the design

There’s a whole lot of hollow inside this guitar
But it’s there for a reason it’s there by design
Without the hollow the sound could not resonate
Without the hollow the notes could not shine

There’s a whole lot of empty inside this cathedral
And its walls are as cold as stone
Yet your voice will carry through all the chambers
Filling every void space with a beautiful tone

There’s a whole lot of lonely inside this heart
But it’s there for a reason it’s there by design
Without the lonely God’s voice would not resonate
And His love you would not find

insatiable thirst

Insatiable thirst
I live with this curse
my life’s musical rendition
is never mint condition
it’s like an LP that’s scratched
and warped from the heat
so that the message is lost
and never mind the beat
the fact that you would love me
is an amazing feat

Insatiable thirst
each day it grows worse
and there’s no definition
for this mental condition
just a longing for home
never satisfied with things I own
always needing
always bleeding
you put your arms around me
and whisper that you love me

the crippled begger

Here I sit beside cold iron bars
People pass by avoiding eye contact
My hand extended, yet receiving nothing
I can describe them all as well as they can me
But no one takes the time to let the association grow deeper

Often children will dare to come close,
But their parents beckon them away
Once a little girl reached out to touch my hand
I stared into her face and my eyes welled up with tears
Her father quickly brushed her up under his arm
But I will never forget that moment
It was more than anyone had ever given me
Her eyes of innocence were filled with compassion

It was just the way that I had pictured Joseph’s son
I never knew him, but I had heard the stories . . .
How he healed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, commanded evil spirits
Healed the sick with a single word, and walked upon the water
I heard that he would often tell those who were crippled to get up and walk
If only he were around today . . . if only I could use my legs . . .
I would not merely walk about with the same empty expressions I see on so many other faces

One day two men were about to enter the temple
I asked them for some money and they looked directly at me
I could not look back at them for fear, but the one man began to speak to me
I was waiting to be ridiculed for my request
I had grown used to this kind of humiliation
It was a small price to pay for the possibility of income
I would tolerate the slanders as long as I had received a few tokens by the end of the day

But the words that fell from his lips were not malicious
He commanded me in the name of Jesus to walk
He spoke with the same authority as the Nazarene and I believed what he said
Then taking me by the right hand, he lifted me to my feet
I felt a warmness and stiffness spread through my legs and I began to jump about
The same warmness shot into my heart and I was filled with awe
Tears streamed down my face as I began to praise God

All of my life I wanted to be healed . . .
To experience the touch of love’s hand and be free
Now I knew what it meant
For the first time in my life I could call this gate beautiful
I would now enter in with confidence

new york

This year I spent Labor Day in New York. Here are a few photos from the trip


Yoko Ono's tribute to her slain husband, John Lennon.

The gothic revival of St. Patrick's Cathedral in upper midtown.

View of lower Manhattan from the top of Rockefeller Center.

Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

View of Manhattan from Flushing Meadows in Queens.

joseph

So there you stand in the presence of your family
holding back the floodgates of your heart
but now it seems impossible
to withhold so many years
of solace, separation and longing
for those you were not near

And you weep for your beloved Benjamin
and you weep among those you call friends
and you weep among those you call family
and it does not bother you

Is there any better plot?
Is there any better plan?
Is there any who could imagine . . .
that you would one day inherit this land?

And you weep for all of your brothers
and you weep among those you call friends
and you weep among those you call family
and it does not bother you

So go and prepare your chariot
go and meet your father Israel
go and fall down before him . . .
giving glory to the great I Am

And you weep in the presence of your father
and you weep among those you call friends
and you weep among those you call family
and it does not bother you

peter

He was always the first to try
and often the very last to cry
yet he was the first to see
who it was that you were meant to be

And you knew that he’d forsake you
with bitter tears and three bold lies
yet your love for him was reckless
always there to restore the kindness
calling him a name that he was not
loosening every dead-bolt lock
to you he was the rock

living room

This is a painting of a duplex living room where I once lived. Instead of painting the objects and the surroundings in their natural colors (realism), I choose to use warm colors for the room and cool colors for the objects in the room to add more contrast.

study

The following paintings are from a series of studies where I experimented with foreground and background ambiguity. The sixteen small squares framed in the larger square either blend into the background or seem to jump off of the canvas.


