British artist, James Earley, was born in 1972. As a young child, he was interested in the people he saw living on the streets and in a decision that is mysterious to him to this day, he decided he wanted to paint them. James Earley followed this childhood choice and is currently one of the most influential artists of the figurative and hyperrealism art movements. Yes, this is a painting.

James Earley tackles the saddest places for us – poverty, war, racism, climate change, the political scene. In his Homeless Series, he builds a relationship with his subjects, asks their permission, and then paints their reality on canvas for all of us to see. He is quoted as saying:

I can only paint emotion.
Painting someone’s eyes you can almost feel their pain, their fear, their sadness.
I need the image to scream.

Even through closed eyes, this image can scream of a little boy once tucked in gentle sleep while the man he became is sentenced by passing shadows to a concrete bed to lie in.

We pray to hear the scream of this image.  We pray to answer with mercy and a hopeful curiosity that can lead to complex solutions to complex problems simplified by the will to inconvenient love.

May we see with the eyes of James Earley and truly see his painted screams. May we answer with all the things love can do.

In Christ’s name we pray,

Amen.

In gratitude, faith and hope,

Sandy Prouty
Minister of Children and Families
Montview Church