The way I view it, which is the way I think God would want us to view it, he gives us certain gifts and abilities and talents. We can develop them and embellish them, and he loves that, but I think it's even neater if you go a step further and not just develop them for the sake of development but if you can develop in a way that then draws glory back to him. Use your talent to glorify God and to bring people closer to him. That's really the whole message of life. – David Bowman
SNOWFLAKE, Ariz. — On Dec. 14, 2012, David Bowman was going about his normal routine, visiting the bank and running errands. It wasn't until a friend from Texas called him that he realized a tragedy had taken place at Sandy Hook Elementary School and that a drawing he'd created years earlier was providing comfort to thousands of people.
Bowman, a father of five and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, created a piece titled "Security" in 2006 featuring Jesus Christ holding a child in his arms. The artwork had always been well-received, but just hours after 20 children and 6 adults were shot and killed at the Connecticut elementary school in 2012, the drawing attracted unprecedented attention online.
"The next couple days it was just nonstop: comments, views, shares," Bowman said. "I think people were just looking for something that could embody that visual of what they were feeling, some kind of comfort, thinking of these children and where they are now, that they’re safe in his arms, they’re secure. They’re with their Savior, (and) they’re not lost forever. Their bodies are gone, but their spirits are there (with Christ)."
The drawing was inspired by the 17th chapter of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, which describes Christ blessing and praying for children. The drawing, which is part of Bowman's "Expressions of Christ" series, is modeled after a photograph he took of a father and daughter.
"It was actually a dad and his daughter, his little 4-year-old girl," Bowman said. "So right there, I just knew there was something about the angle and the expression. I even knew while I was drawing it that this was going to be a special piece that was going to have meaning for lots of people. It was something about the emotion, something about the expression."
The drawing became associated with the Sandy Hook tragedy because many of the victims were similar in age to the girl in the drawing, and people found comfort in the expression on Christ's face, Bowman said.
Bowman's painting sparked an emotional connection for thousands, many of whom reached out to thank him. Bowman recorded many of the Facebook comments he received, saving only the first name of each commenter.
"I had the privilege of identifying you and the name of your beautiful art on more than one post today with a heart full of gratitude," Julie wrote. "You were guided to create that piece ... just for a time ... (for) today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
A woman named Jennifer also expressed her appreciation on Facebook.
"Thank you so much for sharing your talent with the world," she wrote. "After a day like today, I find great comfort in this painting and hope those who lost their little angels this morning will too."
Bowman was grateful to have contributed to the healing process for so many.
"It’s a mixed emotion," Bowman said. "Obviously, ... you’re pleased that you’ve contributed in a small way to something like this, that you could play a part to help alleviate the pain. ... It’s humbling. You don’t want to say, ‘I’m excited about this terrible thing,’ but the fact that you could help out in a small way is really neat."
Desiring to help even more, Bowman sent several 8-by-10-inch prints of his drawing "Security" to Sandy Hook Elementary School with the hope that faculty members could distribute them to the families of the victims.
Friends of Alissa and Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the shooting, contacted Bowman about the drawing. Bowman quickly shipped a framed piece to them, which was displayed at Emilie's funeral.
Michelle Gay, whose daughter Josephine (Joey) was killed at Sandy Hook, also contacted Bowman. She had seen the drawing and wanted one of her daughter. Gay happened to have a photograph of Joey hugging her teacher that was taken a month before the shooting. The photo was similar to Bowman's "Security" and allowed Bowman to re-create the drawing, replacing the original model with Joey.
"It was almost the exact pose and position as the 'Security' picture, same side of the head, same angle of the face," Bowman said. "I was kind of amazed. ... So based on that picture, I was basically able to re-draw the new version. It was 'Security' again, and it was black and white, but it had Joey in that position as the girl."
Bowman receives many requests to personalize his drawings and cannot possibly fulfill every one, but he often finds time to reach out to those who have experienced tragedy.
"I get asked way more often than I'm able to do something," Bowman said. "But every now and then, you hear stories that just bend your heartstrings, and you think, 'OK, I can do that.' "
Bowman recently heard about a boy from his hometown of Snowflake who fell out of a car in a church parking lot and was killed. Bowman received a picture of the boy and was overcome with emotion as he began to personalize the drawing.
"Some of these pictures I've drawn, I'm crying while I'm drawing the pictures just because I've got a 4-year-old boy, and I just kept thinking, 'What if that was my kid?' " Bowman said. "It just tears at you."
Bowman presented the portrait to the boy's family moments before the funeral.
"I only had a couple days to do it because the funeral was that weekend," Bowman said. "But the neatest thing, I was going to give it to them at the viewing, and the family walked in. ... I met them in the hallway to give them the picture, but just to watch their faces at that moment when they saw this image of their little child that just died that week — and, yeah, it's a picture, it's pastels on paper, it's not real — but something about visual, they lost it. They started crying and I'm crying; we're hugging each other. It was just neat."
Several days later, the family contacted Bowman to let him know what the drawing meant to their family.
"They said, 'The fact that you were there at that time to give us the picture, it completely buoyed us up. It gave us strength. It gave us faith that Christ lives and helped us make it through the day,' " Bowman said. "It's just neat to use a talent, something that from when you were a little kid you loved, ... to use it in the moments that matter for certain families like that. That's the great part."
Bowman recognizes the value of talents and wants to use his to serve God.
"The way I view it, which is the way I think God would want us to view it, he gives us certain gifts and abilities and talents," Bowman said. "We can develop them and embellish them, and he loves that, but I think it's even neater if you go a step further and not just develop them for the sake of development but if you can develop in a way that then draws glory back to him. Use your talent to glorify God and to bring people closer to him. That's really the whole message of life."
Bowman's artwork can be viewed at davidbowmanart.com.
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