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Christ-Centered Art
would like to provide you
the opportunity for to
get to know our artists
through art trivia.
Currently we have the
following trivia available
for Ron DiCianni.
Are you deliberately trying
to hide things in your
paintings?
"I have never set out to
hide anything in my
work. Rather, there are
elements of secondary
and tertiary importance
to the central theme
represented in my work.
"In a painting we lessen
the importance of an
element by changing its
size, color, or rendering.
The lesser elements
become slightly obscure
at that point. When a
person 'discovers' them
later, it can seem that
the element was hidden.
"This is why it is very
important to study
these paintings. When
you think you have the
overall theme — after
you 'get it' — it can be
exciting to discover
related messages that
will expand your
appreciation for the
things of God."
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Like the story of the prophet Jeremiah,
mine began before I was born. My mother,
now eighty-four, tells me that while
pregnant, she had decided to terminate the
pregnancy. Before the doctor had the
chance to begin the procedure, apparently
with an injection, she said she heard God
"speak" to her, telling her that He had a
plan for the baby inside her. She pushed
the needle away at the last moment, walked
out, and never looked back.
While she was not a Christian at the time,
my grandmother, who lived with us, was. I
have to believe that my grandmother might
have been praying from the moment my
mother left the house that day.
Throughout my growing years, God began to
make my artistic gifts and His calling to
use them for Himself clear to me. Once, at
a youth evangelistic meeting with probably
1,500 - 2,000 teens in attendance, the
evangelist picked me out from the middle of
the auditorium and called me to the front.
He asked me if I was aware that God had
chosen me. I said 'yes,' wondering how I
was to explain this to the other kids on
the van ride home.
In 1967, I met a girl who would later
become my only date and my wife, now of
twenty-five years. Pat kept reminding me
of the call for my life and demonstrated
her belief in it by giving me my first set of
paints and an easel.
In 1970, after high school and on year of
college, Pat and I decided to take a leap of
faith and enroll me in the American Academy
of Art in Chicago. Since my parents could
not afford the tuition, Pat and I worked
after school to pay the yearly fee. I was a
church janitor, while Pat worked at an
insurance company. By God's grace, I was
accepted into the school. Pat and I agreed
to test our decision with a six-month trial
period. After six months, the instructors
applauded my hard work and invested
themselves in me. (I will always be
particularly grateful for the years I spent
under the teaching of Bill Parks, who to this
day continues to monitor my career). Pat
and I decided I should stay for the
three-year course.
God honored our decision with heavenly
help, since it was shortly after this that
my father died. I was called into the office
about a week later and was told by the
president of the school, watercolorist Irving
Shapiro, that someone had donated money
to the school, and they wanted to apply it
to my next year's education. I thanked him
in light of what had happened to my dad,
feeling that his gracious offer was out of
sympathy, to which he replied, 'I didn't
know your father had passed away.' Looking
back, I realize that God was providing a way
to keep his plan for me on track.
Early Successes
In my first year, one of my instructors who
was a Christian shocked me when I told him
that someday I would devote my talents to
the Christian community in hopes of being
involved in a second Renaissance. His
response was, 'It will never happen.' He
explained that, in his view, the Church was
uninterested in aesthetics and that there
would be no budget or support for my art
there. I would be better off taking my
talents to the secular industry (ad agencies
and such).
For the next eighteen years, I found out,
sadly, that my instructor was right. The
Church had no apparent interest in using art
for anything more than decoration. My
career consequently went in the secular
direction and prospered beyond my wildest
dreams.
Although I had left agents in Chicago, I had
the privilege of acquiring the Leff Agency to
represent me in New York. God blessed me
with this husband-and-wife team who were
very devoted to me and to this day remain
friends. (Thank you, Jerry and Wilma. You
will always hold a special place in my heart.)
Through their representation, I began doing
paintings for some of the world's largest
and best-known companies.
I was awarded the honor of being the
official illustrator for the Moscow Olympics
in 1980. The agency that hired me for the
work came to Chicago to pick up the
painting and told me that '99 percent of
America will know your name after this.'
Surely this was God, I thought. A few
months later, as Pat and I were watching
television, a news bulletin interrupted the
program and President Jimmy Carter
announced that the United States would
boycott the Olympics because of
international human-rights issues.
Pat and I sat there in total shock and
disbelief. That was to be my year, and
that's not exactly what I had in mind! But
we later found out that God is in even the
seeming reverals of our lives. Had the
Olympics gone through, I would almost
certainly have chosen a different road and
missed God's plan for me. I must admit, I
couldn't see that at the time, but that's
why I have come to regard Proverbs 3:5-6
as one of my life verses: 'Trust in the Lord
with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways acknowledge
him, and he will make your paths
straight' (NIV).
My career continued, and my work was now
starting to travel internationally and
mounting more than I could have ever
believed.
While I was certainly pleased with my
success, there was always a longing to do
what I had known was placed in my heart
twenty years earlier. That passion had not
abated. Little did I know that all of the
work I was doing was merely the training
ground for what was to come. Ten years
ago, that all changed for me.
