Doppelgänger

So the day I took the pictures that this painting is coming from was also the first full day I was in the country. This represents a gathering of new believers preparing for baptism in the river. Everything was so strange and wonderful. There is a lot of work to do yet on this painting, but I am glad that I have started the process. My wife keeps asking me if I have figured out what I will do with a painting that is the size of a sheet of plywood (4′X8′), but with I WILL do with it is not the point… the point now is what I am DOING with it that matters. I am painting, meditating praying, considering and the process is a very therapeutic process for me to be going through. I work in a large corporation writing technical documents while sitting in my 8′X8′ cubicle… while extra large photos of India surround me. A couple of times a week I am able to paint a bit more on this painting - wondering why I am working in cubeville. Painting will not answer that for me, but it gets me out of there for a while as I think of lands far away. Below I will keep posting the progress.

This is the first photo of this painting with all of the crowd blocked-in.

I have added a few more people in the mid-ground.

Now you can see that the girl on the left is started. Still a lot of work to do on her. I am thinking of working on the rest of the crowd next.

Not that most of the figures are in and the foreground is  worked out, I did not like the sky being bright blue. So I toned it way down and added some atmosphere to the distance. Oh, I have titled this “Feed my Sheep”

Some days you just do what you are trained to do. Sometimes you are told to do differently. Against their better judgment, Peter did do what Jesus asked of him, but I am sure that they had a discussion beforehand that went something like “Well, we are the fishermen here, but if we need to toss our net over the edge of the boat again to get you to shut your mouth…” and with a “ugggh” and a toss the net was in the water. What would YOU have done? When do you feel that God is asking you to go against your better judgment?

I did this painting to show that sometimes the provision of God is just below the surface and also that he always knows where it will come from before we are nudged to act upon his Call. Peter had done everything right - all night long - and he was tired form doing the right thing with NO result. Jesus came to them to say “Keep it up”. Sometimes it seems absurd to do what you think is the “right thing”, but I have found that to keep pressing in is often the thing that is needed… that which needs to be done in order to get to the tipping point, to cause the equilibrium to go your way, to cause status quo to be not good enough. Life is hard work if we want to accomplish much or even SEE much in this world. It is always easer to “go with the flow” and just sit on a raft and float to the end of the river. I am never satisfied with this for very long. Rest is good, but real LIFE is hard work… and rewarding.

So, in today’s Ventura County Star, Section B, they are running a feature on the Thousand Oaks Art Festival. The thing is… they are featuring *ME* in the article. I was interviewed by a reporter for the article Then, a photographer came over and took some photos of me working on my painting of a scene from Punjab, India and here’s the link. Enjoy… LINK to article

This is the photo they didn’t use.

So, as I have been reading listening and talking to others about the state of the Church and Christianity, I am beginning to understand what “deconstructionism” can mean for it. Pete Rollins (author of “How (Not) to Speak of God“) was at a talk that I attended a few weeks ago, and while he spoke about this (deconstructionism), I imagined a sweater floating above the ground. This is the kind of cable-knit sweater that a grandmother may have made for you because you lived in a cold region and you needed the sweater. Now that you have outgrown the sweater - and in addition, the climate has changed - the old sweater is not as useful to you as it may have been in the recent past. In my mind this sweater is on an invisible form, so you can see into the sweater at the openings of the hands, neck and waist, but where the lower part of the sweater used to be full length, it has begun to unravel into a pile of yarn on the floor below. Surrounding the sweater is a mountain scape as the sun is setting behind the clouds.

I imagine that the Church is feeling a bit like this old sweater. Now that the climate of culture is changing around us, the structure of the church is unraveling - in order to take on a new form. Perhaps it will be re-made into a vest, or a scarf or several pars of socks, but the fact of the matter is - it is changing.

Along with it, my faith is being unraveled - in a good way. It is not like I feel that it is invalid, or even being lost, but it is also being changed. The old sweater is one that I have held with high regard and cherished it since it was first given to me. Now that it is unraveling, I look forward to being able to have it made into something new. I do not yet know what it will be, but it will become useful for the time when it is ready. And as for that invisible form that I saw the sweater on… I know that the Body that the sweater once rested on is never-changing, it’s just that it is time for the garment to be up-dated.

