Boston?

mmm... Boston... I was planning to go to Boston to paint today but, I'm just waiting... wierd, I'll fill you guys in. Here is a selection of quotes about what has happened over the last few months of conversation with a really nice guy from Boston.

"I talked to Mrs. Neely an art teacher here to see if we could work on campus... One thing that you may be interested in is doing a presentation in our chapel... Part of the course is finding a means for expression, which is where your work is perfect. If you can come the 3rd week of May... I have to send my rough draft of this application to our overseer before Tuesday... just wanted to let you know that our project got passed... I have been trying very hard to find you somewhere to stay... I haven't gotten any positive responses... we should probably tell you not to come... I don't think you should get on a bus towards Boston unless I send you another email saying that we have things worked out"

He was trying to get me down to do some painting/ talking/ teaching/ chilling but things kinda (as of yet) haven't worked out. When I was a teenager I wanted to be looked up to - a missionary, a pastor or something where I had attained "perfection". When I got older I realized these people who I looked up to were not perfect. I decided to abandon that superficial goal and instead be real and genuine about my experiences. I feel like I've been asked down to Boston to lead. I've met a lot of followers since I started doing this and it seems they look to me to be their leader at least for an hour or two. It's something that I didn't look for but I'm trying really hard not to be up on a pedestal. I think this is what this lack of trip has got me thinking about. In order for me to be effective I've gottta be humble or you end up leading the people to a place of disillusion. I don't have all the answers, I have some experiences and some personal answers but I don't have them all. If there's any people who look up to me reading this I guess I'm saying "look beyond me".

Wow, that back fired

I did a canvas and gave it to the church. It was about not trusting in money and they put it next to the donation box for the new building. I feel like my work was just perverted. I meant to say "Forget about money... in God we trust! The west has replaced it's dependency on God with it's dependency on money. Do you see how empty our trust is?" Now my message seems like "Remember money? You don't need it, give it to the church so they can buy a huge building". I have nothing against the church or the pastor (really funny last week). I have seen so many people turned away from the church over money and I've had to spend a lot of time trying to convince many people that "the church is not interested in your money". I have a thing against big buildings unless homeless people get to sleep in them. When I think of big churches I think of the cathedrals brimming with light, art, luxury and the peasants freezing to death outside the doors. I look at the architecture of the Gothic period and feel sick with shame on behalf of my christian heritage. I pray that the building is used for good things and that no one receives a negative message through my art. Recently God has been teaching me how to better love christians. I'm trying not to hate on christian things just because they don't exactly fit with my view because, there is usually some validity to everyones view. I'm glad the money isn't going to pay salaries of people who make more money than I do or to convince through funding people to do what they already know they should do but needed an extra financial push. I wish I wasn't so sinical... I don't know... maybe I should be more sinical. I love the church but sometimes it's difficult to endure lowering your expectations of God's people and to have a group of utterly flawed people represent a perfect God. All I can say is that our imperfection to me seems like the hugest detriment to God but it just speaks of his amazing un-contingent love.

Fair - oh! / Piece #29

I've been talking to a writer named Fair from hamilton for a month trying to get together to do something. It was really last minute but we got together and did a couple walls in grimsby. He picked me up and he sketched something out real quick (which he didn't stick to), I freestyled my piece and the whole event fit together in a gloriously unplanned and hap-hazard way.

He was a really nice guy he started painting like 5 years ago and also started the peoples crew with a friend of his. He started going to church and hasn't done any illegal painting in like 3 years. His strongest influence was from a writer from Gospel Graffiti Crew named Sonz. Fair had alot of good things to say about sonz. The night before Sonz had sent me an email wanting to paint with me and I talked to him a few hours before I hooked up with Fair to paint.

The whole thing came off nicely and he drove me around Hamilton showing me some walls, his house, his family, the yards, and some tight murals he had done before dropping me off at the bus station. The top one is Fair's the bottom one is mine.

At the bus station I checked when the next bus home was and as it turned out I had missed it by 15 minutes and the next bus wasn't till 11pm. I met a guy who had also missed the bus by 5 minutes. We talked and then he got picked up. A few minutes later he came back and asked if I wanted a ride back to London.

Piece #28

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 john 4:7