the unlikely orange

as a pastor, i get several people asking me about what i've given up for lent (i joked in the pulpit yesterday that i gave up short sermons for lent).  i have mixed feelings about giving things up for lent, which should be a topic for another post altogether, but what i have decided to for this lent is not to quit anything, but to do something .  i decided to continue the discipline of connecting my faith with my art (which so often ends up being little more than a hobby), by working each week to create a collage that goes along with what we are focusing on in worship that week.  at church this lent we are focusing on simon peter, the brash and impulsive disciple who left a fishing career to follow Jesus.  we started this week by focusing on his first interaction with Jesus as recorded in the first chapter of the gospel of john.  when his brother andrew brings him to Jesus, Jesus looks at him intently and says, "you are simon, son of john, but you shall be cep...

yeah, it's monday morning already, which means it's time for my latest Lent collage.  as we continue our journey through this holy season with our gaze locked on peter, we spent yesterday talking about that crazy story, the transfiguration.  we talked about the mystery of this story, and the glory of it all.  and then we talked about peter's part in it all: after Jesus turned brilliant white and starting shining like the sun, and after moses anad elijah showed up and started talking with Jesus, peter decided it was time to speak up.  he said, "Jesus, this is awesome.  this is really cool.  if you want, i'll be happy to build some shelters for you and moses and elijah so we can make this last for awhile."  and almost immediately he hears God's voice from the clouds, saying "this is my Son, with whom i am very pleased.  I want you to listen to him."  and peter, of course, falls down on his face.  and then in matthew 17 we read that Jesus...

"lent 2010: into the deep" mixed media collage on hardcover book board feb 2010 gregory a. milinovich you may remember from my post last week that i haven't really given anything up this lent, except perhaps some time which i am using to work on a collage each week which corresponds to the text we are dealing with in our worship at church.  i mentioned that we are focusing on the story of simon peter all through lent, and this week our text was luke 5:1-11: 1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." 5Simon...

lent 2010: stumbling block mixed media collage no. 5 of 7 march, 2010 gregory a. milinovich as we continue to journey through lent with our focus on simon peter, we spent some time yesterday remembering the story in which Jesus asked his disciples what people were saying about him (matthew 16:13-23).  this occured in the northern part of palestine, where Jesus did a great deal of his itinerant ministry.  we remember this story pretty well: the disciples told Jesus that some said he was john the baptist and others said he was elijah.  then he got a bit more direct with them and asked them who they thought he was.  the Bible doesn't say this, but i imagine them sitting around, heads looking straight down, kicking at the dirt, unsure what to say, and scared to say something wrong.  except for peter, who never had a problem speaking up, it seems.  in fact, the title of yesterday's sermon was "the man with the mouth."  peter breaks the awkward silence w...

"lent 2010: go tell peter" 7/7 mixed media collage on hardcover book panel gregory a. milinovich well, this final collage wraps up my series of 7 lenten collages.  as you may remember, this was my exercise for lent this year: rather than giving something up i committed to making one collage for each week of lent which specifically dealt with the text we were dealing with in worship that week.  for this final week we looked at mark 16:1-8 in which the women discover the empty tomb and the angel tells them that Jesus is risen and that they should go tell the disciples and peter .  strange, in a way, that the gospel writers would include peter's name specifically.  but when you consider that the last time we saw peter he was denying Jesus, it may not be all that difficult to understand.  this emphasis on peter is expressing the truth that the great power of the cross is forgiveness.  God wants peter to know that even though he failed, that is not the end of ...

"lent 2010: keep your eyes open" 6/7 mixed media collage 3/2010 gregory a. milinovich this past sunday was palm sunday, and while we celebrated jesus' entry into Jerusalem with palm branches, we also drew our gaze towards the garden of gethsemane.  you'll remember that we have been focusing on peter this lent, and so we focused on matthew 26:36-46, in which Jesus takes his disciples to the garden of olive trees, and then pulls peter, james and john aside and takes them with him a little further off.  he asks them to keep watch while he prays.  and as Jesus prays an intense and distressing prayer, peter and the boys fall asleep.  when Jesus comes back to them he essentially tells them to keep their eyes open.  i think it is good advice for us, too: keep your eyes open.  for many of us who are christians, closing our eyes has become a simple and convenient alternative for really seeing what is going on around us.  we'd rather not know so that we don'...

