‘The T.V. Watchers & Jesus’ Jesus Christ art by KATA BILLUPS (celeb. collectors)

TITLE : The Modern Family Ignored JesusBecause They Were Watching T.V.the title is hand painted on the interior frame’s bottom side-(as described below; this is a custom created double frame). Thousands of collectors across the USA, Canada, and Europe own my work. Many celebrities also collect my work. Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Susan Sarandon Julia Roberts, Jimmy Vaughan and R.E.M. are just a few of my celebrity collectors. for more info:KATA BILLUPS rock and roll art ARTIST’S DESCRIPTION OF PAINTING: This scenario shows Jesus entering a 1950’s family living room. The kids are seated on custom wall to wall carpeting surrounded by new 50’s furnishings; but all eyes are glued to the newest invention (the television!). Mom and Dad are perched just behind the kids. Nobody notices Jesus. He wears a crown of thorns, his palms are pierced and his hands are dripping blood on the shag carpeting. Pertaining to this piece- a friend directed me to McLuhan’s work…Marshall McLuhan: «The Medium is the Message»by Todd Kappelman The High Priest of Pop-Culture McLuhan is announcing what Lewis H. Lap-ham says is a world of people who worship the objects of their own invention in the form of fax machines and high speed computers, and accept the blessings of Coca-Cola and dresses by Donna Karan as the mark of divinity. The fact that more people watch television than go to church is nothing new to us, but it was one of the tell-tale signs of a cultural shift in history for McLuhan; a shift which has been imperceptible to most, and devastating to all. If anyone doubts McLuhan’s warning that «we become what we behold,» he should reflect on the consuming desire of many average teenagers to be like Michael Jordan, Madonna, or Britney Spears: a desire that has resulted in a culture of plastic surgery and drive-by shootings to obtain tennis shoes. (final thoughts): While searching for a way to express Jesus the way I experienced Him -I began to see a pattern emerge in the images of Jesus… which I had been pondering and plastered across one of my studio walls (picture of that coming soon…). I started to realize that in most paintings Jesus was generally portrayed as stoic, uninvolved and removed (EMOTIONLESS) but the characters surrounding him displayed the full gamut of human emotion! This began to strike me as a tragedy because if there were ever a time in history when the people of the world wondered things like—-«Where is God?- where is Christ? do they CARE?» …it is now. I also wondered… why does most of the art work for the past two thousand years depict Jesus as stoic, uninvolved and removed from what he calls «His body»? My Graduate THESIS addresses this and many other questions. I think art historians may possibly find my work unprecedented for several reasons. The main reason being this: my work emphasizes what I call the «missing link» in Christian art. It’s Jesus’ emotions. I challenge the reader to visit any major museum in the world and take time looking at the religious icons and other periods of imagery about Jesus. If you find one painting or sculpture with Jesus portrayed with a human emotion (with the ONE exception of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple) I ask you to contact me. When I give this challenge to Christian friends they will often bring up a recently made sketch of a laughing Jesus. I am not willing to include that sketch as an example of a real break from the tradition I am explaining of painting or sculpting Jesus without emotion for a few reasons which I will not elaborate on here. But suffice it to say, this is the only ‘new- breakthrough’ emotion I’m aware of artists exploring in Jesus’ pictorial image. Therefore, most Christian artist’s body of work seems to lack a comprehensive understanding of the topic my Thesis explores. TECHNICAL DETAILS: DIMENSIONS: the custom made double frame size is: 14.5″ high and 16.5″ wide and 2″ deep (2.5″ deep with depth of plaster head mounted at top of frame) The painting size is 11″ high and 14″ wide. The plaster head at top 1.5/8″ high and 3.5″ across. I’ve glued bits of one of my favorite a paisley silk ties and hand painted paisley to matchon large parts of the frame. TECHNIQUE: The technique is the highest quality acrylics on a fine primed wood background.Acrylic paints are now equal to or superior to oil paints in their longevity and light fastness. NOTES: this piece took me over 100 hours to create. This piece is a VERSION of my work (see categories of work directly below for more information.)It is one of my favorite VERSIONS ever.Most of my VERSIONS have new figures or objects painted in that did not exist in the PRIMARY ORIGINAL. This piece differs in very subtle ways which I will outline here:this piece has paisley fabric worked subtly into the darker edges of the image. It has more shadows around the boys. Last but not least, it has the plaster head and miniature T.V.on top. The plaster head is an art object I broke off a statue that stood beside ourfront door in one of our homes in Colorado. It has significance to me in many ways. The home was truly owner built and designed; octagonal, passive solar and planned with self sufficiency in mind. While living in that home. I think God moved me further from our generic T.V. culture and helped me develop spiritually. I saw things and met people that I think God planned for me to meet. One example is this: I helped a man who was diagnosed with cancer and he lent me some C.D.’s by a man who taught supernatural healing ministry. Due to both men’s influence on my life, I now understand more about supernatural healing ministry than at any point in my life- and have seen God do exponentially more instantaneous miracles than ever before. CATEGORIES OF WORK:(listed in descending order by price and rarity) 1. PRIMARY ORIGINALS These are the most time-consuming, most expensive and generally the largest in scale of my works. They are owned by hundreds of Private Individuals and several Museums worldwide. One Primary Original may take weeks, months or even years to complete. For decades I created an average of five to twenty pieces of this type work per year. I’m taking a break from creating them to build my business and life in new ways. I am not yet sure if I will ever create work in this category again. For updates please check k a t a b i l l u p s . c o m 2. VERSIONS OF WORK These are generally the second most time-consuming and expensive of my works. They are ownedby hundreds