One day a few weeks ago I decided I wanted to create something new, but I wasn't sure what. I started with just throwing down some watercolors, then took an X-acto knife to make shavings from my watercolor crayons. I spread these shaving out randomly on top of the previous (dried) watercolor. Then I grabbed a spray water bottle and sprayed around on the shavings until they started to dissolve a bit. I let that dry and washed over again with some more watercolors.

At this point I still wasn't sure what this work would become. I knew I had created a base to work off, but that was all. As I sat pondering, I felt a need to express something that would speak about a current social issue. Having been on a trip to Nicaragua this May to help bring clean water to a village, I decided that was what this piece was about. I found some reference photos to use as inspiration, and set to drawing with black Take-Sumi ink using a bamboo pen. Once the ink dried, I carefully went back in adding some yellow gouache.

The result was something that spoke to a lot of people, about an important issue. "A Cup of Water for the Least of These." I recently sold the original as well as some prints. Sometimes, you just need to follow inspiration where it takes you. Sometimes I plan out what I'd like to do, but other times I like to just "play" and see what comes. There is tremendous freedom in that!

If you're interested in donating money to help provide get clean water visit here.

If you'd like to purchase a print of this or other work of mine visit my society6 shop!

I had the privilege of spending a week in Nicaragua with a team of people from my church, working alongside an organization called Living Water International. Our goals were to drill a well to provide clean water for this village, and teach them about hygiene and the love of Jesus.

It was an intense week, both physically & emotionally. We had to move our drill rig and restart the process of drilling a few times, and ultimately it was determined that we would not hit water that week. There was no video of happy people experiencing clean water for the first time. There was no village celebration. It was incredibly difficult to process it all.

Our faith was stretched. We were faithful in all we could do, yet we did not arrive at our desired outcome. Thankfully, LWI is committed to continued efforts to bring clean water to this village. We wait in anticipation for the news.

Before I left for the trip, I had the idea of filling up a Moleskine sketchbook with the things I saw and experienced. While I had to finish things upon my return based on some photos I took - I'm so glad I decided to record these things to cement the experience all the more.

If you're interested in seeing all of the sketches check them out here!