Pictures, Poems, and Notes by David Edward Lenarz, Jr.
Bic ink pen, fragile paper
For nearly 3 1/2 years I have been incarcerated; yet, I have made every effort to live in the mindset of freedom. Every day is a therapeutic endeavor to improve. Every day, my pen creates art, poems and notes; the pen has become the tool for transformation. It honors those I've encountered here in the DOC. It keeps love alive in my family. The pen heals me, it heals us, sends out my SOS. It humbly places on display my New Heart. This piece is part of that New Heart; "On fragile paper is my fragile heart for you to see and for me to be."
What role does art play in your life?
Art took me on a pilgrimage of self discovery. Each time I engaged the ink pen it moved in truth; it wrote truth; it created truth and it caused walls to crash down. With the walls removed I could no longer hide. Art became a means of exposure. It didn't matter if it was liked or disliked; art became silence and healing; art became Repair and Love. Art is the purest truth of who we are and that's why I pick up the Bic pen every day; so by art I can embrace the me God made me to be. What inspires me to create? I asked a Corrections Officer if he could look up on Google how long a continuous line a Bic pen could make. That distance is 1.2 to 1.3 miles long, and thus my chosen art medium is Bic pens and my inspiration and dream is to create a series of lines that touch the hearts of others; lines that erase lines that separate us; lines that reach the heavens; lines that tell you (the Viewer of this art) you are special, you have value, you are worthy to be loved.
Meet David Edward Lenarz, Jr.
An article by Hilary Dahlman
David Lenarz
David Lenarz may be just about the only formerly incarcerated person who swears to return. But he wants to be clear—he’ll be coming back as a chaplain. “I said to more than a couple of correctional officers that I would be returning….and I’m going to be wearing a DOC uniform and it’s going to have chaplain’s bars on the collar.” Initially, this wasn’t the plan exactly. When he first got involved with Art From the Inside, he said, “it seemed like a positive thing to engage in….I had no clue just how much it was going to transform my life. I really, really had no clue.” While knowing his art was having an impact on others, David says the real appeal was that “it was engaging my inner being at a depth and level I didn’t know existed, and it got right down to touching all the pains, all the hurts, all of the traumas, and all of the fears that I’ve run from all my life.”
Art wasn’t always in David’s blood. “What inspired me to be creative was boredom,” he says. He swears his daughters are the actual artists in the family. “Really my artwork began as just a doodler. I would just sit in my truck and take my pen out and I just started sketching on my notebook….but I never though of myself as an artist.” His process these days is undefined. “I kind of like to take that one subject and blend things around…Poster art. Maybe that’s what it’s called? You know, I don’t know. I just kind of like to blend things together.” He holds up a piece to the camera that holds Keith Ellison, Lady Justice, Governor Walz, and an eagle. For patrons of David’s art, there may be some secrets in his pieces too—“you know, if you look real hard, you can make some text in the background…” One of his pieces contained some scripture and words of hope and encouragement.
These days David spends his time giving back by helping incarcerated people reintegrate back into society. By finding the artist within himself, he says he can better connect with others and appreciate their artistic and creative abilities.
How does creating art impact yourself, your sense of self, and your well-being?
“I started caring about myself. I started loving myself and I know that was definitely evident to my family…..[the] things that I’ve been suffering from all my life and running away from were killing me….and then the offense happened. I ended up being incarcerated but life changed when I started seeing myself as an artist and self-worth. Not self-esteem. Self-worth…..it gave me the ability to accept my flaws, my imperfections and it even helped me become closer to God…and that spiritual journey combined with the artistic journey….I mean, it has just given me an incredible sense of peace and purpose.”
What are you trying to achieve with your art?
“Sometimes in life you make mistakes that you regret for a long, long time and in the imperfection of being a human being you know, sadly, we hurt people…..I think what I’m trying to achieve is giving people a little bit of an apology; to share a little bit of my compassion and my love for people that you know I always kind of hid away…..I think maybe I want to create things that are beautiful and interesting and just get people to think…..Love, peace, and unity.”
Identity Statement
I am the boat that has never seemed to be able to stay afloat; or I should say I was. Was because life has changed. I was taken apart, disassembled by life; I was broken. Identity was a scrambled mess of all the good, bad and horror the world dumped on me; I was the result of trauma and functioned behind masks. Masks fashioned to fit other people's narratives of who they wanted me to be. Sadly, those many masks failed me. Then I failed. I fell but I would not stay down. Someone saw, witnessed and expressed their vision of the me I could not see. Would not see. I decided to trust their perspective. I began to grow; I began to see me. Now, IDENTITY to me is the sum of the whole we choose to embrace. I now embrace God, Christ, The Spirit, Love, Peace, Respect, Trust, Truth, Vulnerability, Courage, Honor, Others, Hope, Self-Worth, and I embrace Faith. Most important, I embrace by all this the Right Man God gave me Purpose to be.
