October Photo Update

Hey. Not a lot to say.  Staying busy here in Houston as the artist in residence at Ecclesia Church.  There will be more about that later.  Just thought I’d post some pictures of events I’ve done lately.  These are images from DCLA this summer and the National Youth Worker Convention in LA last month.  All images are on 3×4ft panels and were created in under and hour.

September [Life] Sessions

(with Late Tuesday at the Triple Door in Seattle)

Before I left Seattle for my new home in Houston, I got a chance to paint with my favorite rocker ladies from Late Tuesday at their reunion concert at the Triple Door.  It was a great night and I had so much fun seeing old friends and singing along to all their great songs.  If you didn’t know, LT was the first band I ever created with…. about ten years ago with chalk no less!  Crazy where life takes you.

So… a couple things.

John Locke - Patron Saint of the Fatherless

One… the LOST Saint Paintings are done.  These are 12 illustrations for an upcoming book by Chris Seay called The Gospel According To LOST, published by Thomas Nelson.  They were a blast to work on and you can preview them all by clicking here.

Sawyer - Patron Saint of Kind Hearted Con Men

Hurley - Patron Saint of Blessed Losers

Kate - Patron Saint of Beautiful Killers

Two… So I’m down here in Houston now.  I took a job with Ecclesia Church being there artist in residence which is pretty cool and actually a really good spot for where I’m at.  For me, being an artist and being someone who loves Jesus and is a part of His church, I’ve been wondering a long time how visual artists fit in the life of a community centered around Jesus.  Hundreds of years ago, whether good or bad, the church hired artists to make some of the best artwork ever made in some of the greatest places of worship.  Now though, it seems like the only thing you can do as a visual artist is help design logos or paint the nursery noah’s ark.  There’s gotta be something more.  And Ecclesia has invited me to come and live that out for awhile and see what happens.

(image of painting from my first Sunday with Ecclesia)

One of the first things I was asked to do was to write out my own job description.  I spent a lot of time thinking this through, and I share it now with you:

————————————————————————————-

ECCLESIA CHURCH

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE | SCOTT ERICKSON

JOB DESCRIPTION

CREATE | INDIVIDUAL

The invitation to come and be a part of Ecclesia was to come and do what you do.  First and foremost, what I do is create.  My role in a community/body of Christ is that of a storyteller and creator.  I will work diligently to be obedient to my calling in the work that I do with the Ecclesia community, and as well as I what I know I am supposed to do as an artist.

VISUAL CULTURE | CHURCH

Creating comes out of story and experience.  In this job, the stories and experiences I encounter will be in the context of the Ecclesia community.  I hope to lead in the visual interpretations of the journey this community experiences with Christ through:

-visual worship during our communal gatherings

-furthering visual storytelling and remembrance

-corporate art

-public art

-design assistance

GIVE VALUE | COMMUNITY

As a body, we make up different parts and have different giftings.  Often in our culture, those who have been given the gift in the creative arts feel as though their abilities are of lesser value compared with others.  This is just not true.  Part of my work will be to:

-encourage the artists in the Ecclesia community

-pursue missional partnerships involving the arts

-build relationships with local artists.

————————————————————————————-

For the next few months I’ll be at all the Youth Specialties National Youth Worker Conventions in LA, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. Maybe see some of you there.

cheers

scott

Moving to Houston……

(Kendall Payne and myself at DCLA09 in Los Angeles)

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

Before we get to the big news, just wanted to let you see some highlights from the summer.

DCLA09

First, I was lucky enough to be asked as the artist in residence for this years DCLA09. DCLA is a youth conference held in Los Angeles and DC… hence the name.  I was there painting during the big rooms… where we sought to display the mega-narrative of the Bible through live art, speaking, music, video, design, and acting all mixed up over 3 stages. It was very challenging, but awesome.

(here's kind of what it looks like....)

I also helped run an art space and led seminars for students in the afternoons about what art can do and how we need to strive to make good art in the world.

(marquis laughlin, me, shane claiborne, mandy radford, 
francis chan, kendall payne, fred lynch)

I worked with the coolest people… and it was a real honor to be involved.

(leading seminar)

(people like pictures with me?)

