Interview: Barry Donaldson
April 1st, 2007 by Menachem Wecker
Barry Donaldson began painting and filming at age of 12, but it was a friendship with a Christian filmmaker friend in collge that launched “his spiritual quest for a deeper understanding of the ways of God.”
After college, Donaldson moved to the Northwest, which he describes as “my time in the wilderness, but God is faithful. He started speaking to me in my prayer time in the woods by a waterfall.” He then moved to “the desert, both spiritually and literally,” Hollywood. “God hears our cries in the desert even though the answer may not be exactly what we are looking for and usually is not in our own timing.”
In December of 2001, he traveled to the Pacific Northwest and visited Freedom Fire Ministries, where “the Lord spoke to him and told him to drop his nets (to lay down his desire to work in film) and to paint the holiness of God.” He moved to Bellingham, WA, and began “an incredible walk with the Lord like he had never known. God called me to paint and once I learned to let go of my will and allow His will to work in my life my time spent with the Lord became profoundly intimate and beyond words. So, I paint the things that He shows me in the spirit that words cannot say. I am a scribe, but with images instead of words.” Here are Donaldson’s responses to interview questions from Iconia.
MW: What medium/media do you use? Assuming you use the computer, what programs do you use? What’s your process?
BD: I mostly paint in acrylics and draw in pastels. On occasion I do draw with caran d’ache. I only use the computer to manipulate the images
for printing purposes and use Adobe Photoshop when I do. As far as my
process, I see the image and I paint with a frenzy … pretty simple.
MW: In “Waiting on God,” pictured above, you’ve removed much of the danger from the scene. Instead of menacing Egyptian armies and angry Israelites, Moses enjoys a quiet, almost meditative moment with God in front of a calm sea of pastely colors. Can you comment on that decision?
BD: I believe that Moses came to a place in his faith where he has peace in the very midst of the storm. It was surely a place of absolute faith just before the Red Sea was drawn back. In the chaos of our daily strivings we need to find that place of solitude. It is in those sacred moments that God speaks.
MW: In “The Tabernacle in the Wilderness,” you have depicted the cloud as soaring upward like a pillar rather than surrounding the whole tent. Is that how you envision it?
BD: I saw the pillar of cloud as the presence of the Lord, but also as a
means of communication with the Creator. A bridge between man and God.
MW: The valley of the dry bones is perhaps one of the most gripping images of the Bible. Was that particularly difficult to imagine without feeling like you were underestimating its power?
BD: The image for this drawing actually came to me suddenly one morning.
The power of the moment that Ezekiel spoke to the dry bones is captured only in part in this perspective. It is the moment when he speaks to the dry bones before they obey his command. It is Ezekiel’s strength of faith in what God had spoken to him even when it looked impossible to him with his natural eyes.
MW: Do you worry that solidifying images of biblical events will limit ability to imagine texts in new ways in the future?
BD: I think that my artwork actually causes people to see where they have not seen before. They can see things in a new way. It is like learning new words will expand your vocabulary not limit it.
MW: In all the pieces I see on your site, the palette is fairly similar, earth tones with some blues. To what extent was the subdued palette a conscious decision?
BD: The colors of my work seem to be seasonal. As I walk through different seasons in my life it is reflected on canvas. In my most recent works I use much more fiery reds and oranges.
MW: I am very interested in your statement: “God called me to paint and once I learned to let go of my will and allow His will to work in my life my time spent with the Lord became profoundly intimate and beyond words. So, I paint the things that He shows me in the spirit that words cannot say. I am a scribe, but with images instead of words.” Does that mean you receive your artistic inspiration from God? Do your see your art as religious or about religion?
BD: I do receive my artistic inspiration from God. I know I am not the first, nor will I be the last to make that statement. It is more than just reading the bible and painting nice bible stories. He is a living god, so by mere association that life will be translated onto canvas.
MW: Do you recognize any aspects of theology or God that cannot be depicted in art–that is to say idolatrous?
BD: I believe that God wants to know us intimately and wants us to know him intimately. I have not come across any aspect of him that is “forbidden.” As long as we know that He is holy and we retain that reverence for Him and His ways there is tremendous freedom.