Shayne (27) and Shannon (28) McIntyre, who reside in the wooded Sunset Cliffs Reserve along the carved sandstone seashore of San Diego, California, live outside the restraints of anything called common. While traveling the world with shining bright light, they are artists on waves and paper and hearts. If you ever meet them, they may give you their phone number on the back of a little, crumpled picture of Jesus. And like me, you may feel alive to see such broad smiles. Smiles that say: despite popular belief; some paintings don’t need to grumble against their Painter. They’re just thrilled to be made at all, eternally, in His image, for His glory.
    These young lovers make their wage by being photographed. Not that outward appearance is any measure of godliness, but rather an opportunity to strive for Spirit and Truth in a world ruled by sight. As models, they know the feeling of being acquired for a job in Paris and seeing themselves in GQ. This is why I was stunned to see Shane, and his entire 6’3” “beach-culture-is-so-it” frame, which as aforementioned is paid for by his unconventional good-looks, laughing at his own jokes with a goof-ball grin and gnawing affectionately on the arm of his soft-spoken bride. In a certain sense this just didn’t fit, I mean; how are they not ego-maniacs? These two vibrant beings who surf together at the end of unbeaten tracks from Russia to Oman between jobs—what’s the catch; how do they do it? Well, to answer from a purely journalistic standpoint, I’d have to say, “Look up and keep looking up.”

Risen Magazine: Shayne, tell me about the origins of your name?
Shayne McIntyre: When I was born I was rushed to a Catholic hospital in Queens, New York. The nuns came to my mother with the birth certificate and asked for my name. When my mother said “Magic,” they refused to write it down, so my mom just started freaking out. She was exhausted and here’re these ladies that won’t even write the name she wants. So, after they started arguing, my dad jumps in and says, “Just name him Shayne.” And that was it; that was my name. So I got “Magic” as my middle name.

RM: How did you become the McIntyre’s?
Shannon: We met at something called “Tuesday Night Pizza and Prayer,” where our friend Bird was playing in a band called Polyester and the Funky Love Bomb. The year was 1993.
Shayne: There was a mosh-pit that evening and everyone was getting pretty rowdy. I was right in the middle of it when someone slammed me on my back and knocked me to my knees. When I got up I was pretty upset and started looking around to see who did it, so I turned around and it was Shannon, and she’s wearing a wife-beater and spinning around elbowing every guy in the room. (Hysterical laughter all around)
Shannon: I don’t remember any of that.
Shayne: When I turned around and saw this beautiful girl spinning around, I said, ‘Wow, I’m gonna’ marry that girl.’ And three years later, I did.

RM: Shannon, did you feel the same way?
Shannon: Actually, he was with a bunch of bullies that knocked over one of my really close friends, so I knocked him over as a little payback. I thought that he was really handsome, but a punk too, really mean. (Laughter) But I thought he was really hot, so I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, what do I do?’ I was really shy so it took me a while to talk to him. Our first date was surfing and a Bible study.

RM: Do you have pet names for each other?
Shannon: He calls me “Shanny” and I call him “Shaney Poops.” (Laughter)

RM: Do you have any pets; as in animals?
Shayne: Yeah, we have a cat named “Ch-Ch.”

RM: What is that from?
Shayne: Well, she used to be named Keechuch, (best spelling I could muster) which is a Polish name that our friend gave her. Our friend was moving so she had to give her to us, and now she automatically responds to “Ch-Ch.” She’s awesome and also gives great back massages.

RM: Cats can be messy; who’s the house-keeper?
Shannon: Shayne’s the tidy minimalist and I’m the artist, Hector-Collector. I do the dishes a lot and cook dinner…

RM:Do you like knick-knacks?
Shannon: I like little kitschy things. (Laughter)
Shayne: And, I do too, but when you have fifty together, one will look cool, but fifty look like a garage sale. And I’ll trip over stuff; like just the other week she put all of this paint in the doorway and I almost broke my arm. But I love her because she spends most of her time collecting and gathering inspiration off of that, and I spend my time cleaning. (Laughter)

RM:Describe the arts you’re passionate about?
Shayne: I love the art of educating someone, or…
Shannon: …being right. (Hard laughter)
Shayne: Ah, come on, that was starting to sound really cool. (Laughter) No, I love to be able to inspire someone with something we do. To give someone a thought, or an encouragement, or just to make them laugh ridiculously.
Shannon: When we go on travels he likes to focus more on the culture, and making educational films. I love painting and surfing. I feel that God has blessed me with them as gifts. Right now I’m into acrylic painting on surfboards and canvas. I like to combine spray-paint with these, for more suggestive, expressive painting.

RM: Are you ever obsessive about these things?
Shayne: Often, before a trip I will take up to five classes, everything from a foreign language class to a social customs class to a photography class. Travel can become very obsessive and even unhealthy. One thing I’ve come to notice out there is that wherever you find someone at the top of a certain field, they often tend to be unbalanced. I try to stay balanced and sometimes I don’t get the end result that I want out of a given project, but my marriage is still alive, which is an important factor. (Relieved sigh)
Shannon: As far as my painting, I’m probably not obsessed enough. I’m a mellow person, so I only paint when I’m inspired.

RM: Have these things ever weighed on your marriage?
Shannon: Because of our modeling jobs, we have been separated for long periods of time, which has caused some drama. But these trials have taught us a lot. The only reason we’re still married is because of God in our lives.
Shayne: If it weren’t for God we would be divorced five times by now. There have been times in my life where I said to myself, (in a whining voice) ‘Shannon is really hindering me’ or ‘What has she been doing for me lately,’ and God had to come and hit me upside the head with His Word. Then I’ll read my Bible and see that Christ says that I should love my wife as He loves His Church and died for her. People whipped Him and slandered Him and killed Him, and God is saying that even if your wife did all of these things that you should still love her. Shannon hasn’t done any of these things to me, well, maybe she’s thrown a few rocks at me (laughter), but I said, ‘Wow, God, this doesn’