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The question flat-out scared him.

"Are you an artist or a missionary?" calligrapher, professor, and mentor Arnold Bank asked Tim Botts in 1969. Bank had just learned Tim, his prized apprentice from Carnegie-Mellon University, had applied for short-term missions service.

Do I really have to choose one or the other? Tim wondered.

Four years of intense study under Bank, who insisted that calligraphy or "beautiful writing" was foundational for any art major, qualified Tim as an artist. He had gone to Pittsburgh to hone his creative passions—nurtured by his parents (who let him paint on the walls), a first grade teacher Eleanor Stanton (who handpicked Tim to take art classes), and especially by his grandfather, Barton Bradley Botts (who taught him through the Italian music terms to "feel" the music). After his first required calligraphy course, Tim was hooked. Under Bank's critical eye (and rare affirming hand on the shoulder), the student's skills grew.

But Tim had other interests as well. In December 1967, he and his fiancée Nancy had joined thousands of their peers at Urbana (Illinois), the triennial missionary conference for college students sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. One eloquent speaker after another fired up the audience.

Tim remembers only one man vividly—Akira Hatori, the "Japanese Billy Graham," who spoke without a translator. In his broken English, Hatori said Japan needed "anybody" to come with the gospel message. That word—anybody—stuck in Tim's mind.

As Tim finished his degree (Nancy had completed her nurse's training the previous year), the young couple filled out an application with her church's mission board. Their country preference? The United States.

When the acceptance letter came back, the mission board had matched Tim and Nancy's personality profiles with one destination: Japan.

"They must have mixed us up with someone else," Tim remembers thinking. "Didn't they read our application? We requested the States."

But then the Urbana experience flashed back. At that moment, Tim knew God's Spirit was speaking to him when Hatori had said "anybody." Though he didn't have traditional missionary gifts, Tim believed God had a bigger plan. Arnold Bank's question was answered. Artist or missionary? Both.

Tim's two callings—art and serving God—intersected in Tokyo. In the department stores, "gallery space" is set aside for traditional folk art like origami (paper folding), ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), and calligraphic brush writing. Living on a tight budget didn't allow for very many luxuries. Nancy attended some flower arranging classes and Tim took five brush writing lessons. Everything else was observed and absorbed.

From the first week they were in church, they felt at home, even without being fluent in the language.

"In that church, I learned to reverence the Word of God," he said. "The Japanese people honored the Word of God physically. They would never put it on the floor, and if they carried it outside, they'd always wrap it in a scarf to protect it from the elements. For me, that symbolized how we as believers should revere God's Word."

Every Sunday a different woman from the congregation took a turn doing ikebana for the altar. "Those beautiful offerings to the Lord helped me think about what artistic gift I could offer weekly when we returned home," Tim says. (Years later, Tim began lettering a verse each week for his church's bulletin covers—a practice he continues to this day.)

The second year in Japan, Nancy and Tim became parents. Andy Botts caused quite a sensation in the hospital full of Asian babies. Nancy and Tim had thought about staying in Japan, but their assignment ended. It was time to return. But to do what?

"If I could work for one person in publishing," the Japanese man answered, "it would be Ken Taylor at Tyndale House Publishers."

Tim sent out ten resumes and letters from Japan; three publishers expressed interest. Tyndale, at the top of Tim's list, was one. The timing was perfect.

After his interview, Tim was hired in September 1972 as the first in-house artist for the company in Carol Stream, Illinois, that 14 months earlier, had published The Living Bible. And for the next three years, it set sales records. At work, Tim designed books, various Bible editions, Christian Reader, and a myriad of promotional pieces while continuing to study calligraphy on his own. He also started teaching in the continuing education program at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

"What makes Tim an effective teacher," Nancy says, "is his ability to find something positive to say about everyone. They may not have improved at all during class, but he'll notice how correctly they're holding their pen, comment on their creative story idea, or be pleased with their color choices. He's always encouraging."

Those teaching skills proved valuable at home, too. Andy, joined by his brother Jeremy and sister Katy had Saturday morning calligraphy lessons with Dad at the kitchen table. The instruction wasn't formal, but there were rules.

"If you did a letter you didn't like," Katy Botts Stern, now 25, says, "you weren't allowed to cross it out. You had to leave it and go on. That was hard for me because I wanted to blot it out. Now I understand—Dad was giving us freedom to fail. He'd say be bold, try something different, find another creative solution."

On "show-and-tell" days at school, the Botts children often would arrange to "show-off" Tim. He'd ask the class to give him a word to write, capturing its meaning with curves, lines, subtle or big strokes of a marker. This spontaneous way of visualizing words gave Tim an idea.

In January 1984, Tim decided to take on a new devotional challenge—to read through the entire Bible. Keeping a sketchbook handy, Tim "listened to the text" and responded with 400 calligraphic renderings of favorite verses over two years.

His friend Jim Stambaugh, director of the Billy Graham Museum, liked Tim's fresh approach to biblical insights. Buoyed by his confidence, Tim presented them at a company chapel. Just maybe, the sketches might help other Christians see God's word better, too.

