Keyword: green

  • Looking for Orcas

    “Looking for Orcas” by Jason Kotecki. 30 x 24. Oil on canvas.
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    I’ve heard that God always answers prayers. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes, he says yes in ways that seem like a no.

    During a family vacation in the Pacific Northwest, one of the things I wanted to see was an orca.

    We heard stories of a mama and her baby being spotted in Puget Sound. We kept our eyes peeled on the ferry ride to Victoria. Our vacation home was on a bay on the Olympic Peninsula, and every wave in the distance seemed like it could be a killer whale in the process of surfacing.

    We never saw one. We could have booked a sightseeing tour, but time and weather, and the ages of our kids conspired against us. Maybe next time.

    As I have reflected on this minor disappointment, and through the act of creating this painting, something occurred to me. God knew I wanted to see an orca, but because he knows me so deeply, he also knew why I wanted to see one, before even I did.

    I had to stop and ask myself, Why did I want to see an orca in the wild?

    I wanted to experience God’s creation in a powerful way.

    I wanted to see something I’d never seen before.

    I wanted to have a remarkable experience with my children.

    I wanted a neat encounter with an animal.

    As it turns out, I did all of those things, and I never saw one orca.

    I marveled at the breathtaking vistas of Hurricane Ridge.

    Our vacation home was on a beach filled with thousands of crabs. Never saw anything like that before.

    Between our mountain hike, the ferry rides, the view from the Space Needle, and a spin on Seattle’s Great Wheel, there was no shortage of remarkable experiences to be shared with my kids.

    And feeding some harbor seals with a $2 bag of fish heads was a pretty neat animal encounter.

    I didn’t get what I asked for. But somehow, I still got what I wanted.

    Time and time again in my life, I didn’t get things that I asked for. 

    I thought I wanted to marry a brunette. God knew what I really wanted was a beautiful, smart, and thoughtful wife who believed in me. He also made her blonde.

    I wanted to use my art to make a living and shine light and goodness in the world. I asked for it in the form of being a professional syndicated cartoonist. That never materialized. But here I am, using my art to make a living and shine light and goodness in the world in a way that I never could have imagined, but I am excited to say is even better.

    Sometimes we miss the answer to our prayers because we’re looking in the wrong place.

  • Life’s a Wave

    “Life’s A Wave” by Jason Kotecki. 30 x 24. Oil on canvas.
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    The familiar pit formed at the bottom of my stomach like a butterfly battle royal on pay-per-view. It developed after my mom answered the phone and told me it was for me.

    When I was younger, I was afraid of just about everything. New situations always brought an enormous level of anxiety, and phone calls delivered a special level of dread.

    It was a classmate on the other end, asking if I wanted to come over to play.

    For most people, this would be great news, not a situation worth getting nauseous over. But I was not most people. I’ve never been keen on having my plans changed at the last minute. I had a whole day planned of doing nothing ahead of me. Not to mention, I’d never been to Chris’s house before. Talk about a new situation! It was clearly a sensory overload too treacherous for a lazy Saturday.

    I quickly mumbled some excuse about how my mom wouldn’t let me today and hung up. “Whew! That was close,” I thought to myself, eager to return to my regularly scheduled day of surprise-free comfort.

    Only one problem: my mom heard.

    She ordered me to call my friend back up to tell him I could go. Gulp. That wasn’t at all embarrassing! “Hey Chris…hehe…good news…”

    The thing is, I ended up having a great time. There were many similar situations in my childhood in which my mom shoved me out of the nest, and I almost always enjoyed it. Eventually, I started to make little leaps on my own. At some point, I decided I didn’t want to be an 80-year-old guy looking back on my life, wondering, “What if?”

    The fear of regret became worse than the fear of the unknown.

    Life can be a spectator sport if you want it to be. You can watch the action standing safely on the shore. It’s the best way to minimize risk, avoid failure, and stay comfortable.

    The only problem is that it’s not much of a life.

    The real action happens out in the surf. To ride the wave of an amazing life, you have to be willing to leave the shore.

    Sometimes you have to take the plunge into parenthood even though you don’t think you’re ready.

    Sometimes you have to cash in your rainy day fund for a venture that might not work.

    Sometimes you have to book that trip today, because you never know how many tomorrows you have left.

    I cannot guarantee that you won’t wipe out now and again. But the bumps and bruises that accompany a wipeout are more tolerable than the deep ache of wondering “what if?”

    What wave is it time for you to catch?