ROUND 50

The next great thing that I got to be a part of was ROUND 50.  The Round has been going on now for 51 consecutive months in the Seattle area.  It’s an amazing night of music, live art, and poetry all put into one fantastic event.

To celebrate the big 5 O, we had the Round at the Triple Door with Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, and Jesse Sykes as our musicians; Skye Graves, Glenn Case, and myself painting; and Buddy Wakefield spittin sweet poetry in between sets.

LOST PAINTINGS

(Hurley - Patron Saint of Lucky Losers)

My summer project has been working on a series of illustrations for a book called  The Gospel According to LOST”.  Chris Seay is the author, a friend, and he asked me if i could make saint paintings out of LOST characters for the book where he runs through the lives of LOST characters and examines their struggles and redemptions in the light of our own spiritual journeys.  The book is going to be released in the late fall and I’ll keep you posted on the images…..

(Sayid - Patron Saint of Tormented Humanitarians)

MOVE  TO  HOUSTON

It’s true. Holly and I are moving to Houston at the end of August. I’ve gotten to be good friends with the people of Ecclesia Church.  Chris Seay, lead pastor of Ecclesia, and I did some events earlier this year and got to be friends.  He really wanted me to come and visit and meet artists in the community. So as I was on my way to a gig in Texas, I stayed over in Houston for four days and got to get a feel for what’s going on in this community.  At the end of that time, I was asked if I would be interested in spending some time with this community, doing what I do, but doing it with them. Holly and I are pacific northwesterners for sure.  So I wasn’t interested right off the bat.  But as we put it to prayer and analyzed our lives of where we are at and where we would like to go… it seemed like the right move.  So we are going.  For sure for two years.  Maybe longer. But we’ll deal with that when the time comes…..

(Ecclesia's space is a full time bookstore, coffeeshop, art gallery, 
music studio)

So what will I do be doing?  Good question.  As I asked that to Chris, he said I will be their artist in residence.  When I asked what that looks like, he responded “doing what you think needs to be done.”

(recent thoughts about art in the church)

This is the perfect spot for me. If I was to nail down any trajectory I was on, it would be to live out what it means to be a visual artist in the church.  A few hundred years ago the church (whether good or bad) helped create some of the best art ever made.  But now, if you are in a protestant church and you are a visual artist, it seems the only thing you can help with is do logo design or paint noah’s ark on the nursery wall.  We lost the visual culture…. and people want it back. But unfortunately there is a long line of bad art and broken relationships that are in the wake of this journey.  From what I’ve seen, Ecclesia community gets it.  Most of the leadership is creatives themselves, who all spend time doing other creative things other than running Ecclesia.  So their offer is to come into the community, and do what I do.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  I’ll continue traveling and do the live stuff.  I’ll continue making work and we’ll see where that goes. But in my time with Ecclesia, I will be working with others and going to that quiet place by myself and creating out of what we do together and where the Spirit is leading us.  I’ve been waiting for this opportunity, and now here it is.

Holly and I will deeply miss the constant connection of our friends and family in the Northwest.  But come on.  We live in the most connecting world there has ever been.  And it’s only a few years.  So, we’ll see you on facebook, twitter, youtube, google chat, or see you when we see you!

UPCOMING EVENTS

LATE TUESDAY REUNION | 8/25 | THE TRIPLE DOOR, SEATTLE

Yep. The ladies I first ever did live painting with are coming back together for a one night great show at the triple door.  This will be my last hurray in Seattle for awhile, so if you want to pick up some art by me, see a great show, and feel all tingly inside for a week… hope to see you there.

730pm, $15, Click Here

NYWC – LA, CINCINNATI, ATLANTA

I will be the artist in residence again this year at all the National Youth Worker Conventions.

Dec.27-31 | Urbana 09 | St. Louis

I will be heading up an interactive painting exhibit at the WorldVision booth during this years conference.

and just for fun….

At DCLA, they have a variety of entertaining things for students to be involved in… including rockband. And I love me some karaoke. Here’s what happened….

Cafe Verite Ballard | Art Show Explanation

(EMPIRE, acrylic on canvas, 36" by 36", $450)

I currently have a show up at the Cafe Verite/Cupcake Royale in Ballard, WA. I have been working hard over the last 6 weeks… putting in some substantial time to make some good studio work. Most of what I create is in front of an audience and takes about an hour… that’s what I’m remembered for. But what I think artists are known for is their studio pieces, their portfolio.  So it’s important for me to take some time out every year to work on a series of paintings based on whatever I’m thinking about.  That’s what this show is.

