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Medical crisis launched new career for musician turned artist
By Nissa LaPoint
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Photo by James Baca/DCR |
When the world got silent, Lance Bendiksen began his journey to God.
An ear injury that nearly destroyed his hearing in 2005 ended Bendiksen’s some 35-year career in the music industry and set him on the path of new intimacy with the Lord.
“I feel close to God,” 56-year-old Bendiksen said. “That’s a good place to be.”
He lost his job, his marriage and his previous house in Denver. Unable to work with severe earaches caused by any sound, he retreated to a shed-turned-studio behind his Wheat Ridge ranch house where he started to paint, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“When I had my own personal Job story, I just started painting,” Bendiksen said referring to the biblical narrative in the Book of Job. “(Now) I have a permanent smile on my face.”
After receiving the anointing of the sick from Msgr. Thomas Fryar, pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and moderator of the curia, he was healed.
He gives thanks to God for his healed ears through his contemporary and expressionist oil paintings that depict various Christian images.
An array of bright colors including reds, blues and whites make up his one series of paintings based on stained glass.
“These paintings are inspired by stained-glass work at the Cathedral Basilica,” he said pointing to a few pieces of artwork on display in his living room.
One painting shows Christ’s transfiguration in a contemporary style while still true to its traditional form. Another shows Mary wearing a blue cloak with her arms outstretched.
Bendiksen uses an “alla prima” (Italian for “first attempt”) technique, meaning the oil painting is done in one sitting wet-on-wet as opposed to layers, he said.
One of his largest paintings depicts Jesus with the Twelve Apostles at the Last Supper.
“The paintings are more fluid but it’s very striking and very emotive,” Msgr. Fryar said.
Bendiksen’s work is also inspired by artwork he saw at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, N.M. French expressionist painter George Rouault and Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky are his main influences.
In every piece of artwork, Bendiksen said he strives to depict emotion.
When painting crucifixes, he was particularly moved and “would feel the suffering” of Christ on the cross, he said.
Since he began painting about a year ago, Bendiksen’s work has been displayed by former Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., and Isaac Slade, lead singer of the rock band The Fray.
During his career in the music industry, Bendiksen landed a record deal in 1989 and toured the nation doing concerts and raising money for the homeless, he said.
He later won awards and an Emmy for his work as a film composer and music producer. He worked on projects for musician Sarah McLachlan, the Cowboy Junkies and The Fray.
But throughout his career, art was his escape.
Primarily a self-taught painter, Bendiksen took his love of painting from a secular direction into a Christian-focused theme. He was a practicing Lutheran until converting to Catholicism two years ago because of his desire to make a confession.
“Now it’s like I’m a little kid again,” he said.
He’s enjoying his life and time with his two children, girlfriend and relationship with God.
“If he wants me to paint, I’m going to paint,” he said.
Nine of his paintings are on display at House of Carmel Religious Books and Gifts in Wheat Ridge. They range from $250 to thousands of dollars per painting.
For more information about Bendiksen’s work, contact him at 720-234-1234 or email him at lance@bendiksenproductions.com.
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