Iris After Hours - Episode 76 - Victor and Diana Atkins

hi welcome back to iris after hours excited yes so good to have you guys with us because we have our ally fame school track leaders Victor and Diana Atkins here with us in the studio today guys welcome thank you thank you for coming Diana ah phenomenal they are amazing artists in their own right I've been doing up for years and years and have just they're young fillies well I've moved over from fillies that moves everyone Philadelphia just like nine months ago there are nine no words yeah calling of the Lord uprooted themselves are moved here to Los Angeles and not knowing what God is calling to do they run a studio God's called me to this beautiful studio that's just around the corner and they are here and they have the miracles come together and they've come on board as our leaders for the first time a fourth track in our la femme school doing painting Wow we are so excited as we are it's really an honor and we're just excited to be the next extension of the close of it iris Los Angeles family come on yes my family yes I only talk about the first question my tongue I hear a rumor that somebody is making clothes out of your paintings Victor is this true this is that's true a good friend and her name is crumbly dough she has a business called crumbly to Couture has done a lot it's already done I've done a lot of couture clothing as well as t-shirts and sweatshirts that are based on seven different paintings that I've done and pretty awesome yeah it was no surprise no it's initially well let me rephrase that yes she sent me an email and said would you send me some images and I didn't know what the images were for and absolutely so I said the images and then she sent me back it's so sketches of just clothing and I said what and so she claimed that she had this the this line of cooked or clothing and t-shirts that she wanted to do and she had dreams of also coming to LA she was a fellow Philly person it was unbelievable on that quarterback man I do Bible oh yeah those UV international super well he's like it's the North American football grand final basically yeah and it's amazing he's not Americans out there so anyway with the clothing it was again an amazing amazing blessing and so there's a group showing at the end of this month and some of the paintings and the clothing edition on there so so we this is him in on Melrose at the 88 thousand block of Miller's called loves the gallery Lu Zhi which I think means light night in Sweden and a fellow il Lucifer you know iris Los Angeles family member matt has done an immoral inside which is quite beautiful yeah so we're converging I know that was crazy and you didn't even know that Matt didn't even know me I just say okay well you introduced them yeah can you talk to us a bit about your journey to LA is this much something you anticipated for a long time was it kind of curveball that was a sudden it depends on who which one of us she's talking because well Victor had been hinting about LA he'd been in ting about the he felt the Lord wanted us to move but he was saying either knew back to New York or to out to LA because you are New Yorkers yeah from New York or new young fillies but yeah really yeah that's where our history was so and I see yeah New York City we used to live in Tribeca for a while oh yeah yeah so I did not want to come the thought of LA was just you know and but he every now and then would mention it and and then it turned out that our friend where he just talked about who's the the fashion designer she felt like she was being called to LA and Victor had mentioned it to her so she said well I would like to gift you guys with a trip on me so that you can come we can all go together and and get a sense of things not understand that I actually had a word from the Lord a year and a half before all this conversation and I've learned with Diana that she has to hear from him I can't say yeah listen the Lord said we need to be in a way and she'll say something really astute like he didn't tell me and we'll fight it for months because I want to be obedient she wants to get our confirmation so we waited for a year and a half until this opportunity but I felt convicted that we needed to be here that I had a very clear you know that inner or durable place that this is where we need to be and absolutely no information as to why if it's just you need to get up and go oh wow anything really and leave your family and leave your father's house yeah I'll go to that Museum yes but Donna needed lots of compromise yeah Sam's my wife which you got oh my goodness oh my goodness yeah he's so faithful yeah and he does it in such a way that he'd like not only gives you confirmation but he also kind of changes your heart yeah you know because thanking happily Sara yeah I mean when we came out during that trip like the first number of days it was really I hated every minute of it I'll be honest six days in traffic yeah and it was like I don't know so the night before we were supposed to leave I was on the floor of the motel bathroom and I was like talking to God saying listen I'll come but you're gonna have to make it so clear to my heart because this is a big thing yeah we're leaving our grandkids we're leaving our families relieving the land cuz he knows my relationship to the land and yes I said you just you have to make it so clear