gratitude & colossians

i've been very aware of my need to cultivate gratitude for my design job. i don't need to go into detail about specific complaints. it's strange, because i don't remember struggling with gratitude before. but, it's not strange! i'm a sinner.

talking to bill tonight, i said that i just wanted a complete overhaul of my personality. later he said that God already did give me an "overhaul" -- He took my dead heart and gave me a new one.

i was thinking about how to connect gratitude with colossians. the thing that strikes me the most is the last chunk of it, when Paul outlines the good news. (this is the Message translation by Eugene Peterson):

"You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message."

it was so apparent to me that in my sin, i had my back turned on God; felt that i "deserved better" and "more", i had a hostile mind. when we turn our backs on God, we take His holy words (the Bible) and crinkle it up like old paper and toss it aside.
for NA, i started playing around with crinkling up paper that i printed on to make a visual out of what we do to God's Word when we sin.

i can be FOREVER grateful that God gave His son for me -- for this very sin of mine and countless others -- He actually reconciled a dead sinner to Himself through His death, and made me alive.

[some words i'm using in my art:] my eyes were sewn shut, my ears sealed, my heart was a stone. BUT He reconciled Himself to me, and He gives the grace to continue.

stewards

As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves with the strength God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10-11

our gifts are for others. and are to be used with the strength God supplies. and that God be made much of. hm. this reminds me of the Spurgeon quote beth posted. hm.

how's everybody doing?

i like the fading things

some of my friends tease me that i'm obsessed with death. just because i like skulls. and dying stuff. but the fading part of flowers is part of their value, in my eyes. they're temporary. they die. but briefly, for a little while, they are an extravagant beauty that God creates.

well here are some of my best watercolors so far from my february one-a-days. (the whole month, misses and all are on my flickr)

and if you haven't heard my soapbox before about vanitas, i'll try to sum it up briefly. vanitas means vanity, like the ecclesiates variety. as in, brevity in this life. it was a still life genre popular among the 17th c. Dutch. i'm perpetuating the genre by drawing and painting dead and dying things to remind me of the brevity of this life vs. eternal things.

Thanks, Mr. Spurgeon

"Will you not this day make it your prayer? "Lord, help me to glorify thee...I have talents, help me to extol thee by spending them for thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve thee...I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of thee and for thee; thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into thy treasury; I am all thine; take me, and enable me to glorify thee now, in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have." -Charles Spurgeon

Read this in morning and evening yesterday and was just thinking about it in light of art and photography and just struck by the prayer to glorify God with what He has given us...talents, time, minds, purpose...all that we do. all that we are.
I feel like my prayer would be especially the last part: "I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into thy treasury; I am all thine..."

Definitely think this applies to much more than art, but when you do apply it to your art, how it changes your perspective...

for God and not Men

"all things were created through him and FOR him" (the end of col1:16)
all the art we make is not for men or Na or for anyone, everything that we do is for God, so there is no point in being proud since its all been created through Jesus. and we should work our tails off to make our art the best we can because its FOR Jesus, and no one else.
Its really great to hear people giving such deep thoughts and confessing pride. this is so cool.
I have some paintins i did for class im finishing up this week ill post em soon maybe.

expectations hurt us

Julia, thanks for your candor. I can totally relate. Its good to get this out in the open here. And I talk frequently about these issues with my students. So you’re not alone. Here’s a couple of my thoughts on the matter. i don't know if this is the variety of fear you deal with. but here's a little about my disease.

Expectations. I think these are what kill us. At least when they are unrealistic. Or bloated. Basically our pride doesn’t like to under-perform compared to what we think we should be able to do. Some of us are motivated by a perfectionism and are shattered when we even think we can’t achieve it. Some of us are motivated by approval of others and are shattered likewise. My poison is the latter. Trying to live up to some image of my self because I went to such-and-such school and still have to fight the voices of professors in my head who i haven’t seen in years. Its ugly. I have to repent repeatedly.

But its worth it. There’s always a way of escape and righteousness is always sweeter. Sometimes God even prospers our works and they come out pretty decent. Bonus!

