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I love God's Word, the Bible. I cannot describe what happens when I get together with God in His Word, and He starts opening by eyes to yet another unfolding of His revelation to us. Then I cannot wait to share it. Sometimes I get the opportunity, but most of time I do not. Then it is just for my personal rumination - and ruminate I do.

It is the same way with the fine and performing arts. You can look at a work today and thoroughly enjoy it at some level. You can hear a song, view a sculpture, look at a painting, watch a dance performance, taste a new gourmet production, etc;, and never cease to plumb its depths.

I love looking at others' work here. Beyond learning from and being challenged by techniques and some really outstanding stuff, I get inspired. Even through my computer screen I can see the unfolding of the vision of the artist in the work. I can see their celebration, sorrow, anger and pain, sometimes in the same work, over the stuff of life - be it their own or another's. I may never be rich, even sell a single frame of my work, but the experience of walking through this worldwide gallery is well worth the effort - especially since I seek to provide such an experience for my own viewers.

God's Word, the Bible, is a similar experience. Here you have the Docent of all docents walking you through the history of His dealings with humanity. At every point you see a new revelation of His passion for you. Even at places where you wonder at the severity of His words and deeds, you see an undercurrent of redemptive love that is almost irresistible. You are impressed and inspired and learn from the successes and failures, and God's unconditional desire to redeem and restore. Now you go back with a new or renewed sense of purpose, a new or renewed vision and a reason to try again, trusting in Him, not yourself.

I am logging off, because to be honest I have missed my second and third day of a three-year quest through the Bible. You can join me if you wish at any time. In either case, you can keep reading here to glean from what I have experienced, be it during a shoot, during the edit, or during my daily walk through the Gallery of galleries, the Bible, hosted by the Artist Himself.

Why do I make so much photography when it has given me far less than the time, talent and treasure I have invested in it? Why do I perform, seeking to reach higher levels of excellence each time I draw breath to play my horns or put my hands to drum heads, when it has returned so little for the many years and hours and effort and lucre I have put into it? Why am I still writing music despite its refusal to attract ears or eyes and, consequently, financial compensation? Do I love disappointment, frustration and loss? Is this my self-flagellation? Do I enjoy rejection and apathy towards that which I have given so much to create?

No.

It is because I, like every other artist and writer and performer and handyman, etc., must. God created us to create. He gave us the task of conceiving and creating images and sounds and objects of beauty and utility. He gave us the task of making sounds, images and objects that were nonexistent before we arrived. We must do this. It is in our blood. Failing to do this is tantamount to being locked in a dark room with a voice saying, ceate, Create, CREATE!

Hi, my name is Leon deVose, and I am created to CREATE!