Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Raymond Wade
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000144A
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man that has a
00:02 strong passion for art and an even stronger passion 00:05 for serving the Lord. 00:06 My name is Jason Bradley 00:08 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:34 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:36 I had the opportunity 00:37 of going to the General Conference Session 00:39 where I ran into an old friend, 00:41 Raymond Wade has been a volunteer for Dare to Dream 00:44 since its inception and designed the logo for our D2D Program 00:49 called "The New Journey" 00:50 which highlights the testimonies 00:52 of offenders and ex-offenders, 00:54 he also designed the Virtual Set for our "Did you know Fillers?" 00:57 Let's take a look at his testimony. 00:59 What a blessing it is to be at the General Conference Session 01:08 of 2015 in San Antonio, Texas, where I ran into 01:12 a wonderful family friend of mine 01:14 that I've known for probably about 19 years, 01:17 Mr. Raymond Wade, welcome, welcome. 01:21 Thank you, how are you Jason? I'm doing well. 01:23 Good to be here. 01:24 So, tell me a little bit about your background 01:27 you're an amazing artist, a wonderful God-fearing man 01:32 tell me a little bit about your background, where were you born? 01:35 Well, I was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 01:39 that would be Allegheny East Conference 01:41 that's where I was born and raised. 01:44 I was the youngest of four children, 01:47 I was raised in West Philadelphia 01:50 and that's about it. 01:53 Okay, the youngest of four children 01:56 what was it like growing up with four children 01:57 and being the baby, were you spoiled? 02:00 Well, being the youngest 02:02 you always manage to get in trouble, 02:04 Okay. or at least blamed for getting 02:06 in trouble for doing things you might not have done, 02:08 like for instance, I remember one incidence 02:12 when my brother broke a leg on a chair, 02:15 and the older brother would always prop the chair back up 02:19 and then when we play in the house, 02:21 he would always make sure I was near that area 02:24 where the leg was broken, then once I tapped it 02:26 and it fell, then I was to blame. 02:28 It was your fault. 02:29 It was my fault so, those kinds of things, 02:32 when you're the youngest but other than that 02:34 it's been a pretty good life, we had a good time. 02:36 Now how were you educated? 02:38 I was educated... we weren't a rich family 02:42 growing up my father wasn't an Adventist at the time, 02:46 he was a... my mother started Adventism 02:50 when I was a one year old, 02:51 and she was determined to give us a Christian education 02:55 so he didn't believe in Christian education at that time 03:00 so he would fight against it but she struggled and made sure 03:04 all of us got a Christian Education 03:07 in the local church school there in Philadelphia 03:10 and then we went on to Pine Forge Academy 03:13 and we went on to Oakwood College as well, 03:17 and then I went on to an Art School from there, 03:21 University of Memphis where I got an Art Degree. 03:24 Wow! wow! so you had a long journey, 03:27 Yes, yes. lot of school, 03:29 so you have a college education, 03:33 when did you determine that you wanted to pursue Art? 03:37 Well, growing up in that era, 03:41 I grew up around the late '50s- '60s- and the '70s-era 03:49 I didn't get a lot of encouragement for Art 03:53 Okay. I know downtown Philadelphia had 03:56 a great Art Museum there, they had a great Art School, 03:59 but I used to always look and admire it 04:02 but I wasn't able to attend it... 04:04 attended the school 04:05 because a lot of people were telling me 04:07 that Art is not something that I'm going to make money at, 04:13 do something else, but I was determined 04:16 you know, I had that... 04:18 so I didn't get a lot of family support 04:20 my sister was a very good artist as well, 04:23 and I used to study her art, 04:24 there was a fellow at the church who knew how to draw, 04:27 so I would tinker, you know, 04:30 but one thing that I learned that... 04:32 even though I didn't do a lot of art when I was young, 04:36 I used to look at things and imagine 04:39 that if I ever had the opportunity, 04:41 how would I draw that? How would I paint that? 04:45 How would I make that in a sculpture? 