So how to combat the fears? Here are a few thoughts. Maybe somebody else can add on. Put on humility. Go into the artwork admitting that it might turn out to be a failure, but I’m gonna do my best to be faithful. Go in light heartedly, trying to not take ourselves so seriously. Enjoy making stuff. And talking to God in the process to keep our thoughts straight. Play a little.

Okay, well, i’m actually up to date on my February watercolors. A lot of misses and a couple successes. i’ll post em on my flickr soon.

Laters,
connie

art nite

[julia writing] so tonite is "art nite". bill decided to get things moving for us, we need to set aside time each week, monday nites, to get chuggin' on NA. in the last few days, i've realized what is keeping me from starting: fear. sometimes as a designer, i fear what clients will think of my work (did i totally miss the mark? will they like it?), fear it won't be "good enough", etc. i thought about what fear really is, and this is what i came up with (for myself): fear is me assuming an outcome. "it won't be good enough, it's been so long since i touched any art that's unrelated to a computer, i'll be rusty." none of this can be present in my mind if i'm going to create anything -- especially anything that glorifies God. so, i endeavor to "play" as connie told me, and press through my fears and get back to my art again. (i say "back" because i've been a full-time designer for awhile and haven't done much of anything outside of work).

i loved beth's post from john piper-- imagination IS work. and it's DEFINITELY a God-given gift that we each have to create. i want to use my gift for His glory -- messy sketches, unfinished ideas and all -- to make His word known. fear completely aside.

reflections on colossians

I'm really enjoying my time in Colossians. I've found my reference Bible to be a very helpful resource as I endeavor to better grasp this passage. There is meaning behind many of these verses that I didn't see until I looked deeper.

All that to say, I think I will be focusing on the two verses that describe Christ as "firstborn," the "...firstborn of all creation" and "...the firstborn from the dead..." Right now I am focusing on Christ as the firstborn from the dead. I cross referenced that verse, and I found 1 Corinthians 15:20-23:

"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."

When I read this I had a picture of Christ resurrected, standing amidst "those who have fallen asleep," a crowd of people reclining and sleeping at his feet, awaiting the day when they too will be raised.

That's all I have so far, and I may end up in a different direction entirely, but I'm grateful that the Spirit is getting the sparks in my brain fired up. I'm in the group that finds themselves way over their heads when they read these verses.

As far as medium, I'm really considering oil, but I have to see what kind of drawings I come up with and how much time I think I have. April 15th is coming up fast. I've stopped by a couple art stores, and I get excited just walking around the store, anticipating this project.

Anyway, please let me know if you have any thoughts/suggestions regarding what I've shared. I'd appreciate whatever help I can get.

mounting, framing, transporting, locations

Thanks for asking Peter. see if this helps:

Framing/Mounting - should look professional. so if its a work on paper or photo, mount or frame it nicely. if its a canvas, it does not NEED a frame, but should look neat around the edges. (tape em off maybe to get that crisp edge)

transporting - choose whats cheaper for you: get it to Louisville yourself or get it to Gaithersburg Maryland to be put onto a truck from here. We have space reserved on one of the Na trucks, but the art needs to be easily transportable (well packaged and not too fragile). And yes, we'll transport it both to and from Louisville for you. but it needs to be picked up right when it gets back to Maryland. theres no storage space in the church/SovGrace for it.

locations - fyi, here's where everybody is, so maybe we can do some face-to-face conversations about our art or share transportation:

Louisville: Will
San Diego: Josh
Hawaii: Erin
North Carolina: Jeni
Atlanta: Peter
Indiana, PA: Beth, David (submitting already-made work)
Philly: Bill & Julia, Rob
Maryland: Ryan & Jenny, Hannah, Jeff, Connie

speaking of this...i think it was a huge help last year to sit down and have a meal together in philly with the artists there. theres something really good and motivating about doing this together. brainstorming. fellowshipping. so ya, if you find yourself traveling to any locations that you could do this over the spring, i highly encourage it.

