Creating High Vibrational Art – An Interview with Damon Powell

Can art serve as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual, offering a way to explore and express the divine in our everyday lives?

In this conversation, we dive into the fascinating world of Damon Powell, an artist and theologian who has found a way to seamlessly blend creativity and spirituality. Based in Northern California, Damon has dedicated his life to exploring how art can serve as a vessel for divine expression. With a Ph.D. from Graduate Theological Union with an interdisciplinary specialization in Black Theology, Aesthetics, and Art, he has developed a unique approach to his work, using vibrant colors, intricate symbols, and a deeply intentional creative process to craft pieces that inspire reflection and spiritual connection. Whether it’s his striking scratchboard pieces, watercolor series inspired by yoga poses, or works infused with symbolic meaning, Damon’s art is designed to resonate on a profound level.

Throughout the interview, Damon shares his journey of navigating the intersection of art and spirituality, offering a candid look at the challenges, discoveries, and moments of inspiration that have shaped his path. He discusses the intentional rituals behind his creative process, the spiritual significance of symbols in his work, and the ways his personal experiences have informed his art. Damon’s story is a compelling exploration of how creativity can be a powerful tool for connecting to the divine and encouraging others to reflect on the myriad ways spirit reveals itself in the world.  To enjoy the conversation, keep reading or listen and subscribe for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or YouTube.

What does it mean to be both an artist and a theologian, and how do these two worlds overlap?

Damon Powell: For me, I’m treading my own path here and trying to figure this out kind of as I go. But, as I’ve told you before, I have a background of training in theology. I have a PhD in interdisciplinary studies using visual arts, theology, and really looking at a discipline called theological aesthetics. That involves a lot of creativity theory, study of signs and symbols, and just how the experience of the beautiful is a spiritual experience, and how those connect, and how do we intersect that with the arts?

Because a lot of people have what we can call spiritual experiences from viewing works of art. I mean, it’s a common thing. So how does all that come together? And so part of my research, when I do more of the research type stuff, is around how those intersections happen and what happens within us when we have these experiences, because they are spiritual experiences. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.

Can you share an example of a spiritual experience you’ve had while viewing or engaging with art?

Damon Powell: For me, I think one of the best examples is just my favorite artist. His name is Aaron Douglas, and I really have always liked his work. I started really researching some of the pieces that he was creating and really getting into his work. There were just a few images that I actually finally saw in person. I happened to be in New York, and I was like, oh, this is where some of the places where these images are that I haven’t seen.

I actually went and saw them in person. After reading all about him and studying him and looking at these images and slides and even talking about them, dissecting them, I’ve got a couple of different articles and journals that I’ve talked about his work and the theological implications of his work. Actually seeing it, it was completely uplifting.

I guess in theological, social, we would say it was an anagoge experience, and that means that it was an uplifting experience. I really felt a connection to the divine and that which was higher through this works and really seeing them in person, because slides and all that stuff, they never really do justice. You got to go to the museum. You got to go really look at some art.

The Dreamer by Damon Powell

Talk to me about your own journey of consciousness, mindfulness, spirituality. Did you grow up with some sort of faith in your home or did that emerge later for you? 

Damon Powell: Not really. My mother always considered herself spiritual, but we didn’t really go to church or anything like that. And then, as I got older, I always felt like, as a little boy, there was something I was supposed to do. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I just felt like there was something I’m supposed to do. In the course of growing up, I was really just trying to figure out what that was. I always had this inkling, this penchant towards the spiritual.

I did a lot of reading, a lot of philosophy, and other things like that, just reading on my own as a young man, even in high school and college. I went to a Catholic boys’ school for high school and really got into the religion classes. A lot of people weren’t taking that seriously, but I was, and I began to cultivate that connection.

Then, I got called into the ministry. I got involved with a church and got called into the ministry and really struggled with that because I had this whole life that I was developing as an artist. I’m trying to figure out, “Okay, these seem to be very different,” but I had this underlying feeling that there is a connection.

And so, I wanted to explore that and just kept pursuing it. As I began to grow, I felt like the container of Christianity was too small. It was no longer enough. It’s a good place to start. I think any type of religious practices are a good place to start, but that’s not a place to stay. It’s a place to begin, and as we expand in our spirituality and understanding, we need to go beyond those containers. So, that’s kind of what I did—getting into other practices, starting meditation, and all these other things. It just kind of took on a life of its own.