When, to Tim's surprise, he received the go-ahead from Tyndale House to prepare final art for Doorposts (a book showcasing 60 Bible texts in calligraphy, including the title verses from Deuteronomy 6:7-9), he made a trip back home to Pennsylvania. He wanted Arnold Bank, whose health was failing, to see the sketches that would become a book. Bank pronounced it good.

One of the first copies of Doorposts Tim received was sent to Bank's widow. When months went by without a response, Tim thought maybe the book's Christian message had offended her—both she and her late husband were Jewish.

But then a package arrived. Inside was a thank-you note and explanation for the delay—she had been in Israel visiting relatives. With the note she sent something she'd found in Israel to celebrate Tim's work, a mezuzah (a piece of parchment inscribed with Deut. 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 and marked with the word Shaddai, that is rolled up in a container and affixed by many Jewish households to their door frames as a sign of their faith).

Those verses from Deuteronomy would be revisited years later when Tim took a Jewish calligrapher's critical remarks to heart. She had been offended by his choice of calligraphic style—using an untrained (his left) hand to portray a childlike innocence.

"She reminded me that Deuteronomy 6:7-9 is the hallmark passage of Judaism. It needed to be treated with more respect," Tim says.

After research and numerous attempts, Tim redesigned the piece (see page 23). The words from the Old Testament form an elegant arched doorway filled with the greatest commandment—"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength."

In February 2000, that artwork took the prize at the annual calligraphy exhibit at Chicago's Newberry Library (the largest private research library of the history of the humanities) and was purchased for their permanent collection—a first for Tim.

"It wasn't the most eye-catching piece Tim has done," curator Paul Gehl from the Newberry says, "but when people study it, they realize how complex and carefully balanced the composition is. Tim's power as a calligrapher is his ability to integrate from the inside out. He isn't just taking text and adding a design. The two are inseparable."

Over the years, new books like Messiah ("I got to immerse myself in Handel's music for a year-and-a-half! It was glorious," Tim says), Horizons: Exploring Creation (with Luci Shaw), Proverbs, Joy in the Journey (with Michael Card), and The Book of Psalms stretched Tim's faith and craftsmanship. When the children were growing up and Dad was working on a book, they knew where to find him—in his tiny study teeming with pens, pencils, paints, brushes, and markers. Nancy and the kids made decorative "countdown" calendars for each project. Yet when Andy, Jeremy, or Katy needed "Dad time," Tim would put down his pen and give them his full attention.

One of 29-year-old Andy's most treasured possessions is an aerodynamically-challenged handmade rocket. So what if it doesn't fly well—it has funky screws, wild colors, and the name BOTTS with a star so crisply written on the side, you'd think it was a decal. Most importantly, it's a reminder of a fun creative time with Tim.

"We have so much artwork stacked in our basement, we need another house!" says Nancy, whose keen organizational—and fix-it skills—have kept the household running smoothly for 32 years of marriage. But the most recent project, started six years ago, was the biggest of all.

There were no countdown calendars for this massive project, but Nancy planned "hundred celebrations"—when the first 100 pieces were completed, she served a gourmet picnic for two among blooming lilacs in a park, the second hundred deserved an overnight getaway. There was a momentary scare when Tim broke his leg skiing; thankfully, his hands were fine.

With The Holy Bible, Botts Illustrated Edition (Tyndale House) hitting the bookstores this fall, the final celebration hasn't been imagined yet. But it definitely will be a family affair.

Jeremy Botts collaborated with his dad on creating the unique calligraphic typeface "Bätzschrift" (meaning "Botts writing" in German) for the actual text. Tim wanted to keep the words as spontaneous as possible, while maintaining their legibility and harmony with the larger full color art.

Tim created an alphabet and Jeremy "cleaned it up" after giving the computer all the graphic instructions it needed—letter by letter. For father and son, it was labor intensive. But Jeremy always admired that quality in his dad—the incredible work he put into his craft to make it honoring to God.

Though his illustrated Bible is significantly different from The Saint John's Bible project (see page 24), Tim has had the opportunity to encourage calligrapher Donald Jackson. When Jackson mentioned that this could be the last major work in his life, Tim echoed his own thoughts, "There isn't a greater thing to do in the world."

The nursing home residents didn't keep their opinions to themselves as they watched Tim work in the lobby. "Not another Bible verse!" one woman commented. "They didn't ask me about that!" Others piped up. "You're going to have to do that over again, because I can't read it." "Are you Thomas Kinkade?" Smiling, Tim took it all in stride.

So what does the future hold?

In 1997, Tim and Nancy met with church friends Gordon and Sherrie Rogers, hearing about their vision—a Christian arts camp for teenagers. The Rogers have been involved in church youth ministry for decades and what the couple has seen is a need for a Christian camp program specifically geared to artistically gifted teens.

"If I thought the entire Bible was a big undertaking. … " Tim begins.

Seventy-two acres of pristine property near Lebanon, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River, had their name (and God's hand) on it. As money is raised, the land will be developed to realize the goal of Masterpiece Ministries, Inc.—to disciple young people to follow Jesus Christ and nurture their creative gifts. Plans are moving ahead for a two-week pilot program in the summer of 2001. The Bottses are excited to be part of the adventure.

Is it art? Or is it a mission?

Yes.

A Christian Reader original article.

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.

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