Damon Powell
Artist & Theologian
Awakened Executive Contributor
Damon Powell is an Artist & Theologian who currently resides in Emeryville, California. Damon was always very confident that he was sent here for a purpose-that there was something he was supposed to do.
Although he did not have the depth to articulate this insight as a child, he recalls that it was always present to some degree throughout his life. When discussing the genesis of his interest in art, Damon often speaks about going to the grocery store so he could pour over the comics while his mother was shopping. He was always captivated by the images and the colors long before he began to actually read the content. These early experiences provided him with a wealth of information and inspiration to fuel his expanding inner world. As he grew into a young man, Damon quickly came to the realization that he was most happy and fulfilled while engaged in creative pursuits.
Most of his middle and high school years were spent traveling back and forth between the art and music rooms. When the time came for him to make a final decision about college, he realized that creating art was his deepest passion. After completing his training as an Illustrator at the Kansas City Art Institute. Damon’s initial entrance into the art world was through the lens of an editorial and graphic Illustrator. These early experiences helped him to focus his creative mind and sharpen his technical skills by creating freelance illustrations and graphic designs. However, early in his artistic career, a series of life experiences led to what Damon intimately describes as a spiritual awakening. As a result of these experiences, he felt compelled to pursue a spiritual calling which resulted in him entering seminary.
While pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Payne Theological Seminary Damon struggled to understand how he could integrate his identity as an artist with the theological and philosophical training he was being exposed to at Payne. He continued to create works of art and complete commissions but the content and focus of his work had begun to radically evolve. During this period, Damon began incorporating his creative activity into his spiritual practices. A product of that transition (and the incorporation of creativity into his spiritual practices) was discovering that he needed more in-depth knowledge regarding the connections between art and theology – so he entered a Doctoral program at the Graduate Theological Union The focus of Damon’s research at the GTU was an interdisciplinary study that integrated Theological Aesthetics, Art, Spirituality, and Black American cultural theory.
Damon’s time spent at the Graduate Theological Union culminated in the production of a research project that utilized both his spiritual illustrations and his doctoral research. The extensive research required for the completion of his dissertation allowed him to integrate theological insights and creative visual artistry into a cohesive way of being. This integration combined theology, art, and his ongoing spiritual practices into an overarching vocational vision. Dr. Powell’s present artistic practice is an integral part of that vision. Damon’s interests and experiences since that time have pushed him to focus on the intersections between art and spirituality through the creation of images that communicate with an illustrative flair. All of Damon’s creative work is grounded in his deep understanding of the myriad ways that spirituality, artistic creation, and aesthetic experience intersect.
These intersections are expressed succinctly in Dr. Powell’s Mission statement: “To give divine light form through the manifestation of images that encourage reflection upon the myriad ways the divine reveals itself within our world.” Most of Damon’s images are birthed from his ongoing study of various theological/philosophical texts, or images that arise as a result of his daily meditation practice. Damon’s primary mediums are scratchboard, acrylics, or watercolors. He manages to maintain a consistent portfolio through the expression of his signature style, and the unique content that undergirds his vision statement.
When entering his creative process, Damon always begins with meditation at a small altar within his studio. Dr. Powell considers his creativity a form of channeling whose goal is to infuse each creation with higher vibrational energies that are interwoven into the fabric of the work. This process not only enlists meditation and prayer during the creative process but also involves in-depth research and contemplation on the best ways to convey complex spiritual concepts in visual form. Through the use of color, line, and symbol. Damon strives to make every image highly vibrational, inspiring, didactic, and iconic. Damon is also available for consultations that involve speaking, writing and research, workshops, commissioned works…by sending a confidential email at info@damonpowell.com. Connect with Damon at www.damonpowell.com.
Recent Articles
The God of the Oppressed
Although this image was created in 2015, the nights of reflection and debate that planted the seeds for its creation go back almost 20 years. Seeds that were planted during my second semester at seminary where I received my initial exposure to the writings of Dr. James Cone, the parent of Black Theology. That seed was then watered by the writings of Gustavo Gutierrez, the parent of Latin American Liberation Theology, and fertilized in the fruitful soil of ongoing theological debate and reflection.
Exploring the Chakras II
Each chakra can be identified by its placement within the body and a corresponding color. Many of the more contemporary yogic-centered readings discuss the chakra colors as arbitrary color assignments that are more for identification purposes than metaphysical qualities. There have even been claims that the color chart assignment was developed by an Englishman, and it was subsequently adopted by the masses. However, there are many reputable psychics, both past and present, who have seen these colors in the assigned locations within the body and the auric field surrounding it. Many psychics discuss how they utilize the colors of the chakras as a diagnostic tool for identifying imbalances within the body or energetic field. By observing the color of each chakra, they are able to gauge its vitality. The emanations of color from the chakras extend out from the body and become integrated into what is referred to as the auric field. The colors contained within the auric field and chakras are used as gauges of vitality or imbalance within the body’s energetic field.
