A Voice for Hope: Interview with artist Ron DiCianni on abortion and more!

Today I have a very special interview with best selling Christian Artist Ron DiCianni to share with you. Now some of you might wonder why I'm interviewing an artist on a Pro-Life blog but the Pro-Life cause is very near and dear to Ron's heart because he was almost the victim of an abortion himself.

Hello Ron and thank you so much for being my guest today. Can you tell us a little about yourself for those that aren’t familiar with your work?

I am a Christian cleverly disguised as an artist! Like so many, I am just trying to use the gift I have received to serve others…(1 Peter 4:10)

Did you always love art and did you start out drawing or did you start with painting?

Yep! From as early as I can remember, art was always a passion. I never really wanted to do anything else. However you got to learn to draw as it is the foundation for everything in art including painting!

When did you first start painting?

I started getting real serious about art when I was in High School. It was the only subject I excelled in. When I didn’t do so well in Chemistry etc. the school stopped me from continuing in the art classes as a punishment. They didn’t realize that I was not goofing off in those other classes, I was just wired for art and the creative things.

How many paintings have you done so far?

Well, I have been doing this professionally for 42 years! The first two decades were devoted to “secular” work because the Church wasn’t interested. The second two decades I have concentrated on telling the world about Jesus in my work. I probably have done a few thousand paintings? I get tired just thinking about it…J

What is your most famous paintings do you think?

“Spiritual Warfare”, “Simeon’s Moment” “Safely Home”, “In The Wilderness” & “The Resurrection Mural”

The Resurrection Mural at The Museum of Biblical Art

You are one of the best selling Christian artists in the U.S. and your work is absolutely beautiful. Words just don’t do them justice. But your life almost ended before it began could you tell us about that?

Thanks…I’d be remiss if I didn’t give God the glory for it all.

As to my near abortion, my mom was intending to abort me and went to her doctor to have it done. Although she wasn’t a Christian, my Grandmother who lived with us was. She must have been praying that day. Like a lot of people who contemplate abortion, my mom’s life was not conducive to another baby. She lived in a cramped Chicago apartment with my Dad, my brother, my aunt, my grandmother and a dog! Bringing another life into that just didn’t seem like a good thing. But as my friend, Ray Comfort reminded me lately, people don’t abort babies because they are in hard circumstances…they abort babies because they don’t have a correct view of life. Only God can give life and only God should take it. When the doctor wanted to start the abortion, he brought a needle to my mom’s arm, and that was when God spoke to her and said, “Don’t do this…I have a plan for this baby!” She told me she pushed the needle away and walked out. For decades she would remind me that God had a plan for me. She became a Christian and was so glad she obeyed God’s voice. She live much longer than my Dad, so she got to see a lot of what God has done with my work and was one of my biggest cheerleaders. She prayed constantly for me.

When did you learn that your mother almost aborted you and how did you find out?

Don’t really remember…but she never hid the fact from me. She was willing to risk her reputation in order to have me understand how sacred life is. She used to remind me often, especially when life would throw it’s discouraging moments at me like we all sometimes face. It always helped me to see “the bigger picture”!

One of your latest paintings is a actually a Pro-Life painting titled "Before I Formed You in the Womb". Can you tell us about it and how that came about?

Ray Comfort, a great evangelist and preacher did a movie called “The 180 Movie” (If you look at a print of the painting, you will see that I acknowledge that movie under my signature). He challenged me to do the painting. God gave me the idea, but Ray gave me the kick in the pants to do it! We now give a copy of the 180 Movie, free, to everyone who buys a print. It’s the most powerful Pro-Life video I have ever seen.

The painting is just gorgeous and it’s so detailed. I was so moved by it with Christ’s hand reaching out to touch the mother’s stomach. I didn’t notice this the first few times that I saw it but if you look closely you can actually see the profile of the baby in the mothers stomach it’s like it’s looking up at Christ. I thought that was just awesome! It’s so subtle but once you see it you can’t look at it again without seeing it. And I think that is very deep and kind of symbolic of the fact that there is a life in every pregnant woman even if she can’t see it or feel it yet and even if she isn’t showing yet it’s there and it is precious and sacred.