Maryland/Va folks, lets do this. and philly friends, its my goal to get over there in march, and while i'm there i'd love to hang with you dear folks. and will and josh and erin and jeni and peter and beth, don't be shy. consider yourself invited to come to Maryland this spring. really. i know it may not be possible, but consider it.

alrightee. hope you all are well and enjoying Colossians.

Art show space

hey so drew garfield, a pretty funny kid on the Na team, is designing the space for the Neighborhood that includes the Art Show (and bookstore and hang out space). he's got some pretty grandiose dreams of building all sorts of walls and it has some potential to look pretty sweet in there.

anyways, he asked if there are any 3-D pieces this year, if he should build pedastols. anybody thinking of making sculpture? hannah, maybe?

also, plans change a lot, but it looks like we'll have pretty big wall space for pretty big artwork. so don't be shy. i mean, it'll cost you more to frame/mount it prolly, but it looks like we have a lot of space to fill.

a little late?

hey kids, sorry for takin so long to get up on this blog action. but better late than never.

Name, job: jeff martin, graphics intern for Sovereign Grace Ministries and art student

Kinda of art ill do: Big paintings and lots of em. it would be fun to do an installation too.

symbols i want to explore for Col1: "In Him all things hold together"

anything else: hopefully ill be in italy instead of Na

imagination as a telescope

I love that analogy. Thanks for posting the Piper, Beth. It's so true, we are not saying anything that hasn't been said before or discovering new truths. We're making them visible in (hopefully) new and imaginative ways. It feels a little less intimidating that way. Connie, you were so right, God is so great and this Colossians passage is so full of that greatness that it is humbling to even try to make an artistic representation. So, I'm getting a bit more of a start on things this weekend...I'll be praying for everyone else's starts as I pray through mine. Thanks again for the encouraging posts.

response to beth & piper

SWEEEEET. and so dense with goodness. thanks for posting that.

i especially like this, "The imagination calls up new words, new images, new analogies, new metaphors, new illustrations, new connections to say old, glorious truth. Imagination is the faculty of the mind that God has given us to make the communication of His beauty beautiful."

i mean, what better goal for a little art show like ours!

and this colossians stuff is SO MAJOR, so abstract, so huge...which is both daunting, but also kinda like, you know we're not gonna even touch its greatness. so... i dunno. how can we handle it humbly?

"One of the great duties of the Christian mind is imagination..."

In John Piper's book Life as a Vapor, he has a chapter called "God is Not Boring". I felt it was very helpful, encouraging and challenging as I thought about my photography in general, and very appropriate as I thought specifically about this art show...

"...The supremacy of God in the life of the mind is not honored when God and His amazing world are observed truly, analyzed duly, and communicated boringly. Imagination is the key to killing boredom. We must imagine ways to say truth for what it really is. And it is not boring.
God's world--all of it--rings with wonders. The imagination calls up new words, new images, new analogies, new metaphors, new illustrations, new connections to say old, glorious truth. Imagination is the faculty of the mind that God has given us to make the communication of His beauty beautiful.
Don't mistake what I'm saying. Poets and painters and preachers don't make God's beauty more beautiful. They make it more visible. They cut through the dull fog of our finite, fallible, sin-distorted perception, and help us see God's beauty for what it really is. Imagination is like a telescope to the stars: It doesn't make them big. They are big without the telescope. It makes them look like what they are.
Imagination may be the hardest work of the human mind. And perhaps the most God-like. It is the closest we get to creation out of nothing. When we speak of beautiful truth, we must think of a pattern of words, perhaps a poem. We must conceive something that has never existed before and does not now exist in any human mind. We must think of an analogy or metaphor or illustration which has no existence. The imagination must exert itself to see it in our mind, when it is not yet there. We must create word combinations and music that have never existed before. All of this we do, because we are like God and because He is infinitely worthy of ever-new words and songs and pictures.
A college--or a church or a family--committed to the supremacy of God in the life of the mind will cultivate fertile imaginations. And, oh, how the world needs God-besotted minds that can say and sing and play and paint the great things of God in ways that have never been said or sung or played or painted before.
Imagination is like a muscle. It grows stronger when you flex it. And you must flex it. It does not usually put itself into action. It awaits the will. Imagination is also contagious. When you are around someone (alive or dead) who uses it a lot, you tend to catch it. So I suggest that you hang out with some people (mainly dead poets) who are full of imagination, and that you exert yourself to think up a new way to say and old truth. God is worthy. "Oh sing to the Lord a new song"--or picture, or poem, or figure of speech, or painting.
I pray for the grace of imagination, lest I fail to love my fellow man and fail to render Your glory for what it really is, most beautiful of all beauties."

