imago dei community
Spencer Reynolds: www.artandsurf.com
Born in 1973 in Oceanside California, his family later moved to the southern Oregon coast town of Brookings and by 1983, Spencer Reynolds was learning to surf and drinking large quantities of salt water. Since then surfing has taken him to Australia, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia and been a tool in helping him connect with other cultures and helping people in need in his work with the non-profit Christian organization YWAM (Youth with a Mission). Spend ten minutes with him and you will know that surfing is one of his passions.
Another passion you would find out about in that ten minutes is his love of painting. But the two are intertwined. Surfing is an art, and the main subject of most of his work is the ocean. His paintings reflect the eye of someone who not only has surfed some of the best waves in the world and knows the science and physics of them, but also of someone who has a healthy amount of respect for the awesome power and beauty of God's creation
In his own words, 'Art is something that challenges and excites me. I attempt with my paintings to convey emotions and experiences. Through different mediums I strive to bring the viewer into a new world. To make a world that is beautiful and surreal. All my life I have been fascinated with visually communicating my thoughts, and perceptions of life. I grew up by the ocean, and surfing was important to me. I've always been captivated by waves and riding them. The force and beauty of waves is the main subject matter for my paintings. Surfing is a part of my life that makes me feel really alive, and gives me passion to paint. At the center of all of it though I recognize God. He created all that inspires me and I give thanks to him. He is the artist of artists. '
Anneli Anderson: www.studioanneli.com
Dave Anderson: www.ravenscaw.com
Anneli Anderson is a local painter who does amazing work. She was involved in kickstarting the arts ministry at Imago Dei from its inception and has been an inspiring and motivational figure in the arts life of Imago ever since. She has a passion to connect with God’s heart for the arts
and help others to find freedom in their creative process by connecting their faith with their art. She has often painted during the sermons at Imago, using images to capture the theme of the message that morning and giving the congregation a visual image to correlate with the spoken word.
She has completed a school for artists in missions and ministry with Youth With A Mission, giving her a global perspective and a vision for arts ministry. Anneli has studied arts and faith issues with artist visionaries such as Makoto Fujimura, founder of the International Arts Movement, NYC. Anneli is also a freelance graphic artist/illustrator and has shown her work in several shows in Portland. Her work has also been published in various publications and books, including the cover to Rick McKinley's 'Jesus in the Margins'.
David W. Anderson - artist - sculptor
A native Oregonian, who grew up in the Portland area, Dave Anderson combines 30 years of metal crafting with artistic vision. The two collide together in beauty and form bringing forth unique ideas and poignant statements.
Dave is inspired by creation and all its beauty. Not just the huge mountains and vast oceans that we see but getting up close and looking at the texture of a tree, at the beauty of a birds eye or the shape of a stone. Just about anything brings inspiration if caught in the right light or the right moment.
Dave says, "I would say that my art and my relationship with God are inseparable
because my work is an extension of God's creativity through me."
He finds creating 3D collages out of discarded metal scraps stimulating as well as a challenge to his artistic senses. However, not all his sculptures are out of scrap metal, often his pieces are fabricated from drawings done in a sketch book.
Micah Moss is a local visual artist with a unique approach to his work. Born in California, he moved to Brookings on the Oregon Coast soon after and grew up enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. During his teenage years a High School teacher began to get him thinking about literature and the powerful nature of art and creativity. On leaving High School, Micah studied Marketting and Visual Art at George Fox. 
His time in college encouraged him to expand upon his notions of art and to develop himself as an artist. He started Art Club at George Fox and began to get more serious about his own work. Post college, Micah has worked on a number of different jobs, spending time in an Art Store and also commercial fishing in Alaska. July past he held his first solo show and is currently plotting his next adventure.
Micah's work blends photo and paint, relying heavily on symbolisma and colour to explore the 'latent Content' behind his pieces. His desire is that his work would point towards his faith in a way that while not obvious, would not be inacessible either. Micah is fascinated by 2 dimensional art work and is hooked on comic books, cartoons and graphic novels. This passion is reflected in his art.
Martin French: www.martinfrench.com
Martin French grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied illustration at ArtCenter in Pasadena, California gaining his BFA in 1983. After 10 years as a designer / director in digital media, Martin began illustrating full-time in 1996. He creates images for an international clientele including American Express, Atlantic Monthly, Candlewick Press, ESPN, Grammy Awards, International Bible Society, Island Records, JVC Jazz Festival, National Geographic, NFL, Nike Nintendo, Penguin Putnam, Scholastic, Stanford University, Time Warner, United States Olympic Committee, and the Village Voice.
Martin has been awarded a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators/NYC, and a Bronze Medal from the Society of Illustrators/LA, as well as awards of excellence from American Illustration, Communication Arts, Print, Spectrum, and Step Inside Design. Three feature articles profile Martin's work: Step by Step Magazine-May/June 2000; Illustrator Illuminated-Adobe Press 2003; Communication Arts-March/April 2003.