to my heart and then one thing after the other after another he brought people into you know met us that day before we were gonna leave that started speaking into like the the whole creative world that's out here that's really unique and yeah everywhere we went there were people Victor heard this conversation behind us where there was these this really diverse group of people and they were all talking about their painting and it was just like wow and the person that he brought into our lives that day she started talking to me about you know the the whole art scene but in a way that it brought a lot of clarity about what I believe the Lord's been asking me to do yeah so but I was still really scared and even when we left that day you want me to tell the whole story well yeah [Laughter] I was still like well I don't know I don't know and they're not long after we were supposed to go to a baby shower when we were back in Philly and I wasn't feeling well so we stayed home and then Viktor turned on the TV and we were watching the free pursuit which is out of mechanicsburg it was so a global conference yes the pursuits that will heart room yes there was a prophetic conference and will was there and a few other people but Stacey Campbell was speaking yeah so um we were watching and then she was speaking then she kind of stopped speaking and said I don't know why I'm doing this but I feel like I should say that I was just in Southern California and the Spirit of the Lord is so I really do but know that I told Wesley we're gonna move there and every other day that they lived in Canada forever absolutely no intention of leaving town so I don't know if she's actually moving she moved her but then she yeah so so then she walks a little bit closer and points to the camera and she says and you can tell this book because it really hit you yeah well she looks into the camera sis and I believe there's a couple out there and you're thinking that you're too old you're thinking it makes no sense you're thinking about leaving your grandkids you're thinking about leaving your families but if you come there will be such a blessing for generations on your face it was like I was I was on the floor floor and I thought okay god that's it and in that moment it was like okay and everything it was hard but for you yeah he stops take Stacey Campbell at a conference from a livestream yeah just to talk to you through your decision yeah and that scene says yeah and then so she she she had her confirmation and revelation that was a prayer down government to just give her a revelation so then we heard start giving us strategies and we had like five dollars in the back and I love hearing coming to LA stories yeah it's so good and we started adding up the unit renting the truck and doing this in the Airbnb sand it came up to this a little over $20,000 so of course he said you know gonna renew our vows and say we go renew your vows but make it a fundraiser which was a bizarre who does that but we did that and the tertian and we had a lot of spiritual kids but yeah thirty of them you and so they came around this and they just said stay home we're gonna do everything it all we can't you can't do it says you can bring a cake this is a lettuce bring a cake and but they decorated it so that they decorated the whole church that they set up music but it bases it Justin though there was a wonderful things we wanted to come here unto the Lord you know we were married in 1990 but coming here you know we're both yes we want to come under the Covenant of marriage unto the Lord so so he started giving a strut very real strategy to sell everything sandy except which you absolutely need and what you love so so we came here with a truck full of paintings and a few kitchen things and so we went from five to five dollars to twenty five thousand dollars in five weeks and so we sold a lot of our praise God and just all of our stuff and if that money just kept multiplying none of it made sense because that's just God for the amount of stuff we sold and many going over it in retrospect doing taxes and it doesn't add up how much came in and how much so there's money multiplied in there thank you Jesus yeah so we did but you know we actually gave notice before we had come to look for a place so we had 30 days to get out or we're gonna be a little bit oh come on well my ticket and you got out well and came for ten days and because God has a sense of humor on the tenth day it was the very first place we looked at and now you guys have an art studio painting studio it's huge yeah bigger than you anticipated so that's separate from the house right now yeah so you live somewhere else at first right oh yeah when we we thought well when we were moving here since it's so expensive we would either try getting a small house and then a separate studio but that was really expensive when we ended up getting a slightly bigger house and figuring that we'd make one of the bedrooms into a studio but since Victor Victor paints the size of that really wasn't working out very well yeah and I you know I tried putting my easel in the my office and like it was just like tripping over things and we tried that for a while and but then the Lord we both felt the same time that the Lord released us to look for a separate studio we had no idea how we would do that but and we started by looking and we looked at a