Who Is The Artist?

Howdy again!

If you didn't catch it, my name is Graham. I am a full time campus pastor based out of Arlington, Texas. But my entire life, I have been a maker and an artist. 

Art has always been a part of my life, both the consuming and the creating. My father has a knack for illustration and craftsmanship, my mother is a woman with great taste and where-with-all to make stuff happen. My older brother inspired pretty much all of my earliest art and is an expert of self portraits. And my oldest brother is the creator of the greatest super hero of all time, Crayon Boy, which speaks for itself.

When making art, there are three major facets of life I consider to be indispensable that influence what I make. They are Play, Friendship, and Hope.

Play

A majority of what we were supposed to be doing in this life is play. It is a blessing to participate in and in engage with this creation around us: Having fun, creating, swimming, running, laughing, eating. Certainly this is a broken world, and I do see so much heartache. I am convinced it was not meant to be this way, and I believe giving attention to what is good here and now is important. We were made to play and experience. 

Friendship

Friendship has been a constant in my life that I am so thankful for. I do not remember a time when I did not value friendship highly. It has been romanticized by every book, movie, play, and song I have consumed, to be of the utmost importance. Where would we be without the people around us? Who would we be? And how would we remain who we are without them? As common as it can be, the best stories in life are ones that glorify friendship.

Hope

It is hard to write about anyone's beliefs, convictions, and hopes authentically and concisely. I believe the Creator of the universe made us in His image to be sons and daughters. The world fell into brokenness due to our failings. He loved us so much, that to rescue us and His creation, He would become His own creation. I believe that man was named Jesus. He was God incarnate. He took our responsibility in the restoration of the world by dying on a cross for us. In this great action of sacrificial love, He modeled what every human is called to do, and He was glorified, and raised from the dead. Therefore, we are made to love sacrificially. The context of everything is this story. 

Thank you for reading. Here are some of my personal favorites from my work on here.

Graham's Picks