A Clear Call
In one of my quiet times before the Lord,
I distinctly heard His 'still small voice' saying
that now was the time I had been waiting
for. Since I was so consumed with prior
commitments — and a little stunned to
suddenly hear God say, 'Now!' - I made a
feeble attempt to move in that direction.
In fact, I responded with a casual request:
Would He put the plan together (in a big
way, of course) so that I could step in at
my convenience? My personal observation
on obeying God's call: If ever things are
going too well for you and you would like
that to change, then, by all means, give
God the response I did, and things will
certainly change! God humbled me and
brought me to my knees in repentance.
When I came back to my knees in the spirit
of obedience and servanthood (about two
months later), I told God that I was willing
to do anything He wanted. (That was the
pain talking, you realize!) Nevertheless,
I was ready for marching orders.
Then God impressed the thought on me:
'What if it isn't even you I am choosing
for this Renaissance?' I came back to my
knees and asked the Lord to at least give
me the privilege of ringing the doorbell
of the one He had chosen, and I would bring
His artwork back. God gently spoke to my
heart and told me that I was the one but
that I was not the only one He was
choosing.
Since that time I have spent years doing
all I could to disciple other excellent
Christian artists who are successful in the
secular market. One of the fruits of that
committment was the MasterPeace
Collection, which I cofounded and oversaw
for a number of years. Our new company
named Art2See is an expansion of that
original vision God had given me.
I believe that Scripture is filled with enough
creative and imaginative eternal subject
matter to keep an artist or filmmaker busy
for many lifetimes. One of my favorite
verses to fuel my creative juices is John
21:25: 'Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down, I
suppose that even the whole world would
not have have room for the books that
would be written'.
To my dismay, I have not always sensed
that the Church is convinced that God is in
favor of the arts a legitimate way to
communicate the things of God. I am
comforted when I read Exodus 31:1-6,
which records God's desire for the arts in
His tabernacle. 'Then the Lord said to
Moses, See, I have chosen Bezalel the son
of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
and I have filled him with the Spirit of God,
with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds
of crafts — to make artistic designs for work
in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set
stones, to work in wood, and to engage in
all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, I have
appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the
tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given
skill to all the craftsmen to make everything
I have commanded you' (NIV).
It makes sense that the Author of creativity
can impart that to His children. In Ephesians
2:10 we are called God's 'poems' (poeima).
Imagine God using an artistic term for His
own creating!
What It's Going to Take
In the Renaissance, the arts were
effectively used by the Church. Because the
Church was the major producer of art in
society, godly messages pervaded that
society. God was visually declared with
each work of art.
Look around today. Can you think of a
society that could use a dose of that more
than ours? Experts say that sight and
sound have become preferred means of
learning, apart from entertaining us. Isn't
it time we saturate our society with
messages worth seeing and hearing? Dr.
Calvin Seervald said, 'Whatever arena
Christians withdraw from goes to Hell.' The
arts for the most part have. We need a
second Renaissance. This certainly is one of
the untapped resources to fulfill Mark
16:15, where Jesus commanded us to go
into all the world and preach the gospel.
In order to spread the Good News through
art, we need to honor some foundational
principles. Passion for the mission and our
world's needs. Christian artists often ask
me what they are supposed to paint, hoping
for a 'marketing' clue to good sales. I
answer with this question: 'What makes you
weep when you are on your knees before
God? That is what you are supposed to
address in your work!" N.C. Wyeth said,
'You can only paint out of conviction.'
After my first two decades of painting for
money, I have found this to be true.
Excellence. I believe that if you have been
gifted with artistic ability, you are
responsible to develop it to the fullest.
Anything less for the Author of Excellence
is not acceptable. In fact, I believe that
many times the gospel is rejected, not
because of its content, but because of its
poor presentation!
The right focus. I believe that painters
and every other kind of artist have a choice
when executing the finished piece. They can
either cause you to focus on what they
painted or on how they painted it. They
cannot do both with equal power. It has
often been said that Norman Rockwell (one
of my favorites) always caused you to see
what he painted, instead of how great his
craftmanship or technique was. It would be
rare for a person to view "Doctor and Doll"
or "Saying Grace" and be more struck by
the fancy brushwork or creative use of
composition that by the emotion of the
scene.
Similarly, I hope that my work will make you
look, but more important, make you see! As
a speaker aims to tell you the truth, I am to
show you the truth. Recently a kind lady
said, 'Do you know what I consider you are
doing your work? I think God is using you to
give us another translation of the Bible!
Just as we have different versions of
Scripture, you are putting it in a visual
translation!' I nearly fell off my chair. May it
be so, under God's perfect timing!
It is my hope that as you read this
Beyond Words, your view of God will be as
lofty as He deserves and that His presence
will be closer to you than ever before.
Please pray for me and all artists when
you can.
— Ron DiCianni
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