place and our our prayer has always been if it's from you God you keep the doors open and keep the doors closed for anything you don't want us to walk through and could pray yeah anything that the first place that we actually put an application in he made it really clear that wasn't the right place to go in and then the second place we you know we were new to Pasadena so we didn't know and so we saw this cool-looking space in the listing and we followed the directions to get there and it was up the Nally and as we're driving up this the alley we see this sign on the side of the building on does that say what I think it says it's it was the back of Pi hop recitation yeah so we started realizing that the studio that we were about to look at was directly above their office space and we're like this is crazy so and through a whole series of events the Lord made that place available and and and now it's just like we're just blowing out of the water just blown out of the water it's amazing and it's are you both abstract painters no my paintings are abstract even more so now and Diana's borden much more than nature driven realistic yeah yeah yeah for now we'll see where he's another connection with the oil I fam and you coming up with that that's pretty crazy too yeah as we met you at each if you don't already our house we know huh yes and your wife was there not now years ago you guys had a school in Atlanta and there was no Fine Arts truck and I was interested in going and I was very very disappointed that there was no Fine Arts truck so I I'm at this dinner this woman that I just met and she's Sam was sitting across from me and I'm what this is what I'm a painter and we're just kind of finding out who we are and hearing those stories and she's telling me what you guys do and well I'm really excited that that's here in LA but I told her I was mad at her and it's just so mean you're mad at me just met me okay I said no and then I explained that well I saw about the school there's no phone on strike and I just left that now we were still in this house was with national bedrooms with no idea that we would have a studio and she said no you know we've been praying about that but we just don't have the space and it just wasn't in the cards right then so we just left it there so then then this came up and with the studio and God released the studio and we thought well that would just be a place where you guys incumbant bring your people and we would be just be happy to rent it to you and so Nathan came up and because he's not enthusiastic the space was big and he loved the art and he just went with the assumption that we were gonna teach which was a dream of us but we didn't want to through through this our whole journey with God is the only word that we've had for him it was just show up yeah we've never had any any grand vision other than we need to be here and we need to show up because he's doing stuff you know it said some 119 levers you know he's a lamp into your feet and unto your path he's always but in this journey has been on to her feet yes it's been one step so you know we have a heart to teach you know we're both the long-term professionals it made sense but we didn't want to impose our cellphone on what is a family that we've been invited to it's so blessed by and so I you guys saw the work and then well you saw it first and then you brought Sarah and the boys over yeah and you loved it but it said you know let's pray about it and let's pray about all this and and there was this big rush to get things done if we're gonna do it because the website had been stalled yes it's right yeah so yeah so we were praying about it and then Sean Bowles has these imagine conference here in LA and where they are we're part of the for anything and then all of a sudden Victor gets cold out and Diana gets cold out in the this is in the Angelis temple that is my personal journey pressure the biggest construction impossible construction great depressions of your stone yeah and the architects it is impossibly cannot build this Amy said build it God trick game is playing it's possible build it crazy story anywhere they're in God's house and you guys in front of thousands people get called out there we go there's that confirmation order right there and whatever you want say well my middle name is Bennett and I've never been a fan of my build man I like it I don't tell anybody about it and so it is Shawn it's almost at the very end of the conference and he said does Victor Bennett mean to anything to anybody I just like okay so I just any because oh it's our Victor and and so you know I've had conversations just to say hello and he recognizes us Eddie expression of 58 and and then he went unsaid but the Lord has hidden your identity from that I didn't I didn't know your name and then he went on to talk is the word zeal heart mean anything to you and I went and all my brilliance went and then he's a son he played with some humor but I I really say this about lawyers about Diana so he spoke a little bit into her heart and the promises on on her life and then he spoke the greater word into us that you know the Lord said that we were Renaissance artists and that we were here for for our own work to to release our own work and to do an impact on what the voices and the marketplace now but also to equip young artists to release young artists it's just