At what point did you feel constrained and start to desire something more? Was there a specific moment, or was it an unfolding process?

Damon Powell: It was an unfolding, because my constant struggle was figuring out how do I balance these two things—being an artist and, at that point, being trained to be a pastor. I spent some time as a pastor, but these feelings that I’m getting when I’m creating are the same feelings that I’m having when I’m in worship. So there’s a connection here. I just need to figure out what that connection is and how it works. So maybe they aren’t as different as I thought.

But then, when we really look at the arts and religion, you can’t have a successful religious experience without the arts. You can have the arts without religion, but you can’t have religion without the arts, whether it’s music, poetry, or imagery—it’s all there. So they kind of go hand in hand anyway, but I wasn’t seeing those connections until I began studying these things. That’s where the connection really lies.

This connection to the noumenal, to that which is beyond us, can bring us there. The use of metaphor and symbol can bring us there. Meditation and prayer can bring us there. All these things coming together create the experience, and that’s really what you’re doing, even in the religious experience. Part of that is the whole idea of attunement, where the group is becoming attuned in the process of worship. So, how do we just do that on our own, if that makes sense?

There Is Only Love by Damon Powell

Were you the super creative kid growing up, always making art, or was that something that developed later?

Damon Powell: I was always really into drawing, and I always wanted to draw, and that was pretty much the only thing I did. There were some opportunities for me to get into some gifted art programs, but unfortunately, we didn’t have the money for me to participate in those, so it was kind of very limited.

Then, when I got to high school, I spent most of my time between the band room and the art room. So I knew that I wanted to be creative, but I just wasn’t sure what the proper venue was. And when I had to start making decisions about college, I was like, well, you know what, the only thing I really… I was a good musician, but I was never going to be a great musician. I was one of those people where you give me the music, I can practice, great, it sounds great, but I didn’t have that passion.

But for the art, I really had the passion for the painting and the drawing. One of my art teachers there really helped me develop a small little portfolio, and I actually got into the Kansas City Art Institute. Then, that was pretty much it—off and running. And yeah, this has just been a part of my life always.

I wasn’t super creative, but definitely always creative, and I’ve realized that that’s just what I do. I’m a creative person, and I’m always trying to create, construct. So, I’m a builder too, if that makes sense.

Was there a pivotal moment when you realized that your art and spirituality could be integrated? Was there an “aha” moment or someone who helped you with that?

Damon Powell: I think it’s more of an unfolding. Just as over time, we think of enlightenment as something you arrive at—you get there—but it’s not. It’s an unfolding, it’s an ever deeper. So, there are different levels of enlightenment, actually, and the same thing with this—kind of different levels. I got to a point where I needed to put these together. The voice inside me was saying, “You’ve got to put these together.”

This or the other, doing this or that, it just won’t work. It’s too taxing on you. And so, I just kind of brushed out and said, “I’m going to try this,” and it worked. I got my own way of working, my own way to integrate these two, and it worked out. So far, it’s working out.

On your website, you mention that “your mission is to give divine light form through the manifestation of images that encourage reflection upon the myriad of ways spirit reveals itself within our world.” Can you elaborate on this?

Damon Powell: It took me a long time to craft that because I wanted to be very precise about what I was trying to say, but I also wanted to be succinct. Creativity necessitates form. If you say that you’re creating something and there’s no form, then you haven’t created anything.

Now, can that form to some degree be in terms of thoughts? Yes, but at some point it has to take a more concrete manifestation, or it’s not creativity. That’s how the divine works through us. It creates in form. In this 3D world, we are in form, and so I am mirroring that and mimicking that and co-creating with the divine, I believe, through this creation—my creation into form—and this happens in myriad ways.

I mean, you walk around, and we’re getting divine downloads all the time. Spirit never stops speaking. The question is, are we in tune at that given moment to receive the message and recognize the symbols that are being presented to us? So, in all these ways, I want to be able to get people to look at my images and stop and reflect, asking themselves, “Hey, how does this apply in my own life?” or “I can relate to this feeling or this idea.” And the spirit enters our world, and that’s what I want my work to do. I want a reaction, whether you end up saying “I don’t like it,” that’s okay too, but there’s a reaction. It made you stop and reflect, at least for a minute, about this whole idea and these principles. So, that’s basically what I’m doing. I try to really view my images with a lot of vibrational energy during my process. So, that’s what I’m doing.