Martin lives with his wife and two children in Portland, Oregon where he directs the Illustration Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
George Dinan: www.dinanfineart.com
George Dinan was born in the British Crown Colony of Bermuda, in 1964. As a toddler he and his family immigrated to United States. While growing up in Puget Sound area of Olympia, Washington, George had developed a deep love of nature and his surrounding environment. This love of nature and family is often a reoccurring theme throughout many of George's paintings.
George graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. His development as an artist has evolved through intensive experimentation and diligent work with many different mediums. George is currently immersing most of his efforts in oil paint. Although he is working on a two dimensional surface, in his mind, he is sculpting three dimensionally. This unusual concept helps him readily achieve his goal of sharing his own personal views and interpretations of subjects that are not typically represented in art.
George has shown his work throughout the U.S. and Canada at many fine art shows and galleries, and had also maintained his own gallery, Larson~Dinan Gallery, in Troutdale, Oregon for four years, 1998-2002. George's reputation as an exceptional and exciting artist to watch has kept on growing through this time period as well. George currently resides in Vancouver, Washington, and his art studio is actually located in SE section of Portland, Oregon. George's future endeavors will include traveling and embarking into the world of portraiture, figurative, sculpture and developing a new form of fresco painting which he calls: Fresco Nouveau. The future possibilities for George and his art are forever exciting and endless!
Rebecca Gray: http://rebecca-c-gray.tripod.com
Rebecca Gray is a realist painter who has recently joined Imago Dei. Born in Michigan, Rebekah attended school in Illinois where she fell in love with painting and fine arts during her Freshman Year. 
During her time at college she also met and married her husband Zach, a graphic designer. After a year living in Illinois they decided to move West to Seattle. However they got as far as Portland stopped in to visit relatives and realized this was to be their new home.
Rebecca’s work is slow and deliberate she likes to build up thin layers of paint on her canvases taking inspiration from the tiny little details of nature all around her. She has an eye for seeing beauty in places other people might not notice and allowing others to see the intricacies of creation in a face, a flower or a building. Rebecca has had two exhibitions so far, one in college and one in a local coffee shop. She is keen to plug into the artist community in Portland, to observe and work with local painters and to develop her style.
Jonathan Liu: www.rainybayart.com
Jonathan has an odd perspective on the world and loves to show people what life looks like from his point of view. He has a hard time deciding what medium to focus on and loves learning new techniques, but currently he does mostly ink drawings and Etch-a-Sketchings, which are fast becoming his signature medium. His artwork is meant to delight, surprise, amaze and amuse.
(And to this end he also loves making jack-o'-lanterns and snow sculptures, but he's found himself limited on the MagnaDoodle.)
Jonathan's alter egos (there are several) are: a mild-mannered stay-at-home dad, a voracious reader, a movie aficionado, and compulsive blogger.
Leah Faure
"The buildings I paint are skeletons to hold moods. 
Light going across city dwellings highlights things a person might not notice, craftsmanship of unknown utilitarian artisan. The city scapes also create opportunities for abstract elements intersecting lines of poles and shadows, planes of worn color. My paintings begin with a grey study establishing the details of the scene and then I put glazes of transparent layers of color over the top. This creates a feeling of depth with paint caught in layers. The perspective in the painting leads the viewer somewhere else: potential, change, the unknown. This is represented by even more abstract vanishing shapes. Portland buildings represent my history through school, galleries and studios are a wonderful inspirational outlet for my painting."
Cecelia Wenning: www.roughedgesglassart.com
"Hi there my name is Cecelia Wenning and I have lived in Portland, Oregon all of my life. I got started in glass 7 years ago with mosaics. I made candle holders and picture frames for gifts. My mom had asked me when I was younger if I would ever want to take a stained glass class with her. In 2004 I decided to sign up for a stained glass class at Clines (the local glass store). I was very excited and told my m
om that she should join me. She decided to come learn with me. I found out about fused glass when I was signing up for the stained glass class and found it very beautiful. I decided to take the fused and stained glass classes simutaneously.
I sure did learn a lot in a short period of time and started creating unique pieces of art. I had such a thirst for glass that I couldn't stop learning, so I decided to take a lampworking class at Gallery 33. I took a beginning torch class making marbles. That was great and couldn't get enough so decided to take a ring making class. It takes a long time to get them round and the right thickness, but it sure was fun. I now use acid etching in a lot of my artwork. I like to mix my methods of creation to make unique items."
Rachel Austin: www.rachelannaustin.com
After graduating with a degree in Finance and Management, Rachel Austin decided the creative path looked very appealing. Starting her own table design business was the first step into building andselling handcrafted items. Painting soon followed and is keepingher quite busy and happy. She loves a variety of painting mediumsand enjoys trying new things within her work.
In all of Rachel’s paintings she tries to invoke a sense of innocence and simplicity through shape and color. She loves creation and tries to pull uncomplicated shapes and colors into her paintings.
Rachel Austin is an Oregon native and resides in the lovely city of Portland with her husband Jon. You can find her work showing invaries locations and shows around town. Check out her website for more information.
Comments:
On May 03rd,Jeremy Meehan said: