How Jonathan Taylor Gave His Gift Back to God and Found a Story Larger Than Any One Canvas

A friend and I spent a day walking through the Ark Encounter in Kentucky, and I found myself stopping at nearly every exhibit. Being an artist myself, I notice the signage, the illustration, and all the small choices that shape how a place feels, and this place felt alive. I kept turning to my friend and saying, "Look at this. Who did this?"

Later that afternoon we wandered into the Creator's Brush Gallery, and there was my answer. Jonathan Taylor, the lead production designer for the Ark's exhibits, was painting in his studio and talking with visitors as they passed. I watched him in action that day, and I realized his work here has grown into something beyond design. It has become a ministry, one conversation at a time.

A Childhood Steeped in Creativity

Jonathan grew up in Brazil, where his parents served as missionaries and his father planted four churches. He spent about eighteen years there before returning to the States in 1987. He had no formal art training, yet creativity was woven into the culture around him, and he believes it settled into his bones. His father was an artist too, known for chalk-talk paintings that held a hidden underpainting. At the close of each presentation, an ultraviolet light would reveal a second image waiting beneath the first.

When Jonathan finished high school, he had little sense of where his life was headed. Two years into college, he set his heart on becoming a pilot. He enrolled in flight school and paid for his lessons by working as an ironworker during the week, and he progressed far enough to fly solo cross-country routes.

The Night Everything Changed

On October 24, 1994, Jonathan fell thirty feet on a job site. That night, as he drifted in and out of consciousness in the emergency room, he gave his life to the Lord. He told me he had been living his own way for some time, and in that hospital room he came home to God.

His injuries closed the door on a commercial flying career. As he lay in bed recovering, his cousin's wife stopped by with brownies and asked what she could bring him. He remembered how much he had loved drawing and painting as a boy, so he asked for art supplies. She came back with an armload of them.

For the next month and a half, Jonathan drew comic book heroes, watched Bob Ross, and poured himself into the work. When she returned, she told him plainly that he ought to go into art. He called his father that night, and his father encouraged him to pursue real training and suggested two Christian schools. Jonathan chose Pensacola Christian College, in part because it sat near the beach. God, it turned out, had far more in mind than a view of the water.

Training With Guardrails

Jonathan arrived at Pensacola unaware that it was home to Abeka, one of the largest Christian homeschool curriculum publishers in the world. The art program fed directly into Abeka's illustration work, so by the time he completed his master's degree, he had four and a half years of professional experience behind him.

He treasured the program's focus on the fundamentals of drawing, anatomy, perspective, color theory, and draftsmanship. He also chose it to protect his walk with the Lord. "I have to protect what I see," he told me, and he spoke honestly about knowing his own weaknesses. During those years he made a quiet promise to God. He wanted to spend his life illustrating God's Word.

Swallow Your Pride

After graduating near the top of his class, Jonathan mailed portfolios to forty or fifty studios across the country and waited through a long season of silence. For six months he worked in landscaping, and one evening he came home weary and told his mother he needed to move somewhere with a thriving art scene.

His mother reminded him of a studio he had contacted right there in Ohio and told him to call and ask for his portfolio back. When he protested that professionals simply did not do that, she answered, "Swallow your pride and do what I said."

The next day, during his lunch break, he made the call. The receptionist recognized his name right away and told him the owner, Mark Tracy, had been meaning to reach him. By that Friday, Jonathan had the job.

The studio, IAM Studios, was a collective of exceptional artists who created artwork for clients such as Hasbro, Milton Bradley, and Fisher-Price. Jonathan worked on Candy Land, Rescue Heroes, Hot Wheels, and LeapFrog books, sketching alongside the team in timed sessions and painting layered artwork that designers could rearrange around a logo or game board. Those years taught him teamwork, resilience, and the value of working under pressure.

He loved the work, yet his heart kept returning to the promise he had made. He longed for his art to serve the Kingdom.

As I listened to him, I thought about how often the Lord works this way. He gives us a season that may look unrelated to our calling, and later we discover it was preparing us all along. It becomes a tool in our tool chest for the assignment He has waiting. I have walked through seasons like that myself, and Jonathan's story is a beautiful picture of it.

An Unexpected Introduction

Before he ever joined IAM Studios, Jonathan stopped to visit a pastor who had supported his family's ministry for many years. That evening the pastor drove him to an open house at Answers in Genesis, the ministry founded by Ken Ham. When they pulled into the parking lot, the pastor began taking Jonathan's framed artwork out of the car and arranging it all around the vehicle. Then he went inside to find someone to come look at it. Jonathan admits he was mortified.

Ken Ham was traveling that week, but cofounder Mike Zovath and marketing vice president Dan Zordel came outside and admired the work. Jonathan assumed they were simply being kind. Over the next two and a half years, though, Dan emailed him every six months to ask what he was working on.

Then one day Dan wrote with news. Answers in Genesis was building the Creation Museum, and they needed an illustrator. Jonathan was ready for work with eternal purpose, and the timing was perfect.