all of the following art is for sale (and much more!).  i have decided to close my etsy shop, and so, at least for now, i will simply be offering my art for sale here on my blog.  payment can be made through the mail by check only, or in person by check or cash.  if i have to mail it to you, i add on a flat $5 shipping fee.    here are some of what i am selling:  (if you buy more than one, you can take $5 off the total for each additional one you purchase).  you can contact me if you have questions about size or other details at gregorymilinovich at yahoo.      "lent 2012 - baptism of suffering" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the way of the cross" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the foolishness of God" $15   "lent 2012 - the dead are alive" $15   "lent 2012 - the broken are fixed" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the greatness of humility" $15   "lent 2012 -...

"lent 2010: save me" mixed media collage on hardcover book board march, 2010 gregory a. milinovich this week in our lenten journey with peter we looked at matthew 14:22-33, the story of Jesus, and then peter, walking on water.  i was struck by a few things in this text, not the least of which was the fact that Jesus wasn't walking on a flat glassy surface.  matthew mentions the wind and the waves, so i picture Jesus bobbing up and down like a ghostly buoy.  then i am amazed that peter wants to join Jesus out there on that mess, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the waves."  and matthew tells us that peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk on water.  amazing.  breathtaking.  exhilirating.  and then peter "sees the wind," whatever that means, and he begins to sink through the surface of the sea.  and his next words were, "leave me alone!  don't touch me - i can do this by myself," right?  wait, that's not wha...

hello friends! i am continuing my liquidation sale, hoping to give a good home to the collages that have been accumalating in my art space for the last 14 years!  i am trying to let go of them - give them wings, so to speak, to free up some physical and creative space for me to do some new things!  if you see something you like, i would be honored!   prices are negotiable (i always find it difficult to attach a price to these things!).  but i will add a shipping charge on to each purchase (this charge will only be the cost of shipping it through the u.s. postal service, no more).  please note that collages are sold as original, unframed pieces.  if you have any questions, please be in contact with me via email gregory milinovich at yahoo, or facebook me or leave a comment here.      "lent 2010: go tell peter" mixed media collage on hardcover bookboard (found papers, vintage papers, acrylic paint, printed images, glue) 12" ...

"ash wednesday, 2013" gregory a. milinovich mixed media (acrylic paint, found and vintage papers, crayon marker, ash, glue) on stretched canvas february, 2013 today is ash wednesday, a day in which, as we begin the 40-ish day journey of lent towards the cross and resurrection, we start with a great deal of honesty about who we are and how we are not nearly as strong as we think we are.  part of the tradition of the church has been to use ashes to demonstrate the mortal nature of our skin and bones, and the way it all breaks down at some point, until its all redeemed again (transfigured?) in the end by the One who sets all things to rights.  for some reason, this annual ritual of the recognition of our profound brokenness has always been compelling to me, and since 2007 i have made a collage each year to mark the day.  above you see what i've made this year.  below you can see the others.  2012  2011 2010 2009 2008 2...

"ash wednesday 2010" mixed media collage gregory a. milinovich here is my ash wednesday collage this year.  i pray you had a great beginning to your lent, one in which you humbly remembered not only that you are merely ash and dust, but also that you, like me, are broken at best, headed for the trash heap if not for the One who makes beauty from ashes.

"ash wednesday, 2018" mixed media collage (paper, ash, glue on book cover) february, 2018 gregory a. milinovich wednesday was ash wednesday, the beginning of lent, and a day to remember that in the end, we all get dehydrated.  that's essentially what i preached about on wednesday: that the human body is around 60% water, but one day the water will all dry up from in our cells and between our cells, and we will dry up, like so many crumbling bones.   like the bones in the valley that ezekiel envisioned.  he went down into this valley, and said there so many bones, and they were very dry.  but the voice of the Lord asked zeke if those bones could live again.  and he wanted to believe it.  he really did.  he would have like to say, "yes!  make them live!  Lord, you can make these bones dance again.  you can rehydrate them.  you can restore my people to the way they once were.  you can reunited mother with chi...