Chasing Arnold Flaten

  Lord, You Have Called Your Servants 2020 Oiled white birch, 32"x36"x2" St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Bloomington MN This is another edition of a well-known and well-loved prayer.  I have finished seven or eight versions of this in walnut, in a horizontal layout; this is the first in 'paragraph' format, with corresponding icon miniatures on the side.   The icons, from top down:  sun/clouds of creation, the cross, shock of wheat, dotted eighth note of music, the star, the acorn seed, and the sprout of new growth.

  The Beatitudes 2020 Minnesota walnut, series of seven panels each 48"x36", 1.5"thick Memorial commissioned for Marion Sheie at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Portland OR After the passing of a dear aunt, Marion Sheie, I entered the new narthex of her church, St. Luke Lutheran in Portland, Oregon.  Just above the entrance doors of the sanctuary was a huge--blank--triangular wall that called for something to fill it.  After much deliberation with cousins and in turn, their deliberation with church leadership, I submitted a proposal for a series of seven carvings focused on the Beatitudes from the book of Luke.  This made a lot of sense in that St. Luke in Portland has a strong sense of social justice, and the texts will withstand the test of time. At left is the back of the third carving, showing a picture of Marion and Ernie Sheie as well as my normal 'signature' for my work. Late in 2020 I was able to deliver the finished work to Portland and begin the installation.