Can you walk me through your artistic process, from the initial concept to completion, and how meditation or prayer fits into it?

Damon Powell: Old saying in the Bible, “working out your own soul salvation,” is kind of what I’m doing. A lot of things that come to me are things that come to me during my own spiritual practice or me trying to understand things that are happening in my life and what is the theological, spiritual significance of those things that are going on. So I’m really kind of doing a visual journal or diary of what’s going on within my own self. Sounds very selfish, but I believe that we can find the universe in particular, and so the particular is my individual creation, which hopefully leads you to the universal experience that we all have with spirit.

I’ll get something that I’m working on. A lot of times, I’m reading some spiritual texts or reading some kind of spiritual ideas. I’m really big on Joe Dispenza right now, so I’ve been reading quite a few of his books and trying some of those exercises, and that’s leading me to some other things, and so I’m saying, okay, how could this be expressed visually? How could this experience of this feeling be expressed visually? What would it look like, for instance? I mean, we could do love. I could spend my whole life just on love. What does love look like? You know, and that could be any myriad ways that I could spend extracting exactly precisely, you know. So I could just do that, but that would probably get boring. So what would that look like visually for me right now?

I began to do some sketching. I may go on good images and just look at some things, just kind of see, okay, what’s kind of sparking my attention. I’ll start doing more sketches. I usually do small sketches, maybe about 4×4, 4×6, something like that. Then, when I get those worked out, I’ll begin still meditating, praying on the process. Then I may let it sit for a couple of days as I meditate and pray on it. Then I’ll come back, do some more tweaking, and narrow those down. I might do eight to ten images. I’ll narrow those down to maybe three. Okay, these are the three that I’m really feeling. What elements from the others do I want to put in? I pray about that, always preparing for the taking of us to sit down to work.

Then I start laying out the canvas or laying out the paper. Once I get everything worked out, it’s going to be watercolor with the paper canvas. Sometimes I paint on board with acrylic. Getting that worked out, then I start praying and meditating for a couple of days on how this is going to go. Usually, when I’m working, I sit down and meditate for 10 minutes before I start working, and I usually put on some binaural beats or some other kind of spiritual music that I might want to be listening to, to really keep me tuned in, honed in, and kind of really praying through my process. I feel like it’s a form of channeling. I feel like that’s what I’m trying to do, particularly when I’m trying to put these higher vibrations into my work. So, I need to stay tuned in to be able to do that, and that’s what the process is.

Until the image is finished, most of my work that I didn’t know they were going to be serious. My whole process is very intuitive. I make it something I’m working on, and then I think, okay, well, that’s cool. And then spirit says, okay, we got another one. And I’m like, oh, there’s another one, and so that’ll go too. Spirit says, okay, we’re done, we’re not doing it anymore. I’m like, okay, well, I guess this was a series. So I never really know, and that’s part of the process too.

Winds of Hope by Damon Powell

How do you choose the medium for your idea? Do you just know which one to use, or how does that process unfold for you?

Damon Powell: For me, once I get the sketches done and they’re all loose, rough sketches, and then when I get down to two or three, I do very tight, clean sketches. And once I start getting those very tight, detailed sketches, then I have an idea of how I want it to look.

Then, based upon the three mediums I use—acrylic, watercolor, or scratch board, a medium called scratch board—I can discern which medium is going to best reflect the look that I want it to have and the feeling that I want it to emit.

Scratch board is very powerful because it’s only black and white, so if I really want that kind of stark contrast, then I usually use the scratch board. But for things that are more subtle, I will probably do the watercolor. However, when something is going to be really impactful with bright colors, then I usually do acrylic. But the image kind of tells me what it wants me to do.

For those unfamiliar with scratchboard, can you describe what it is and how you use it?

Damon Powell: There are two types. There’s a type that you can buy that’s pre-blackened, and there’s a type that you can buy that’s just not. I prefer to black it myself, but it’s basically a white clay board with clay on the top.