  • Let There Be Light

    “Let There Be Light” by Jason Kotecki. 30 x 24. Oil on canvas.
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    When we were children, creativity was a regular part of life, whether it led to building a fort out of blocks, fashioning a fantasy world with our imagination, or coloring made-up creatures with our crayons.

    We are all still creative. Sometimes we don’t think we are, and sometimes we don’t use our creativity as much as we could. But our creativity is a gift from our Creator, and it might be my favorite. Not only is it amazingly practical, allowing us to solve problems and bring beauty into the world, but it’s magical and fun, too.

    It’s been written that on the fourth day of creation, God said, “Let there be light.” And then he put the sun and the moon and the stars in their places. Here’s the amazing thing: the declaration still stands, but the torch has been passed to us.

    It’s hard to imagine fashioning an entire solar system made up of planets and stars, but this painting is a reminder of the connection we share with the great Creator. Although he allows us to join him in the creative process, just like children, our results don’t always look quite as elegant. But it doesn’t matter. Because the reward is still the same and our efforts still matter.

    In many ways, we still live in a dark world. In the past year alone, headlines have been dominated by natural disasters, violent terrorist attacks, and senseless mass shootings, resulting in the loss of so many innocent lives. Meanwhile, our social media streams are filled with people calling each other names. We don’t need more darkness.

    Our world needs more light, not more snarky putdowns of people who think differently from us.

    So…what are you doing to help?

    Yes, it needs more than you or I can generate on our own, but never forget that even a tiny light can fill a room. The good news is we have what it takes because we have the gift of creativity.

    We can create environments for those under our care to grow, thrive, and prosper.

    We can create life-giving experiences for people who need a pick-me-up.

    We can create a safe space for people to express their opinions without fear, shame, or humiliation.

    We can create new technologies and systems to help more people more efficiently.

    We can create conversations with people who just want to be heard.

    We can create moments of magic and wonder for people worn out and weary.

    “Let there be light” is a declaration. It’s also a challenge.

    For me, creating art to bring joy and optimism to others is one way I’m trying to help bring light into the world. Please, will you shine yours this week?

  • Jump Around

    “Jump Around” by Jason Kotecki. 16 x 20. Oil on canvas.
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    This painting was inspired by a tradition that Badger fans have at University of Wisconsin football games. Between the third and fourth quarters, the song “Jump Around” is booming through the loudspeakers, and all of the red-clad fans do exactly that.

    It reminded me of those old electronic football games in which tiny plastic athletes buzzed around on a green metal field. Readers of a certain age will know exactly what I’m talking about, and this painting will bring back all sorts of memories.

    For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, well, I guess you had to be there.

    With football season now upon us, I am reminded of a cool idea the leader of an insurance agency shared with me at one of my speaking programs. During pigskin season, he allows his employees to wear jeans and the jersey of their favorite college or pro team. (He even buys the jersey as a welcome aboard present!) Then, if their team wins over the weekend, they can wear it again on Monday. He reports that those days are always the most light-hearted and energized.

    Even if you work in an environment where jerseys wouldn’t be appropriate, perhaps everyone could represent their favorite team with a necktie, lapel pin, socks, or coffee mug.

    I think it’s worth figuring something out, because this sounds like a pretty good way to keep a team buzzing to me.

  • Open Gate

    “Open Gate” by Jason Kotecki. Digital.
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    There’s always been a danger in naming this brand “Escape Adulthood.”

    You see, it’s easy for people to discount all of us as irresponsible, immature, cotton-headed ninny noggins who are avoiding the responsibilities of adulthood and trying to escape the pressures of the “real world.”

    As a pragmatist, I guess I might be tempted to think the same way if I didn’t know any better. 

    It gives me solace to know that we are not alone. J. R. R. Tolkien, author of those little-known books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was often accused of writing fairy tales that were nothing more than the escapist’s way out of this so-called real world. His reply was simple and brilliant. He proposed that everything was dependent on that from which one is escaping:

    “We view the flight of the deserter and the escape of a prisoner very differently. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home?”

    –J. R. R. Tolkien

    Exactly. 

    Paying bills, upholding responsibility, and making hard decisions; these are important and necessary hallmarks of adult life. But the deep-down person we were when we were kids is much closer to the real us than the stilted version we often present to the world around us.

    Cynicism, common knowledge, and the rules that don’t exist have imprisoned us from being our true selves: passionate, playful, and curious creatures who dream big dreams and are filled with faith, hope, and love.

    So no, we’re not about shirking responsibilities or ignoring reality.

    We’re just trying to get back home.