The Eyes of The Artist

by Billy Williams

Mark 4:30,33,34 (CEV)

30 Finally, Jesus said: What is God's kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it?

33 Jesus used many other stories when he spoke to the people, and he taught them as much as they could understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using stories. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

I have always found it fascinating and, at times, frustrating that Jesus taught using parables or stories. Why didn’t He just come out and give specific detailed data concerning the Kingdom and God and His purpose here on earth? In some ways it has always struck me as being a bit aloof. But then I have to look at it from the perspective of an artist -- maybe this was Jesus’ way of presenting an Artist’s Statement. Here the Creator of all things presented a glimpse into how and why creation works the way it does. He was taking the obvious and the abstract of his creation and explaining beyond what we think we see.

When I paint or draw an object I don’t always represent it true-to-life, in hard, fast detail; I want the viewer to see more in the object than is really there. I want them to think about the image in front of them, to dig deeper. When I read the stories that Jesus used to explain creation I should look deeper than just the simple facts of the story. I need to see it through the eyes of the Artist, as it were, to grasp more than just the surface.

Jesus, as I read the stories you told about your kingdom, let me see them through your eyes, the eye of the artist. Take me to a deeper place where I ponder and enjoy your works.

"THE VINTNER"
by: Billy Williams
Graphite 11"x17"

Artist Statement:

If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the hands are the canvass on which the soul paints its' life story.

This drawing, with its focus directly on the weathered hands of the Vintner, was inspired by a message David Perez presented in 2007. He made the analogy that our lives are like tools in the garden shed of the Master Vintner. At the end of our days, our hope and prayer should be that we are well used -- scarred, dented, rusted, chipped and worn from our many journeys into the vineyard, working the soil in anticipation of the sweet fruit.