One Sunday each year, my wife and I make our pilgrimage after church to UCLA to attend the Festival of Books. This year, we were once again joined by my now-grown middle daughter. We figured that she had not been here with us since she went away to college and moved on to a career in the arts.
Here, book sellers and book lovers gather to celebrate the printed word. There appeared to be a sizable turnout of bibliophiles… or maybe we were just browsers. Noticeable among the absent vendors though was the large Borders Books pavilion. I also noticed that Esowan Bookstore, which specializes in works by African American writers, appeared to have had a smaller booth.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the smell of freshly printed books from new authors and the feel of tattered edges from the once-read books. I’ve been trying to imagine what it will look like 10 years from now when book seller spaces will be a two-square-foot plot of concrete where vendors will hawk their titles from the screens of kiosks lined neatly in a row in front of Royce Hall.
This is a very familiar hotel visible from the Hollywood Freeway. The day I painted here, I met Jesus. Actually the Jesus I met here was a young Bible student coming from a building under renovation and headed for his classes.
Jesus was uncomfortable with his name. He said that he said he was not worthy because of its Biblical significance. I told him that he would wear the name forever, so he might as well get used to it now.
This is one of the art buildings at Occidental College in Los Angeles. I did this painting for my middle daughter, an alum of that fine liberal arts school. While I was painting this, a mother and her daughter stopped by for a moment to watch. I took the opportunity to share Christ with them.
I met Alexandra on a street corner in the Las Feliz district of Los Angeles. She was hustling. I didn’t have any silver or gold, but what I had, I gave to her. She walked away with Jesus.
I watched a documentary on the History channel about Moses of the Bible. It’s amazing how intelligent men can take Biblical facts and misinterpret them into nonBiblical mistruths.
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