Salina Presbyterian Manor
Chasing the Son By Dave Parker, Chaplain
OCTOBER 2022
Lindsborg artist brings a spooky ‘painted lady’ to life in masterpiece-winning drawing Craig Boyers has long been fascinated with Victorian houses, also known as “painted ladies.” The artist has pored over pictures of hundreds of homes built in the last four decades of the nineteenth century and admired some Craig Boyers of them in person. But the Victorian house in his drawing “Last House on Spirit Lane” came from the artist’s imagination. “I looked at a lot of (Victorians), so I knew what parts I wanted,” Craig said. “I moved some of them around, and when I had it fixed in my mind, I began drawing.”
Last House on Spirit Lane
Craig finds Victorian architecture inherently spooky, and he played up these elements in his masterpiece-winning drawing, which was also inspired by the classic television shows “The Addams Family,” “The Munsters,” and “The Twilight Zone.” “The first two each had Victorian houses in them,” Craig said. “’The Twilight Zone’ is kind of eerie, somewhat scary, but it usually ends with some kind of twist. And that’s something I like to incorporate into my artwork.” In “Last House on Spirit Lane,” a pair of eyes gazes out from an upper window, and the front door features a skull motif. Mysterious figures appear in shadow in other rooms of the house. Outside, a colony of bats circles the home, and an attenuated ghost beats a hasty retreat from the attic. One can imagine the home appearing in a scene from any one of Craig’s TV inspirations. The artist also used line variation, contrast and composition to communicate the message that in this house, things are not quite on the level. He drew the structure at an angle, so that no horizonal lines appear in the entire drawing. Sharp viewers will also notice the letters and numbers Craig incorporated
Boyers – continued on page 4
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and selfcontrol.” 1 Timothy 1:7
I am deathly afraid of heights. Not so much high places, but edges. Mountain roads that are sheer, edges of Dave Parker buildings, roofs, even ladders. Above the third rung on a ladder, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. But I can assure you my heart is pounding as I step up to that fourth rung. I tried crossing the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado many years ago. I was just fine — until I looked down and could see between the metal planks under my feet. I immediately dropped to my knees, did an about-face and crawled back 20 feet to solid ground. Then I sat there for a while, just to make sure the world was stable. Heights are just not my thing. I simply do not trust my own ability to stay safe around edges, and I don’t intend to try to conquer that fear any time soon. We all have certain fears that hold us back. Some may be more obvious than others. Maybe those fears keep us from being all that God wants us to be for Him. Too often, fear may
Chaplain –continued on page 2
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