Roscoe's Roost

Today we have something really special to share. This is a gift that was given to us by Roscoe's favorite artist, just prior to Alisha's baby shower. When Paul pulled us aside at church to give us the gift, we weren't sure what to expect. Then he unrolled this from a tube he was carrying and we were completely blown away.

This is a hand-painted map of Neverland that measures about 3' x 4'! The map is painted on canvas with the edges roughed up to make it look like it's a really old relic. We had to hold the map down with two boards to take this picture, but in the middle of the left edge of the map you can partially see a circle he painted to look like a water stain from an old mug. The stain looks so realistic that I thought he just used an old piece of canvas that already had water damage!

What impressed me almost as much as how cool this map looks, was that Paul took the time to read the entire book of Peter Pan to make sure that he didn't miss anything on the map that wasn't shown in movies. He signed the map in the lower corner with another mug stain with his fingerprint in the middle.

As can be seen in the "Neverland" text above and the mermaid lagoon below, Paul also added glitter to parts of the map to make them sparkle for an extra visual effect (depth/motion) as the light hits them:

He also used glitter in the Fairy Forest, which is Alisha's favorite part of the map. It is coincidentally also about to be attacked by my favorite part of the map, which is Hook's Ship.

To top it all off, he even personalized the map with a location that isn't found in the Peter Pan book (but should be): Roscoe's Roost. This map will get passed down to Roscoe as he grows and has children of his own. We were thinking that his children may see Roscoe's Roost on the map and wonder whether Roscoe has actually been away from Neverland so long that he's allowed himself to grow up. If he's anything like his dad, he probably will never fully grow up.

The map has a ton of detail. The compass on the map even matches with the colors of Roscoe's room. The horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines you see in the background were also added (yet look like they are just old marks on the canvas) to look like coordinate markers. There are so many little touches that make this gift special to us, but what makes it most special is the love we see behind each of the details. 

Thank you Paul for all of the work you put into what has to be the best gift I've ever received. Thank you to God for giving Paul his creative gift and for creating a world with wonder and imagination, a world that can see things which aren't truly there and exist only in the mind's eye.

God's creativity astounds me through works like this. It is one thing to be creative, yet it is a totally grander thing to do as God does and invent the concept of creativity and create something that itself can use that creativity to create. You've noticed some of the details of Paul's creation in this blog post. I encourage you to look at the wonders that God has designed and planted all around us to show us his artistry. Our creator is wonderful and his imagination is vast.