Art is a huge part of my life. I continually seek to discern how God is inviting me to fuse art and theology in my ministry as a teacher. Each year at the end of December I take some time to reflect on the art that I have created over the past twelve months.

Periodic reflection of this type is a good spiritual practice that helps us make sense of what has happened, what God is doing, and where we might be moving in the coming year.

I hope you enjoy this collection of art as much as I enjoyed creating it. More importantly, I hope it helps and inspires you into deeper reflection and spiritual growth. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about content or technique. What is your favorite piece?

Happy scrolling!

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Bible | Animation | Oil Painting |  Faces | Plen Air | Contemplative Art | Visual Notes | Figure Drawing

Pastor Paul Gauche at Prince of Peace Lutheran in Burnsville challenged us on the first Sunday of this year to pick one word and make it our theme for the whole year. My word was wonder, and my year has been wonder-filled.

A Cartoonist’s Guide to the Bible continues to expand, and that’s fun. My big project this year was to illustrate the Book of Acts as a graphic novel. The great part was that I got to do this as part of my job at Luther Seminary. These illustrations will be the basis of the course I’ve created on Acts for Faith+Lead Academy. It is scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2024.

The image on the left is the cover of the print version of the book. Use the reader on the right to read all 43 pages. This project took seven months to complete. Whew!

I used the Acts project as an excuse to experiment with Livestreaming. Every Thursday during the summer I went live for one hour to allow people to see how the book is made. The playlist contains 14 videos. I recommend to play at 2x speed 🙂

Every week I compile artwork from my archives to offer visual resources for both the Narrative Lectionary and the Revised Common Lectionary. Once in a while I create a new piece. I drew the one above during Holy Week as a meditation on the Triumphal Entry.

This is a visual meditation on the Trinity. 

I was commissioned by Kyle Pederson to animate this music video. It took 70 hours, spread over 5 months of evenings and weekends. The animation was created using Toon Boom Harmony Essentials.

I’m always doodling in animation. Below are a few from the year.

The Exciting moment in animation world this year was the release of Procreate Dreams. This was my first doodle in it, just to see what it can do.

“Monarch on Sedum”
oil on linen panel
11″ x 14″

Practicing with the Zorn palette. This is based on a photo my wife took in our back yard.

Many evenings I unwind by grabbing my iPad, opening Procreate, and selecting a random face from my Pinterest collection and drawing it. Enjoy some of these faces…

I was able to get outside and paint a little bit this year. The first few pieces are from my trip to Guatemala in Jan.-Feb. 

We formed a mindful sketching group on campus at Luther Seminary. We meet every Tuesday before chapel. Learn about mindful sketching HERE. Below you will find some of my favorite zentangles that I made while relaxing in the evenings.

I had the privilege to attend a few conferences this year where I was able to take visual notes during the public presentations. Here are a few samples of this kind of work.

I was invited to present a book review of The End of Theological Education by Ted Smith to our faculty. The PowerPoint below is an example of how I try to visually process concepts.

[slideshare id=262760892&doc=theendoftheologicaleducationpresentation-231026145448-4978be51&w=800]

I absolutely love quick gestural figure drawing. I’ve been part of the Figure Drawing Co-op at Artworks in Eagan for six years. Sadly, the co-op ended this year because Artworks had to give up its building. I also do a lot of figure drawing exercises from photo references. There are hundreds of drawings, ranging from 30 second gestures to one-hour poses, in my sketchbooks. Here are just a few images to represent them. Enjoy!

WOW! You made it to the end of my reflective gallery. If you enjoy my art you can see it in real time on Instagram. My handle is @steveartpastor

Happy New Year!