Category Archives: Art

Art Friday, Lent, Week 3

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A pouring out. Things spill over. I’ve made an intention to enter my tiny really-a-bedroom studio with prayer, to greet the paint and paper with prayer. To see. To hear. I’ve noticed as the weeks slip one into the next that this has become more than just a thing I do when I sit down to create; it’s beginning to color my entire world. Never before have I committed to a Lenten practice that runs this deep- Fasting in some areas. Cultivating in other areas. And through it all, the quiet.

It’s sad how all the idle, ill-spoken, complaining words will come back to haunt you when you finally still the tongue. I’ve had to repent so much. Ask forgiveness. Confess.

I’m realizing that this is what Lent is about- an emptying out so that we can be filled with God. The way He sees things.

I’ve been thinking about what Katherine had to say this week.

“There’s something about crafting words, something that touches the depths of my heart. But I worry about the words I share and I’m never at peace with them. But it’s this fear and trembling that will protect me from the tempest of my words. Only fools speak free and much. Every time I open my mouth, every time my fingers race across a keyboard, I set my feet on perilous ground. ”

- Katherine Johnson, “Deliver Me From Idle Words”

Please go read the whole article- such meat for thought there. I think it’s not just writing- it’s creating of any sort. It’s our creative act as mothers. As fathers. As friends. Lovers. Sisters. In whole, our lives–will we pour out the grace that has infused our lives and changed us, or will we trip and fall over barriers of our own making, shattering, sending shards of hurt flying?

As an artist and writer, I find myself asking her questions as I enter the creative space:

“Let there be light. When I write, I ask myself, do my words bring forth light in a world veiled in darkness? Let the dry land appear. Do they offer a sure footing for my neighbor or have I set a deadly snare? Let the earth bring forth fruit. Do my words bear fruit in the ones who receive them?”

- Katherine Johnson, “Deliver Me From Idle Words”

 

I pray for my life and my art to be a living peace-giving, a blessing, a spilling out of grace. If so, there is a lot of cultivating in my heart-garden still left, a lifetime of work.

Art Friday, Lent, Week 2

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Rhythm. Two weeks in, and it’s all I know. In the quiet, it’s hard not to notice. The sun in its rising. The burr of sleep that makes my husband’s voice molasses sweet to my ears as he hands me my coffee. The steam that curls. The volume in the house that rises like baking bread and falls again as the children are tucked into bed, snug in loaf pan beds and bunks to rise again. The darkness that falls, the slow jewel-toned water color painting that bleeds purple dusk through matchstick trees, dressing the shivering bones with gossamer until their party dresses arrive. The slow gentle rock-a-bye of a wee girl who just doesn’t want to miss one little thing, convincing her that all the wonders will be waiting for her in the morning. And then, realizing in the kneel before sleep, the miracle that happens daily…we sleep, and we awake. The clay turns, and we arise again. But we must lay it down, fragile. Body can’t go without restoration and rest.

And in these heart breaths, the studio too, rising and falling, the leaven of work and rest. “Each in it’s own time,” has echoed through my thoughts. This has been a fertile, growing period. Prayerfully considering dreams, trusting them to the Lord. He will bring the increase.

I haven’t been online much at all this week, but Ali’s newsletter this week had me nodding at each and every point.  Here’s a little snippet:

“What do you do when negativity and jealousy and the comparison crazy-making pops up and starts impacting your creativity?

There have been times I’ve wallowed in it. There’ve been times when I just curled up on the couch, turned on the tv, and tuned out. I strongly dislike being in that space. I much prefer being in a positive, forward-moving, creativity-generating, life-affirming space.”

~ Ali Edwards, 52 Creative Lifts, Week 9.

By choice, my Lenten fast is turning a lot of those distractions off. Considering her thoughts, I’m thinking about how this rhythm of quiet is so necessary in creating, and ways to carry Lent into the rest of the year. What are ways that I can keep this Lenten space in the studio as the calendar turns from Spring to Summer and beyond?

Art Friday: Lent, Week 1

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The view over the kitchen sink…just a little reminder for the lenten season. I’m trying to ignore the spider webs and nests in the window. (We’ve been besieged by the things. Every window looks like this, and I can’t keep them un-cobweby before a whole new family moves in. Same for wasps. It’s kind of gross. Vagaries of an old house, I guess.) I’m also trying to ignore the wonkiness on this card. I had begun the base of it working with Shiva paint sticks, playing around with resists; sort of layering different designs. I like the handwriting above the ‘beautiful’, and even though the beautiful is a little wonky, it’s okay; but then the below ‘in His time’, I don’t like at all and it gets lost in the design below. I’ll probably work on it a bit more until it ‘sings’ to me.

