Fire & the Arc: An Interview with Metal Artist Bill Johnson
This summer Poiema Visual Arts will be holding its very first biennial art conference, “Finding Our Place: The Artist, the Church & Placemaking,” in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As we prepare for this exciting event, we want to introduce you to some of the unique individuals who will be presenting this summer. Our speakers bring together a rich mix of experiences that we feel sure will encourage and challenge all who attend.
Today, we are privileged to share with you a brief interview we recently conducted with Bill Johnson. Bill has developed his art through a lifetime devoted to metal working but it was one specific event that changed his understanding of how God desired him to use his gifts. We invite you to read along as we learn more about his passion for sharing the Gospel through the rebirth of salvaged metals.
Q. Poiema Visual Arts (PVA): We appreciate you sharing with us, Bill. The combining of your art with your faith began through a very specific situation. Would you mind backing up in time and sharing with us how God orchestrated your journey?
A. Bill Johnson: The opportunity to do an artistic project for my church led to a very interesting journey! It really was a divine appointment. In fact, if this opportunity had never arisen, I would never have thought of doing what I am doing now. Back in 2001, our church was engaged in a building campaign. At the time, we were seeking to build what is now our present church building. Together, we adopted a prayer focus that involved the use of nails. Families were asked to take home a small bag of nails. Each day, they were asked to remove one nail and pray over the new church and the construction process. Together we prayed for many exciting facets of church life. We prayed for new families coming to our area, the safety of the construction workers, future ministries of the church & so much more!
Q. PVA: It sounds like it was a very exciting time for your church family. How did this experience directly contribute to your creative process
A. Bill Johnson: After a short while, the nails began to build up in the Pastor’s office. A lady in our church, who knew that I did metalwork, asked if I would like to create something with the nails that would commemorate the church building project. I was thrilled to be asked, but really had no idea of what I might do with the nails. This is really where the excitement begins! I immediately began to seek the Lord in prayer. After several weeks of prayer and meditation, a really neat idea came to me. This, I believe, was the work of the Holy Spirit. The idea was to construct a cross using the nails. The entire form of the cross would be made from nails. From a distance, the cross would be visible but, coming nearer, viewers would notice something written on it. I planned to fashion words from the nails. These words were welded onto the surface so that they could only be seen when the cross was approached. I selected ten words to weld onto the cross. These words are the things that a person receives after he puts his faith in Jesus. Things like: forgiveness, truth, love, peace, victory, hope, joy, etc. This is symbolic of our lives. A person can choose whether to accept or reject Jesus Christ. He can walk past the cross and not give it attention. Or, he can walk closer to the cross and ask Jesus to come into his life. But one doesn’t receive anything unless he draws near. The really neat thing about the cross in the lobby is that it is made up of over 2000 nails and each nail represents a prayer from someone who was in our church at that time! After doing this project I received an enormous amount of encouragement. It was a very exciting thing to be part of. I praise the Lord for showing me a unique way to combine my love of metalwork with His message of the truth. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to share this story and the message of salvation with hundreds of people. Also, the call to creatively share the Gospel has become a new, ongoing journey for me.
Q. PVA: It’s quite obvious that your faith plays an important role in the work that you do. Would you take a moment and describe for us how you mesh the two; combining your life as a professional artist with your witness for Christ?
A. Bill Johnson: The short answer is obedience. As I shared before, these two interests ultimately became unified as I obediently followed the Lord’s prompting and created a piece for my church. Up to this time, I had never used my metalworking skills in a spiritual sense. I was a proficient metalworker, but never thought of using my skills to convey my faith; especially as artwork. The intersection of my metalwork with my love for my Savior, became a realized calling for my life. After reading Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, I quickly discovered unique ways to portray my faith using metal as a medium.
Q. PVA: On this journey, have you learned anything about yourself that really surprised you?
A. Bill Johnson: Three lessons stand out to me. First, sometimes the best things in life were not our original ideas. Secondly, in my own strength, I could have never brought about, let alone foreseen an opportunity like this. And finally, I discovered that this opportunity means so much to me, because it wasn’t of my own doing.
Q. PVA: Do you have any final words of encouragement for others who have an artistic passion and want to pursue it but find themselves apprehensive?
A. Bill Johnson: Don’t be afraid to pursue God-sized dreams. Step out in faith and there will be new doors that open for you. Acknowledge God, and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5,6).
