Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2013 | Page 42

alumni news profile parable,” Quarles wrote. And later: “Before knowledge of letters, God was known by hieroglyphics; and, indeed, what are the heavens, the earth, nay every creature, hieroglyphics and emblems of his glory.” As he leafed through, Brian noted the intricate pictures with minimal commentary. emblem art for every day by Alanna Foxwell-Barajas ’06 Inspired by a 17th-century poet, one alumnus seeks to use art to transcend culture and language, communicating the gospel, as well as ethics and leadership principles. Several years ago in the “I thought, We have to go back to the way things used to be,” Brian says. “Hieroglyphics made me think also of kanji [Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing] and how the written language came first from pictures.” Brian used the inspiration from emblem books that he has since been collecting from all over the world and produced 42 his own first piece, Emblems of Leadership Imagined. He conceives the images and his full-time illustrator, Tim Ladwig, illustrates them. He has used this collection of leadership training emblems to generate discussions during training sessions in Asia and the United States. heart of London’s Mayfair neighborhood, businessman Brian Oxley ’73, M.A. ’75 had an epiphany. While leafing through 17th- and 18th-century texts, he found an emblem book by the 17th-century “We are still facilitating training, but English poet Francis Quarles, first pubwhen we used to ask, ‘What do you lished in 1635. think?’ all we’d see were heads down After a career as president of Service- and averted eyes. Now when we ask, Master’s international side and heading ‘What do you see?’ people start talking. management services for ServiceMas- I see this as a genesis for business.” ter in the U.S., Brian had trained leadBut what started as a way to be beters using just about every tool available. ter in business communication quickly Even after leaving ServiceMaster corturned into an avid hobby, and even a porate in 1998, and working since as tool for evangelism, as with his most the company’s distributor for Japan, he recent piece, The Last Tower. “It’s a way realized that the crux of his role in every to generate thought while not preaching position was training individuals—and at people,” Brian says. “The commenthe traditional training model just wasn’t tary is not meant to be the definition or working in other countries. final word, but rather to trigger discus“So much of who we are and what we do sion and thought.” comes from how we were raised,” Brian Brian now sees emblems all through says. “You can’t only just translate words daily life. Every story, conversation, across cultures.” situation, and observation becomes an Surrounded by the dusty wisdom of phi- emblem in his mind. “I love the idea of losophers and poets in Mayfair that day, presenting God to the eyes as well as he opened Quarles’ Emblems and began the ears,” he says, “just by watching to read. “An emblem is but a silent and listening.”