Why I Started Making Jesus Canvas Art
Jun 01, 2026
It started as an idea I cannot fully explain. I wanted to photograph the people in the life of Jesus, and I wanted to find their contemporary image-bearers. I created Reflections of Christ in 2007 as a commission for the Mesa Easter Pageant. I had a borrowed studio, four kids at home, and not much of a plan.
I called Nanci Wudel, who ran the pageant, and she opened her actor list and costume department to me. My friend Steve Porter flew the high desert of Arizona looking for spots that resembled the Holy Land. There are several little places along that desert floor that are sacred to me now.
The most sacred hours were the late nights in the studio, after the shoots were over, finding things in the images I had not seen through the viewfinder. Goosebumps on the blind man's arms. Teardrops in the adulteress's eyes. Triumph in the resurrection. A horse bowing at the foot of the cross.
That was the moment Jesus canvas art became something I could not stop doing.
The First Piece
The original Walking on Water is a photograph of the Savior alone, walking out onto the sea. No disciples in frame. No boat. Just Him and the water. People wrote me letters about that piece. They told me where it hung. In bedrooms. In nurseries. In hospital rooms.
I have absolutely no idea what hole this work is filling in the souls of those that collect it. So I just better make something strong and potent.
Photographs, Then Paintings
For most of these eighteen years, the work has been photographs. Staged scenes. Real models in real locations. Costumes sewn by people I know. Editing through the night.
A few years ago I found a South African painter named Pieter Van Tonder online and reached out to him. The conversation went somewhere. We started painting together. The first piece we made was Eyes on Jesus. An aerial scene over the Sea of Galilee, Peter stepping out of the boat toward Christ. Painted, not photographed. It looks like nothing else in the catalog. It also fits.
Now the work is mixed medium. Photographs and a handful of paintings, all of them depicting Jesus or scenes from His life. Some are 8x10, some are 60x40. All of them, by definition, are Jesus canvas art when they come off the printer.
What I'm Still Learning
I have spent late nights retouching His face. I have stood in the desert at sunset watching the actor portraying Him kneel in the dust because the dust is part of the scene. I have looked at the same image on the wall in my house and on the wall of a hospital room and watched what it did.
HE LIVES. The work just has to be strong enough to remind me of that, and porous enough to let the viewer bring her own story.
Where to Find the Work
Every piece is available on canvas (framed or gallery wrapped), traditional print, or metal. Free shipping on all orders.
See the full Jesus canvas collection
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Common Questions About Jesus Canvas Art
Is this real photography or AI?
The photographs are real. Real models, real locations, real costumes, the Arizona desert standing in for the Holy Land. The paintings are real too. Pieter Van Tonder painted them by hand. None of the work in the Reflections of Christ catalog is AI generated.
How long does the canvas last?
Properly hung, indoors, out of direct sunlight, canvas prints last decades.
What size should I start with?
For a bedroom or office, 16x20 to 24x30 fits most walls. For a living room or above a fireplace, 36x48 or 48x36 lands well. The 30x40 is in stock for most pieces.
Do you ship internationally?
Yes. Free shipping inside the United States. International shipping rates show at checkout.
Mark