Outside that comfort zone
I just got another brilliant email update from the author, Ann Voskamp… This is just so beautifully captured.
Do not let anything keep you –
not anything —
from flinging out of that sagging comfort zone,
and right into the streets, eyes and mouth full of His wonder,
to pant it in the marketplace
the back alleys, the front fields,
across the crackling wiresthat you have seen Him, yes — you have seen the light —
and with these very eyes,
and you hear it even now,
how the rocks cry out
and you cry too, this stammering it
into every willing ear
that you opened your eyes one day and ran right into all His glory
and He saves and He kisses wounds and He serenades
and Beauty has branded you,
marked you with awe
and awe is why you grab the pen, and Beauty is why you scratch it down,
and all His lighting glory is why you muzzle the voices that say
you can’t or shouldn’t or mustn’t,
because He is your blaze and He is your burn and and you cannot be muzzled because
what can keep you from telling once the eyes have seen?Could there be anything greater than this,
the bearing witness
to the glory sighting?Stand and give testimony.
Because this is the holy, blazing thing:
you cannot
not.
Playing with collage
Something new has been sparked by a collage workshop I took from a friend! Theresa Weil, of www.tweil.com, has stirred up my love of collage! I took a self portrait class from her a few weeks back. It was so much fun! And challenging to say the least.
It got me to thinking about different papers I could use and how I would go about my own style of collaging. Also, thinking about the different possibilities of texture, color blocking, shadow, light… all accomplished with paper.
My goal is to spend one morning a week in my studio… Tuesday to be exact… playing with collage. I created this 8×8″ one this last Tuesday and am looking forward to going bigger!
Sacred Tools and Sacred Space
I love the website of Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE
www.AbbeyoftheArts.com
She offers an online course called “Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist”. Someday I will participate more than just reading her blog. Recenty she was talking about this class and included this excerpt from her book, “The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom”:
Be. Here. This Moment Now is all there is, don’t go seeking another. Discover the sacred in your artist’s tools, they are the vessels of the altar of your own unfolding. Look at this cup of holy water, washing clean the brushes. See the blank page, awaiting your blessing. Gaze on the colors before you, each one a name of God: Saffron, Cobalt, Azure, Ruby. Say each one slowly and taste its juice in your mouth. Let this be your prayer. Brush them across the page. First the small strokes, then the larger sweeps. Lose track of all time. This too is prayer. Listen for the words that rise up: Awaken. Envision. Sing. Alleluia. Place marks on the page saying I am here. Watch as word and image dance together. Luminous. Illuminated. This is your sacred text. This is where God’s words are spoken, sometimes in whispers, sometimes in shouts. Be there to catch them as they pass over those sacred lips, tumbling so generously into your open arms.
Set the course… wisdom… direction
I had the privilege of painting for Corban University last friday. It was their homecoming chapel service. Great to meet the students and alumni.
The speaker, James Gleason, encouraged us to spend time in the book of Proverbs… allowing the wisdom of God’s word to give us direction. “Direction not desire, determines our destination.”
My painting was a compliment to the message. On our journey in life we are like a sailboat. When we spend time in God’s word, the spirit of God guides and directs us… gives us the power to move forward in the direction of our destination. I love the symbolism of the boat. The mast is in the shape of the cross and central to the structure of the sail boat. The boat is dead in the water without the wind and the sailor must be sensitive to the wind in order to set his course.
For the Artist at the Start of the Day
I read this poem on Abbey of the Arts Blog…thought it needed sharing…
May morning be astir with the harvest of night;
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,
Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse
That cut right through the surface to a source.May this be a morning of innocent beginning,
When the gift within you slips clear
Of the sticky web of the personal
With its hurt and its hauntings,
And fixed fortress corners,A Morning when you become a pure vessel
For what wants to ascend from silence,May your imagination know
The grace of perfect danger,To reach beyond imitation,
And the wheel of repetition,Deep into the call of all
The unfinished and unsolvedUntil the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heartIn order to come to birth
In a clean line of form,
That claims from time
A rhythm not yet heard,
That calls space to
A different shape.May it be its own force field
And dwell uniquely
Between the heart and the lightTo surprise the hungry eye
By how deftly it fits
About its secret loss.
-John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings
Christmas card orders!
Ok… so I am putting this idea out there to all you who need Christmas cards!
Would any of you be interested in ordering these two images as Christmas cards?
They would be 5×7 with white envelopes and 10 cards (5 each picture) for $15 + shipping.
If you are interested… please let me know ASAP so I can include you in my order October 4th.
Proceeds will go to helping us go back to Norway to teach art again with YWAM in November!! Yay!
Come to my book party!! Oct. 7th…
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A night of worship and prayers of the heart!
Here’s a visual prayer inspired by
Pslam 27. I love the words in The Message.
…I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take Heart! Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.
Last night I was so blessed to spend time with the Praise/Prayer/Prophetic Community of Portland at my friend Katrina’s house. We all just came expecting God to speak, to fill us up with his spirit and his love. It felt so refreshing like a long drink of cold water.
My Society | Society6
I am excited to announce that I have uploaded some artwork onto Society6. Check it out. It’s a great place to purchase prints and other products…
A letter to Christian Artists…. | Creating A Visual Culture
A letter to Christian Artists…. | Creating A Visual Culture.
I have been so encouraged by Scott’s work and heart for the arts and the church. This letter was a beautiful reminder of who’s we are and what our calling really is… For beauty and for God’s glory. Get back to the basics. And you can’t go wrong. God has so much for us if we follow in humility and grace.
Thank you Scott!
