Some 16 years ago, I first came to read the "Call To Love" contained in "1 John 4" in a Disciple Bible Study course with Gary and Betsy Bates. I have tried to live this verse daily from that day until this. Some days I almost succeed, most days I fall woefully short as I am human and prone to such humbleness.
Soon afterwards I conceived of a sculpture 12' tall illustrating verse "11: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
Well, back then I borrowed my buddy Gary's wood clamps and began construction of a 1/3 size maquette. Somewhere, somehow, I reached a point when I felt called to put the sculpture aside as it was not time for me to complete it.
Years have passed and it has lived in in my creative thoughts always on the periphery of my artistic consciousness. Periodically I would question in breath prayer: "Now?"
This November when I was thinking of asking Gail to marry me I came across it in my studio and once again I asked: "Now?"
To which I heard a resounding "Yes!"
And so at every opportunity for the past month I have been building and carving and thinking and praying this verse.
Gail is the reason for my joy each and every day now. She personifies this verse in my life. It was only natural that I present it to her as a gift before then kneeling and asking her for her hand in life. To be called to this terribly wonderful commission is daunting. The path may not always be defined and true as it seems now, but with The Lords help I know we are up to it.
Oh yeah, Gary, you can have your clamps back now! 😉
Unfinished, from the back, without the heart. The jagged edges of the broken dowels and the ends of the crossbeams simaltianiously suggest thrones as well as rays of light.
Close up, with Amber Shellac. I carved the soft grain away with a wire brush to create a 3-D effect all around the heart. The core Heartwood is meant to suggest the presence of the host.
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