Exploring the Chakras: A Visual Interpretation
My initial entry into the practice of meditation and energy work began with the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. Each session began with a 10–15-minute guided meditation period before going into warm-up practices and then moving on to practice the form. I vividly remember the first time I began to feel the Chi, starting to flow through my body. The Sifu I studied with placed a great deal of emphasis on Tai Chi as a form of moving meditation rather than its use as a vehicle for offense and defense. The clarity of mind I experienced from only 10 minutes of meditation, combined with the stirrings of Chi within my body, was everything I needed to dive right in. These experiences inspired me to begin reading varied books on energetic subjects and experimenting with some of the techniques outlined within them.
The Dream
In the domain of inspiration, Spirit has been guiding me toward a deep interest in dreams and dream symbolism. You may recall that I had already created an initial image using dream symbolism earlier this year -The Dreamer. In this instance, I got caught up in a series of shows and travel, which kept me from doing a lot of creating. I completed my research, did a few needed shots with my model, gessoed the board, and laid out the image, but never got a chance to actually begin the painting. By the time things had settled down, I was literally on the cusp of the deadline for another show (see my previous article). Although my initial intention for The Dream was to be a much brighter painting, the subject matter and mood of my sketches felt much more somber.
Astral Dream
The initial inspiration for this image was born from both intuition and necessity. By way of necessity, I was invited to participate in a Pop-Up show entitled 10 x 10 that is coming up this Sunday, July 13th, from 1-4 at Seaport Studios in Richmond, CA (4925 Seaport Avenue, Richmond, CA). The show features only works that are 10 inches by 10 inches. I wanted to participate, but don’t usually work in sizes that small, so necessity dictated that I create a new image specifically for the show.
JOY: It’s a Spiritual Thing!
It took me a long time to realize it, but joy is a spiritual thing! I spent a good portion of my early years in an ongoing search for happiness. There was a great deal of activity, but the brief moments of happiness I enjoyed were often intense and fleeting. Each and every time, I felt as if I was on top of the world. I had reached the mountaintop and would do my best to stay there within the spirit of that moment, to remain present to that experience. But I was never able to carry those feelings back down into the valleys and plateaus of daily living (not for long anyway). So, off I would go seeking my next slice of happiness, my next wave of experience. As I look back on some of those moments, I am now able to connect with a tiny, persistent, nagging element of despair that was ever-present but almost always unacknowledged. This despair was grounded within an innate knowing that these moments were not meant to last. It was this knowing that made them so much more precious and rare.
Moonlight Blues
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 1
There is a time for everything, and everything in its time. Moonlight Blues is an image which captures a time, a season in my life when unforeseen circumstances created a deep chasm in my life that commanded a large portion of my time and attention to correct. Into each life some rain must fall, and in many instances the darker sides of life and people often present themselves at the most unexpected times, and in the most unexpected ways.
Flowering of the Cosmic Consciousness
I have been doing a great deal of reflecting in the past few weeks and am in a constant state of awe and gratitude for my present way of being. My decision to pursue my dreams of being a full-time artist has also placed me in the unique position of starting my life all over again. I have literally been given (and co-created) an opportunity to re-create myself and my life. I am totally free to fashion and create my life into anything I would like it to be. But this too is a position of both awesome freedom and great responsibility.
In the World and Of the World
When I initially committed myself to a life of ministry, I struggled a great deal with the inconsistencies I found between my daily life and who or how I wanted to be. I felt as if there was an enormous chasm between my self-imposed ideas about what and who a minister was supposed to be, and who and how I was in the world at that time. My initial response was to tighten the reins upon myself and do everything I could to avoid those aspects of myself that didn’t fit the model. However, this eventually led to a great deal of guilt, self-loathing, and disappointment. As I entered seminary and began to delve more deeply into the theological aspects of my spirituality, I began to focus more and more on finding ways to take what I was learning and apply it to the questions and concerns of everyday living. My efforts in this area helped me to change my perspective and find ways to begin bridging what I felt to be an impassable chasm between my spirituality and my daily living.
Creating High Vibrational Art – An Interview with Damon Powell
https://youtu.be/4fc1SRSkAtc Damon A. Powell, PhD is a visual artist and theologian who creates spiritually centered imagery that reflects the myriad ways Spirit is at work
Coda: There is Only Love
When I began to download the initial inspiration for When We Pray, I had no idea that a series would follow. The initial inspiration came forth just as many others have: during my daily practice of prayer and meditation. I was sitting quietly, peacefully, feeling the warm and then cool pattern of my breath when I became of aware of a very distinct sense of presence surrounding me. It was not a sudden awareness but a slow, steady building that seemed to reveal itself progressively as it became increasingly more distinct all around me. I’m not sure how long the process took, but it was a slow and deliberate revelation that became increasingly more palpable. I felt no fear, only an ever more confident sense of comfort, ease, and genuine care and concern for the issues I was offering up for divine assistance.