When we got our lab-mix Bailey nearly 11 years ago, we were living near the Snohomish river in Monroe Washington. Being that she was part Labrador Retriever, I was looking forward to taking her to the river on occasion to run along the shore splashing like dogs do. Well, we found out that she HATED the water. In fact, she would not go much past her elbows and only if she was tip-towing so not to get her underside wet. What a sissy-girl-dog.

That was then. This Monday, after not eating for over a week, the x-rays came back with indications of a baseball sized tumor on her spleen. She lost 10 pounds in that time and we know she was not long for this world. So I took her home from the vet so we could all say goodbye to her. The morning was long and few words were spoken. Everybody gave silent hugs. The photo above is the last picture taken of her after my wife took the kids to school.

Bailey and I got in the truck and went for a long one-mile ride. We parked in front of the vets office, and I decided to take her for one last walk. There is a river behind the vets office, so we wandered over to the path that runs along the top. Bailey found more energy than I had seen in her for weeks when she saw the river and the birds flying around. She started to go down to the water and I figured that she was just thirsty. Then when she reached the shore, *SPLASH* she had jumped in… full-body! I was laughing-out-loud and said “You stupid dog, you HATE the water!” She looked back at me and kept going forward into deeper water. Since she was very sick, she had very little balance and kept falling over in the water, so I coaxed her into coming back to dry land before I had to go in and get her out.

She came to me and shook off. We then walked down the path a bit further watching the birds. I know that she was really tired from her excursion into the water when she only looked at the Heron that was standing on the fence next to the river. She leaned heavily on my leg as we walked and I knew it was time.

It was a really nice walk.

This is a local “milk-truck” which brings fresh un-pasturized water buffalo milaka to village dwellers dailey.

This young-lady was watching her sheep as the new believers were being baptized in the river below.

This nice couple were waiting to attend their first “home-group” meeting after accecpting faith in Christ at a meeting the previous week.

This boy was watching me film the city from my rooftop location. He kept writing something on his paper, then he would look up at me intently. Just look into his eyes. His family lives in a concentrated village neighborhood of Christians.

Below is a new video I just finished producing for the Ventura County ACTION foundation.

 

In celebration of his upcoming graduation from CLU
(B.A. in Fine Art)

You are invited to:
Rich Brimer’s Art Show – “Finding Faces�
A Celebration of Life!
Opening Reception on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 7pm
California Lutheran University Campus
Overton Hall (Thousand Oaks, CA)

We went to a willage that was having their first discipleship meeting after the weekends crusade was over. There were about 100 people that accepted the Lord there and then there were about 35 of them that came to hear more about what a life in Christ is. The pastor talked to them about baptism and they prayed for them and we left for the river.

Oh, the baptism I witnessed on Saturday. Let me tell you… I have NEVER seen anything like it. As we pulled up to the side of the road near a country bridge overlooking the river, the scene was surreal. A herd of water buffaloes were being ushered down stream by three herders with staffs.

The heard was turned after the finished coming out from under the bridge and lead to a field over the hill. Further downstream was an explosion of colorful fabrics blowing in the wind of the women waiting for baptism. There were also many less colorful men - young and old alike. About 30 were waiting and others were there to witness the occasion. On the hillside across the river stood three Punjabi men in their long robs and colored turbans standing next to a tractor with a trailer hitched to it which contained a full load of hay.

I walked down to where the gathering of new believers stood as they were hearing about decision they have made and committing themselves to. A few more words were spoken and they they turned and lined the riverbank. One by one they entered the water where the waiting pastor and assistant prayed over them and with a deep plunge they were sealed in water baptism. As is normally the case, I couldn’t help my self… I began to cry … alot. It was a wonderful time that I will never forget.

I finished the “Prison” paintings and my art is being shown at California Lutheran University as a part of the Presidential Inauguration Celebration (CLU got a new president this year.)

“A Celebration of the Arts� Command performances from Theatre Arts and Music Departments, 8 p.m. in the Samuelson Chapel. The program will feature performances of drama, dance and music by students, faculty and guests. An art exhibit by Rich Brimer will be on display in the Samuelson Chapel. foyer.

It is pretty exciting to have been asked to display the three triptychs that I have done so far.