What do you think?
I definitely think that there must be grace...dependence on God...we cannot be creative on our own. If we ever do something creative, it is only because God gave it to us. And to do art excellently we need Him...and I think the last paragraph is helpful...it's not like our first attempt (usually) is going to be great...we need to work at it... but again, this was really helpful for me to read...

Josh Sczebel... why am I here again?

1. Name, day job
Josh C. Sczebel, Intern - Grace Church of North County, San Diego, CA... Worship leader, filmmaker (not really), photography...

2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show
something that makes you want to look at the next piece... haha... probably photography.

3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme [we won’t hold you to it…but what are your initial thoughts or hopes]?
i really don't know yet... once i have my brain back we'll see what i can come up with...

observations from colossians -->beth

I have four first thoughts...

1) God's glory --> verses 15-16
2) God's sovereignty --> verses 17-18
3) Jesus is God --> verse 19
4) The Gospel --> verses 20-23

also, the passage seems to have very strong words/phrases...

image of the invisible God firstborn visible and invisible dominions all things hold together head of the body, the church the beginning the firstborn from the dead preeminent fullness of God reconcile all things earth or in heaven peace by the blood alienated and hostile evil deeds holy and blameless above reproach before him faith stable steadfast hope of the gospel that you heard been proclaimed in all creation

i have a lot more studying to do...

Observations from Colossians

1. lots of universal/ categorical statements re: his supremacy toward creation

• first born of all creation
• by him all things were created
• all things created through and for him
  
• he is before all things
• in him all things hold together
• that in everything he might be preeminent
• in him all the FULLness of God is pleased to dwell
• to reconcile to himself all things

2. vs. 16 goes to great lengths to explain what "all things" means, with widely contrasting words like heaven and earth, visible and invisible.
3. i looked up preeminent in a thesaurus. it suggested superior, primary, incomparable, dominant.

what have you guys been noticing?

howdy

1. Name, day job, favorite animal
Peter Benson, Accounting student, don't have one

2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show
Hhmm, I love working in pencil or pen and ink, but I'm thinking this might require some color...maybe even some glitter?

3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme
Really not sure at this point. The imagery of this passage will be an interesting challenge for me. My current stage consists of prayer and meditation.

4. anything else you want us to know?
I'm a Virginian born and breed. I relocated to the Atlanta metro area a year and a half ago.

Abstract art

its sweet to hear from so many of you. Good convo, beth. Ya, I’d love to get some input on this. I talk about this periodically with students and non artists curious about abstract art. Below is my simplified argument, how else can I better explain this?

First, I encourage folks to approach Abstract Art HUMBLY. If art is a visual language/ expression/ communication, then it’s an extension or expression of men’s hearts. Therefore we approach it humbly as we would any other words or other expressions of men’s hearts. We don’t go up to people and tell them how stupid their ideas are or that our little brother could think that.

FORM - Next I tell folks to approach the visual part. What kinds of elements and principles are working together? Students enjoy finding many observations about color and line and shape.

CONTENT - And then consider content. Maybe the shapes and color are the content. Or maybe there is some symbolism or meaning that speaks of the artists world view. Though this often takes further research, it is helpful to see that this is a separate aspect to evaluate.

COMMON GRACE - Look for truth or beauty somewhere in the art. God gets the credit for anything good. and anything good somehow in a small way reflects God. what fun it is to enjoy truth and beauty!

greetings

1. Name, day job
Rob Giorgio. Graphic Designer

2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show.
Not sure. Love pen and ink, collage and collaboration between digital and art.

3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme
Need to take some time and reflect on the verses and from that I will have something.

4. anything else you want us to know?
Just moved to west Philly and lovin it.