You can coat it with ink and then scratch the image back out. So it’s a reverse process from drawing, because when you’re drawing, you’re adding dark and contour. With this, you’re pulling it out. I black over the page and then I begin to use little scratching tools that can exact those other things to scratch the image back out.

It’s very labor-intensive, but the results are very strong.

When We Pray III by Damon Powell

If something doesn’t go as planned on scratchboard, can you re-ink it, or are you stuck with it?

Damon Powell: If it’s a small area, I’ve developed some little techniques sometimes that you can kind of do some things to change it up. But if it’s a really big mess-up, then yeah, you got to start over. That’s it. 

You mentioned using symbols earlier, and I see them often in your work. Why do you use symbols, and what are some key ones you repeatedly use?

Damon Powell: Symbols are an essential part of the discernment process, I think, for our spirituality. God speaks to us through symbols. The question is, how do we understand and interpret them? Spirit speaks through the symbolic, through metaphor, through these other things, so I find them to be very powerful ways to convey a lot of different information in a very succinct manner, because one symbol can have very small thing, like a sign only has one dimension. Stop, that’s it. But if you put three or four signs together, then you create a symbol.

A symbol can have a multitude of meanings, just like, for instance—and this might not be the best example, that’s what I’m thinking of—the swastika. I mean, you’ve seen that in African Dogon culture, painted on the side of the wall. In that culture, it means something completely different than when you would see it in Germany in connection with the Jews. But there are all these different meanings packed into that.

One of the symbols that I use a lot is the lotus, and so that’s a very potent symbol. Most people understand it. It can be enlightenment, it can be rebirth, it can be renewal, it can be this idea of beauty coming through from adversity, since the lotus grows up out of the mud, out of the dirt, and so you get all these different meanings. People who understand those symbols can understand from that one thing.

So you get a lot of bang for your buck with these symbols, and most of us in our spiritual life are interpreting the signs. The signs are there all the time. The question is, are you tuned in? Are you paying attention to the sign? Go this way, don’t go that way. Oh, you’re trying to force this. That’s why it’s not working out. That’s a sign. Maybe I should try to back off a little while. All these things happen. So I think that is a good way of co-creating with spirit, to be aware of these symbols and signs that appear in our lives. I try to use them in my work to help remind us of that.

Standing Backbend by Damon Powell

If someone isn’t familiar with the symbols in your work, how should they approach understanding them? Should they take a picture, do a reverse image search, or ask someone? How would you suggest they interact with your art when they don’t recognize a particular symbol?

Damon Powell: That goes back to my mission statement encouraging people to reflect. So thank you for reflecting. Yes, you can do a reverse image search. You could talk to the artist myself.

One of the things I do to help people with the exact thing that you’re talking about is I always have a YouTube channel. Every piece that I create, I do a YouTube video talking about the piece, showing the piece, breaking down the symbols, the symbology behind it, why I created it, my inspiration, etc. I also have a blog that I create with the piece, and they’re not always the same, because the YouTube video is kind of just what do you want to say? Kind of off the top of the head, whereas the blog I really think it through in the writing, so it’s a little bit more precise. But generally, the things are going to be pretty much the same overall. So, I try to help people with that.

You can talk to me, the artist, any of the above, but what does it mean to you? What is it saying to you? Because a lot of times, when I put symbols in certain places, what feeling does it evoke from you? Because I’m trying to do one thing that we often, I think, as artists do more than we can say.

Once you put that image out into the world, it takes on a life of its own. People have told me they saw things and things that I was like, well, that was so far from where, but I’m glad it works for you. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just they see it takes on a life of its own, and that’s what I wanted to do. And the good work should do that, I believe.

Full Wheel by Damon Powell

Your work often features African-American individuals with muscular bodies, often in yoga poses. Can you talk about the choices you make in how you portray these bodies and the message you’re trying to convey through that style?

Damon Powell: There’s a lot of things going on with that. If we go to my early, early background, I did a lot of drawing. I was engrossed in comic books and so a lot of those figures have that kind of very muscular, very over-exaggerated style. So I did a lot of drawing from when I was growing up. But I also think, in terms of the spiritual sense, I’m trying to create this idea of a more spiritual being, and a lot of it has to do with us having perfect bodies.