Above is EMPIRE. This was the most recently finished painting I have done.  I needed to something funny as I was creating some heavy work and this is what came up.  Even though it’s to get a laugh, I do think it has some interesting comments on using power and military force to make people adhere to a set of beliefs.  If you put in a stormtrooper to a normal saint painting, it becomes funny, yes, but it can also stir thoughts about what are the belief agendas we promote through military pressure… even if it is in the name of God.  Remember, don’t think too much about it.  It’s supposed to be fun.

 

(FORGIVE THY BROTHER, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

These next four paintings are based off  thoughts, experiences, or events that pertain to humanity’s interaction with God.

Forgive Thy Brother is about just that…. forgiveness.  Jesus says that we are to forgive or neighbor/brother just as our Heavenly Father forgives us… and if we cannot do that that He is reluctant to forgive us.  How do we do this when we can be so tragically hurt by someone else?  And it seems that the way to reconciliation with God is through reconciliation with each other.  Why is this?  Why is God so interested in us learning to forgive one another? Why can’t our hurts and grudges be justified in His eyes?  This was a very heavy painting to live with…..

(CONVERSATIONS, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

CONVERSATIONS comes from my experiences being a surfer up here in the northwest.  The coast is a magical place and there is something about leaving the city, being out on the water that lends to it feeling holy.  Except for the dickheads who yell at you for being to close to them in the line-up. (apparently 4 people in the water is too much.) I feel like I’ve learned a lot about God from the ocean.  One is the ocean demands my respect.  It’s big. Beautiful. It has it’s own rhythm and character. Entering into that can be some of the most joyous experiences imaginable.  But the ocean can kill me, and I must play on it’s terms.  

(THE DEALING WITH DEAD FAITH, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

This painting came out of a few conversations I’ve had with friends who used to have beliefs in a certain faith, but then, mostly after they graduated college, no longer believed in what they had.  Why is this?  I have my own thoughts about this and I would gladly share them with you if you like. But this painting is more about that place of coming to that understanding.  To holding the “spirit” of your belief and realizing that it’s dead.  

(THE HEAVENS AND ME, acrylic on canvas, 36"x36", $450)

This painting has a lot in it. From memories of living in Minnesota watching the geese migrate to what is that distant between the earth and the sky and where is God in all that.  Do what you will with it.

 

(KINGDOM COME, acrylic on canvas, 20"x30", $350)

This image has come up in some way shape or form a few times and I think it’s very strong.  So I decided to make a more iconic version of it using gold in the painting and aging it to look like an old relic of cultures past.

 

(YOU ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $650)

YOU ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL and FOR THE RAPED IN CONGO are both responses to a 60 minutes article I saw about the unprecedented amount of rapes that are occurring in Congo.  Rapes from 3 year olds to 80 year olds… it’s happening all the time and starting to become a normal experience in this conflict ridden society.  It’s a completely overwhelming tragedy and I’m glad for the 60 minutes article…. but what do I do with that? I have no army. I”m not a superhero. I don’t have billions.  I feel helpless to do anything about it.  And in fact, I probably can’t.  But I can paint… and I can grieve. So that’s what I did in these paintings. The woman above was raped and brutally traumatized.  The girl below is ten yrs old and was raped twice.  Both were victims of horrible events. Both had something taken away.  I wanted to let them know they are beautiful…. and what they have can never be taken away.  I wanted to give them the beauty they deserve.  I used Gustave Klimt as my muse for these two paintings.

(FOR THE RAPED IN CONGO, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $650)

and last but not least….

(SEATTLE SKYLINE BLUE, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $750)

For all you looking for the perfect addition to your living room collection…. here it is! This is a painting of the Seattle skyline from West Seattle.

 

So stop on by the Ballard Cafe Verite sometime during the month of July and see what it looks like in person.  In fact, on Saturday, June 13th, I’ll be hanging around the shop during the Ballard ArtWalk to shake hands, answer questions, and mostly look out of place if you want to make an event of it.

And… if you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings, feel free to email me at transpireproject@gmail.com.

 

Cheers

SCOTT ERICKSON