“Maybe I should just forget about this pipe dream of being an artist, and get a regular job again!”
That’s what I told my wife in the summer of 2009.
Earlier that year, I decided to go “all-in,” full-time as an artist…after losing my job as a service technician trainer at Filterqueen, a vacuum/filtration company. My job was downsized because of the Great Recession. After an insightful (and uncomfortable) conversation with my mother-in-law, I decided to not look for a job, but rather pursue my dream of being a professional artist.
I had wanted to for years. “What is it that you think God has called you to do?” she asked. She noticed that I didn’t like my current job, and was almost always on the road—never home for my wife and young children.
“I’ve always wanted to be a full-time artist,” I said.
“Well, why aren’t you doing it, then?” she probed.
“Um, because I’m afraid my bills won’t get paid,” I replied reluctantly.
“What?! You can trust God to meet your needs?”
It was like a dagger to the heart.
This conversation took place PRIOR to my boss deciding to let me go. So, even though I didn’t see that coming, I knew I had a green light to pursue my career as an artist. I went all in!
Immediately, after letting people know that this was my new path in life, I was commissioned to do a painting for a friend at church. He wanted an illustration of the “Greatest Commandment” (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.) This is what I painted for him. Here is that painting, a 24″ x 30,” acrylic on canvas.
It was like God was confirming, YES, this is my path for you. Roll with it!
Things went well for a few months. I got more commissions. It looked like it was only up from here.
But then…
…the “brook dried up.” Kind of like Elijah, in the way God provided for Him, and then, there was nothing. He was thirsty. He was in need.
I felt like that. No commissions, no income. Now what?
Soon, I got a call from my landlord. I hadn’t paid rent that month.
“When will you be sending the rent money?” he asked. Not an unreasonable question.
I had a pit in my stomach like a stone. What would I do? My family was counting on me. I had a wife and two young children.
Clearly, I remember it. My wife and I had a conversation up in my little 9″ x 13″ bedroom—my studio. And that’s when I told Leah, I was thinking of quitting being a full-time artist. And getting a job again.
She looked me right in the eyes. “Matt, I don’t care if we struggle financially. But if you don’t do what God has called you to do, then I’ll be mad at you!”
“What do we do, then?” I replied back. “Rent is overdue, and we don’t have it. Not even close.”
“We need to pray,” she said, “and fast.”
“How long?”
“As long as it takes!” My wife doesn’t mince words.
So we did. We prayed and sought God like never before. We had no one else to turn to. As I prayed—in our kitchen—I had this very clear thought:
“Matt, what would you do if you had the rent money in your hands, right now?”
I felt that it was God speaking to me.
“Well, I would be really happy. I would be thanking You. I would be praising You!” I said.
“Do that right now, then.”
Okay.
“Thank you, Lord, for the rent money.” I lifted up my hands.
And as I said that, I felt as if I literally DID have the rent money in my hands! I felt this download of joy, right from heaven.
“Leah, we’re done praying. God has answered us. We have the rent money.”
Later that week at church, a guy came up to me out of the blue. He said, “Matt, I’d like to commission you to do some artwork for me. I don’t know for sure what I want done yet, I’ll have to give you a picture later, but here’s a check to get you started.”
Wow! With that, and some other provision, we had the rent money in just a couple of days!
It was enough to keep me going on the path as a full-time artist.
I thank God for my wife, Leah. We’ve been married for 20 years. She’s put up with a lot. She wouldn’t let me quit as an artist, even when I wanted to so many times.
And so it is my delight to paint a portrait of her again.
I launched my first online painting class in 2017. Since that time, hundreds of students have taken that course, and so many have painted their own beautiful portrait, even with little experience! I feel like it’s time to do it again–new and improved. I’ll be launching this new version of “Paint Your First Amazing Acrylic Portrait” very soon.
Whatever your goal is as an artist, I’d like to encourage you too, just like my wife did for me. Maybe you don’t want to do art full time, but rather as a side hobby to paint beautiful portraits of those you love.
I’d like to cheer you on. And say, despite any voices to the contrary, YOU CAN DO IT.
I’ll be here to help you every step of the way, as much as I possibly can.
