Crazy Art Group...

Went to a crazy group of artist last night. Great night of sketching...here is what I did.
Enjoy...

Small steps lead to faraway places...

I have set out now for the last couple of months to paint and draw at least 2 to 3 hours a day. Each step brings about new challenges and difficulties, just got to keep walking. Walking randomly will only lead to despair, but walking according to the word of God will lead to a blessed life. Psalm 119:9 asks that very question. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.” If you can read this and hear this do not harden your heart.

How bad do you want it?

How far are you willing to go? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to grow? Christ went all the way to accomplish what both He and God set out to do. How far did He go...no man will ever understand. May God bless me as I make every step in this long and weary journey.

Highway to Hell?

If there were two roads, one leading to Heaven and one leading to Hell, what would they look like? What would you see along the roadside? What things would people discard on each of these journeys?

I was in a bible study and the verses of Matthew chapter 5:29-30 came up.

And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. – Jesus the Christ

I asked the group if Christ was being literal or figurative? The answer they gave surprised me. They said literal. It made me think more about this in detail. Why would they think He was being literal? Why have I always thought of this passage as being figurative. Something more to ponder...on this highway to Heaven.

The House of Prayer

If I could snap my fingers and change one thing... I wish I would pray more. PS 118 vs 5-9 says ”In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”. I saw this house and had to take a picture of it. It reminded me of how much things can fall apart when we do not take things to heart. We might talk about prayer, we might call days of prayer, we might even blog about prayer, but if we do not do it, nothing will happen. I think I will go call out to God.

The Dark Knight... the hopelessness...

Just saw The Dark Knight last night. A good movie from a movie standpoint, but hopelessness from a message stand point. The Joker seems to be most vulnerable (no armor, no guns, no vehicles, etc) yet everything goes his way...not even a scratch. Yes yes, his makeup does seem to run from time to time, but not a scratch, no blood, not even pain. Take this one scene, Batman gives him a royal beating, slams his head into a table, breaks a glass window with him, yet no visible signs of anything, but a little fatigue.  Where all the other characters in the movie all have scars, cuts, pain, etc. the joker on the other hand has a joyfully happy time. There is some insight to the Jokers past and why he is who he is, but it is so overshadowed by the carnage around him, that his past is quickly forgotten.  Evil just seems to triumph over good. Yes there are a few redeeming moments, where the people of Gothom show mercy to each other, but the darkness of the movie left me with a sad cloud the following morning. Maybe, that is the whole idea of this batman series.

In the end, I am thankful we do not exist in a universe where things are left to random chance, a flip of a coin. In stead all things are by the order of a living holy God, willed with mercy and long suffering to all who worship Him.

It never gets old.

Old stuff, still fresh

More old work but, still very fresh.

Lucky Robot

Just finished this project with a great new client. Gerry Campbell... check out his site LuckyRobot.com

Old Stuff, New Stuff

Here is some old stuff, but first time that I have posted it online.

Three Treats in One

www.KurtAspland.com

The Trinity
So much has been said on the Trinity, so go get a cup of joe, glass of wine or what ever you like and just enjoy...Three Treats in One.

Kill them with Love

www.KurtAspland.com
On the eve of Fourth of July–we can change the world if only we would love our neighbor. But this starts out at home first. For me it begins by showing love toward those who are near me. My wife. In this day of divorce this is must not be neglected, nor taken advantage of. My children. Remain patient in all circumstances, slow to anger. My Neighbor, caring and wanting their well being. The most important of all my enemy.

Go Vote baby!

www.KurtAspland.com

Depravity T-shirt design
I love it when people start a internet based company that could not work in anyother format. Here is what I mean... I found this company on the web called Threadless. They are nothing more than a t-shirt printing company. What is cool, is that they encourage anyone to submit a T-shirt design for printing. Then they put that design up for a vote to the web community. If the design receives enough votes they print the shirt. That vote tells them that people will buy that shirt before they even print it. Is that awesome. Anyhow, so if you like my shirt please go to the site and vote for it.
Thanks

Freedom of the will...

www.KurtAspland.com
Does man have a freedom of his will to make choices outside of the will of God? This question and the debate that happens around it has be the source of distruction between many many people throughout history and continues to do so today. So this is just my babbling journey trying to answer that question myself. I did this piece "Depravity" to represent mans continued attempt to make himself look good before God. The viewer might notice that this person has even tried to cover his wound brought on by his own nature/physical makeup, with a band-aid. Very simmular to Adam and Eve covering themselves with fig leaves.
Does man have a free will? I am not sure I even understand what that means, but I know this... The nature of man is to hate God, mans will is tied to his nature. If I put a freshly cooked chicken in one corner of the room and freshly washed head of lettuce in the other corner, what is my hungry dog going to go after? The cooked chicken! Why? It is in his nature to go after that chicken... Does he have freedom to choose the lettuce? Yes, but his nature desires the chicken every day at every meal. It is not freedom of the will where our conversation should lie, but what is the nature of man? For the will of man always follows his nature.

The "Nucleon" Lives!

www.KurtAspland.com
OK... you must take my word on this one. I don’t care about what car I drive. There are a lot of people and I mean a lot of people who love cars. I don’t. Just make it clean, safe, and efficient. I am not a big gaget person, in fact I have owned a VW Passat since 2004 and still don’t know everything it does. Anyhow, this all has changed since I saw this car. This is the car that I want. In the 1950s, Ford produced a concept car called the Nucleon, intended to run on nuclear power, but the vehicle was never produced. Can you say "Thermonuclear", I knew you could.