This connector part of me really came to light last weekend at my art show. Seeing the response I got from people who turned out for the evening was overwhelming. I can’t put into words how much it means to me to have the support of family and friends and even people I’ve never met before. But what I really thought was cool was seeing all these people getting introduced to other people who they’ve never met, and I believe that was the real success of the evening. My art, more or less, acted as a conduit for people to flow in and out of the coffee shop and bump into one another and make connections. Those connections are priceless because of the people. That’s why I believe people are the greatest investment we can make.

You are invited to experience the entire collection of my 52 profiles project I completed last year. The opening “art show extravaganza” will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 7 PM at Crooked Tree Coffee House here in Dallas, Texas. If you’d like to come early around 6 PM there will be wine and finger food.

My friend Sean Springer, of Springer Design Studios, is building custom frames for the show, so you don’t want to miss that, his work is amazing. My friend Tim Coons will also be there providing the listening experience for the evening. You won’t want to miss this.

This is my greatest collection of work to date. I am very proud of it. I hope you can make it to the opening, or at the very least make it during the couple months it will be up. See you there.

It has been really impressed upon me lately that we should take each day and decide what we can do that will change the way we are tomorrow, next week, next year, the next 10 years. Life is all about choices and all we are promised is the day at hand. If we can’t learn to live in the now then how can we expect to live in the future? If we only ever dream of what we want to change how can we take steps now to accomplish that? And if we only ever regret the past how can we hope for a better tomorrow?

I don’t want to bring you down or anything, and I don’t have all the answers, I just wanted to share some of these things that have been on my heart. I know, as a believer, I live by faith alone. But I am learning that “faith” is not just sitting on my hands waiting for a miracle to happen. Faith is believing God and trusting that I will hear His voice as I navigate through life. And I believe by my faith I will be challenged each day to examine myself and make decisions that will impact the rest of my life.

I can’t think of one time I’ve heard a sermon preached or a class taught on the role artists/designers play in the Church. I’ve been to a few conferences around “creativity” in the church, but that’s mainly geared towards women who like to knit and crochet and make jewelry. That’s not relevant to me or anyone I know who love Jesus and designs.

The only thing I’ve found remotely close to this topic is worship. People tend to lump in artists with musicians. To this day it still irks me a little when someone refers to musicians as artists. The two, albeit similar, have totally different perspectives. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for using art and design as an act of worship. In fact, I think at the core of every painting, drawing, design is an act of worship. But the fact remains, the role of the artists has been a big fat gray area in the modern church.

Where have all the artists gone?

Seriously? Where did we lose our hearts? At what point in time did we put down our dreams and replace them with jobs? A job without vision is like having a heart with no courage, weak. But we’ve all been drinking the same kool-aid… grow up, get a job, get married, have kids, pay your mortgage, retire early, live comfortably, and try not to piss anybody off along the way. That way we can live a safe, cushy life and die happily in the comfort of a warm bed. Well I’m here to say that’s a pipe dream my friend, one you can chase your whole life and never end up finding. Life is unknown. From one day to the next we don’t know what’s going to happen. Life requires faith. A choice we must make each day. And we need artists who will lead. We need artists who will mentor and disciple. I hope and pray that God would use me to teach and mentor others younger than myself.

Insecure and emotional

Those are two words that come to mind when I think of an artist. Why? Because that’s often how I view myself. Often I lose sight of who God says I am and judge myself among my peers. This is one area in particular that I think has been overlooked in the church. And as artists we need affirmation that what we’re on the right path. So it’s of great importance that we come to align our hearts (and minds) with what our Heavenly Father says about us, and how He affirms us because of Christ.

Go to the source

Everything has an end and a beginning, except for God. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the Alpha and Omega. He was and is and is to come. All things that were created in heaven and on earth were made by Him. He is the great I Am. So why do we settle for 2nd best? Why do we seek out dried up creek beds to drink from when there’s a fountain of living water available? Why do we peruse the internet for inspiration when the source of all inspiration is knocking at our door? Why has the modern church been so lame in their attempts to be “relevant” to modern culture instead of leading the way for the culture? Because we don’t believe that God really is who He says He is. We haven’t asked for His help. We are pretty thick headed about doing things our own way until we run out of ideas.

So I want to ask the Lord for understanding in this matter. I want to know His heart for me as an artist. I choose to pray and ask for His inspiration over anything else. And I hope that as a church we will begin to acknowledge the artists among us and seek ways to meet their needs and encourage them. Just as God specifically called on Bezaleel to make the ark of the covenant (read Exodus 35:30-35), I believe He is still calling us today.

