“Raising Up An Army Of Global Kingdom Artisans”. Bryn Gillette. Acrylic and 23ct gold on wood panel. 32x24”. Painted live during the Sat. Oct. 26 evening session at Gathering Of Artisans 2019.
I had the incredible privilege of being invited to teach a workshop this year, “Painting In The Spirit”, at the Gathering Of Artisans 2019. After a Saturday spent teaching 15 incredible “sibling” Kingdom Artists how to posture our lives to be in sensitive obedience and attentiveness to Holy Spirit’s leading, I set up to practice the craft in the form of live painting during the evening session. Taking up the role of the “visual scribe”, I was set and ready to document and visually celebrate whatever the Lord would reveal during our gathering… and oh, what a night! Before our worship even began, a spontaneous outpouring of prophetic words were released over global partners from Romania, Australia, and Holland, acknowledging them as “door openers” in their country of the movement of God in raising up an army of Kingdom-hearted artists around the world. The leadership team supporting Matt and Tanya Tommey came forward to support them as Holy Spirit showed up with incredible power and specific instructions, and then the words turned to Matt regarding an expansion of assignment and favor given to the movement to reach to new global levels.
Some of the components of the revelation captured in image form:
Digging New Wells: the central image is a pillar of blue and pure white exploded up from the bottom left. Several times throughout the evening there was a reference to re-digging wells and/or “new wells”. After worship, as Matt Tommey was brought up to stage to sit and share (because the weight of revelation was so strong he could no longer stand). The vision of wells progressed to “wells of fire” or lava, a sparks of flame around the globe were lit where Kingdom artists were raised up. I transcribed this as tongue of fire resting over the heads of each figure in the work in reference to Pentecost and the gift of Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives.
Door Openers: Matt referred to our global partners from Romania, Australia, Holland (and so many other countries) spoken by name tonight as open doors for the impact of God’s Kingdom and restoration in culture. These doors are depicted rising an swirling around the outpouring of the well as well as rising from a center of precious gold (23ct. gold leaf) flickering up towards heaven. Each door is held open by waiting figures/families.
Raising Up An Army: Along the bottom there is an army of people rising up from the watery surface, tongues of fire upon each of them. Matt spoke or had prophesied over him repeatedly tonight about the calling to train up and call forth an army of artisans to take up position and influence in culture for the glory of Jesus Christ. This came from Joel 3:09, a word given to Matt at 3:09am at the very onset of his ministry, the testimony of which he shared last night. This morning I had also been woken up at 3:09am, unaware of this parallel, and got a word to organize my class this morning as a military “squad” of 16, set up in “fireteams” with each person partnered. Jesus sent everyone in two’s to protect one another, and my friend Jessica has sent a text encouraging me and speaking about my students working in tandem with each other and Holy Spirit. It is amazing to see now this same military component overlapping my own spiritual assignment to “Raise up a generation of Kingdom-hearted artists”. My class opened with a prayerful meditation on Ephesians 6 armor of God, removing our own broken identity and putting on the armor/identity in Christ. What a joy to have my own steam of prophetic calling merge with Matt Tommey even as I painted the increase of his own!
The Plower: Since 1998 during a meeting with my mentor Bruce Herman at Gordon College, I have had a word on my life of the Plower, and a calling to not just haphazardly cast the seeds of my artistic talent, but to do the tedious and long work of plowing up the soil of my artistry thoroughly and systematically, planting ALL my seed, cultivating the soils of my life… and only then witnessing the full potential of God’s full harvest in my life. I had shared this metaphor in my workshop that day, and Matt spoke last night of spiritual “Mothers and Fathers” of a generation of artists - the same word I received during The Breath And The Clay to be a “father of artists”, and said that every new generation stands on the backs of those who have plowed, prayed, and pioneered in the previous generation. I added the plower in the lower left corner, under the well, with the rising army walking upon his back.
The Sled: Matt describe sitting with the Lord in what looked like a Santa sled and traveling all around the world, seeing the lava hot fires of revival in the arts all around the world, nation after nation. I added these two figures in a sled rising in the whirlwind of gold between the doors.
May this painting be a window for Matt and Tanya to look back upon this night and never forget, to never waiver from the promises and assignments released tonight. Thank you Matt for the privilege of being a brother, a co-father to artists, a fellow officer in this rising army of Kingdom-hearted artists! Lord Jesus - Commander and General of Heaven’s Armies- we are dressed in the (Eph 6) armor of our true identity in You, and our eyes are fixed upon You, ready to instantly obey Your commands. What would you have us do?