Prayer Chair® – Artist Statement

I love all forms of creative art. Of all the materials I use, paint and leather are my favorites. I hope that as people look at and appreciate the chairs, they stop and think about the two special issues that helped me develop them.

The idea of the Prayer Chair® was developed as I struggled to leave a very emotional and verbally abusive marriage. I have spent the better part of my life being told that my creative abilities were a, “waste of time, dumb, stupid, ridiculous…”, and I was often told, “Why, do you bother.”

As I was taking the difficult steps to leave the marriage, I relived how I had been torn down emotionally. I began to think, if as a child I had been lifted up by words instead of torn down….where would I be now… and what could I have accomplished in my life. It was with these thoughts, the Prayer Chair® was born. Instead of a time-out chair, where children are often yelled at and sent to for bad behavior; how about a chair used for positive reinforcement. This would be a place; where a parent would talk to their child. Where they could explain the behaviors and teach the child about choices, good and bad. A place where a child can be built up and not torn down. The Chair should be special and be painted beautifully so that it would be a positive place for the child to go….. a place of learning.

Also, as people look at the art work on the chair… I want them to know that I have had no formal art education or training. The creative things I paint are all a raw God given talent. Had this talent been nurtured instead of torn down; where would I be in my life. I may have had the ability to leave the abusive situation much earlier….better yet I may never have been in it in the first place.

Artistic ability is a God given gift; you only have to look at the interior of the Sistine Chapel, Cathedral Basilica – St. Louis, Mo or the sculpture of David to understand this. My hope is that future generations of children are taught this…

 …Each person has a unique gift and each gift should be treasured and nurtured….even something as seeming unimportant as creative ability.