I am amazed at this work by Justin Gerard. See his gallery here. I have come back and looked at this over and over again. It is magical. Click to enlarge.
Photo by Steve Kovacs. More amazing shots here from National Geographic.
Click to enlarge.
HT: Jon Swerens
I just spent the last hour with my son looking through the fine illustrations of Zach Franzen and Justin Gerard. He’s 6 and spends a lot of time drawing. He wants to be an illustrator some day (as well as a writer, actor, movie-maker, preacher, etc.) so I love putting these guys in front of him as examples. (Especially since they are operating out of a worldview in happy devotion to King Jesus.) Zach actually did an illustration for one of my stories that was published a couple of years ago. It remains an ambition to work with Justin in some capacity. (I mean other than our secret work for the Shadow Government run from the Moon. From the futuristic base on the Moon. Lunarville. It’s called Lunarville.)
I saw today that Justin (pictured above -with me- doing Blue Steel or a variant) has a new sketchbook out for 2011. I promptly ordered it to enjoy for myself and to serve as inspiration for my young future/current illustrator. I say current because a few days ago he created a fine, comic story, well-illustrated, about onions. It did not make me cry, but I did laugh out loud.
Maybe Justin hasn’t sold out of his Sketchbook yet. (You can order it here.) And be on the lookout for more fantastic stuff from him and Zach.
From Zach’s Gallery
From Justin’s Sketchbook
N.D. Wilson is doing the thing I so long to see done. He is writing excellent stories from a deep well of thoroughly Christian understanding. In other words, he sees the world as it really is, magical, and is sharing delightful stories out of this well like a sloppy bucket poured out on dusty farmers.
And boy has it been dusty. We need this kind of refreshment.
He is also telling fantastic, American stories. He talks about that and more in this excellent little interview with NPR.
I just learned Amazon has reduced the hardback of The Dragon’s Tooth 40%.
Marriage is a poem, but it’s other things too.
A friend of mine is doing a project I wanted to share with you.
He and his wife are photographers and they have a thriving business in Huntington, West Virginia called Boekell Photography (Boekell is their name). They aren’t like your aunt’s cousin who has a digital camera and a Facebook page (no offense). They are professionals and this is their vocation. They are artists.
Anyway, now that I’ve made everyone and their aunt’s cousin mad, I’ll tell you about this artful, uncomplicated project that I’ve enjoyed watching.
They are taking one picture each, without consulting one another, and then sharing them together in something (I had to look up) called a diptych. They are going to do this every day for one year. They are using only an iPhone and only Instagram for editing.
They started it on their 3rd anniversary. It’s called the life.together project.
The results have been neat so far. Go over and check out the site where they are daily displaying these pairings of separate things into a joined up work of art. And maybe think of how beautiful marriage is.
Marriage is a poem. It is a diptych, an ongoing work of art. We are not really less when we are paired, only more.
This, obviously, is one of their images.
I am super-delighted to report that my church, Providence Bible Church, will be welcoming Randall Goodgame to Beckley, West Virginia at 7pm on 11/11/11. (That’s November 11th.) We’re inviting all kids and their parents to come and enjoy a happy, hopping time at our area’s first Slugs & Bugs show! Yay. Check out our Facebook page for the concert for details and let us know you’re coming.
The new Slugs & Bugs record, Under Where? released Wednesday. You can buy it here. Our family LOVES it and I’m pretty sure yours will too.
There is an absolutely spot-on review of the new Slugs & Bugs record from Randall Goodgame over at The Rabbit Room. Jonathan Rogers puts it through the uprights from 75 yards with 20 yards to spare. Here is a small portion. -Sam
“There is a long tradition that treats story and song as a means of sneaking lessons past our children’s defenses. “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” according to Mary Poppins. Mrs. Jerry Seinfeld published a book called Deceptively Delicious, with recipes for spinach brownies and chocolate chip muffins with yellow squash and whatnot, whereby children unwittingly ingest vitamins while they eat dessert. That’s not what happens here. In the Slugs & Bugs world, the sugar is the medicine. It’s a world where delight carries the day, whether that’s the delight we experience in ninjas and lightning bugs and getting dizzy, or the delight that God experiences when he sees the children he loves so deeply. Slugs and Bugs reminds us that delight is intertwined with grace, coming and going.