04:49 and that type of thing 04:50 and everything in my early childhood 04:52 was unique because 04:54 most of my art was contained in my mind, 04:56 Okay. 04:58 so when I finally started doing Art on my own, 05:01 things just started happening and I was able to create 05:04 things very quickly because I've studied it 05:06 even though I didn't put it down 05:09 in actual image form. 05:10 Okay. Does that make sense to you? 05:12 Yes, so you've always had a very creative artistic mind. 05:18 Right, but I didn't have a lot of support 05:21 so basically I just looked at certain people 05:25 like... we had a lot of Bible story books 05:29 I used to study a lot of Harry Anderson's paintings 05:33 and I used to say, 05:35 "How would Harry Anderson paint this?" 05:37 I studied a lot of old Masters, go to the library, 05:41 that type of thing so, I was more or less 05:43 a self-taught artist up to a point 05:45 I went to Art School where I developed more skill. 05:50 Okay, now, did you have any mentors 05:52 as you were coming up, 05:54 like, people that worked hands-on with you 05:56 with this artwork? 05:57 Well, yeah, growing up my sister used to draw 06:00 I used to admire her work, 06:01 there was a fellow at the church 06:04 I used to admire his work as well, 06:06 and, you know, studied some of the artists 06:10 that I looked at in books and that type of thing. 06:13 Okay, okay. So those were pretty much 06:15 my mentors early on. 06:17 Okay, so there was a serious lack of support 06:20 for you coming up as an artist, 06:24 Yeah. it's interesting that 06:27 you look at a lot of artists 06:29 and they don't really make it until they're dead. 06:32 We don't want that for you, 06:34 we don't want that for you, 06:36 we want you to thrive and survive. 06:38 That's true. 06:40 So, I've seen your artwork and it is amazing, 06:44 we actually have a picture of a piece 06:46 that you did, it was the "Jumping the Broom" 06:50 tell us a little bit about, "Jumping the Broom. " 06:53 Well, "Jumping the Broom" is an African-American tradition 06:58 that used to take place during the 07:02 pre- and post-slavery times 07:05 where many of the wedding ceremonies, 07:09 it's kind of like a doorway into the home, 07:12 they would put a broom there to symbolize 07:15 their industry or their working conditions 07:18 and they would jump over this broom 07:20 into a ceremony which symbolized their marriage 07:26 in their union together, 07:27 and that's what the painting is symbolizing 07:30 you see in the background is food, 07:33 Oh yes. 07:35 this particular painting is done in a... 07:38 what I call an Afro-Centric way where everything has 07:42 pyramid shapes... Okay. 07:44 which was a shape that many of the 07:47 Nubian cultures used in Egypt 07:50 where it was diamond-shaped or pyramid-shaped. 07:54 if you look at the artwork, 07:56 you'll see that the dog there has... 07:59 you could draw like a triangle, so all through it is triangular, 08:04 or pyramid shaped, Okay. 08:06 so that's the composition and the design of this piece 08:09 and if you see, all the different things 08:12 that they used in African-American culture 08:14 like the food in the background, the living conditions, 08:18 I had showed pictures of happiness and dance 08:22 and I have one of religion, you know it's all comprised 08:26 within that painting, Okay. 08:28 That is a beautiful painting 08:30 by the way. Well, thank you. 08:32 Now where is it that you pull your inspiration from, 08:35 where do you get your inspiration, 08:36 when you're sitting down and you're getting ready to 08:40 paint one of your masterpieces where does it come from, 08:44 because you're creating something from nothing, 08:45 you have a blank canvas and then you're working away 08:51 and creating something spectacular. 08:53 Well, most artists receive a lot of inspiration 08:57 from their lifestyle, Okay. 08:59 I call myself... I'm a realist... 