In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5

These are the verses that I chose as titles for four of my paintings, but the suite is not an illustration of these verses. There is some visual association to the verses for me, for instance John 1:4 talks about light and the painting is bright, but the paintings are more about representing the joy in making paintings. All the materials used are easily distinguished, the guidelines and nails from constructing the stretchers are plainly visible, and they are painted in monochrome washes that highlight the texture from the paper machè and the plywood. The emphasis on process in these paintings sounds similar to other painters like Robert Ryman or Ellsworth Kelley, but the similarity is only superficial. I don’t believe in the autonomy of painting (a movement of Modernism that still carries on in the Postmodern art world); the whole field of art loses relevance if its subject matter is simply itself without acknowledging why we can call these things great. Art should rather call attention to and glorify our Creator, and only then is it granted meaning and purpose. So that is the reason for the titles- to call attention to the awesome worldview in which my delight in creating something that I think is wholesome and beautiful can abide meaningfully.
Similarly, Isaiah 12 is obviously not an illustration of that passage, but the painting is declaring all the good things He has provided me just like Isaiah was shouting praises to God for the grace shown him. This painting shows my wife, Joanna, preparing some delicious meal on a hot summer afternoon with the sun setting over the mountains and shining on our back porch. I don’t deserve any of that stuff! But the Lord has forgiven my sins and restored me to a position where I can rest in faith in Jesus and enjoy the blessings this life affords. Bird of Paradise is about delighting in God’s gracious gift-giving too. God’s beautiful creation is a great subject for painting no matter how passé it has become to paint a flower still life; we should never get tired of praising God’s work.

-Peter DeLong Vaughn