Either way, It must have been beautiful.

Vapor (later titled Three)
5'X4' (Click on it to see much greater detail)

I've decided that when people ask me to paint for them, I'll get a general idea of colors and theme and set to work. If the person who requests the painting likes the finished product, great. If they don't, that's great, too. I'll unload the painting and then paint them another one.

In the past I've grown frustrated with commissioned stuff because it's not my own vision. It's like I fight my instinct, and that's a very bad thing. This solution is my little way around it. The truth is, surrealism is much more appealing to me than any still life or even impressionistic painting. (If you'd have told me I'd say this ten year ago, I would have laughed.) Surrealism mirrors my faith, my soul, me, more accurately than any other artistic style.

At least 6 months ago, a friend asked me to paint something with the verse 2 Corinthians 5:17 (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!), I gave it a lot of thought. I sketched some hotel art stuff and thought I'd probably paint a version of the sketch. The sketches were centered around new life, and were mainly green.

Because of recent conversation, though, I began to draw more on the word "creation" in that verse. Lately I've participated in conversations about whether or not the Old Testament is symbolic folklore or the divine inspired Word of God---with the idea that both could be used by God to support the coming of Jesus.

I got pretty frustrated trying to wrap my head around the logic and finally came to the following realization: Whatever one believes about the beginning of things, one can't deny the beauty of it. I picked up my brushes and began to paint the above painting.

I don't know if I've created KRJ's painting, but I do know that the frustration has gone and calm has returned. Beauty is where I want to stay. There will be plenty of time to get the facts straight. If you like it, KRJ, it's yours.

"The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits."
---GK Chesterton, _Orthodoxy_

Edit: I think this one isn't done yet. Just want to put that out there. The more I stare at it, the more I think it isn't done. Edit II: I did add silver to this painting. A final color photo of it exists on Flikr.