1. Name, day job
jen malament and i guard life at a pool, teach and coach swimming
2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show
i love pen and ink but we'll see...
3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme [we won’t hold you to it…but what are your initial thoughts or hopes]
i love illustration, mainly for children's book so i'm tempted to try to 'illustrate' it...give it a storybook sort of feel
4. anything else you want us to know?
it snowed for the first time in THREE years here yesterday!!!!! (charlotte nc)
it was awesome.
just awesome.

motherwell?

who did this painting last year?

off topic...but really reminds me of robert motherwell... one of my favourite artists...
kinda freaked out first time i went to the national gallery...

but wasn't allowed to use a camera inside... and only had a tiny 2mpx point&shoot from the outside...

even tho this painting doesn't directly portray a Christian theme...or something like that, it still can bring glory to God, I believe... because it reflects God... the common grace God has given man and the incredible talent and creativity He blessed so many with, believers and non-believers...so even if this is abstract...
"all things were created through him and for him."

right?

(sorry if i'm jumping ahead...continue on with the introductions...put this on hold)

whats up from philly

1. Name, day job, wife's name
Bill Melone, substitute teacher, Julia Melone

2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show
paintings, smaller than last year, probably 2 foot 3 foot range

3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme
A response to the phrases "Firstborn over all creation" (painting of a baby) and "invisible God" (not sure, maybe Richter style abstraction with the concept of 'you can't see the forest from the trees' (that needs to get better articulated), and/or taking an old figure painting and canceling out parts of the figure), and a collaborative piece with my woman. This is definitely a rich part of the bible, its fun to think about

4. anything else you want us to know?
philly is cool, Sovereign Grace Church NJ is cool, and my wife is freakin hot. and she's pregnant--we've been easing into telling friends, told our care group last week. hope that doesn't disqualify us from being a "young married couple". And no, the baby is not the collaborative piece we've been talking about, the due date's in August.

Art 2.0

1. Name, day job
Ryan James - web designer for New Attitude and Covenant Life Church

2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show
The enormous kind

3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme [we won’t hold you to it…but what are your initial thoughts
or hopes]
This passage has a "We're all in this together" feel to it as well as a very personal voice, so I'll be using a lot of vsual repetition coupled with singling out an element that's part of the larger context. Or something like that. blah blah blah.

4. anything else you want us to know?
Adam Sandler looks just like Bob Dylan circa Blonde on Blonde in his new movie Reign Over Me. Observe.

hello from erin

1. Name: Erin Barley
Job: Art student by day, waitress by night

2. A combination of abstract and representational in oil paint/mixed media and possibly clay.

3. I have some ideas but I really need to pray! Right now I am thinking of a layered piece with several panels that represent different parts of the passage with some continuous theme throughout leading to the cross. Again, I need to pray.

4. This blog is great because I live in Hawaii so I'm excited about being connected to a community of Christian artists. I can't wait for the next couple months of inspiration and work.

hi everyone!!

1. Name: julia melone
day job: graphic designer at disc makers (www.discmakers.com/design)
2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show:
painting/collage/lettering- something collaborative with my husband.
3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme [we won’t hold you to it…but what are your initial thoughts or hopes]:
handlettering, working with textures, working with photocopies from Colossians.
4. anything else you want us to know?
i'm so excited to be part of this again- i love making art knowing that it could affect the way someone views God. it is a priviledge and a gift!

hi...?

1. Name: beth ann
.day job: work at a coffeehouse...willing provider of caffeine.
2. the kind of art you’ll probably do for this show: digital photography
3. symbols/visual ideas you might explore for Colossians 1 theme [we won’t hold you to it…but what are your initial thoughts or hopes]: <-that looks like a sad face ...it's always a challenge to photograph something intentionally to convey a strong theme such as this year's...but i like trying to think of creative ways of putting words or ideas into form and finding compositions that match and fit the image in my head...so first things first...study and meditate on Colossians 1: 15-20... i really enjoy thinking about photography... then practicing...
and my initial thoughts? pray.
4. anything else you want us to know? yes. what am i doing among all of you?