09:01 you know, I paint things that I see 09:04 and that are realistic, 09:05 I like to paint things as I see them. 09:07 Okay. 09:09 Realistically, as far as the images, 09:12 realistically as far as the social aspects 09:16 of what that person is doing socially, economically, 09:21 and spiritually, so, I consider myself 09:24 a realist, I get a lot of my inspiration 09:27 from religious art as well, 09:30 I tried to do things that are positive and cultural 09:34 and that's basically where I draw my inspiration from 09:37 and I also like to study some of the old Masters 09:41 as far as their techniques, I like their style, 09:45 I like some of their... 09:46 now one great Adventist artist... 09:49 I follow his style as well, 09:51 that he has an exhibit here in the General Conference as well. 09:56 I like his style of painting because he paints realistically, 10:00 spiritually scenes, Okay. 10:02 and I like to paint cultural scenes 10:04 and also occasionally I dip into a little abstract 10:08 I like abstract but I like to have an image 10:11 not just something you don't recognize 10:14 but an image, an abstract image, 10:16 so, those are the things that I like to paint. 10:20 At what age did you develop the passion for Art, 10:25 I mean, sometimes you get into things, 10:27 you begin to do them you don't always start off 10:30 that great but then as you build like, what age did that passion 10:36 burn inside you? 10:37 I really enjoyed Art as far back as I can remember 10:43 even at the age of five and six, 10:47 one of the North American Division Vice Presidents, 10:53 used to be my classmate 10:55 back in our school in Philadelphia 10:57 and he used to tell me 10:58 that I used to always get in trouble 11:00 because in the early years 11:02 when I was supposed to be paying attention to our teacher, 11:05 I was tinkering and drawing and scribbling on my pad, 11:09 so even early on as far as first grade 11:12 I had that passion to do something in Art. 11:15 Wow! 11:16 I knew that was something that I wanted to do. 11:18 I know plenty of first graders that draw better 11:21 and paint better than I could ever paint 11:23 I did not inherit that artistic gene. 11:26 And I think you have an inherent... 11:30 you have something in you, creative, 11:34 but that talent has to be developed. 11:37 Okay. You have a desire to paint, 11:39 or to draw or to create something, 11:42 but you have to develop that talent. 11:44 Now do you feel like it's something that could be learned 11:47 and acquired or do you have to... 11:49 do you feel like it's something that 11:51 you have to just be born with naturally? 11:54 I think it goes both ways, you can... 11:56 because when I started out, 11:58 I've been looking at my early paintings 12:00 versus as my paintings now, 12:01 I don't like the early ones anymore 12:05 I like my later paintings because they look more polished 12:09 but early on, 12:11 you know you have that desire 12:14 and in your mind, it's the greatest thing ever 12:16 but as time went on I got... 12:19 you know, you develop and you get better 12:21 and you keep working at your skill till you develop it 12:24 but Art is something that you really never 12:27 reach that point of perfection, 12:31 you're always striving to get better. 12:33 Yes. You always see another Artist 12:35 and you say, "I want to do that... better 12:37 I can do my hands a little better, 12:40 I can paint 'noses' a little better" 12:42 and that's... so it's always something you're striving for. 12:45 What struggles did you have as an up-and-coming Artist, 12:49 what challenges did you face? 12:51 Well, like early on I had no encouragement. 12:54 Okay. 12:56 My parents didn't see there was something, 12:59 they felt that it was something that rich people did 13:04 and a poor African-American kid 13:10 in Philadelphia living in certain conditions, 13:14 they felt like I needed to do something else 13:18 to maintain a living and so... that was some of the struggles 13:23 when I went to college, I was actually studying 13:27 Medical Technology. Oh really, okay. 13:32 Yes, but I enrolled in school a little late 13:37 and I wasn't able to take the courses that I wanted to take 13:42 so the only thing that was available left 13:45 were some Art Courses and I took these Art Courses 13:49 and I dropped out of Medical Technology 13:52 and continued in the Art, 13:54 because that's what I really wanted to do. 13:55 So those were pretty much some of my struggles growing up. 14:01 And then how did you take that passion... 