Study 011 creates the illusion that the small orange squares differ in color.









Study 014 makes the darker color squares appear to have greater depth.









In study 015 the right side of the painting has greater contrast.

color in painting

I painted these pictures a few years ago, wanting to explore how the same subject can be interpreted differently through color.

let me build you a house

Let me build you a house
the foundation is a solid core
and sand will be the floor
that transitions to grassy meadows
and green forests that are deep
ending in an ocean blue
it will surround you

I'll paint the walls with trees
and mountains of rock so big
that you only think of me
and the roof will be an endless sky
to remind you of eternity
the sun will rise each morning
to keep you warm throughout each day
while the stars will twinkle in the evening
just to show you're not alone
for you are living in my home

bootleg cake

A few friends had been getting together on a weekly basis to watch the Band of Brothers mini series directed by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks depicting the story of Easy Company, the 101st Airborne Division in the army during World War II. To commemorate episode seven: The Battle of Bastogne, I baked a cake depicting one of the bloodiest scenes in the entire series. The cake was vanilla flavored with raspberry sauce for the filling. Ummm . . . tasty!

triquetra

While at seminary I designed a model based on the two-dimensional illustration of the trinity known as the triquetra. This sculptural form of the triquetra is a more accurate model of the trinity because it is constructed in three dimensions. Each of the three equal arcs of the sculpture taper off to stand on a circular base at precisely three points in homage to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The sculpture, as proposed, would become a centerpiece of the Chafer Chapel Plaza just as the Godhead is the centerpiece of all Christian thought.

faces

buildings

austin

What I saw when I was in Austin.

natchitoches

In college I was part of a collaborative to document the entire historic district of the city of Natchitoches in Louisiana. In short it was an attempt to preserve and restore the architecture that still remained near the end of the century. Six illustrations that I did for the project were published in a pamphlet that was distributed at tourist information areas throughout the state of Louisiana. Later, these phamphlets of the North Louisiana River Parishes were bound and published in a full volume hard cover book.

biker chair

When I was in college I took a furniture design class. The objective was to make a small piece of furniture where the cost did not exceed a hundred bucks. The chair that I made consisted of salvaged steel and various other parts that I was able to pull from the local junk yard. The idea for the chair was to provide a seat where a biker would feel comfortable while reclining in front of the television. It should, then, feel very similar to sitting on his motorcycle. In essence, his passion for being on his bike would now extend into the home. The fuel tank would hold 2.5 gallons of the biker's favorite beverage and would be syphoned directly to the biker's mouth. The biker chair won an honorable mention in the 1999 Louisiana YAYA Chair Competition and was featured for an entire summer at the New Orleans African American Museum of Art. After that it sat in my garage until the rust and shedding of the seat cover became so great that I decided to toss it. I also had limited living quarters at the time and had to make sacrifices.

eureka springs

Last spring I got to travel to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to attend a friend’s wedding. The ceremony was in the Thorncrown Worship Center which sits next to the famous Thorncrown Chapel designed by internationally renowned architect Euine Fay Jones. The Thorncrown chapel received a national AIA Honor Award in 1981 and is fourth on the AIA's Top 10 list of twentieth century structures.

View of the chapel entry.

Exterior detail of the chapel.

Interior view of the chapel.

Interior view of the worship center.

Interior detail of the worship center structure.

chicago

This summer I got to travel to Chicago with a few friends. I was impressed with the architecture and took several photographs.
The John Hancock Building from street level.








A view of the North Side and Lake Michigan from the John Hancock Building.






Historic Michigan Street residence with a view of the lake.






Architect Frank Gehry's Millennium Park stainless steel sculpture.






Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Robie House was probably the first ever residence to be designed with a steel beam to achieve a cantilevered effect.