Throughout time art and faith have been inextricably linked as artists have used their talents to express their commitment and to communicate principles and truths. For portrait artist Kirk Richards, his faith is a motivating force in his art.

"I am a Christian. My goal in painting is to glorify God and edify others," he said. "I think creating something beautiful is the way to do that. Beauty is among the most relevant, most valid pursuits of art."

As a Christian and a classical realist, Richards holds fast to the idea that art should be stimulating, that it should express truth and ideals. Equating truth with beauty, he believes that a realistic portrayal of a subject reveals its truth and if it is masterfully executed, becomes beautiful.

Richards and other artists who pursue beauty often find themselves among the minority in today's art world. Many view the traditions of the past as simply that, old traditions. They believe that self-expression shuld take precedence over technique. Until the alarming cultural upheaval of the 20th century, the fact that beauty was an essential element in the fine arts was unquestioned. Now beauty has taken a back seat to creativity and "self-expression."

The modernist movement claims that because painting in the classical realism style has been done before, it is therefore less creative and not as valid an art form.
Richards thinks the opposite. Just because it has been done, does not lessen its creativity.

"Everainter brings his own vision, his own view to a painting," he said. "Even when they are painting the same subject within the same tradition, each work is new and fresh because each person is unique. Creativity is not found only in something that is brand new. It is not that easily defined."

Richards encountered this modernist philosophy on his first day of class at college. He began painting as a child, in Amarillo, Texas, taking lessons from an elderly babysitter. He always knew he had a propensity for drwing, and as he entered community college, he naturally chose art as his major.

"My art professors assumed that craft and technique were unnecessary. Only creativity mattered," he said. "My very first assignment was to draw a 'reciprocating engine woman picket fence.' I was given no direction, no clarification, just this string of words. I knew this was to test our creativity, but without being taught basic techniques as well, I was lost."

Bombarded by assignments and attitudes like this, Richards quicklyecame disillusioned and frustrated by his professors' intellectual elitism and the lack of real technical instruction.

"I describe my college experience as frustration, not education," he said. "I came to the conclusion that I was not going to get the instruction I longed for in the college and university setting."

Still, he moved on, trying to find a class or a professor that would actually teach him something.

"I went to quite a few institutions looking for the training I needed," he said.
As a resuRichards received a BFA and an MA from West Texas State University.
But Richards knew that he could do more. He found what he had been searching for in Richard Lack.

"I was introduced to Richard Lack through an article in a 1971 issue of American Artist magazine," he said. "I knew then that he was a painter unlike any other I had found, and that he could train me."

Richards went to study at Atelier Lack in 1976, thinking he was already well on his way to completing his training.

"I thought that with mt degrees, I was past the beginner stage," he said. "I thought Lack could help me sharpen my skills. I was very wrong."

In fact, not only had his educational experience not taught him what he needed, it had taught him things that Lack saw as detrimental to his training.

"When we began, Lack told me that there were a lot of things I needed to unlearn and forget."

One hindering trait that Richards gained from his university experiences was a short attention span.

"We were taught to draw and paint from 15ute poses in class," he said. "At Atelier Lack, our drawings measured in the hundreds of hours."

While studying with Lack, Richards learned to readjust his thinking, and finally gained the foundation he needed to develop his talent. He also realized that he was not alone in his negative perceptions of the art instruction in universities and colleges.

"The failures of the university structure became very clear," he said. "Everyone who was with me at the Atelier had found that universities had discarded trational craftsmanship in favor of the modern movement."

With Atelier Lack behind him, Richards moved back to Amarillo with his wife Linda to pursue his career as an artist. This was a brave step. He left his teacher and mentor behind, but he also left a community of like-minded artists and the encouragement that comes from a shared vision. Despite these challenges, Richards truly made a place for himself in Amarillo and the art world. Richards' faith has gotten him through discouraging times and his Christan devotion is evident in his views on art and his works.

"Art can be reactive or proactive. I strive to be proactive, to use my work to influence and uplift," he said. "I want my paintings to have a positive message and to relate that message through their beauty."

His work, The Way of Suffering, illustrates this statement perfectly. Painted for Hospice in Amarillo, this work depicts Christ carrying the cross, making his way towards his death. Masterfully done, the painting moves the viewer, delivering i message with its beauty. The image is appropriate for its setting, providing encouragement and hope in the face of grim reality.

While the subject of this work and others is Biblical, including the mural Behold the Lamb painted for Richards' church, Richards points out that for a Christian there is not Christian art and non-Christian art.

"The spirituality lies in the motivation, not the subject," he said. "A still life is just as much a tribute to my faith as paintings with Biblical images."

Oneample of this is a recent work, The Blue Door. This image of a woman with haunting eyes against a blue door is obviously not a religious subject, but because Richards' goal with this work, as it is with every work, is to glorify God, this painting takes on a level of spirituality.

"I believe whatever measure of talent I have is a gift from God," he said. "I want to make the most of it and use it in a positive way."

The motivation behind a painting and the idea it conveys are important, but it takes re than that to create a successful portrait.

"Beautiful ideas, beautiful paint handling, beautiful light, beautiful visual concepts, beautiful color, none of these elements alone can make a masterful painting," he said. "It is the combination of all these things, presenting the subject as a unified whole, that makes a masterful painting."

Richards strives to make a difference in the world leading by his example and promoting what is positive and beautiful in God's creation, for these qualities link uso our maker and draw us to him in faith. By marrying visual beauty with profound ideas, Kirk Richards, along with Christian artists throughout history, lifts his art from a human endeavor to a higher purpose.

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_________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Kornegay is a writer living in Montgomery, Alabama.