I was excited this Sunday to reveal the artwork that I created to support our church's worship theme, God at the Center.  The theme will tie in with most of our biblical studies for the year.  The work I created will become t-shirts, banners, art in the bulletins, and possibly notecards and other items.  I hope that my art will provide a visual anchor point as the congregation considers this year's theme.

I was grateful for a few months of advance notice so I could take my time with the art and deeply consider the ways that I could illustrate my ideas.  I collaborated with Sandy Kallin, our office administrator, to create the color theme.  I spent about a month sketching and created a small computer-drawn mock-up with my ideas to send to the church leadership.  After a few small changes, they gave me the green light to draw the final version.

The final art is a set of about eight different hand-drawn and painted elements that I scanned and pieced together on the computer. The final piece took me about about a week to sketch, ink, paint, scan, and edit.  The life-giving sun represents God at the center, with people and all creatures of the sea and sky surrounding it.  There’s the grapes for the fruits of the spirit, the Joshua Tree, the fish for Christ, the dove and olive branches for peace and the butterfly for God’s blessings.  Each of these details surround the sun which represents God's life-giving power at the heart of our faith.  Like many of my works, the rich detail invites the viewer to look closer; we can appreciate the richness and beauty in our lives by appreciating God's careful attention to detail.

Central Presbyterian Church studies from the Narrative Lectionary.   The Narrative Lectionary narrows the number of readings per Sunday (and other festival days) to a main focus text, instead of three to four passages per sermon. This theme will tie through our readings this year, like a theme that ties a body of artwork together.

I'm excited to focus on this year's theme: I can already feel it guiding my choices as I carve my past as an artist and small business owner.

 Buy a tote bag featuring my art here. 

Artist Jamie HansenBuy a tote with my art.