the freedom and the authenticity of their own story so it confidently saying what he's missing and it was so specific and so accurate and good word was it this is not a ten year word you know this is a mal word you're not gonna have to wait ten years or twenty years that you see the power of God move through the arts and and so it was just we were excited but somewhat stunned days it was also well the other part of that word was about the fact that you know because of our obedience to come here it was the only place that you know we would be able to do what he wants us to do and to to be seen and recognized for for those things so it was like yeah I mean boy but what he said specifically is he got called you called us here you because it could not be done there could not be done there so you called us here because this is where he wanted so it was just very very specific I understand the seal heart would yeah that's you there's both you have his heart honestly do like just getting to know you without main script we were on the men's group here every Wednesday morning and just your heart is full of zeal you do have a zealot that is the word for you Victor for sure well I see it you manifested thank you yeah yeah especially when he's mentoring speaking in people's lives it's yeah well if you'd prior to every us when you bring words and the greatest definitely yeah yeah I would love to hear about some of your vision for the art track coming up and just make it really clear for listeners this is our second Iowa fans cool stands for that's a little different crazy stuff you was telling me about stuff they're gonna do today it sounds unbelievable yeah I would love so you were running the fine arts track in the school if you're a novice or you know artists or you wanted my belt on get me a community with ah yeah come on boys so we're focusing on painting for fulfill this go around and some drawing i'm the two go hand-in-hand but but essentially the heart is is wanna have some fun we want to we want to plug into the notion that this is a family we've truly experienced dynamic and wonderful family and expression 50 and more so with the iris family it's just everybody's been so welcoming and we want to bring that into the track but the heart of the track is really about always the plum line with the lord but what we want to do is we want a kind of break kind of what we feel is a myopic vision that people of faith have as painters and wanna pick names its saintil vision and what i mean by that if you look at what happens in the secular world and we've been in both worlds but you know we're about ten honest honest we were about 10 11 years old on the lord story yeah but in the secular world of painting um there's full freedoms for from the absolute absurd to the absolute to fine but but in how walkers as artists who are christians and i say that specifically in that way we allow ourselves only to paint symbols that we talk to each other about look at that we know we know the shape we know the lion we we know these things that is almost like stock images that we rely on to to speak to each other but the world doesn't understand that you know they don't know what we're talking about we speaking Chinese to a world that only speaks French well they may think they know what we're talking about that's the other thing there's an assumption yet creates persecution and and about just the nose what a Christian artist is and that's why I say an artist is a Christian so but I believe that if we miss this this comes from ideas so if we have our hand in the hand of the Lord that we have full range to tell our story as long as it's based in the heart of Jesus that yes I'm not saying that every painting that's done at the front of a prophetic stage should be dark or disturbing but I think artists if that's where they are at this point I know there's at least 50 people out there who were suffering with something that that person's story and so we want to encourage people to to manage the full story of the full testimony and to develop the craft that that requires yeah and but we don't want to beat people over the head with stuff we went to find certainly some pretty straightforward technical things that they can do but mostly it's about having a fun experience to really explore what your testimony is in to do it as individuals and to do it as a family a lot of it is really to get people to align with their the childlike quality that most all art stems from there's a freedom when you're a kid you know to step into whatever the Lord is speaking to you about and however he's speaking to you and I think that that's what's exciting for both of us is the idea of like helping people find their most authentic voice as it's the Lord moving through them because it's not the same for everybody he doesn't new he wouldn't have made millions of us he needs all billions of us to express even portion of his his his manifest beauty so you know what would it look like if all the sons and daughters were be would be revealed you know in in their creative voice that's I think is extraordinary so a lot of the the process that we're gonna do is going to be exploring and getting people into a place of freedom again and and with that in conjunction with everything else that the school is going to be doing the prayer time it's going to be such an opening you know to to freedom