Join us for Bryn’s art show reception “Making the Kingdom Visible” at Gordon College on Saturday, September 26 from 4-6pm. In celebration of the show, all gicleé prints at his store will be on sale for 25% off until October 10 with the code GORDON25
The Plower. 36x48”. Oil on Canvas- live painting Easter weekend, 2012. Collection of the Artist.
Over 25 years ago, while Bryn was a student at Gordon College, his mentor Bruce Herman shared this potent reflection with him, “Bryn, your art making is like a farmer who casually throws seeds on fertile ground and gets easy results. But you will never know God’s full potential for your art and your life unless you do the hard work of plowing up the entire field, planting deeply, watering faithfully, and waiting patiently for the full harvest.”
“The Plower”. 10x8”. Oil on board. MFA graduate painting during the “105 Glimpses of Haiti”. 2009.
It was years later, during Bryn’s graduate school studies in painting, that the seeds of these words bore fruit and the first “plowers” began to emerge in his work. First in his MFA studio during a large fundraising series for orphans in Haiti… a mission that would give rise to the Gillette family non-profit TeamOne:27. In fact, Bryn took such flack from his MFA department chair for the work that he was told to immediately stop the work and remove ALL of the series from his studio. Rather than pick a fight, he complied, only to finish the series at home while continuing another series in the school studios. In the end, he was awarded a show of his Haitian work by decision of the President’s office of Western Connecticut State University for work that was “exemplary of the heart and mission of our school.” Integrity and generosity win in the end! The work above, the first in the series to be purchased and raise funds for Haitians to attend school that year, was bought by the head of a different MFA department- highlighting the political and spiritual warfare happening around the work.
Bryn’s wife Kirsten and daughter Kea in 2012. Kea is days from turning 3 years old.
The top image of the Plower was painted live at Walnut Hill Community Church in 2012 during Good Friday and Easter. Symbolically, yellow flowers are growing in the very footsteps of the farmer, an illogical scenario, but the yellow flowers were a metaphor the church was employing for every person who made a decision to surrender to and follow Jesus. Miraculously that even, while the oil paint was still wet, Bryn’s daughter Kea shared her heart with him while being tucked into bed that night:
“And Jesus lives in mama’s heart and Cai’s heart too.”
“Yep”
“I want him to come home and live in my heart too.”
In tears the family gathered on Kea’s bed that night as she prayed “Jesus, come home.” Anyone who knows Kea now will tell you Jesus has made an unmistakable and beautiful residence within her!
That night Bryn scratched “Kea Eden 4/8/12” into the wet yellow paint of the flower. He had prophetically painted the symbol of a new heart surrendered to Jesus, little imagining that it would be his own daughter that evening.
“Oaks of Righteousness” 2017. Peterson Commission. Gold and acrylic on panel. 32x48”
St Isidore - Work and Worship. 2022. Acrylic on Panel. 32x48”. Faith and Work Institute Collection.
2024.09.20 The Harvest Cycle. 63x128. Acrylic on Canvas. Live collaboration at the Lausanne Movements Fourth Global Congress with Bryn Gillette and Alexis Newsom in Seoul, Korea.
For the past 25 years, the metaphor of the Plower “serving the work” from Bruce’s prophetic admonition to Bryn continues to surface and recall him to his assignment to be a faithful steward of his artistic gifts. Now at the silver anniversary, Bryn is “bringing home the harvest” of these many years of works to share so many of the highlights of his artistic ministry at Gordon College’s Barrington Art Center from August 26 - October 10, 2026. Join us for a reception Saturday, September 26 from 4-6pm.