Building a Museum and an Ark

When Jonathan joined the team, the ministry had about thirty people working out of two trailers. The museum building was just going up, and the exhibits existed only as ideas. He came on as an illustrator, and within six months he was designing exhibits, because the team needed designs before anyone could estimate the cost.

He went on to serve as art director for the Creation Museum and lead designer for its exhibits, and later as lead production designer for the exhibits at the Ark Encounter. After that, he served as lead production designer for the exhibits at the Cook Museum of Natural Science in Decatur, Alabama.

The Ark asked everything of him. The ministry kept its designers, fabricators, carpenters, and sculptors in house, and each person carried the load of two or three. "God brought the money," Jonathan said, "and we built a hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar project on a shoestring budget with a handful of people." He describes himself as a bulldog with a project, holding on until it is finished, and those years left a lasting toll on his body.

A Gallery That Became a Ministry

Today Jonathan is moving from commercial illustration into fine art, much as illustrators like Norman Rockwell and Dean Cornwell did later in their careers. His gallery has given him something beautiful in this season. Visitors gather to watch him paint, and God keeps placing people in front of him who need to be seen.

One afternoon he turned around on his stool and found a little girl with red pigtails standing behind him, holding one of his paintings against her chest and looking up at him with wide eyes. He smiled and told her she was his little blessing for the day, and her family moved on. A few minutes later her father came back with tears in his eyes. The family was walking through a painful season with the state, and his daughter felt as though people kept taking things away from her. Jonathan's simple act of kindness had touched a deep wound.

Another day, a grieving widow approached him with anger in her eyes and unloaded her frustration with the Ark's message. Jonathan offered her a Coke and an hour of his time, and he gently answered her questions about the exhibits. Before she left, he invited her to choose a small painting from his gallery as a gift. She returned later to thank him and told him her perspective had changed.

Moments like these, he said, feel like God's way of reminding him, "I see you, and I know why you're here."

We Are the Illustration

When I asked Jonathan what sits most heavily on his heart, he spoke about surrender. Everything changes, he said, when an artist moves from creating because they love art to creating because God gave them the gift and they want to offer it back to Him.

He once imagined that illustrating God's Word would mean painting Bible flashcards. Instead, the Lord placed him on a team of gifted people and let him help tell a story far larger than any one artist could tell alone. Years later, a deeper truth settled in his heart.

Many people will never walk into a church, he explained, yet they may encounter the gospel through a painting, a story, or the kindness of the person who made it. Art offered to the Lord carries an eternal weight. Long after the artist is gone, a painting may find its way into someone's hands and gently turn them toward Jesus.

He also spoke candidly about the cost of a life devoted to projects. Over the years he has often carried extra loads so coworkers with young families could be home, and he counts that as part of his service. He encourages younger artists to make room for the whole of life while they pursue their calling.

We also talked about how the enemy loves to place distractions in front of us just as God opens a door. Jonathan has faced that more than once, including a well-paying offer early in his career that would have compromised his convictions. He turned it down, and he believes small decisions like that one prepared him for everything that followed.

A Spark for the Next Generation

Jonathan helps lead Spark at the Ark, a conference for Christian creatives held at the Ark Encounter. The next gathering is scheduled for April 19–21, 2027. It brings together artists, sculptors, designers, set builders, and others who work in theme parks, museums, theater, film, and church creative ministries, along with students preparing for those fields. Attendees can expect inspiring speakers, practical breakout sessions, behind-the-scenes tours, and rich fellowship with other creatives. Creator's Brush is a sponsor, and Jonathan plans to lead a breakout session and offer live demonstrations.

He has seen firsthand how one conversation can shape a future. At an earlier Spark gathering, he and a leader from Storyland Studios connected like brothers. Two years later, that friend called and asked Jonathan to design a Noah's Ark–themed attraction for a church in South Carolina.

His counsel to young artists is wise and practical. Set a ten-year target, study the artists you admire, name your weaknesses honestly, and build a plan to strengthen them. Seek internships that stretch you across many disciplines, from murals and sculpture to scriptwriting and set design. Come to events like Spark prepared to meet people, because God often works through relationships we never could have arranged ourselves.

Jonathan also carries a dream for an annual juried art show at the Ark, with first prizes generous enough to draw the finest Christian artists and an opportunity for every participant to sell their work. The ministry has already shown interest, and I believe this dream will find its way to life.

An Invitation

As our conversation closed, I prayed over Jonathan, asking the Lord for continued favor, healing, and strength so he can finish strong. Then he turned and prayed over this ministry and over every creative who longs to glorify God with their gifts. It was a holy moment, and it reminded me why these stories matter.

Whatever God has placed in your hands, whether it is a brush, a pen, a voice, or a skill you have quietly practiced for years, you can offer it back to Him. He opens doors we could never open on our own. And somewhere, someone is waiting to see Him through the life you live.

You can see Jonathan's work and learn more about his gallery at creatorsbrush.com.