This ain't your mom's Kinkade

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The scene: a typically cluttered basement room, full of boxes, piled laundry, and a few Christmas ornaments. Hardish emo music blaring. A skinny teenage boy with jet black hair, a faded black and paint splattered t-shirt and extremely baggy jeans, is working in front of an easel, throwing pastel powder onto an oil painted canvas. Close up on his hand as it puts down the paint brush, replacing it with a pub style throwing dart. Swinging around, he releases the dart, and a close up of the plastic projectile as the camera follows it's flight pattern. "Thud", as it hits it's target, a too pretty, too colorful print of a cottage, ala Thomas Kinkade. As the camera pans back you see that there are already several other darts on the print, then a pair of woman's legs start to descend the staircase. The woman, carrying a basket of dirty laundry, spies the darts.
Sighing, the boy's mother says,

"Justin, I thought you'd like that picture,
he's a Christian AND an artist"

Anyhow, that's just a little scene I wrote a while ago, for a screenplay I've been working on forever. I was trying to show at once, that: a) being Christian, don't mean we gots to like everything with a Christian label, and b) Christians (as in the boy, and, admittedly, myself) can be a little snobby too.
I personally cringe at the sight of a Thomas Kinkade print, but also know that if it brings another joy, who am I to judge (plus Mr. Kinkade donates a lot of money to charity). My main problem with Kinkade's stuff, is that too often that's what the general populous think of when they hear the term "Christian Art".

On that note, Christianity Today has a neat little art slide show, that I thought I'd share, entitled "Images of Calvary". There are other sites to visit, including the sites of Kim Thomas, Doug TenNapel, He Qi, to name a few (oh, and feel free to check out my doodles , which remind me that I have to design new t-shirts for work).

Of course, if you want to see the most beautiful art, just take a walk, or possibly take a peak in the mirror.

God made you special, and He loves you very much!