Blessings,
Matt
P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Have you ever felt like quitting? What did you do? If you found this post, encouraging, please share it with a friend!
At the end of 2019, just before the year that the world changed, I had an intense dream that woke me up with a start.
I was shocked by what I saw and knew I needed to paint it. Here is “Painting From a Dream,” completed, with video showing parts of the process as well.
I hope this painting and the message it contains both challenges and encourages you! It’s taken a while to finish the painting. But I finally have!
Some have asked me about it, so I decided it was time to post this video. This is a 16 x 20 acrylic on canvas.
Some might consider this “prophetic art.” But this really is a painting, with what I feel is a Biblical, Christian message, inspired by a dream.
Perhaps it is prophetic, especially considering the tumultuous events of the last two years!
One thing is clear: Focus on Jesus, and you won’t go wrong.
Anytime you decide to do something that takes faith, you can be sure that your faith will be tested.
Count on it.
As a working professional artist, I can attest personally that this is true.
God opened the door for me to do art full-time in the recession of 2009, when I lost a well-paying job as a traveling vacuum/ filtration equipment trainer. Before my boss gave me notice, my mother-in-law had a very frank discussion with her 32-year-old son-in-law about his future.
“You’re in a dead-end job, Matt. You’re stressed out all the time, and you don’t ever see your family. What is it that you think God has called you to do?”
“I’ve always wanted to be a full-time artist,” I replied.
“Well, why aren’t you doing it, then?” she shot back.
“Umm…because I’m afraid my bills won’t get paid?”
“What!? You can’t trust God to meet your needs?”
Ouch.
It was a dagger straight to the heart.
At that point, I knew I had to decide to do art full time, or I would regret it years later. Yes, I could trust God to meet my needs!
When my boss terminated my position just a week or two later, it was like a green light to go. I was ready to say goodbye to regular employment and embark on this new adventure of professional art!
Immediately, after announcing my new career to friends and family, I got commissioned portraits right away. My future was looking bright!
This continued until the middle of the year, and then “the brook dried up.”
I had no commissions, no income, a family to provide for and rent to pay. My landlord called me asking me where his rent money was.
My stomach sank to the floor.
“Maybe this whole thing about being a full-time artist was a pipe dream,” I moaned to my wife, head down. “Maybe I should go back and get a real job again.”
“No. We didn’t go through all of this for you to fail now.” She looked me right in the eyes. “I don’t care if we struggle financially, but if you don’t do what God has called you to do, then I will be mad at you!”
“So what do we do, then? We have no money for rent!”
“We need to pray,” she said, matter-of-factly. “And fast.”
“How long?” I didn’t like the idea of fasting.
“As long as it takes!”
We did pray, and fast. We were desperate and needed God to move.
I remember distinctly as we were praying in the kitchen that I had a very clear thought pop into my head. It went something like this:
Matt, what would you do if you had that rent money in your hands, right now?
It was like God was speaking right to me. “I would be praising You, thanking You,” I replied.
I want you to do that, right now.
“Okay, Lord,” I said, getting up from the floor. I held up my hands, and said, “Thank You, Lord, for the rent money.”
Now, my outstretched hands had nothing in them, but you couldn’t have convinced me that I wasn’t holding rent money in my hands at that moment. I felt a wave of faith, peace and joy settle right on me. Actually, it was more like a flood, a download from heaven!
“Thank You, LORD! We have the rent money!” I knew it was as good as done.
“We’re done praying, Leah,” I exclaimed to my wife. “We have it, and God is going to do it!”
The next day at church, a guy walked up to me. He said, “Matt, I’d like to commission you to do a portrait for me. I don’t know exactly what I want done yet, but I’d like to give you this to get you started.”
It was a check. I’d like to say it was for the exact amount of our rent, but it wasn’t. However, in the next few days, the rest came in, and we had the rent money!
Not Enough…Again
About seven years later my art business was growing. I had steady portrait work, I moved into a community art studio and I began teaching classes.
But I had a bad month toward the end of 2016. Not only did I not have money for my studio rent, but I didn’t have money for house rent either.
And I got that same dreaded call from my landlord: “When are you paying rent?”