“So, children, what lesson can we learn from Slugs & Bugs: Under Where? Simply this: the world where we live and move and have our being is a world full of delight. And also this: you, child, are a source of delight yourself. You are loved.”
That was Jonathan Rogers. Read the entire Rabbit Room review AND LISTEN TO A FREE SONG YOU WILL LOVE here.
Image by Justin Gerard.
Here’s a section of N.D. Wilson’s excellent (and short) post on Stories As Soul Food. Read the entire thing here. This is one of the principal things God has been giving me over the last several years. I believe this kind of understanding is true, beautiful, good, and liberating. -Sam
N.D. Wilson…
Bible-believing Christians frequently have a deep mistrust of fiction. In particular, they have a deep mistrust of, ahem, magic. This is impossible for me to understand, partly because I was weaned on C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, but more profoundly because I was marinated in Scripture at a very young age (by my parents). And Scripture is full of . . . stories. More than that, Scripture is full of the miraculous and the amazing. “Throw water on the altar,” Elijah says. “Fire will still fall from Heaven.” A famous shepherd boy takes down an infamous six-fingered giant. Don’t let the long-haired man near a jawbone. Collect the animals and build a boat. Whatever you do, don’t listen to that serpent.
Bible pop-quiz: Did Pharaoh’s magicians really turn staffs into snakes? (Hint: yes.)
Christians serve the Man who walked on water. We serve the Man who could not be kept in the belly of the great fish, the Man who shattered the grave, and all alone, ripped the city gates off a place called Death.
Christians believe that this world is so much more than a mechanical soulless machine. And yet, we tend to tell our children stories that (we hope) will only speak to their intellects. We want to give them a list of facts to tick off, like we’re trying to communicate a party platform to new recruits, like they’re nothing but brains ready for programming. We feed their souls sawdust and are surprised when they drift away to other cooks (with different tales about reality).
Kids (and adults) don’t just need the truth in their heads — they need it in their bones. They need to know what courage looks like and tastes like and smells like before they ever have to show it themselves. They need to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly — heroes and villains can show them why. They need to loathe the darkness and love the Light.
These are as many of the post-Hutchmoot posts as I could find, gathered for the purpose of easy access now and in the future. (A few are pre-’moot.)
Also, it’s convenient for those who weren’t able to be there to read and enjoy some of the fruit of that experience. (You can also see last year’s collection here.)
A good place to start is with Kristen’s first post. I haven’t read all of these yet, but look forward to doing just that.
Let me know (comments, e-mail) if you have a post to add to the list. The list will likely expand and I’ll put new posts in parenthesis near the top.
In most cases, I put the name as it appeared on the blog. I want to respect the reasons you may not have your full name, so let me know if you want me to change that here and how you would like it to appear. Thanks. –Sam
Kristen….. A Hutchmoot, Banned Books
Jen….. A Place At The Table
Alyssa Ramsey….. Confessions of an Unexpected Poem, Hutchmoot: The Morning After
Breann….. A Way To See In The Dark Concert Review
Micah Hawkinson….. Hutchmoot II:In Which I (Finally) Make It To Nashville
Tom Henderson….. Requisite Post-Hutchmoot Commentary
Heather….. Hutchmoot (great pictures)
More below…
Dan Kulp….. Hutch 1! Hutch 2!, Moot Day 2, HM: The Morning After, Hutchmoot In Poems Called Clerihew, Seriously Now: Hutchmoot 2011
Julie Silander….. At the Start Line Again…This Time for Hutchmoot, Along the Road: Hutchmoot 2011
Tricia Prinzi….. Hutchmoot Reflections
Redhead Kate….. Scarred by Hutchmoot
Lori….. Post moot wanderings
Barb Lane….. Seashells: At The ‘Moot
Jen Rose….. you belong. (a reflection)
Gina G. Smith….. Maybe I’m a Robot…Trying to Process an Art-Filled Weekend
The Nerdy Blogger….. Conference Preparations: Hutchmoot 2011
Sally….. Leading With Our Wounds, What, Me Worry?, Hutchmoot Dining, How Much Can Children Understand
Leanne….. Hutchmoot 2011
Ashley….. Hutchmoot
Under the Radar….. Hutchmoot 2011 Recap
Jaime G….. Experience leads to Doxology: a Gracious Plenty
Katherine….. Nerds
Janna Barber….. All I Need
Dave Bruno….. Of Hutchmoot and Suburbia
The Sound Opinion….. What is a Hutchmoot (and how did it sell out in 6 hours?)
