christian Life Center is unlocked and available for viewing.
Northwest Bible Church Christian Life Center 8505 Douglas Avenue Dallas, TX 75225 469-453-7777
Disciples Serve the Five Thousand Oil on canvas 24″ x 18″
This is my latest work in the Encounter Gallery series entitled “Disciples Serve the Five Thousand”. I was talking with my friend Takiyah about my narrative portraits and that I had started out painting almost exclusively my own family members, mostly because they were willing. I said that as I looked back over my paintings, it occurred to me that my family was awfully white. Takiyah laughed and said “well, my family is awfully black!” I asked her if there was a gospel story that she most identified with and characterized her and her history. She said that the one that most often came to mind was the feeding of the 5,000. She told me about growing up fairly poor in the Los Angeles area, but definitely not realizing that they were poor. She recounted a few of the numerous times that her family was unexpectedly confronted with the Lord’s abundance. This idea of abundance is central to Takiyah’s experience of God in her life. He has supplied her and her family’s needs abundantly and continually. There were powerful stories from her childhood in which her family was blessed with abundance that could only have come from God. As I listened to her stories, I thought of my own history. My father had a good job, and worked steadily throughout my childhood. I never really questioned or wondered where the groceries came from. I realized early on that Dad was paid regularly, and the money went into the bank, and that was how we bought the groceries. I knew then that God provides, even in this way. But Mom and Dad were very frugal, and I never really got a sense of abundance or unexpectedness. Our abundance was more a sense of “enough” and “steady” for which I’m very grateful. This very consistency was and is a gift from my Dad. The groceries always got bought, so that meant that Dad was working, and God was providing both.
But Takiyah’s experience was different and in its own way glorious. God has continued to provide for her in an abundant and sometimes an unexpected way.
While meditating on the story of the 5,000, I began to think about how much labor it would have taken to distribute a dinner of fish and bread to so many men, women and children. Thousands of meals delivered across a hillside next to the lake would have taken so much effort. I imagined that as Jesus multiplied the fish and bread, his disciples saw what was happening and quickly realized what it would take to serve this crowd. They loaded up with plates of the newly created meals and went throughout the crowd, handing out delicious food to everyone who was there. I set the scene on the northeast shore of White Rock Lake with the skyline of Dallas just barely visible in the distance. I pictured the disciples as seasoned diner waiters and waitresses with arms full of plates of baked fish and rolls headed up the hill to the people. This was a day of extraordinary and unexpected abundance, and Jesus’ many followers and disciples were there to serve. It is the perfect story of Takiyah’s experience with the unexpected abundance from God.
“Disciples Serve the Five Thousand” is currently on display with the Encounter Gallery series at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Watson Hall (in Dallas) until August 22, 2019.
24 Feet is installed in the sanctuary of Saint Cecelia’s Catholic Church through Pentecost (Sunday, June 9). Father Moreno asked that we install it in the sanctuary over the exit door so that the congregation will see it as they leave the service. It took quite a bit of expert maneuvering of the hydraulic lift. My friend Robert and I held and attached the painting, while Alberto ran the lift. It turned out to be a stunning place to hang this painting.
St. Cecelia’s Catholic Church at 1809 W. Davis Street in Oak Cliff is a new church building in an established parish. The older church was hit by lightning in 2007 and burned. This beautiful and spacious new church was then built and dedicated in 2011.
I had been threatening to do a printmaking demo for Art & Faith and finally decided to follow-through. I’ve recently met 2 printmakers who specialize in reduction prints and they have been especially encouraging. Angie Coleman of Taos, NM has a wonderful gallery at 117A Kit Carson Street. She was busy pulling prints a few weeks back in late February when I stopped in but took a few minutes to answer some questions. More of Angie’s work at AngieColemanFineArts.com. Back in October, Terri and I visited Portsmouth NH on our recent visit to New England to take in the wonderful fall foliage. We happened upon the studio gallery of Don Gorvett’s Piscataqua Fine Arts Studio and Gallery. Don was out of town, but Alex deConstant showed us around. More at DonGorvettGallery.com.
This inspired me to take the plunge in reduction printmaking and so with after lots of questions and tutorials from Angie and Don, I got started.
Pulling the print (color #3).
The plan for this linocut print is 8 different colors and I demo’d color #3. The subject matter is a great little adobe church in Talpa, NM (near Taos) called San Juan de los Lagos . When I arrived, I was immediately met by a greeting party of 3 very serious and worried dogs. I put on my best serious face and tried to ignore them. One of them graciously agreed to set himself up on the side ledge of the church and is in all my pictures, so the plan is to include him in the final work.
I pulled 3 prints at the demo and finished the rest when I got home. The full run is currently at 24 prints.
Reduction print, Color #3, first 3 prints.
Thanks to Wendee Van Order for taking the great pics.