We Cannot Stop What We See
12 x 18
Medium: Acrylic paint
Who we are is as simple as what we see; who we are is as complicated as what we see; what we see will kill us, grow us, and transform us. What we see is powerful; what we see has power, but how we choose to see has more power. SEE WITH LOVING EYES.
Dim Light
26 x 20
Medium: Acrylic paint
I believe that this piece like the other two could stand alone but that when looking at them it moved me to do a third piece to connect them; as there is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus this piece is the Dim Light growing within me. It couldhave been ignored and I could have sat in the darkness, the dim light is there for all to grow brighter and brighter. It’s this Dim Light that connects all people.
The Face of Christ
18 x 14
Medium: Ink and watercolor
I painted the face of Christ on a day when I felt alone and without hope.
Carl G. Jung's art-making and ideologies were an impressive lifelong affair that relied upon mixed media, making it reasonable for us to consider Jung the father of art therapy. Edward Adamson is also considered the father of art therapy in Britain.
Both advocated for the use of Art as a form of recovery from mental illness. Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses Art for communication and self-expression. The idea is that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem and self-awareness. It gives a voice to the inner self that has struggled to be understood. It became a neural pathway to have conversations with the pain of PTSD that I've struggled with for years. It became my peace.Art therapy can treat a wide range of mental disorders and psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance use disorder. Beyond mental disorders, Art can soothe physical pain symptoms, enhance the quality of life among adult and children cancer patients, and improve the ability to cope with pain and other distressing symptoms.
Art has become my place of Peace.
Mouser
26 x 20
Medium: Acrylic paint
My wife and I lost two babies before our youngest was born. The losses occurred one year apart on November 17th, one hour apart; Madison was then conceived and born on August 18th. Madison's name has meaning; it is God's Little Fighter," it held so true as we nearly lost her three times.
She asked me, "Daddy, will you draw me a cat?" thus, Mouser was created. I also pulled inspiration from the poet William Butler Yeats in "The Cat and the Moon."
"HE cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet,
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.
I love that my courage has been found to embrace color as I see it; my wife and children are my heart and soul. I love them all so deeply.
I love Mouser...
I hope you enjoy it..
Justice
18 x 24
Medium: Very Heavy Wood
"Justice formed on natural law must be vigilantly maintained, always in a state of moral repair." -David Lenarz-.
Lady Justice on the left oversees the entire piece, raising the scales to show the importance of balance in our Justice system. She is connected to the definition of Justice with her right leg and sword. Laid out on our fading American Flag, showing the need for unity. Lady Liberty is to the far right of the Flag looking in; she is blurred and partially hidden by a wrench, depicting the faltering direction of our Country regarding the concepts of Freedom, Liberty, and Justice. She must be drawn partially and incompletely to represent the work that must be continued.
Laid over our American Flag is the carved outline of AMERICA, "Justice formed on natural law must be vigilantly maintained, always in a state of moral repair," sculpted by hand to represent the labor of Justice and effort needed to be applied. The carving is helped down by strong bolts and a wrench, representing the strength of our Country. The cross on the West Coast made from railroad spikes is made to symbolize strength, Courage, and Determination, as well as the overcoming of oppression of the brutalized people; the spikes further represent the dedication of those willing to work hard and the strength of sacrifice. The cross to the right on the East Coast is created from nails made over 100 years ago, set next to a modern screw located to represent Washington, DC. I wanted it to symbolize the fundamental ideologies of our constitution. I chose neutral crosses because we are becoming a Nation of Spiritual People. The crosses are turned towards each other to represent openness to one another's values and faiths.
Lastly, the State of Minnesota is hand-carved and very plain. I wanted the woods' beauty to represent our State's beauty. Held to the Flag with Strong and Powerful Bolts, displaying the Scales and Sword alone. I believe deeply, that a leader from our great State of Minnesota will come forward to further enrich and build more vital ideas of Justice.
That is the personification of the moral force in the judicial system. The sword represents the power of reason and Justice to strike down those who have committed wrongdoing, and it symbolizes swift and decisive punishment for those found guilty. It must also be the power to restore. The scales represent the weighing of evidence and balancing interests in a legal proceeding. The scales must also be the balance of healing and renewal.
Finally, there is the word alone, "Hope." We need a leader who conveys hope to all people, the standing and the fallen.
Color Blind Freedom
14 x 11
Medium: Ink and watercolor
In this piece entitled, Color Blind Freedom," as a new artist, I've been struggling with color and depth. Being color blind has created some challenges. As my confidence grows, I am stepping into the world of color more and more. Encouraged by art therapist Liz Bechle, I wanted to do a piece that was bold in color, and this is what I created. The piece was created while incarcerated at the Faribault DOC. A place where I indeed became FREE. A place where I broke free from the chains of PTSD and anxiety.
Color Blind Freedom,,,
Freedom, indeed I am Free...
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