We don’t have them now, but optimally, I would think if you were really to be enlightened or become that way, your body would also change to its utmost capability. And so I want to give that look about. This is another aspect of us being spiritual beings: that our bodies are working optimally, if that makes sense.

So that’s really, really kind of what that’s about. And then just me having that style, I like to play with the figure a little bit and then nothing’s ever really exact. I don’t take a lot of long leaps with the figure, but things are not exactly always in proportion. I just play around a little bit for exaggeration, just to make a point on certain things. But I want everybody to kind of be more fit, to kind of portray that aspect more of the spiritual dimension, if that makes sense.

The Anointing by Damon Powell

One image I’d like to include in our conversation is “The Anointing,” featuring a woman holding a ball over her head. Can you describe what you were aiming to convey in the portrayal of her?

Damon Powell: Yes, and actually that image is a coffee table. It was actually on a coffee table that I use as my altar now. I’ve got some crystals on there, I’ve got my water bowl on there, I’ve got my tuning fork sitting on there, and that’s now my altar that I meditate at. I’ll send you a picture of that image. But really, it’s this whole idea. I’ve been playing around a lot lately with this idea of the anointing, and if you look at it from a Christian perspective, the anointing was this whole idea of the spirit, the spirit of the divine coming down upon an angel to give them certain, for lack of better terms, we’ll say “supernatural abilities” for the benefit of the community—not for themselves, but for the benefit of the community, always to benefit others—and this whole idea of this inpouring into the person.

I believe that I wanted to really see what that looked like visually, how that felt. I can often feel that in my own meditation practice. I know, sometimes at the end of my practice, I do that kind of in-gathering moment to bring the energy down into the body, and so I wanted to portray that. In that one, you see the arms are very long, that’s way longer than the arms really are on anybody. But I wanted to make that whole idea of this gathering the energy and bringing it in, bringing it down, and this anointing that we receive when we’re quiet and we’re silent, and we just allow spirit to move. We do receive this energizing, this connection, this, if you want to say, opening to that which is higher. So that’s what that image is about.

Particularly, you see the purple image, the purple orb at the top symbolizing… purple is always a color for the spiritual. You don’t know that. I use a lot of color symbolism with my colors too. So purple is always a symbolism for spiritual. And so this spiritual energy coming down and also the crown chakra, so playing around with these images, multiple ones, the symbol having multiple meanings. Once again, you can relate to these, and bringing that spiritual energy down into the body. So that’s what that image is about. And, like I said, it’s a coffee table, so that’s on the top, and I fixed it very well so nothing moves, but yeah, that’s what it is.

Warrior II by Damon Powell

Can you talk about your series with yoga poses? What’s the story behind that series?

Damon Powell: I started Tai Chi in the early 90s, and then I would go in and out of Tai Chi. Then I had a partner who got me into yoga, and I really started getting that. So I kind of go back and forth. Sometimes I do a little Tai Chi for a few months, some yoga for a few months, but I started really getting. At one point, I was really into yoga, I was really going and consistent in my practice, and a lot of things were opening up for me spiritually because of the practice and clearing things from my body that needed to be cleared.

In terms of my own psychological stuff. You know, we store a lot of energy and emotion in our body, and I wanted to give some kind of tribute to that. And I think the whole thing with yoga is that the whole thing about the asana, the pose, is only mentioned very minimally in the yoga sutras. That’s very just like, not really a part of it, and I think a lot of our modern yoga doesn’t. It’s not as respectful of that as I feel it should be, because that should be the primary reason. My reason for doing yoga is part of my spiritual practice, not for a workout, it’s not for anything else.

I wanted to kind of visually make that connection between what you’re doing physically and what should hopefully be happening for you spiritually, internally, as a result of the yoga. So you’ll notice that each of the images has what is called a unilone in there, and that’s just a reminder that the spirit, the physical here, the pose, the asana, but there’s also this spiritual dimension. You can’t get one without the other.

Really making that connection, and I had no idea that was going to be a series either. But I had some friends of mine who are yoga instructors, and I was like, why don’t you all sit for me? I want to do some shots, and I’ll just take a bunch of shots, and you’re going to give me your five favorite poses, and I’ll just try to play around with them, and then it just kept coming forth. So, that’s my largest series. I’ve got 15 watercolors of those, which is about three for each yogi that I took two shots of.

