Parables of Jesus

It has been two weeks since my last post because things are picking up around here. I was asked by my friends at White River Christian Church, in Noblesville to create a set of images for a sermon series they were doing on the parables Jesus used when He was teaching. The idea was to have one image for each of the seven stories they were going to cover in as many weeks.

Now, if you are familiar with these parables, you know they are usually complex little stories that illustrated a different complex little idea. My challenge was to boil it all down to the essence of the precise point that was being made and then devise a single image that would convey that same idea. This assignment was a blast for me because I got a chance to use all of the tools in my bag. With the pressure of a looming deadline, but no direction whatsoever, I had to dig into the creative reserves and make quick decisions to keep the project moving forward. There was no time to rethink things and no committee to discuss them with. Once I decided what the image should be I went and set it up the way I saw it and that is how the image was.

Fortunately, they were delighted with them and decided to put large prints of them around on the stage to help illustrate the messages. I have to send out a big thank you to my son Isaiah for being my patient model in four of these images.

I don't believe in over-explaining art so I won't tell you why I did what I did, but I will give you the parable that each photo illustrates.

The Sower

3 Lost Things

The Talents

The Growing Seed

The Pharisee and Tax Collector

The Mustard Seed

The Wicked Tenants

I look forward to your comments and I hope you have a great week!