of individuals across the world. Each one is an entirely hand-painted VERSION of a Primary Original Painting. They are similar but in no way identical to the PRIMARY ORIGINALS after which they take their inspiration. Within these pieces I’ve been inspired to rework or add newcharacters, furnishings, backgrounds and colors in ways that never occurred in the PRIMARY ORIGINALS paintings. These pieces may even contain new themes and ideas. I typically devoted one to four months creating each piece (depending on size and complexity). They sometimes (but not always) include unique frames embellished with one-of-a-kind mattes and vintage objects de’ artand unusual titles. They are framed in many ways; simply, ornately, etc. They were painted on a variety of surfaces besides just canvas or wood including gallery wrap canvas and small furniture; (both whichrequired no frame). All these works are technically and legally Original Paintings. They are entirely 100% hand painted throughout all the layers applied as the work progressed. I generally created around five to fifteen pieces in this category of work per year. This category of work began in approximately 2004 and ended in 2023. I have around ten to fifteen unfinished pieces within this category in storage and may complete them if I am so inspired in the future. If so, they will be dated the year they are completed. 3. REPLICA ORIGINALS These are typically the third most time consuming type of work (and third most expensive)and are owned by over one thousand people across the globe. There may be over two thousand incirculation. I do not know because I never kept exact records. The demand for them arose when Patrons admired some of my previously sold PRIMARY ORIGINAL pieces and wanted something similar but not as expensive. They are are similar to my VERSIONS of WORK (see category 2. works above) withsome important exceptions. First of all, they are as close to being identical to the PRIMARY ORIGINALS as possible. They have no new creative developments within them (unlike works in category 2.) withthe important exception of the frames which were often elaborately embellished with one-of-a-kindmattes, vintage objects de’ art and unusual titles. They are painted on a variety of surfaces (wood,canvas, mirrors, small furniture and other materials). They are hand-painted REPLICAS of some of my favorite PRIMARY ORIGINALS. Each piece is hand painted across the entire surface andmany have additional painting in layers beneath the surface of the top glazes. Each work required atleast a week or several weeks to complete (depending on the size and complexity). They are legally and ethically also Original Paintings in their own right. I began this category of work in approximately 2004. In late 2023 I stopped creating in this category. I have about forty unfinished pieces in this category (in storage) and may complete these works if I am so inspired in the future. If so, they will be dated the year they are completed. 4. SMALL GALLERY WRAP CANVAS REPLICA ORIGINALS This category was created in 2021. I created less than 70 of these and will never create any more. They are similar to my Replica Originals but smaller. For or more on REPLICA ORIGINALS see category3 above. In addition they are created on gallery wrap canvases which are deeper than most average canvases. They’re designed to be painted on all four external edges of the canvas (edges which are typically covered by a frame. The idea is for the collector to display the work without a frame and enjoy the unique dimensional effect as the painting ‘wraps around’ the sides. The artwork may also be displayed ‘standing up’ on a piece of furniture. Proper hanging apparatus is attached to the back of the canvas. 5. SECOND STYLE REPLICA ORIGINAL PAINTINGS New to the market beginning in 2023 and projected to be my main product going forward, this type of work is similar to my REPLICA ORIGINAL works but less expensive. Like my VERSIONS OF WORK, I’ve added new elements. This type of work allows endless opportunities to re-express myself (beyondthe original inspiration). I’m adding additional themes and characters to previously created PRIMARY ORIGINAL pieces. Each piece is first printed on a uniquely light-weight yet strong material using state of the art equipment (for maximum clarity of resolution, color, etc.). I then spend several hoursembellishing the piece with hand painted areas (and attaching one or more vintage objects de’ art to theframe. The areas of hand painting make each piece an ORIGINAL work of art technically and legally. 6. SPECIALIZED FRAMED OR MOUNTED PRINTS. When I first offered this category at the inception of my rock and roll icon art work, pieces were typically framed after being mounted on foam core or wood. They generally had many objects de’ art attached to the piece using glue and or wire. I also mounted the prints on small pieces of furniture, toys, cigar boxes,mirrors, musical instruments etc. I began with very small embellished framed prints at my first show inNashville TN. in the early 1990’s. Originally using tiny photographic prints of my work called proof shots,eventually my work expanded in size. I created and sold hundreds (probably over one thousand) of theseworks. The prints mounted on toys, furniture and other objects during this early time were more rare. Icreated about one hundred of them. These pieces were created only between the years 1993 and 2004.They ranged in size from very small (around 3″ x 4″ to much larger 16″ x 20″ or so). 7. 2023 SIGNED PRINTS About twenty five years after beginning my rock and roll icon art business, I stopped creating prints. Around 2004 I wanted all my future collectors to own works more unique and valuable than my prints(which were mainly sold framed and with kitsch objects attached as mentioned above in Category 6).This decision was made even though many early collectors (like Julia Roberts) owned these pieces.For one year only (2023) I produced signed prints one more time. This was in the interim of developing a more affordable new product (see category 5 above). The new product evolved as I began to phase out my older categories of work. This made the remaining work more rare and therefore more expensive and I still wanted any potential collector be able to afford my work so I developed a new product. Whilecreating the new product it seemed good to offer signed prints one last time. Each one was producedon extra heavy card stock paper with a gloss finish using the most expensive state of the art equipment. Each one was signed and dated.