I believe that understanding the Story behind a painting facilitates a connection that allows the work to speak to you.
That connection transforms it from an object into a companion – a reflection of a shared experience between you and the artist.
In this email I’d like to tell you the story of my 36″ x 36″ acrylic on canvas painting entitled Jesus Loves The Little Children.
I grew up in the church. My father was a minister, which meant Sunday School, church on Sundays (twice), Youth Group, Wednesday Bible Study.
I didn’t see Dorothy get back home in The Wizard of Oz until I was in college because she was just entering a world of color when I had to leave for church.
As a child, Sunday School was filled with Bible stories and learning songs like “Jesus Loves Me” and “Jesus Loves The Little Children”
Songs you never forget, but that don’t have a deeper meaning when you’re four years old.
However, as a 60-something living in a world where prejudice and bigotry seem to have been made an implausible reality, I felt compelled to use my art to make a statement.
Artists have always used their skills to show the beauty of the world around them, tell stories, worship God or record history.
But, like a song, art has also been used to make powerful statements.
About injustice.
About the insanity of society.
About things that are just plain wrong.
That’s what this painting is about.
If you’re not familiar with the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” (click here if you’d like to hear it) the words are:
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
As I watch TV, look at social media, or listen to the news…I can’t help but be dumbfounded by the monstrosities that have become commonplace in our society today.
Racism. Wage inequities. Gender discrimination.
A cornucopia of gaps that separate us from ourselves.
Jesus Loves The Little Children was painted to convey a simple truth…
We are all the same.
Loved equally by God…Jesus…Buddha…the universe.
The background of this painting symbolizes the ”red and yellow, black and white,” tapestry of humanity. The swatches are skin tones matched from friends, neighbors and acquaintances here in Hawaii, where everyone is a minority.
Jesus Loves The Little Children is a statement of hope. It doesn’t chastise. It doesn’t cast judgment.
It simply makes a statement.
That despite our differences, we are all one race…the human race…let’s act it.
The original and prints are available on the Jesus Loves the Little Children page. Click here.