The Original Post-It Jesus (July 2004)

This was my very first post-it piece, so I'll go ahead and give the full story behind it.  I joke that virtually every major artistic achievement I've had has been influenced by a girl, and this one's no exception.

I was attending Emory University's Youth Theological Initiative (YTI) in Atlanta, GA, in July of 2004, and at the time, I was enjoying a friendship with a young woman named Amanda.  After getting lunch in Emory Village (the shopping area next to the university), she and I were goofing around in CVS and taking note of the impractical bulk office supplies.  "Who needs a bucket of sharpies?"  "Why would you want two pints of rubber cement?"  And that's when she asked the kicker:

"What would anyone do with 1,000 post-it notes?"

Well, I took it as a challenge, and since we had been talking about iconography, I decided to use the post-it notes to create the first "Post-It Jesus" mosaic on my closet door back at the dorm.  The rest of the program took notice, and he became a sort of unofficial mascot for our year.  I had to take down Post-It Jesus when I moved out (an event that was accompanied by much ceremony), but this piece started the whole thing, and there would be many more post-it mosaics to come.