Crucifixion Portrait Captivates CHIC2K3 Audience

KNOXVILLE, TN (August 4, 2003) - The painting career of Mike Lewis all started as a favor to a friend. Nearly five years later, the favor has turned into a full-time profession for the Orlando, Florida, resident known as the Jesus Painter.

Lewis seems like an unassuming man, but put a large canvas on a stage and equip Lewis with some black and red paint and the 27-year-old can create a powerful visual image during a worship service.

The artist's Intimate Portrait (the face of Jesus hanging on the cross) captivated many during Saturday night's CHIC2K3 Mainstage service at the University of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena. He painted Intimate Portrait and another art piece, Christ Eyes, on Sunday as part of a Focus seminar at the school's University Center Auditorium.

In 1998, Mike Lewis was an industrial design student at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, when his friend, Seth Haines, asked him to paint a picture of Jesus as part of a fall concert performance. Lewis wasn't a painter - he actually was working as an intern at a medical equipment firm designing x-ray machines. But Lewis accepted the invitation and over the course of three months came up with the idea for Intimate Portrait, the title of a song Haines was singing that fall evening in Searcy.

"I was taking a color theory class and he (Haines) asked me to use that color theory and paint Jesus at his concert," said Lewis in explaining how he came up with the image for his painting debut. "He had been praying about it and this was an idea that came from that. He gave me three months to plan it and I spent probably a month not knowing what to paint." Lewis recalled being at a beach in Venice, California, where he saw a man painting an image of Jesus he titled The Colors of Jesus. "I didn't necessarily like the painting, but I liked the idea that Jesus died for all colors.

"I got a dozen books about Jesus out of the library," Lewis continued. "I saw a painting in one of the books that was one of the oldest paintings in existence. I took that image and I really tweaked it, roughly taking what he had. It was a painting of the crucifixion and I took the image of just his face."

It may sound trite to say that after his first painting "the rest was history." But that's exactly how Lewis described how he fell into his full-time job. "When I first started, Haines asked me to paint Jesus and most people wanted me to paint what I painted that night," Lewis said. "It pretty much exploded from there."

Lewis, who grew up in a Christian family in Cincinnati, Ohio, currently works at about 120 different events annually, often traveling with his wife, Anne. He is usually at an event for two or three days, making Lewis a busy man these days. Lewis can paint a large mural in an average of 12 minutes. He paints six different depictions, which can be found on www.jesuspainter.com. And, as might be expected, painting compositions of Jesus has caused Lewis to reflect upon spiritual things.

"If I had an opportunity to talk to a kid about religion, it would be about Christ," said Lewis. "But the insights about the creative process . . . starting with nothing and then make something, it's helping me to know how God feels about us. Or when I'm halfway done and no one knows what it is . . . it reminds me that God is the perfect creator. He knows how to make a finished project."

Lewis has other creative outlets in his life. He builds hot rods and is finishing a blue 1965 Shelby Cobra convertible automobile. But his work on Jesus is currently the main focus during a hectic summer. A Proof of Thomas composition depicts the resurrection message and causes some to question if we as Christians may be like Thomas, wanting proof that Christ died for us.

"I make my living painting crucifixions," Lewis said. "It's what people usually want at their events. Strangely, I've learned from painting the crucifixion over and over, how unimportant it (the crucifixion is). We talk about the Christ who died for us, but it doesn't mean a bit if he wasn't resurrected. I've come to appreciate more and more the power of the resurrection. I'm sorry for the crucifixion - I'm thankful for the resurrection."

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