Update: I wanted to share this video I found that fits perfectly with my thoughts above. Please take a few minutes to watch.

Why Droid

When I first started my new job here at Fellowship Tech one of my co-workers had just picked up the HTC Droid Incredible. It was all the rage. His persistence in showing me all the cool things that Droid can do started to pique my interests. So I began to take notice of Droid and even spent a few lunch hours at the Verizon store getting some hands-on experience. I spent time looking at reviews and write-ups about the Droid X and the new Samsung Fascinate. But what they both offered in style I didn’t feel they offered in stability. They seem to be all looks and no brains, especially with the decision to put Bing as the default search for the Samsung Fascinate (That made my heart sink).

So since I want to stay on Verizon and have given up on Apple getting out of bed with AT&T I feel that Android is where the future starts.

Why the Droid 2

From all the reviews I read there was one phone that kept being quoted as the best Android phone on the market, and that was the original Droid by Motorolla. At first this took me by surprsie, if for no other reason because of the qwerty keyboard. And I only say that because I used to have the LG Chocolate, and it was one of the worst phones I’ve ever used. So with the Droid toting around it’s full qwerty keyboard as a big selling point, I was a little hesitant. But when I got some hand-on experience with the Droid 2, I was impressed by the upgrades they made to it and how solid it felt in my hands. Unlike the Droid X it felt more durable. I didn’t like that the Droid X made the menu buttons clickable and how the camera bevels out from the rest of the phone.

Overall, the Droid 2 is one solid phone with incredible speed and a fully reliable keyboard. Just in the past week I have already found the keyboard being incredibly useful when typing out an email or updating twitter. If you’re in the market for a new phone and value function over form then I would recommend going Android. But I know haters gonna hate, especially you Apple fan boys, but I have no beef with you. I would probably already own an iPhone if I didn’t love Verizon’s service and network. So to you all I say let’s all just be friends, a phone is just a phone not a social ranking device. BOOM!

I Love this Film

I really want to get people excited about this film. I just watched it for the first time and have to say it’s truly inspiring. The art of cutting and setting type by hand is practically extinct. There are few people left that know how to do it, and do it well.

The film focuses on the history of the Hamilton Wood Type company in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. But it also branches off to tell the story of some young design students as well as a letterpress printing/design company in Chicago.

What really grabbed my attention though was the history of the Hamilton wood type company. It was established in 1880 and printed all the way up until 1985. Now it exists as a museum, but there is hope. There are type enthusiast out there that believe in this part of our heritage and are fighting to keep it alive.

What You Can Do

One of the easiest ways you can help is purchasing the film. You can order it here from the Typeface film website.

Another way you can help is by requesting a screening. You can make your request here. Or if you live in Dallas, I am hosting a screening in my home on Friday, September 17. Would love to have you join us.

Lastly, for all you big ballers out there, you can purchase prints directly from the Hamilton Wood Type museum. All sales go to support the museum.

This is my first time making a screencast. But I wanted to show how I go from analog to digital. The process is something I get asked about a lot. I posted this design on dribbble yesterday and got a wonderful response. The word “meditate” comes from Psalm 119:15 and is part of my one19 project. So after seeing how much people enjoyed these I wanted to follow through and make these available.

You can now order the meditate button from my shop for only $5. Check out the shop here.

I am going to come right out and say it. You need to vote for my panel, Making the Web by Hand, for SXSWi 2011 if you know what’s good for you. Seriously though, I am excited at the possibility of being able to share my passion of making things by hand with a group of my peers in hopes that it will inspire innovation and awesome hand-drawn uniqueness. Please try and get your vote in before they close on August 27. Thank you.

When I arrived at work this morning I found this little beauty waiting for me on my desk. My friend and co-worker Nathan Smith was kind enough to let me borrow it. I am expecting great things from the knowledge contained within its pages.

So while I get to reading I will leave you with this inspiring quote:

- Everything written symbols can say has already passed by. They are like tracks left by animals. That is why the masters of meditation refuse to accept that writings are final. The aim is to reach true being by means of those tracks, those letters, those sings – but reality itself is not a sign, and it leaves no tracks. It doesn’t come to us by way of letters or words. We can go toward it, by following those words and letters back to what they came from. But so long as we are preoccupied with symbols, theories and opinions, we will fail to reach the principle.

Kimura Kyuho, Kenjutsu Fushigi Hen
[On the Mysteries of Swordsmanship], 1768