14:04 that desire for Art, 14:06 how did you take that and turn that into ministry? 14:08 Well, after I graduated, I met my wife, 14:14 Jeanette Hikes, at that time 14:18 and she wasn't an Adventist but we gave her Bible Studies, 14:26 she became an Adventist, and we got baptized 14:29 actually we're celebrating 35 years next week on the 13th. 14:35 Congratulations! 14:37 I just saw the pastor that baptized us 14:39 not too long ago... a few minutes ago 14:42 out in the General Conference area 14:45 but anyway, I went on... after I got married 14:51 and I finished college, Art School, 14:55 in the back of my mind I kept hearing, 14:59 "You cannot make it in Art, you cannot make it in Art" 15:03 because these are the things that I was taught, 15:06 my wife encouraged me to try out for this 15:09 large advertising company and I said, "No way" 15:16 I said, "They're not going to hire me, 15:18 I'm fresh out of college" 15:20 it was an outdoor advertising company, 15:23 it was actually painting billboards 15:25 I said, "They're never hiring me" 15:28 and she said, "Well, you're telling me 15:30 about faith, what about your faith?" 15:33 So, I said, "Okay" so I went down there 15:36 and it just so happened that some of the painters 15:40 had this little mini-revolution at the company 15:44 and they got fired, so they needed three painters 15:49 very quickly, and I happened to interview 15:51 right at the time they needed the painters 15:54 and they said, "All right, come on in" 15:57 they hired me, and this was the largest 15:59 advertising company in the world, 16:01 they do outdoor advertising, they do all the advertising 16:05 for airports, they're on TV Stations 16:09 as well as most of the major radio stations 16:12 and I was working in outdoor advertising 16:15 so, at that time, 16:18 we used to hand paint the billboards 16:22 these billboards were 14 feet by 48 feet 16:27 so they were huge, 16:28 now inside wasn't too bad because 16:33 you can stand back from it 16:35 but when you have to work outside, 16:37 and you had to climb a hundred foot billboard 16:42 and you are on the scaffolding, 16:44 you're right up on the billboard so, 16:48 that became very difficult 16:50 so you had to know what was going to look good, 16:53 and what wasn't going to look good, 16:54 but I learned so much from that company, 16:58 I worked for that company for 18 years 17:02 but the problem that I was having at that... 17:04 I started feeling bad about that because 17:07 Outdoor Advertising Companies during the '80s and '90s, 17:12 did a lot of cigarettes and they did a lot of alcohol 17:17 and the Holy Spirit started working on me 17:19 "This is not what I want you to do" 17:22 And I'm glad that you said that 17:24 because that was going to bring me to another question, 17:26 what challenges did you face as a Christian artist 17:30 you know, not wanting to compromise 17:32 the faith to make a quick buck? 17:34 Yeah, and it was a difficult decision 17:38 because the money was good, 17:40 you know, I was able to buy 17:41 any car that I wanted, live where I wanted, 17:44 but it started bothering me 17:48 about doing certain types of 17:53 advertising... now, I did go to my supervisor 17:57 and told him that I wanted paint maybe... restaurant things 18:01 and not so much alcohol and cigarettes, 18:03 so I did get a break 18:05 but sometimes you would have to do it, 18:07 so I still felt bad about it 18:09 so the Holy Spirit started working on me 18:13 and around 2000, 18:15 that part of advertising, 18:18 as far as hand painting, was phased out 18:21 and they started letting painters go, 18:23 Okay. so that's when I started 18:26 my own company, 18:30 Okay, what's the name of your company? 18:32 RJ Wade Enterprises 18:35 And what's the website 18:37 for your company, how can you be reached? 