You would think that I’d remember how God provided for me in times past. In an amazing profession of faith, I’d puff out my chest, pull on my suspender straps (if I wore suspenders) and proclaim: “I am not worried in the least. God will provide!”
But I didn’t. Not even close. I told Leah about the landlord’s call.
She said, “So?”
My wife obviously didn’t want to hear me complain.
Where else could I go? Discouragement was hitting me like a 20-ton logging truck. I retreated to my bedroom, shut the door, and poured my heart to the Lord in prayer.
I prayed, and prayed, but felt nothing. No outpouring of faith, peace and joy. Just the magnitude of our financial predicament.
With that burden, I went to bed. The next day, I had an art show at our community studio.
“Get your head in the game,” I told myself. I had to put on a smile and be presentable to the public.
As I dragged myself out of the car and into the art studio, still discouraged, I offered one more limp prayer to God.
“God, you’re a big God, so I’m going to pray a big prayer. I pray I would sell ‘Smoldering Wick” today at the show.”
Why not? Why not ask big when I felt as low as I could go? What did I have to lose?
“Smoldering Wick” was a 30 x 40 acrylic on canvas painting I had just finished in time for the show. I felt it was my best painting I had ever done, and I priced it accordingly. An illustration of Isaiah 42, it depicts a man going through a time of intense discouragement and despair. The idea for this painting developed in response to a soul-searching time of prayer and brokenness over my own sins.
“Smoldering Wick,” 30 x 40, acrylic on canvas, 2016, by Matt Philleo
I had been on my knees, with my Bible open, and I found this promise: “a bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”
As I read these words, joy flooded my heart. My Bible literally became wet with tears. It confirmed to me again, I am saved not because of my own efforts, but because of the trustworthiness of God, revealed through His promises!
In the painting, the man’s servant encourages him in his time of need, while turning up the flame on His lamp. It symbolically portrays Jesus Christ, the suffering servant who identifies with our weaknesses and yet compassionately encourages us, promising to never snuff out our hope.
But at this moment, I didn’t feel hope. I literally felt like the man I had painted—discouraged and defeated.
Matt Philleo posing for “Smoldering Wick”
Not many attended our little art show. But toward the end of the day, a couple walked in. They seemed captivated by the painting and asked me about its meaning. I had already shared with several people that day and explained the symbolism to them just as I did to the others.
They looked at it for a while. Then one whispered to the other: “Where should we put it? Above the grand?”
“Maybe. Did you pay off the card?”
They discussed details like this for a while. I knew enough to keep my mouth shut.
“Do you take cards?” they asked.
“I do. I can scan it through my phone right here.”
“We’ll take it!”
Inside, I wanted to jump up and down like a little boy who was just told he would be going to Disneyland.
But instead, I held it together.
“That’s fantastic,” I said, shaking their hands as calmly as I could. “Congratulations! This is now your painting!”
After we took care of a few details and they left, I looked up and began to pray.
“Lord, what did you just do? Even though my faith was lagging, you still answered my prayer! Thank You, Lord! We have the rent money!”
You can be sure that when you step out in faith, your faith will be tested. And there is perhaps no other profession like the arts that stretches us in this way. But if you seek God, and remain true to the calling you were given, even in the tough times, God will provide for you!
Let me know what you thought of this story in the comments below. Have you ever had a time where your faith was tested? How did things turn out?
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends. Thanks and God bless you!—Matt
Today, I read a message of coming judgment that awakened me to pray more seriously.
Then I remembered how I had a dream at the end of 2019—December 29th. In the dream, there was a painting I was to do for the Lord—and had not started yet. I want to tell you about that dream and show you how I began TODAY, what I feel could be, a prophetic message displayed through an acrylic painting!
In this current pandemic season of 2020, this message might be something that the Lord wants to share with the world, and especially His people. The painting is in progress now, just started. I want to share the dream with you and show you how I began to paint this…
Please let me know what you think of this dream and painting!
May you ever draw close to God, through Jesus!
—Matt
If you found this post helpful or encouraging, would you send it on ahead? Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much!
In this video, I share some thoughts I had while praying on our large swing in the backyard, and combined it with images of paintings I did. May God bless you richly this Easter and every day as you think about Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith!
All the best,
P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!
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