Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
February 2013 – A shepherd holds a lamb close against his breast as the lamb lays its head securely on the shepherd’s shoulder. It is a moving image, a rare insight into the intimate bond between shepherd and sheep. American artist Mitchell Tolle unveiled The Lost Sheep, his latest work, at AFA in December, and AFA is offering a print of the painting.
Long-time AFA Journal readers will recall that Tolle has previously painted two series of four paintings each and marketed them through AFA. The new painting was inspired by Tolle’s late father who often sang an old hymn by the same title. The story behind the stunning print is both a father-son story on one level and a Father-son story on a higher plain.
“We love Mitchell at AFA,” said AFA president Tim Wildmon. “His art reflects the more positive qualities of the human spirit, with beautiful detailed portraits of memorable characters. In another vein, Mitchell creates beautiful landscapes and still lifes that bring light and peace into any room where they’re displayed.”
Tolle’s lyrical paintings inspire art critics to pull out their best wordsmithing skills. For example, Southern Living magazine wrote that Tolle’s work “always represents what was, with hope of what will be.” And in his own Kentucky hometown, Berea magazine said, “Mitchell Tolle doesn’t paint anything new – or anything old, for that matter. Rather, he paints the things that are forever.”
Among the artist’s many milestones, one of the most memorable is when noted author Alex Haley (Roots), visited Tolle’s gallery and bought literally everything in the studio. Another was his commission to paint the portrait of President Jimmy Carter.
Tolle is also a master storyteller, an author and pastor of Man O’ War Church in Lexington, Kentucky. Learn more about his art and writing at www.mitchelltolle.com. During his December visit to AFA, he shared not only about his latest work, but also his thoughts on the role of art in family and culture.
AFA Journal: How does art serve the needs of a family?
Mitchell Tolle: In the most basic essence, artists literally craft the future. They design the necktie you are wearing, the shirt you are wearing, and the chair you are sitting in. Recently I was at a meeting where the superintendent was announcing to the teachers a cut in the arts.
And, I was there to speak after he got finished. I very candidly said, “I’m kind of shocked to hear what I am hearing. I’m surprised that you would leave your house designed by an artist, wearing clothes designed by an artist, get in a car designed by an artist, come here to this building designed by an artist, sit in a chair designed by an artist, stand behind a podium designed by an artist, and announce how we have to cut funding for the arts.”
AFAJ: Define art for us.
MT: My book Somebody’s Baby talks more about art than anything else I have ever written. There is a chapter called “Marks on a Page.” In its basic form that is all art is – marks on a page.
Participating in the art process is a whole lot more than the few of us who make pictures. Every child up to age 6 is an artist, and about 90% of kids are artists until they’re about 13. Society tells them day after day it’s not important, and finally it kind of dwindles away. But the point is, it seems to be important to us; before we can even make our letters, we want to draw. All of us want to draw. And, I think that is part of our seeing God.
AFAJ: Of what value is art to a culture at large?
MT: Obviously, whatever is good for the family is good for all culture and all of society. Art allows us to express ourselves. It is not just a record of what we have seen, but it is an expression of how we feel about what we are experiencing. Art has a power beyond words. It crosses all the barriers. It crosses socio-economic barriers. It crosses educational barriers. It crosses language barriers.
Its ability to communicate is another subject. The marvelous thing, when you are talking about art, the simplest way to communicate is with a simple line on a piece of paper. The amazing thing is that a line can be hard or soft, fast or slow, happy or sad. A line, just a simple line like one note from a piano, can be happy or sad. You can use it to bury your loved one or to marry your children, just a handful of notes. Art does the same thing.
AFAJ: Tell us the story of your dad’s influence on The Lost Sheep.
MT: When I was growing up, we lived in a small house, and we were not allowed to use the living room. We kept it for company. We had just a few pieces of furniture, and we virtually lived in the kitchen. Dad played the banjo and guitar sitting in his straight back chair.
In those days we didn’t have programmed music in the church. They would say, “Brother Tolle, do you have a song?” Dad never went to church expecting to sing, but he was always ready to sing. He always took his guitar and set it aside, out of the way. He never pushed himself [as a performer], but every night before service, he would say to Mom, “Mable, come over here and let’s run over something.” He practiced “The Lost Sheep” more times than he ever sang it in public.
AFAJ: But this painting came a few years after your dad’s death. How did that happen?
MT: One day while I was working at Dad’s grave, Dad singing that song crowded into my mind, and I just stood there “hearing” him sing that song all over again. And I wept. It wasn’t sad. It was a joyful thing.
I could remember him talking about coming to faith. He would describe his lostness and how oblivious he had been to the fact that he was lost. Then, he would tell how he imagined God, the Good Shepherd, looking for him, the lost sheep: “I’ve got to get to him, I’ve got to turn him back, I’ve got to get his attention.”
By the time I loaded all the tools up, I was in a hurry. I knew I was going to paint this picture. I didn’t know what it would look like, but I knew I was going to paint it.
AFAJ: How did the process develop?
MT: After Dad’s death, I had quit painting for a long time, and I wasn’t worried about the fact. That had never happened before – I always painted every day. But that day, somehow, it was like God reached beyond space and time and allowed my father to inspire me again.
Dad was the inspiration for this painting. He’s all over it, though he’s not in it. He’s not the model, but he’s all over it.
On the day we went to a sheep farm to do the painting, it was stormy and raining. I almost turned back. The farmer took us to the barn where we selected a young sheep and continued our preparation. When we opened the door to go back outside, the rain had stopped and a brilliant shaft of light streamed through the clouds. I took hundreds of photos of the model holding the sheep until the perfect one appeared; the sheep suddenly gave up its struggle and laid its head on the shepherd’s shoulder.
AFAJ: You said your dad inspired you again; how did he impact your early interest in art?
MT: My dad worked 16 hours a day at a sawmill in eastern Kentucky. Yet every day, he walked two miles to have lunch at home with me, his only son. Until I was 3, I could not walk or sit upright because of a degenerative bone disease, and every day I waited expectantly for Dad to arrive and play his banjo or guitar. One day, he took a calendar picture of Jesus walking on water, laid it on the dining room table and copied it.
I was mesmerized. Dad just made lines on paper, and it became beautiful and worthwhile. I never forgot that. From then on, I wanted to draw. When I began school, I told my first grade teacher, “I’m an artist, so if you need anything drawn, just let me know.”
AFAJ: What is your hope for the impact of The Lost Sheep?
MT: It is a picture of the gospel. God is very concerned about lost people. I have written [in a manuscript in progress], “There have been so many people so lost for so long that the lost condition of man became the number one priority of heaven, and God gave the assignment for dealing with it to His Son. That is why He came to earth, that alone.”
The Scripture says in Luke that He has come to seek and to save that which was lost. I sense that God may use this painting in an evangelistic sense. In a way, it offers an open door. I’ve had people who have bought the print already tell me how it has spoken to people in their family. I just tell them I understand – we’ve all been lost sheep. 
Art is light
The Bible makes it clear that in the darkness, a little light is a lot of light. I think the anointing of God is present in our lives if we love Him and are called according to His purpose. So when I do a drawing of a child, it isn’t just a drawing of a child. It actually possesses light. You can take that into a child’s room or into a home where they used to have [pop artist] posters or NFL posters, and they take those down and put up that image, and we’ve brought light into that home. — Mitchell Tolle
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How to order
Click here or call 800-479-1615
Size: 19¼" X 17" Prints are numbered and signed.
Price: $125 for Gicleé print on Somerset rag paper. Price includes shipping to 48 states.
For more information about the art and writing of Mitchell Tolle: www.mitchelltolle.com