18:38 You can reach me at www. rjwade. com 18:44 and my email is: raymond@rjwade. com 18:49 Okay, okay, 18:52 now you said earlier, "I want to take it... 18:55 move towards the family aspect of it" 18:58 unfortunately, now-a-days, in our Society, 19:02 there are so many broken homes, 19:03 there are so many failed marriages, 19:05 there are so many kids without fathers 19:07 and et cetera, et cetera, 19:09 how did you manage to maintain 19:13 such a fruitful and happy marriage 19:18 for 35 years, and raise a kid, 19:22 you have a son as well that I know quite well 19:25 who grew up to become an anesthesiologist, 19:28 how did you, what are some tips 19:31 what are some tools that you implemented? 19:33 Well the first thing you have to do is find a great wife. 19:36 That would definitely help. 19:38 You have to find a great wife, 19:40 and I found that in my wife, Jeanette, 19:44 she was very supportive and she gravitated towards 19:50 Adventism very quickly, 19:53 she has always been the type of person 19:55 that was an Adventist waiting to be introduced 19:58 to Adventism, she gravitated towards 20:01 the diet, the ministry, 20:03 so that's a great help, and also embracing my... 20:10 I learned a lot from my mother as well, 20:13 my mother was a Bible Worker but my father, growing up, 20:19 was... he was a hard worker 20:22 but he was an alcoholic early on 20:25 but my mother stuck with him 20:28 she prayed and she 20:31 constantly worked with him 20:32 and my father ended up joining the church 20:34 under C.D. Brooks one of his evangelistic meetings 20:39 in Philadelphia and he did join the church 20:43 and became a Literature Evangelist 20:46 until the day he died so, praise the Lord for that 20:49 so that has kind of stuck in my mind, 20:51 and some of the things that she taught me growing up 20:54 Christian education, 20:56 and when my own son, 20:58 I said I was going to 21:00 pay him a lot of attention 21:03 go to his games. I never missed any of his games, 21:08 I taught him sports, I wanted him to be a man's man 21:13 we all used to play ball together 21:16 Yeah we did. 21:18 and Gabriel became a very good basketball player 21:20 but one thing I noticed about my son 21:22 he was very smart, 21:24 because my wife used to teach him to read early on 21:26 Okay. and even at the age of two 21:29 he was able to read small books 21:31 and I saw that he was very gifted, 21:33 he was a very smart young man 21:35 and I used to want to be a doctor... growing up 21:38 so I said, "Well, maybe I can help him 21:41 become a doctor as well" 21:43 if he decided that he wanted to be something else, 21:46 that was fine also but he stuck with it 21:48 Gabriel made good grades. 21:51 And that's something that always 21:54 impressed me about Gabe 21:55 because coming up through the years, 21:57 I mean he was... everybody was like, 22:00 "Oh Gabe, come and play" 22:02 but Gabe could play basketball like no other. 22:04 He was All-State Basketball Player 22:08 and He still maintained like a 4.0 GPA 22:11 which never ceased to amaze me. 22:15 Well, I had a different scale for Gabriel, 22:17 I used to tell him that I didn't go below an "A" 22:23 I said, "A plus" is excellent "A minus" is equivalent to a "B" 22:30 and an "A" is equivalent to a "B" 22:34 and an "A minus" is equivalent to a "C" 22:36 so I had a pretty high scale for him 22:38 because I knew he could do it and he always maintained a 4.0 22:42 all the way through college and even into Medical School 22:47 you know, he did well, so... 22:49 And now he's an anesthesiologist. 22:51 Now he's a practicing anesthesiologist. 22:53 So, what's next for you? 22:55 Well, currently I'm working on a public art project 23:01 in the city of Fort Worth Okay. 23:03 and also, I'm working as a kind of a 23:09 graphic artist evangelist, I call myself a... 23:15 I have a ministry within the churches 23:18 in the Dallas Fort Worth area I do a lot of their literature, 23:23 people want to do religious CDs, 23:26 covers, I do book covers, I do a lot of brochures, 23:31 I do work for... 23:32 even work for North America Division 23:36 I do work for... I remember back... 23:41 not this General Conference but I think 23:44 two General Conferences ago 23:46 I did the Education Magazine Cover 23:48 so I work with that throughout the church 23:51 and I use that as a ministry 23:53 in order to get out the advertising and the marketing 23:58 so people could come into the meetings 24:01 and then to church. Okay, 24:03 now, in the short time that we have left 24:06 I want you to look into the camera over here 24:09 and I want you to tell that struggling artist out there 24:13 what advice do you have for them... 24:15 the up-and-coming artists? 