and a fresh perspective on how the Lord's moving in their in their creative world so it's that's really excellent and also they'll be working on their technical skills yeah yeah yeah yeah a lot of it a lot of this will require that and we have some fun visions of things to do that are outside of you know what the notion of art school looks like and so it requires some skill I mean you don't have to be the next da Vinci but we want to take you where you are and once you believe we know a few things we that once you've learned here you can carry for the rest of your life continue hold on and to know that now you're part of a family like that I can't I can't over express that that as the community of artists artists are isolated people the people who spend time alone in the studio and then they'll go out socially but what does it look like to be part of a community that loves God and honors art as a viable and not even more so an important mm-hmm voice and look at how the Osmond rushing yeah and the freedom of expression the what does it look like to to to feel like um I can prep paint my story or I can write my story or I can sing my story with you know again with my hand and in his hand and and knowing the the passion it relationship the intimate relationship that we talked about this morning with the Lord and then people will understand this you know when we tell our real story people in church will understand us and people outside the four walls of church really need to hear us or will begin to understand us and will begin to break this lie that we don't know how to paint that we don't know how to sing that we don't not have making movies and I feel like this is what this school is doing because if you read through the descriptions of all the tracks the the single word that I noticed that comes right through it every synopsis is authenticity that there is a the look for them often the other I'm thinking authentic thank you sorry voice of the artist whether he an actor or whether you're a filmmaker whether a musician people want to hear your real story I think people are really tired of the can yeah repeated I expected that story well when it when it's authentic and it's coming from your own personal experience it can't help but touch anyone who sees it there's a resonance yeah resonates with people yeah yeah it's it's speaking about our humanity in relation to God and that's like this wonderful opening a wonderful you know opportunity for for anyone to be touched because it's now speaking about the human condition and it's it's leaving an opening to well how does like you know where does God come into this picture because his presence is going to be manifest yeah yes some of the things you're gonna do right you telling me over lunch and I'm gonna do this thing they're gonna get like 10 easels the only blank canvases and so this in two minute increments you start an artist and they're gonna start the painting and then they got to switch to the next painting and so the next person let's pitch again that's what you get until they get back to their their own artwork and any experience others so and so we're gonna ask people to do to finish the pieces a because on the final week is an exhibition week so we want you to complete two finished pieces that one peaceful will be based on we've asked people to read a collection of poems by Walt Whitman and we'll build a story from that that also will be a collective story but the other final piece which we think is the important piece moving to ask people to do a self-portrait but as Jesus sees them and with no mirrors and no photographs you you have to really go deep you know that deep Talib thing you really have to go do you gotta get to to kind of be honest let's see the honest picture of what your relationship is Jesus so we can hold hands with you and pray with you and in this final week celebrate with you and celebrate the way that God sees you so there's some fun things in other plans that we have that will keep it a surprise this and then it can range from experience experience to a lot of experience in painting and drawing is the desire you need the desire definitely check it out come yes six weeks so the iLife am school is six weeks long and we are gonna go deep mm-hmm family and exploring and deep with God yeah and deepen your skills as an artist and so if you're an actor as well we're doing that an acting track we've got filmmaking mmm and some writing in music tracks so it's gonna be and then Victor and Diane Arthur Jack first and that's our first time doing that yeah extra exciting I'm very excited yeah so June 4th it starts yes this year 2018 June 4th yeah and then this is a life-changing experience that if you're not if you're an artist of faith you need to be here if there's either battle citizens and more excuses there's no excuse is not to be yeah and what building community you to say I'm going after this yeah after the school finishes if people stay around whatever this still start happening yeah we're not just like just not all about the school or about being here in this city and yeah continuing to create with God and with family yeah yeah fantastic yeah well we're gonna ask the questions we are yep we have some final questions for you guys and I hope you're ready we're ready do you have a favorite movie I do it's called the double life of Veronique yeah yeah the