Then they asked me to come and do some live painting at some of their events. So I was like, okay, that’s fine. So now I’ve got like eight large-format acrylics that I did that I at least started as live paintings at some of the yoga events. So that’s what that is.

I’m yoga’d out now. No more yoga for a while, unless Spirit says otherwise. But I think we’re moving on to some other things.

I’m really into dreams right now and this whole idea of the symbolism and what can happen through how spirit speaks to us through the dream world, dream state. I got a feeling that’s kind of going to go for a little while. I’ve done one image, I’ve got another one I’m starting. I think there’s going to be at least one more. We’ll wait and see.

Have you already started with the dreams?

Damon Powell: I have one image that I’ve created, and I’ve got another image that is sitting on my table waiting for me to start painting it. And I just got a feeling. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve got a feeling. There might be at least one more, but spirit will let me know.

The Awakening by Damon Powell

Many artists create from challenges or pain in their lives. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced that have influenced or informed your work?

Damon Powell: You’re asking me to get pretty personal here. Definitely, some things—and probably everybody has this—some are definitely around stuff where I feel like you’re a fraud. Is this really what you’re supposed to be doing? Still, always second guessing. Is this what you’re supposed to be doing? Are you sure you’re on the right path? Making sure that I’m staying tuned, turned on that way for a while.

I had some problems earlier in life with some things around addiction, substances, and other things. So, really playing that out. What else? I had a pretty bad divorce at one point, and that really threw me for a loop. I really worked through that, recovering from that, and just, I think, understanding what this is all about. It’s going to be a different answer for every different person, but once again, I believe that, you know, we find the universal within the particular. So, my particular experience, I believe, can be utilized, and others can relate to it—maybe not exactly, but definitely in an overarching way.

Those are the things I kind of work through, and then just things come up in life—whether it’s finances, whether it’s other things, whether it’s making sure that you, you know. I’ve had some health challenges. I got COVID really bad and was really sick for a long time. I got some long COVID stuff and worked through that and got to a point where I felt like I could be safe and trust my body again. That’s been a big thing over the last couple of years, dealing with that.

I mean, life—just life—and we have to kind of work with spirit to navigate through. So, like I said, I’m working out my own stuff visually, and other people get to hopefully relate to it. I know they do, some do, some jobs they don’t, but they do, they do. Some jobs they don’t.

How do you feel about the process of getting your art into people’s hands? And, how can people purchase your work, both online and in person?

Damon Powell: I feel good about it. It took me a while, but I got there. I don’t have any image that I’m specifically attached to. All of my images are for sale, and all of my images are available in print, from as small as a 4×5 up to 40×70, or even larger depending on which image it is.

So they’re scanned pretty well, at a very high DPI, so you can order those directly off my website at any size you want, with all the bells and whistles. You can order it so that you can get it out of the package and put it on the wall, depending on how much you want to spend. If you want to actually purchase an original image, you probably need to email me directly. But you can look at my website and decide which one you might be interested in, and then you can email me directly, and we can talk about that.

I’m working on my second book. I wrote and self-published my first book, and my scratch board series is the openers for each chapter of that book. Now my chakra series is going to be the openers for this next book, which is going to be on the chakras. It should be coming out, hopefully, by the end of February. So you can order those. Those will be available on the website. Books are available on the website, and yeah, I mean, no, this is a business. I’m a business person, I’m a spiritual business person, but this is a business, and this is what I do.

Hopefully, I’m not quite doing it completely full-time yet, but that is the goal. And if anybody wants to help me with that, I’m more than happy to work with you. I’m also able to do some speaking. If you want to talk about art, creativity, or other things like that, I don’t do paint parties and that type of stuff, but speaking. If you want to collaborate on some research, or if you have some ideas about some things related to anything you’re doing and how art and creativity can go with that, I’m open for that.

I was a pastor for 26 years, so I have no problem with public speaking. If you need somebody to talk about something, I can do all kinds of things. Just let me know. Send me an email, a confidential email, and we can think it through. 

Since you live in Northern California, do you hold pop-up events or display your work locally?