Thanks…the model for the pregnant lady was my daughter in law, Amanda. She was pregnant with her fourth child, Hudson Taylor, and I photographed her about a week or two before he was born. We just finished a video to support the campaign where you will all get to see him. Cute little guy…

Are there any other special things in the painting that a person might not notice when they first see it?

If there were no “special things” in the painting, it would still be an important statement about the sanctity of life, However, I always try to put extra things in to give a “discovery” process later on. Certainly, it compliments the central theme of the work, which in this case is that God forms each life while inside the belly of the mother. First, many don’t see the baby in the mom’s belly! Secondly, if you look at the shadow being cast by Christ’s hand you will see it forms a cross. That’s my reminder to all that Jesus died so your baby doesn’t have to! Here’s some verses that spurred me to the details of the painting:

Read Psalm 139 and you will see that the David reminds himself, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” A few verses later he says something every person should be aware of. “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” How profound is that? God didn’t just have a plan for me, He had a plan laid out for every baby that was aborted, and I sometimes wonder who was killed that the world badly needs. Was the baby that was to cure cancer been aborted?. Possibly, that answer is “yes”!

I've wondered that very thing myself many times. There are so many countless blessings that God might have meant for mankind and how many of those were aborted and never allowed the chance at life. Every life is precious and has something to give.

And Ron you are wanting to get one of these paintings into the hands of every Obstetrician, Hospital, Pediatrician, Crisis pregnancy Ctr. and even Planned Parenthood clinic in America correct? Can you tell us more about that and how others can help?

Without doubt, that’s our plan. But, we cannot do it alone. This has got to be an effort of the Body of Christ to get these where God can speak to so many. We are hoping that “sponsors” will catch the vision and help us give them away. (Literally, my publisher does not make one cent on a print!) We are doing what we are asking others to do, and that is to make this a sacrifice for the sake of the unborn. Eventually, we want to also get them into schools, churches and anywhere the message can penetrate a mind for life.

When I first posted the painting on FB, a lady wrote me and said that very morning she was outside of an abortion provider and was trying to talk to the people going in. One couple heard her talking and the guy started swearing at her. However, the young lady crept closer and whispered, “I don’t want to do this…” but ultimately she wound up going inside and killing her baby. The lady told me that if she would have had my painting to show the young lady what she was killing, she was confident she could have persuaded her otherwise. That broke my heart…

That is terrible! It is truly heartbreaking. Here is hoping that the print will be able to help save many more lives like that one through it's message.

The print is available now at http://beforeiformedyouinthewomb.com/

Every print receives, at no cost, a copy of Ray Comfort’s incredible DVD 180 which chronicles the transformation of people on camera from pro-choice to pro-life once they are exposed to the truth behind abortion. With over 3 million views, 180 has already impacted hearts and lives and verifiably saved babies from abortion! You can also find out more about how to sponsor prints at the website as well.

A major portion of each print goes to fund pro-life efforts at such incredible ministries as 180 and pro-life pregnancy centers. So please get your copy of the print today and tell your friends and family about it and post about it on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking sites that you belong to.

Ron thank you so much for taking the time to be with me and share your story here on Voice for Hope. I hope that everyone that reads this will go and buy a print of the painting and if they can sponsor to have another print sent to a Dr.’s office, hospital, or Planned Parenthood to where hopefully it will touch the heart of people and hopefully save many, many more innocent lives!

We need to pray that God will use this. More than ever, the lives of the unborn are under direct attack as is evidenced by our upcoming election conventions. Planned Parenthood was very visible and very determined to impact the future with Pro-Choice. Our disgust won’t stop them, but maybe a visual reminder of life will stop a person from listening to the rhetoric and choose life.

That is very, very true!

Visit Ron's website and see more of his work at http://www.rdicianni.com/ and at hhttp://www.tapestryproductions.com

Thanks so much again Ron and God bless you!

Interview with artist Ron DiCianni on abortion and more!

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