David Chupp

Art is the creative expression of who we are and how we see the world around us, or how we want to see the world. All art should engage the viewers, causing them to reflect on something, question a thought, behavior, or misconception, or bring a response of thought, emotion and possibly action.
Art is an important part of a person’s education since it develops creative skills that can be used throughout life not only in art itself, but also in all disciplines.
For me, a Christian artist, this gives a great responsibility. I believe that Christ should affect all of my life; therefore all my art must be a reflection of the first and greatest artist of all, God. With such a responsibility I must engage the viewer in a way that brings glory to God even when my goal is to shock, to call for change, or even question things.

I’m a “disabled” Christian artist until Christ comes or calls me home.

I have been selling art on eBay and have some in local and online art galleries and have been encouraged to post a little about myself online with my work.
My involvement in the art world actually started over thirty years ago when I was in my teens. I loved doing many types of art but was strongly encouraged to pursue other areas of training and work instead of being a starving artist. First I trained to do some kind of ministry, then teaching, and then construction……Then I worked in many different jobs. I have worked in a few different ministries and non-profit organizations. I really loved the work I did at an inner city mission.

(By all rights I should be dead)
I was working at a mission when about seven years ago a couple things happened that changed my life drastically. First I was unloading a truck when I slipped and my leg slid between the back of a truck and its lift gate, ripping some of the soft tissue inside my right leg (this led to chronic pain syndrome). Then a couple months later, in mid-January (in Michigan that is another way of saying unbelievably cold) I was working on a tractor removing the brush hog (a heave mower on the back of the tractor). The mower came off fine but the drive shaft for it would not come off. The tractor was warming up as we were working on it. I was kneeling between the back tires pounding on the pin (oh yes- I was on crutches for the leg injury at the time) when the PTO (power takeoff unit – the bar that spins between the tractor and the mower) engaged and started spinning even though it had been locked out. They tell me this is a 20-40 pound pipe and the speed it travels at when not hooked to a mower is incredible. It hit me in the back of the head crushing the basal bone in my skull (I’m told this is the single hardest bone in your body). By all rights, humanly speaking, I should have been dead. I know if I had died that day I would be in a much better place with my Lord and Savior but God had other plans. My recovery through it took time. At first it seemed to be going quickly. I was in the hospital ICU 1 day, intensive care 1day, and by the afternoon of the next day they were sending me home. I had a closed head injury had lost hearing in one ear (which I regained part of later) and I had lost my sense of balance. It was later discovered that as a result of the closed head injury I had lost my concentration (I became attention deficit). My attention span was about 3 seconds, and I had almost complete short term memory loss as well as some reduction in certain cognitive skills. (I’m told that just means it is harder for me to do some things mentally then it was before the accident.) Much of these effects are at least somewhat controlled through meds and therapy. But as a result of all this I am no longer able to do most of the things that I had trained for. Almost all of my loss was in left brain function and I found that my creative (right brain) was more fulfilling and enjoyable for me than ever.

Praise God I’m still alive to enjoy this stage in my life.

In the past I had brought my creativity into every job I had and continued to do some art for pleasure but after the accident I dove into art. I started drawing and painting every chance I had. This eventually led to my teaching art at a local school for a few years even though I was not a licensed teacher (my license expired over 20 years ago). Now I find myself at home again with out a “job” and I find myself drawing and painting 40+ hours a week. One thing that has happened as a result of my injury is that I cannot work at anything for very long at one time, so these 40+ hours are in 10 min. to 3 hour sections with naps and stretches in between. I also still have memory and attention problems (which mean that when doing things like eBay I document everything and do it when I’m at my best). Art is one thing I can do and the sporadic nature of my work does not lessen the finished product or my joy in doing it. So if others like it or not I will likely be doing lots of art for the rest of my life and being thankful that I am here to enjoy it, regardless where God leads me occupationally- whether it be full time art, some new ministry or something I could not imagine. I believe God causes everything to happen for a reason even though we may not know it, and for our good even though we may not understand it.

For now I’m thankful to be: A “disabled” Christian artist living with chronic pain, some memory problems, and a few other minor struggles until Christ comes or calls me home.

(By all rights I should be dead)

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TWO READ MY STORY AND LOOK AT MY
ARTWORK,

David Chupp