Tabletop

 I have been working on refurbishing and custom finishing discarded and "found" tables. It is really neat to see the junk get turned into art!

Love Letter to a Western Vista. Artist’s Statement

 

Paint on Paper 22 x 30

The impetus behind this work started with the idea of the marriage between love of

God and love of Nature. To be a Christian is to enjoy God’s creation. For me, this

feeling, which was always present in some form, bloomed into maturity when I

experienced the wide grandeur of the American West in person. John Muir said “all the

world seems a church and the mountains altars.” I wanted to interpret this through the

lens of the orthodox American Christian experience of stained glass windows. I love

stained glass windows. The idea of bringing color into sacred spaces, telling bible

stories and Christian visual art as part of the very fabric of a church building is very

important to me. I read once that stained glass got it’s start invoking Jasper and

Carnelian from the Book of Revelation. Stained glass also represents both simplicity

and grandeur; blocks of color and a limit of depth. The work of Louis Comfort Tiffany

and his studio always stands out as both sophisticated and also indelibly American.

There are several Tiffany studios windows in my home church of Christ Episcopal in

WIlliamsport, PA. Looking up at the subtle interplay of colors and the lavish depth

added by the nacreous finish of a Tiffany window evinces feelings of humility and awe

in the viewer, like a little human version of that same awe one receives from a God-

made Western vista. We are made in the image and likeness. We have to create, it’s in

our essence. We also have to enjoy and appreciate the wonders of the divine

handiwork everywhere in our world. It is my fervent hope that this work brings the

smaller joy of human creation and inspires the viewer to go find some divine creation.

By God’s grace, Soli Deo Gloria. Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.

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Love Letter to a Western Vista

 

This painting shimmers in the light. It has presence. It demands attention from the viewer. This painting pops hard. This painting refuses to be ignored.

Love Letter to a Western Sunset

 This project isn’t quite finished yet, but I am tremendously excited by it. Inspired by the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and the grand views of the American West

© T Jutsum 2024

2024 flowers continue

 

2024 - winter

 Working on a four-seasons floral project. Some test sketches: