eye on sparrows

I've been sketching birds from photos lately; I want to start including some sparrows in my work, in reference to Matthew 10:28-31, where Jesus talks about God taking notice of even little birds, so how much more he has his eye on each of us... It's as much a reminder to myself as anything, to remember that God is in control and he's got a plan for me & my work.

sharing visions

Today I helped hang some of my original "Visions" with some newer visions at Oak Hills Church in Folsom. I've been planning to write a new artist's statement and this was finally the impetus to do so:

When I first started working as a visual artist, I didn’t sit down and say, “I’m going to try to put the spiritual world into my artwork” or “I think I’ll make the invisible visible” but that is exactly where I have found myself. As I created my art, I was just reacting to what I saw and felt at a particular time and place and it wasn’t until much later and after much reflection that I even had an idea of what it was that I was doing.

For a long time, I thought I was just reacting to nature and my love plants and growing things, then I began to realize that those times outside and alone were the times I felt closest to God, without the distractions of other people, and I was wanting to recreate that feeling through my art. I found myself longing for Eden, for a time to walk in the garden with God, enjoying the earth as it once was and a relationship with each other as it was intended to be; I was saddened that Eden was lost but somehow felt like it wasn’t completely out of reach, that somehow God could make it happen again.

All of this thought process happened over the passage of years, and finally I found myself in a Bible study of heaven when the “aha!” moment happened. All of those years, I had been trying to catch a glimpse of heaven, just getting a tiny taste of the goodness to come, and preserving it in my artwork.

I decided to become more intentional in my work, and then encouraged a group of artists at my church to join me in my quest to share our visions of heaven with others. “Visions of Heaven” originally was a group art project by Covenant Artists based on a Biblical study of Heaven. We wanted it to be God working through us, so our whole process began and ended with prayer and was thoroughly rooted in Scripture. It was a year-long project that culminated in a group showing at our own church as well as at the Artisan Gallery, but it was just a beginning for me.



Now, every piece of artwork I create is an effort to experience and share a little bit of heaven. I believe that one day this poor old planet will be made new again, cleaned up and perfected, and that if we look hard enough, we can see how wonderful it will be. My process for creating art often reflects the dichotomy of the old becoming new again; my black and white negatives are often less than perfect, like this earth right now, then I add to them, using them to make something wonderful and new, rich with color and texture in a way photographs just can’t be when untouched. It’s a little like the way God will take the old earth, and reunite it with paradise, restoring Eden on earth and fulfilling the longing that he’s put in my heart.

covenant artists retreat

Covenant Artists have been plenty busy, even if I haven't been so much on this blog -

Today we had our first annual retreat, a day at the Empire Mine state historic park in Grass Valley - it was a bit overcast, but a nice day in a beautiful setting.

We started with a devotional about creative prayer - that's the focus of our current study right now. It started with Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.*
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the LORD are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are clear,
giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the LORD is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the LORD are true;
each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don't let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

*19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.



We talked about how God speaks to us creatively through his what he's made for us to see, and how our words and meditations should be creative, to relate to him as he relates to us. And then we talked about reaching other people creatively, based on Matthew 5

Teaching about Salt and Light
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I think God has given each of us specific ways to shine, and those of us who have been given creative gifts were made to shine creatively...












We wrapped up the devotional with Colossians 4

An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive* so that you will have the right response for everyone.

*4:6 Greek and seasoned with salt.

It talks about our mind being alert and active when praying - certainly creativity gets our brain working - and then sharing that creative relationship with others again.

After all that talk, it was time to actually be creative! Becky took these photos of the rest of us getting into our workshop session, where we made rubbings and incorporated them into small accordion books - then we all got so into our creative time that no one thought to take more photos!

Hopefully, I'll get some scans of some of the finished books to post here later -

After the workshop we shared lunch together and then we had a couple hours of personal time to put creative prayer in action - whatever that meant for each of us personally at that time. I think we all spent most of the time in the lawns and gardens.

Finally, we came together to share what we had each learned that was most important to us - a special time & a good way to close the day.

hope

I just finished a new piece titled "Hope." (You can click on the image to see it bigger.) Sometimes things seem very hard, but if we just look we'll see the hope shining through a situation. Hope is referred to many times in Scripture, and often is a direct reference to the knowledge that we will have eternal life with Christ in heaven - which when we really think about it, can really put things into perspective...

I'm thinking that this will start a new series for me, I really want to look forward a bit more. It's so easy to get caught in what we have to deal with now, and it can be hard to remember the hope we have to look forward to.

(You can see a little more about how this piece came to be on my Wanderings blog.)

more visions in the cafe & upper room

Hung a new set of work in the Cafe' and in the Upper Room yesterday. This time it's more Visions of Heaven work by Sheila Stockton, Karen Fields and myself. You can see several of Sheila's small bead embroidery works and Karen's watercolor "postcards" in the cafe.
And you can find most of my mixed media photo- graphic works in the Upper Room, also known as Room 211. As usual here, clicking on an image will give you a better view, but I hope you can get down to First Covenant Church to see it for yourself!

gospel train

Here's another new piece from Ross Conklin, titled "Got Ticket?" done in acrylic paints on canvas. (You can click on the image for a bigger view.) This time Ross takes his inspiration from the old spiritual, The Gospel Train's a Comin' (GT). He also points to Joel 2:32, which says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Then in the New Testament to John 10:9, where Jesus says, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me shall be saved."

Then Ross simply asks, "Got Ticket?"

quiet waters

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get back to this blog - but back again I am. This is work from another photographer in the group, Heather Montgomery, who joined us as we started our current "Creative Call" study. Heather's goal with her artwork is to capture the beauty she sees and to give glory to the God who created it all.

This black and white photo was inspired by Psalm 23:2,“He leads me beside quiet waters.” Heather says this about the work, "Here we see the beauty of God’s creation. The water is calm and relaxing which allows you to just be at peace and experience the closeness of God. If you just open your eyes, you will see that God’s beauty is all around us."

I think that sums it up pretty well.