The Presence Behind The Portrait

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN SPEED PAINTER VANESSA HORABUENA

Most recently Vanessa Horabuena was recognized for her live painting of Jesus at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve celebration, where the artwork was auctioned for 2.5 million dollars for charity, headlines understandably focused on the number. Yet the true story of that evening reaches far deeper than the final bid.

In a ballroom filled with prominence and celebration, she stood before a blank canvas. As the portrait of Jesus began to emerge stroke by stroke and worship music rose throughout the room, the atmosphere shifted in a way few expected. Conversations gradually quieted, hearts grew still, and attention fixed on the image taking form before them. In an intimate conversation, Vanessa later reflected, “I had highly respected men, known for their stoic composure, come up to me afterward with water in their eyes asking me, ‘What was that? I felt something in the room.’” Her response came without hesitation: “Jesus.” Although there was no sermon that night, the Spirit of God moved powerfully through a room more accustomed to honoring achievement than encountering His presence.

While that evening captured national headlines, the platform she stands on was not built in ballrooms. It was formed in hidden seasons most would never see. Today, she is a widely recognized Christian speed painter whose work emerged from seasons of brokenness, shaped by an even greater story of love and redemption.

“Like many of you reading this, my story is not perfect and is riddled with ups and downs and twists and turns. But through it all, the Lord remained steadfast by my side.” Raised in a dysfunctional home as the fourth of five children, she experienced emotional neglect and early trauma that left her feeling alone and unloved. Yet even then, a gift was forming. “Throughout my childhood I was taught to draw. It became a passion of mine. I drew whatever I saw.”

At thirteen, she gave her life to Christ at youth camp. “It was a moment that would change the course of my life forever.” Yet instability followed. By fifteen, she was on her own, moving repeatedly and battling deep depression. “Within just two short years I moved 15 times. There was no stability for me.” Eventually, the weight of those internal struggles and the attacks from the enemy in her younger years that sought to steal her innocence and confuse her identity resurfaced and caused her to shut down creatively. “For eight years I stopped drawing. I stopped writing. It was like being alive, but not living at the same time.”

Her turning point came in the office of Pastor Allan McCray in Phoenix. Expecting judgment, she encountered compassion instead. He asked her what she had loved as a child, and the answer resurfaced instantly: drawing. When she admitted she wanted to paint but had never tried, he told her, “When you sit down to paint, know that it is God’s work flowing through you.” That moment unlocked everything. “It was as if this gift was inside of me, buried beneath so much hurt and sadness, but preserved through it all.”

She began to paint again and soon discovered that worship and artistry were inseparable. “Lord, I don’t want my painting to be a distraction from worship. I want my painting to be worship.” Over time, fear gave way to freedom, and she stepped into live worship painting. “When I worship and paint, I do not do it alone. I am guided by His hands. It is more like a dance, where He gently leads, and I gracefully follow.”

Even early on in her painting journey through deep prayer, she shares, “Before Donald Trump was President, God told me to begin praying for him. Most people don’t know, but I had been interceding for him long before I was ever commissioned to create art for him. And even when he began receiving my paintings, I boldly asked if he would schedule a time to watch me paint. By the grace of God, he said yes.”

Through that moment, he was able to see how God worked through her painting with her worship playlist. That playlist was later approved for the Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve celebration, where many, for the first time, had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. This is a testament to obedience to the call, the power of prayer through intercession, and the miracle-working power of God that moves past man-made agendas.

Beyond national stages, she partners with organizations such as Pick Kids in Phoenix, helping provide clothing and hope to children in need. Her message remains rooted in restoration. “Our lives are like a masterpiece that God is actively creating,” she says, offering this counsel: “No matter what, stay on the easel and let Him finish the work He started in you.” The headlines may remember the auction. Those who have encountered her work remember the presence. And when asked what they felt, her answer remains the same: Jesus.

“Our lives are like a masterpiece that God is actively creating,” she says, offering this counsel: “No matter what, stay on the easel and let Him finish the work He started in you.”

- Vanessa Horabuena

By Tricia Love Trujillo