Portraits

Imago Deo

Artist’s Statement

The strong oak tree inspires me. The blanket my sister gave me as a teenager comforts me. The car I drive “usually” gets me where I need to be. All of these things are blessings, but it is the people in my life that change me.

Genesis 1:27Genesis 1:27
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

WP-Bible plugin reads, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (NIV). The portraits in this exhibit are some of the Images of God in my life. As I reflect on these images my heart leaps because I have relationships with people who exhort me, bless me, challenge me, extend mercy to me, speak grace to me and inspire me to be like a child.

For as long as I can remember I have loved to create art, but I have never liked to draw people that I do not know. It seems odd to me to have a picture of strangers hanging in my home. I have created images using pencil, ballpoint pen, and charcoal of some of the people who influence my life. Having used a pencil since I was a small child, I am most comfortable with that tool, but I have gained a new appreciation for charcoal and its “user-friendly” editing. The ballpoint pen is still a challenge because once a mark is on the page it cannot be removed.

I Corinthians 12 reminds us that there are many members in the body of Christ, each with a different part so that when we are together we create the whole. It is senseless to compare ourselves to other people. We are unique on purpose, God’s purpose. It is not nature, vanity or material possessions that make me who I am; it is those around me, those who give and take that mold me.

My creations are merely an imitation of what the Creator of the Universe has formed.

Kelly R. Floyd