Portfolio

These are some samples of my own work.  I hope you like them.  I am no master, but I try to make things that are both fun and well thought out.  My main inspirations are my faith in Christ, the Bible, my parents, architecture, and my work in childcare.  My mother loves to paint, draw, talk, dance, garden, and cook.  My father is a photographer, singer, avid golfer, people person, and lover of all things my mom.

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A close-up of the garland.

A close-up of the handmade Saturn for the garland.

The garland for the Acts 17 mural.

Me, the whole Acts 17 mural and the garland in the window.

Me working on the ocean of the mural.

The Griffiths’ housewarming gift.

The Venezuelan Troupial, a wedding present for the Strupps.

Bowl of flowers.

Pot of flowers.

Vase of flowers.

Tuckers’ elephant. “This is just a chance for you to tap into the tapestry.”

Forrests’ elephant.

“One flower dies, many flowers grow” mach-1. In the Garrisons’ house.

“One flower dies, many flowers grow.” In the Kelsos’ house.

After Proverbs 18:10, ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe.’

“Shalom House,” the Ritchies’ wedding present.

“There’s something bigger going on,” the Yows’ wedding present.

I just call this guy the “red house.”

Tuckers’ creation handprint, same dimensions.

Lauren’s creation handprint, 2′X2.5′.

Called “known and unknown,” read from left to right and don’t try to make much sense of anything.

ebb & flow.

Two birds now at the Naveys’ home nursery.

19-year-old self portrait.

A sweet friend from college.

Fronts of upholstered wall boxes.

Upholstered wall boxes.

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I realized just moments ago while writing this that not one single post about my mural communicates the entirety of the project. The most important part to me, however, is the meaning, which can be found here. It is based on Acts 17, and has to do mainly with God’s sovereign placement of all his creatures in specific times and places.

The Griffiths’ housewarming present was supposed to look like The Fantastic Mr. Fox and include the Griffiths’ new home. I feel pretty good about how it turned out.

The Venezuelan Troupial was a present for a friend who spent some time in Venezuela. I wanted to remind her of her trip and match her orange-decorated house.

The series of flower pictures were made for an independent study I did in college for my architectural pottery professor.  I was trying to learn what it meant to construct something in two-dimensions, communicate visually, and carry a theme through more than one piece.  The vessels and stems in the pieces are all made from pictures of rock and clay, the flowers are made of pictures of the sky, and the backgrounds are mostly made from actual rough drafts of poetry I wrote for class.

The first of these elephants was meant to symbolize the lyrics of a song: “This is just a chance for you to tap into the tapestry.”  This is the longest title I have ever given a piece.  The blue one is my first commission piece ever for a friend.

“One flower dies, many flowers grow” symbolizes the concept from scripture from John 12:24: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  This passage, spoken by Jesus, I believe has to do with him offering himself up so that others could live (the gospel).  If Christ hadn’t died, many couldn’t live.  This passage also communicates something to me about the ups and downs of life.  Sometimes it takes losing something, giving something up, grieving, etc., before one can experience greater blessings and peace (See Job).

The piece titled Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe,” is a collage represents the cloud of pain and strife over the earth because of sin, and the escape one finds in the Lord.  There are seven windows on the tower, representing the path of perfection, and ten stars in the sky, representing completion.

“Shalom house” represents shalom, or peace in all things.  This is the type of peace Christians are/should be working to restore on earth; the type we had in Eden before the Fall of Man. Or, more simply put, all the ducks (flowers) are in a row: everything is in proper order.

“Something Bigger is Going On” is an allegorical piece in which the Lion (sun/God) and the Snake (moon/devil) are fighting in the heavens over a world of newspaper events like golf tournaments, marriages, deaths, ballet recitals, and movies.

The “red house” picture is also a project I did for my architectural pottery class in college.  It was a simple exercise in layout and layering and was not intended to mean anything.  People seem to be drawn to this one.

People most commonly mistake the creation handprints as representative of the song, “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” but it more closely represents two things- 1) we can see God’s handprint on creation and 2) God’s handprint is the lens through which we view reality—an idea supposed to be communicated in the fact that the only space visible is where God’s handprint is; and where his handprint is not, there is nothing.

“Known and unknown” is a set of two collages that were really fun to make.  After having spent time with Matt Yow, I learned how to relax a bit in how I viewed communication in my artwork.  This is what flowed out of it.  Even though the piece was intended to communicate the familiar vs. the unfamiliar, it was just a fun exercise in layout.

Old but cherished portraits.  My hand is rusty these days and would most likely not be able to do something like this any more.

“Ebb & Flow” were made from a rubbing I did of some sweet printing blocks I found in a bead and paper store in Raleigh.  You can’t see much of the color variation, but I made it with two whites, red ink, and graphite on cake board.