24:17 I would say, 24:20 if you are an artist 24:21 and you have a passion for doing it 24:23 believe in the Lord and the Lord will lead you 24:26 into the way that you should go. 24:28 Art is not so much limited to painting or sculpture, 24:35 it's also... you could be a graphic artist 24:38 you could be an animator, 24:39 you could be... any creative field 24:41 is a field that takes some type of artistic ability, 24:46 even in a television studio, 24:48 you have to have some type of creativity 24:51 in order to work your cameras in... 24:53 you know to work different things into the stage 25:00 the stages are done by artists, 25:02 the graphics are done by artists, 25:04 so, I would suggest to anybody 25:06 that has the ability and creative mind, 25:09 is to seek the Lord first, and continue in prayer 25:14 and work hard at your craft, 25:15 and keep the Lord first in all that you do 25:18 and you will be successful. 25:20 Yes and again that's very important 25:23 you have to put the Lord first in all kinds of things, 25:27 see, you stood up for the Lord, you stepped away from 25:31 the guaranteed money, all of that, 25:33 and you stood up for the Lord, 25:35 and you stood up for your principles 25:37 and you still pursued your passion 25:40 but you did it in a format 25:41 that would honor and glorify God. 25:43 and whenever you do that God blesses that 25:47 He honors that and He keeps that. 25:49 Well, it has been such a pleasure 25:51 having you here... Well, thank you Jason. 25:53 and this is so much different from when I was a kid. 25:56 Yeah, I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you. 25:57 So, thank you so much Mr. Wade. 26:00 All right, thank you. All right. 26:03 Think about it, 26:04 Raymond sacrificed a high-paying career 26:07 to follow Christ, that reminds me of a text 26:10 in Mark chapter 8 verse 36 which reads, 26:12 "For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, 26:16 and forfeit his soul?" 26:17 God is and was the greatest artist of all time 26:20 and His canvas is the world and all that's in it 26:23 Psalm 19:1 says, 26:25 "The heavens declare the glory of God; 26:27 and the firmament shows His handiwork. " 26:30 I encourage you to take a look around you 26:32 and marvel at God's creation, 26:34 our Creator creates nothing but masterpieces 26:37 which we have the privilege 26:39 and opportunity of enjoying, 26:41 each and every one of us possesses talents 26:44 that we can utilize to bring honor and glory to God. 26:46 Are you using the talents that God gave you 26:50 for His honor and glory? 26:51 At Dare to Dream we really appreciate our Viewers. 26:54 I got to meet a lot of you at GC, 26:56 and I was so moved by the impact 26:58 that Dare to Dream is having in your lives. 27:00 Some of you asked me about the ways to watch Dare to Dream. 27:04 You can download the free 3ABN APP 27:06 onto your Smartphone or Tablet 27:08 or you can make a one-time purchase 27:11 of a Roku box and watch D2D on your television. 27:14 Of course, you can just go to our website 27:16 and watch us on your computer 27:17 and while you're there, "Like" us on Facebook, 27:20 and check us out on Instagram and Twitter, 27:22 our Social Media information is on our Website. 27:25 If the Holy Spirit impresses you to support Dare to Dream 27:28 with a tax-deductible love gift, 27:30 please send it to: 27:32 Dare To Dream, PO Box 220, West Frankfort, Il 62896 27:37 or give us a call at 618-627-4651 27:43 and share with us how 27:45 you have been touched by the programming 27:47 here on Dare to Dream, 27:48 our Website information is: D2DNetwork. tv 27:53 and there are different ways on there 27:55 in which you can get to our Instagram 27:57 and our Twitter and our Facebook. 27:59 Well, we've reached the end of another Program, 28:02 join us next time and remember 28:04 it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2015-12-09