Damon Powell: Yes, I’m constantly showing. I’ve got two different pieces in two different shows right now. I’ve got two major shows coming up, one called the Superfine, which is going to be at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. It’s going to be a very big show. Probably about 15,000 to 30,000 people will be coming through there. I’ve got a wall there that I’ll be set up on.

Also, there’s another one called the Art Fair in San Francisco coming up in April. They rent out a whole hotel, and each artist gets a room to kind of put their stuff up, and people just walk around. I think that’s a really cool idea. It’s my first year in that, so I’m looking forward to it. It should be fun.

And a couple of other shows. I’ve got a solo show that I’m probably going to be having in the summer over in San Rafael. So I’ve got things going on, still showing my work. So if something’s not available, that’s why I send the show. If you ask me about something that’s not available, but as soon as it becomes available, I can send it to you.

I want to ask your advice for a couple of different people. The first is an artist trying to integrate their spirituality into their work, seeking a more cohesive expression. What encouragement would you give to them?

Damon Powell: I would say be intentional about your process. Really break it down and think about your creative process and be intentional about how you go about that. It can happen by accident, but you want to be intentional. That’s what I try to do, and be intentional about creating spirit into every aspect of your process. That may look different for each individual person. I found a way through meditation that works for me, but it took me about two or three years to really get a good rhythm on how it works. So, just be intentional and really think it through and break it down. Once you begin to do that, the rest of it will work itself out.

The next person is someone just starting as an artist, feeling nervous about making their work available to the public, whether by showing it or selling it. How would you encourage those individuals?

Damon Powell: I would say let go, hone your craft, and learn about the business aspect of being an artist. Oftentimes, they don’t teach enough about that, even to this day in a lot of art schools. If you’re formally trained, if you’re not, still you need to learn about the business side of being an artist and remember that this is your profession. You are a professional. Conduct yourself as such. Be on time. Artists have a lot of bad reputations for not being on time and not doing other things. No! Be a professional and people will appreciate it because they will want to work with you. If you’re not a professional, people won’t want to work with you. So you want to establish yourself as a professional and let go.

I know a lot of things that we create, we’re very invested in, but let go. You never know how that’s going to speak to somebody. Allow spirit to work with that and let go. Once you put it out there, like I said, it should take on a life of its own, and you should be okay with that, as long as it’s not something that turns into something very negative. Let it be what it is and you deserve it. It took me a long time to figure that out. You deserve it. Yes, this is personal, but you deserve it and you’re worthy, whether you think you are or not. You are, and that may take some time to get to, but you will get there if you keep pushing.

Last question…what do you want your lasting impact to be on both the art community and the field of theology? 

Damon Powell: I hope that posthumously somebody will look at my stuff and say, “You know, this guy was on to something. I really like his approach.” It’s probably not going to happen in my lifetime, that’s okay. I don’t really fit with what I’m doing into the traditional art world, and I’m aware of that, and I’m okay with that. It took me a while because of my formal training to get past that, but that’s not my venue. That’s not where this is going to happen, at least not yet.

Humanity is evolving. I think at some point there will be a space for me, but at 56, it’s probably not going to be while I’m still around. But I hope at some point people begin to see my images and look at that, and look at some of the things I’ve written and say, “You know what, he’s right, he’s on to something. How can we take this further and work with and carry the torch?” I think what I’m doing is very unique. A lot of other people are doing spiritually themed work, but to me it seems more psychedelic. Lots of people are experimenting with shrooms and other substances to create. I wanted something I felt like was more relatable, and so that’s what I’m trying to do. So, it’s a very individual niche. I’m okay with that.

Where can people follow you on social media and where can they buy your art? 

Damon Powell: You can follow me on Twitter at @dpartandtheo. You can follow me on Instagram at @damonapowell. You can follow me on Facebook at Damon Powell, Artist and Theologian. 

If you want to buy my art, you can view it on www.damonpowell.com and then send me a confidential email if you’re actually interested in buying an original. If you just want a print, you can order right there off the website. If you live locally, you might want to contact me about the print because I can get it to you faster through some of my local sources, as opposed to the sources that I use on the website.

And sign up for my blog. Sign up for my email list so that I can let you know, if you’re local, where I’m showing, when I’m going to be showing certain things. I do open studios probably once or twice a year, so if you’re local, you can come by and check out the open studios and see all the originals.