I’ve been making another trip through G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. I’ve found reading this book both incredible and overwhelming. There is so much. So much to think about, enjoy, react to. Just the language and word choice alone is a delight. He uses words and ideas like Robin Hood uses a bow and arrow. It’s overwhelming because there is just so much. I need to reread sections to stay with it. But it’s well worth it.
Chesterton was a Roman Catholic who despised Calvinism, but this Protestant lover of God’s poetic providence receives his words with deep gratitude.
Chapter 4 of Orthodoxy, The Ethics of Elfland, is one of my favorites. This is for lots of reasons. I won’t go into them all here, but wanted to share a section that touches on gratitude. Chesterton is very quotable and we see quotes from him everywhere. That’s great and I am one who loves to post them. But I’m going to try to post some slightly bigger sections –a paragraph or so– to give some context and see how that works. I hope you’ll read and enjoy.
But though (like the man without memory in the novel) we walk the streets with a sort of half-witted admiration, still it is admiration. It is admiration in English and not only admiration in Latin. The wonder has a positive element of praise. This is the next milestone to be definitely marked on our road through fairyland. I shall speak in the next chapter about optimists and pessimists in their intellectual aspect, so far as they have one. Here I am only trying to describe the enormous emotions which cannot be described. And the strongest emotion was that life was as precious as it was puzzling. It was an ecstacy because it was an adventure; it was an adventure because it was an opportunity. The goodness of the fairy tale was not affected by the fact that there might be more dragons than princesses; it was good to be in a fairy tale. The test of all happiness is gratitude; and I felt grateful, though I hardly knew to whom. Children are grateful when Santa Claus puts in their stockings gifts of toys or sweets. Could I not be grateful to Santa Claus when he put in my stockings the gift of two miraculous legs? We thank people for birthday presents of cigars and slippers. Can I thank no one for the birthday present of birth? From CCEL.org
Everybody and Andrew Peterson’s brother is talking about the free audiobook this month from www.Christianaudio.com: Wendell Berry’s magnificent Hannah Coulter. I’ll add my voice to the chorus. This is an amazing book. I would download it for free if I hadn’t already paid $15 for it a while back. I love this book. So very much.
Christianaudio is offering many of Berry’s novels this month for a mere $5. It’s a good time to invest in a great depth of pleasure.
Russel Moore’s comments on it are worth reading in their entirety. But here’s a part of his exhortation, particularly aimed at Christians –often preachers– reluctant to read fiction, to read Hannah Coulter.
“I think fiction is good, necessary, and God-glorifying. I teach my theology students to read good fiction for the sake of their preaching, if for no other reason. Those without the imagination to read fiction usually lack the imagination to hear the rhythm and contours of Scripture, much less to peer into the mysteries of the human heart. I just think schlocky fiction does just the opposite of all of that. I also think human love is a more than worthy subject of writing, including Christian writing. I just think it should be done with authenticity and honesty, and should look at love, not the hormonal utopia our culture has taught us to long for. I can think of no better contemporary example of doing this well than Hannah Coulter.”