The first week of Lent. My intentions for Lent are for healing of mind and body. Intentional turning away from some things and a very intentional turning to other things. Art for one. I’ve got a lot of processing I need to do. I do that best when I am creating, when there is paint on my fingers and paper cuttings in my hair. I’ve been very purposeful about making space for creating in the byways of my day. I sort of doubt that it would be sustainable long term (as it is necessary for other things to take a back burner), but I’m beginning to find a rhythm that I think I can carry into the days after Lent is over. Having a dedicated space and being able to just let things lay there until the next time is a big help in that. I don’t have to worry about cleaning up and come right back in and pick up where I left off.

I’m taking a full break from Facebook, and a partial fast from Twitter and Pinterest and the blog here, except for Art Fridays. A lot of people probably wouldn’t find a fast from social media necessary. I do; it comprises a lot of the ‘clutter’ of my days, and in order for me to hear, I’ve got to get it out of the way. (And I truly don’t judge anyone who doesn’t fast or doesn’t give a hooey about Lent. Please don’t think that I am condemning anyone.) I need a lot of Quiet. This is one of the ways, each year, that I find it.

As is true of Lent, I find myself in a very reflective mood. I thought I’d share my two favorite artists to follow on Pinterest; their boards are often ones I turn to when I need to refresh and renew.

The first is Gennine’s. Her blog can be found here. Her Pinterest board can be found here.

The second is Nance. Her beautiful blog can be found here. She has all sort of amazing collections in her stream on Pinterest; her collections run along abstract lines, and her posts in my stream never fail to inspire when I’m creating. (And, I might add, it’s quite the education too. I’ve learned so much about different artists lately because of Nance.) You can find all of her boards here.And…last but not least…John never fails to make me think. I like his post on Lent: The sweet return, and his deep affection for numbnuts, as I find myself resembling that description more than often. (And I really enjoy his subtle sense of humor, obviously.) He publishes poetry via the blog at least two or three times a week. Don’t miss it.

Art Friday: Thinking it through…

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James is a great listener. He has this way of repeating back to me what he’s heard in a way that makes me hear myself, if that makes sense. We had a lot of conversations about art and creating and what it means to me this week. It was inevitable, really. As our home and life has begun to find a rhythm, I’ve been able to create again, and the infusion it brings to the day is unmistakable.

More times than I can count, James has noted over the years how at peace I am when I’ve had time to get in the studio and play; and when it’s missing, it’s really missing. In a rush of understanding, I realized that I shut creating off three years ago. Circumstances played a part, yes- I was so busy. So tired. So overwhelmed. But the real reason I avoided art was the same reason I avoided true worship and study of the Word. It hurt too much. Creating leaves me open to vulnerability, to experiencing my emotions in a somewhat intense way- and by shutting it off, I could stop thinking about things, dealing with things. I didn’t have to face the grief. (Or so I thought.)

As I’ve begun to create again, it’s all coming in a rush. Thoughts and feelings that have laid buried are coming to the surface. It’s time they got out…and I shouldn’t have shoved creating away for so long. I don’t think I’ll make that mistake again.

The one gift I see in all of this is that artisically, because things laid dormant- it was as if a distillation process has happened. Who I am, my style, what drives me, what influences me- it has become so obvious to me that there is such freedom to me now. I don’t feel like I have to continue techniques I hate, or try to imitate this person or that person…it’s just me and what I love.

And as I have these dreams- of what I want to do in the future- I have things that need to be done- branding. Logos. Packaging. It’s so much easier for me to see what that will take, and what is authentically me and what is not. But just in case, I scribbled a reminder yesterday.

So much has inspired me or made me think this week; here are a few of my favorites.

From Ali’s 52 Creative Lifts, Week 7: Life Becomes Picturesque: Facebook and the Claude Glass –this one made me think a lot about how we try to ‘frame’ life, and when we take that too far. And what that means for creating, too. Are we ‘seeing straight’?

Kelly’s Speaking of Real- A Conversation Piece—Kelly’s been working on her brand and image as a fine art photographer, and I think she really nailed something here. I resonate with what she’s saying- I feel the same aspect in my own creative journey at the moment.

Ashley Anne’s On Inspiration, Influence, & Creating- Ashley addressed something that I think all creatives who operate online have thought at one time or another in a very graceful, thoughtful way. I’ve been working on a new line, and I’ve very mindfully avoided certain online areas to make sure that the art I am producing is authentically inspired and not copied. She really makes the line clear between the two- it’s definitely something to keep in mind for all creative bloggers and Etsy sellers.