c. 2006 Religion News Service

BERRIEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. _ Some people have referred to Seventh-day Adventist artist Nathan Greene as the Christian Norman Rockwell.

While Greene is quick to say that he does not equate himself with the great painter of iconic American scenes, he does acknowledge that Rockwell has strongly influenced his work.

“Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists. My natural tendency is to paint like him,” said Greene, whose studio is in Berrien Township.

Like Rockwell, Greene “goes all out” to find authentic clothes and costumes in which to dress the people who pose for his paintings. He takes many photographs of his subjects for reference while he paints.

“Detail is an important thing,” said Greene, 49. “If you want to render a hand, you want to do it well.”

Many of Greene’s paintings show Jesus in the midst of various circumstances. Rockwell’s inspiration is especially evident in a work titled “The Family of God.” It shows Christ standing in the middle of a group of people representing the world’s great religions.

It is similar in style, and even spirit, to Rockwell’s “The Golden Rule.” While Rockwell’s work does not portray Christ, it does feature people from nations all over the globe.

A lifelong Adventist who studied at Chicago’s American Academy of Art, Greene said he considers his “work as nondenominational. I try to create a painting that people can walk right into and experience it.”

Lem Montero, a Kalamazoo-area art lover, helped put together a show of work from 17 artists, including Greene, to hang in a Michigan cancer center.

“In the art world, it is not common to see faith, and particularly Christianity, portrayed so positively,” said Montero.

Greene grew up thinking he might want to be a doctor. But he also loved to draw, and so considered becoming a medical illustrator.

A series of circumstances led him into a career as a Christian artist.

One of Greene’s most famous paintings is called “Chief of the Medical Staff.” It shows Christ in a high-tech operating room with one arm on a surgeon’s shoulder and the other guiding the physician’s hand as he performs a procedure.

The painting hangs on a wall at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Fla. Reproductions are displayed in physicians’ offices and medical facilities across the country and beyond. Postcards of the painting are handed out in some hospitals before a patient is wheeled into surgery.

A copy of his painting “The Senior Partner,” which shows Jesus shaking hands with a business executive, appeared last year on the cover of the New York Times Sunday magazine.

“In my work I’m saying something about what God’s character is like,” Greene said. “He’s not cruel or a tyrant. He is a loving father, a shepherd.”

For many years, Greene painted in the basement of his home in Eau Claire. Success in creating work for hospital systems and other institutions, both secular and religious, allowed him three years ago to build his studio in Berrien Township. It’s only a few miles from Andrews University, a Seventh-Day Adventist College in Berrien Springs, where Greene finds many of the models for his paintings.

Greene attended Andrews for about a year before going to Chicago’s American Academy of Art.

After art school, he illustrated book and magazine covers and did a series of paintings for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “I probably had more confidence than ability,” Greene said. “But I always had just enough work to do.”

His big break came when fellow artist Harry Anderson recommended him to do the paintings that became “Chief of the Medical Staff” and “The Family of God.”

Anderson is famous for lifelike religious paintings that placed Christ in contemporary settings. He also was one of the nation’s top illustrators for such magazines as Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post and Woman’s Home Companion.

“I met Harry a few times,” Greene said. “He was a very big influence on me. I see my career as a continuation of his.”

Greene’s spacious studio has tall windows looking out onto rolling fields of grass and corn. Hanging on the walls and lined up on counters and the floor are examples of his work.

As he looks ahead, Greene says he sees himself moving away from portraying Christ in contemporary places _ from schools to offices to hospital rooms _ and instead showing Jesus in more historical settings.

A new painting titled “At Jesus’ Feet” depicts Christ meeting with the biblical characters Mary and Martha in a room. Greene spent many hours doing research to get the clothing and environment right. Another new work shows Christ healing a paralyzed first-century man near a pool of water.

Other biblical scenes painted by Greene are likely to include Noah and his family just after leaving the ark, as well as the miracles and parables of Jesus.

Besides reflecting what he believes about God’s character, Greene says, he has one more major goal for his art _ and for his life itself. “I’m trying to leave the world a better place than I found it,” he said.

(Chris Meehan writes for The Kalamazoo Gazette in Kalamazoo, Mich.)

DSB/PH END MEEHAN

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