Pictable @ 2004 Cornerstone Festival
Timeline
Tuesday, June 29th
The day started with Richard, a good friend, and I heading up to Quincy to meet up with the rest of our entourage. We met up with Cal and the guys from Zippy Josh and the Rag Tag Band. The band was coming from California on tour and they had a concert the night before in LaGrange, MO. Cal is helping manage the pictable ministry. We went to college together, and he is an all around great guy.
After we picked up the tent, stopped by Staples for some last minute flyers and went to Wal-Mart for a few items, we were on our way to Bushnell, IL and the mighty Cornerstone Festival. With a four vehicle caravan, I was surprised that we made it there together and with no problems. Praise God!
It was good to get back to that familiar farm field in Illinois. It would be a great week. Our first matter of business was to setup camp. This was a very important decision and one thing I had been thinking about for months. It would prove to be one of if not the best decision all week. We found a spot right on the main road between the Fat Calf and the Wycliff La Maloca tents. Although I did have a booth in the merchandise tent, the campsite would bring in more people asking about the paintings that I did during the week and that gave us a chance to talk about the ministry. I also got to talk to many artists who stopped by after seeing the paintings.
Once camp was set up, we went to the merch tent to drop off the stuff for the booth. We were in the third merch tent. This was the tent where the bands that were there for only a day would come and go. There was a lot of turnover. That was good and bad. But we were by a door. That helped.
Once camp and the booth was set up, Richard and I took off for Greenville, IL to do a pictable for an Illinois Super Summer. The trip was over three hours long. The service was excellent and the painting turned out to be very cool. It was the completion of the Christ Face that I painted six months ago at the Illinois Youth Encounter. When both paintings were put next to each other, they looked really cool. The trip back took its toll on us. It turned into Crazy Talk Tuesday. We didn't get back until 2am to the Fest.
Wednesday, June 30th
I had forgotten how bright it is camping when the sun comes up. After maybe just three hours of sleep, the sky lit up with the dawn's daylight. Great start to the day. We finished setting up the booth and did a little training. Cal's dad Ken had come in the night before while we were gone and he was here to help all week with the booth(s). Later Andy got there for orientation. I had a great bunch of guys helping me throughout the week. I owe much to them.
Today started the experimenting with the pictable. I brought 15 canvases to tryout different concepts for future pictables. I also brought Jesus in a Spaceship and Talents to show finished pictables. The first one, Choices, was a good first run but the second one of the day, Shine, turned out to be very popular. I actually almost painted over it until someone showed interest.
The week started off very well with lots of interest at the campsite and at the booth. Cal hooked me up with Zippy Josh, and it was decided that I would paint onstage with them on Friday when they played at the Wycliff tent. Their songs are like parables and are very good subjects for a pictable. The one that I would paint about is a song depicting Jesus driving a taxi cab.
I also hooked up with Eric Timm from No One Underground. He is an artist from Minneapolis and he was also pushing out a brand new ministry. He is creating artwork and clothing with a message. Very cool stuff! Check out his site. Once we got talking and I mentioned painting from the campsite, he said we should do a tag team painting. That would happen on Friday too.
Thursday, July 1st
The official start of the fest. The place was hopping with thousands of people. It was a great feeling. Got to talk to lots of people from all over. Adam and Krall came to help today.
 I painted once again not only at the site but at the booth too. Today I tried hand painting. Why use just your finger when you have your whole hand. It was awesome. I good a great effect and I would continue to use this technique throughout the week. The first to utilize this new style was Drowning in Sin, Convicted by the Spirit. This also began another trend. I didn't finish it. Throughout the week I got sidetracked from finishing certain pieces for one reason or another.
The second one of the day was another popular one. The flaming heart (I haven't named this one yet. It also isn't finished but that didn't stop people from liking it.) was a concept pulled from a design for a tattoo that I want to get. It was this thought that happened upon others too. I had many people ask if they could take a picture and have a tattoo done. The only stipulation was that they have to send me a photo of their final tattoo. I even mentioned that there might be a contest. Send me an email if interested.
The booth was going well at this time too with two progressive paintings developing at the same time. These often confused people walking by. They didn't understand why they weren't finished. Just for your info, our booth was two down from Zippy and across from these "musical" frogs. They were kind of annoying but I bought two for my girls.
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Friday, July 2nd
This was my big day. Zippy Josh at 3:25pm and Tag Team Painting at 5pm. The biggest problem of the week was carrying my paints and brushes from the camp site to the booth and back. I worked at the booth in the morning so that I could get ready for the afternoon.
I finally was happy with the concept for the Zippy painting. As the time grew closer and closer, I became more anxious. A few things were on my mind. One, I had never painted to this specific of a band's song. Two, I only had two days to develop the concept. Three, I never got to try this out on canvas.  Four, I had never heard the song or heard them play until I watched them the night before. And finally, I had less than ten minutes to finish it. I normally need between 15-20mins for a pictable.
Once we set up on stage and were waiting to start, Josh pulled everybody backstage for a prayer. That really helped me. The music started and I was off. They are an acoustic punk band with lots of energy. So the beat kept me going. The Taxi Cab Guy was three songs into the set. In the end, I finished the painting with half the song left to go. So when I walked off stage, the crowd still had half the song to see the painting. The band was happy. I was happy. It was a good experience.
But I couldn't sit on my hands just yet. I had to get ready for the Tag Team Painting. Eric, his wife and his cousin got to our camp at 5pm. We quickly discussed the rules for the Tag Team Painting. We both would take one blank canvas and a concept. He got the "wide path to destruction" and I got the "narrow path that leads to life." We each start on one canvas then after 10mins we swap and continue on the other canvas. We originally said that we would swap three times and finish on the one we started but it ended up being five times.
It was difficult to play off of another artist who uses a different medium, has a different style and whom I had never meet before this week. We pushed each other and the paintings turned out very well. We will probably do this again.
On a side note, the rain started to fall. Although it didn't effect the paint. It did adhere the dust a little bit better to the canvas.
Saturday, July 3rd
I didn't paint from camp today because it was raining off and on. I was also very tired. I just hung out at the booth, painted a little and talked with passers by.
Sunday, July 4th
The end is here. I finished up the progressives from the booth. Then I saved the best for last at the campsite. I painted both sides of the Christ Face at the same time while Brian played some music. It was a first for me to do it this way. I have some tweaks to do before I do it again this way.
As the end of the fest was quickly coming and I look back, it was a huge leap of faith for the ministry, the business and for myself to come to Cornerstone to promote the pictable ministry. God spoke in ways that differed from my expectations. There are some exciting things in the future. You may have been one of the people that God used to speak to me. Thanks! Listed to the right are some current, ongoing, future and hopeful areas of the pictable ministry. Keep checking back as things evolve into what God's Will is for this ministry. If you have any questions, comments or requests, I would be glad to hear them. Thanks for your time and support!
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