double mommy yes and it's but it's now he's polish but um he had a heart for France and it's made by a filmmaker called Christophe clubs Loski and it's a very painterly film there's a vocal narrative but it's really more driven by a visual narrative and it's just a beautiful you have to go for a journey sensitive film and and I won't tell you too much about it but go see it but Veronique it might be a little hard to find I believe it's for rent on Amazon you should notice there before you're watching ok cool I think I'd have to say I like the Fisher King with Robin Williams that goes back aways and it's so much about Redemption and healing and joy yeah in the face that's great to get both movies on your dad know that was back in the day yeah it's oh that's very early nineties that's not that old nobody IDs for others the - I think 90s yeah I don't have all wanted to see yeah it's it's it's wonderful - I love it if you could pursue another profession what would it be I would say writing come on this storytelling yeah yeah yeah the same same yeah it's kind of yeah yeah Victor has written a film script my new one well always got produced into a feature film yeah one was like he's far away and was close but God God put a whole book or something yes but even then you know even then he knew us and he pursued us and yeah of course it's becoming more and more in other works that we've done collectively and separately but how we he's been there the whole jury yeah that's what's amazing I love it yeah do you have a favorite sound mmm wow I did yeah for me is baby cry baby cry oh oh do something so precious I think I would have to say it's the sounds of the wind and very specifically the wind in the reeds so I feel like I'm like oh I could see I could hear it finally what are you most excited about this year coming up which we've obviously talked about school so that's a big one Wow but is it cheating the same school no it totally is exciting is too small the word literally bubbling yeah we're in constant prayer level what what what what the Lord wants to do but even more so loving the people now before they get here mmm and then just loving the people group which is you know it really a wonderful two kind of loving to you before you get here and end to to have some fun and to kind of break open what we feel the Lord wants to have happen they also have any part of that incident okay you know we think about it and we cry a lot because it's such an honor you know it's such an honor and it's such an honor to be invited into such a beautiful ministry and and what iris has done around the world is so affected us over the years and so changed our lives to be any piece of it is just a gift from the Lord so we're bubbly Diddy well you know it's I guess yeah as all of that and it's it's just a privilege of being able to participate even in a small way in the process of Revelation for anybody you know but specifically for artists of any genre to to help open in and bring revelation and to bring freedom and just to just to have the honor and extraordinary privilege to to be present for what the Lord's gonna be doing it's just like oh that's just like wow it's like a banquet yeah I mean we think we know what is gonna do but oh yeah we really do yeah yeah we're getting a fantasy yes oh yeah exactly exactly calling all around the globe just a matter where you are if you want to count by face yeah go to the artists club website go to the schools go to iLife him and feel that an application yeah come on thank you for listening to a little bit of these guys story I feel like there's so much more and we'll get to know you so much more during the school too so we're excited and I think you know our listeners you can subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts subscribe our YouTube channel to our YouTube channel that's right soon as we get 10,000 subscribers we gonna be able to use the YouTube Studios down in Culver City oh wow yeah well somebody's shooting podcasts podcasts yeah you might not hear as many lawnmowers in the background if you have comments or questions you'd like to ask leave them in the comments section under the IRAs global dead loads that are local after I forget phones so many good things yes thank you guys and until next time love you guys bless you by this podcast is presented by iris global for more information or to support the work of iris global please visit us online at iris global dot org you can also text to give simply text the amount you'd like to donate to five three zero three three eight three eight three seven or to speak to someone at iris global call our office at five three zero two five five two zero seven seven iris global is an international Christian mission and relief organization with a focus on working amongst the poorest of the poor and those most in need hope this podcast has inspired your journey thanks for joining us for iris after hours [Music] you

Channel: Iris Global

Views: 1,731

Rating: 4.8974357 out of 5

Keywords: Iris After Hours, Podcast, Iris Global, Heidi Baker, Rolland Baker, Nathan Kotzur, Crystalyn Human, Christian, Missions, Iris Ministries, NGO, Free, Encouraging, Inspiring, Testimony, Stop for the One, Africa, Victor Atkins, art, artist, painting, Diana Atkins, sculpt, sculpture, graphic design

Id: UDpevnUtusQ

Length: 42min 48sec (2568 seconds)

Published: Thu May 03 2018