New Art Series: Broken & Redeemed

These works “speak” of

Objects and materials, unexpectedly transformed from

Ordinary, discarded, broken, unusable, into

Remarkable, precious and redeemed.

These works “speak” about me -

Ordinary, discarded, broken, unuseful,

And the utterly unexpected transformation

To remarkable, precious and redeemed;

Not by anything I did or ever can do,

But purely by the grace of God

Through Jesus Christ.

-----------------------------------------

How we interact or relate with art like this tells us a lot about how we interact and relate with people, and even our God.

How we view art like this tells us a lot about how we view ourselves in relation to others.

Do we automatically dismiss and not respect art that looks like this just because we don’t like how it looks, or because it doesn’t meet our expectations?

Do we look down on others because they are different from us, or do we have a hidden feeling that somehow we are “better” because we are Christians and don’t act like they act?

Do we look disapprovingly at what form others worship make take because it is different from ours?

Do we dismiss others at first glance just because they don’t meet our criterion for what we want to see in someone else?

What is our attitude towards others…toward God?

Do we dismiss and not hear God because his answers and direction don’t come in the form we think they should be in?

Is the “something” that we are missing in our life or our relationship with God, based in dismissing and not hearing God because we are trying to get others and God to act like we think they/He should?

 

“God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not,

to bring to nothing things that are,

so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Lest we become unexpectedly ordinary and broken before God,

We cannot realize the unearned - the unearned - grace of God,

Through Jesus Christ,

And be transformed remarkable, precious and redeemed.

 

Facebook link for Prodigal Arts is:

https://www.facebook.com/prodigalartsministry?ref=hl

Visions: river of life

Visions: river of life: I've been working on a new series of assemblage artworks that explore the concept of home - for me, I can't really think about home without ...

ART LESSONS FROM THE GREAT CREATOR

Creation. This is a word that evokes many thoughts, feelings, and even fears. Creation involves something new, original, authentic, or unexpected. Depending on the artist, it can be intimidating, or if the truth be known, frightening, to be confronted with a blank white canvas. Some artists have to sketch everything out and have a specific plan of what the outcome will be. Other artists will embrace the unexpected, and start laying in paint and let what happens determine the outcome.

We who are Believers are new creations. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul wrote “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Indeed, how wonderful it is to be that new creation! But, even with the best of intentions, we sometimes fall into what I will call “a place of sameness”. That sameness may be a place of complacency, or reach all the way to wanting the sameness of that sweet place we find when we worship or pray. Either place can be deadly. We are creatures of habit. We resist change. We all are susceptible to spiritual inertia. Change can be frightening. It usually includes the unexpected, and often, some degree of risk. It makes us uncomfortable to not be in control of the outcome. We may even say, “Use me God,” but what we really are meaning inside is, “Use me God, but only as long as it doesn’t it doesn’t involve anything radical, risky or uncomfortable.” But, when we try to control the outcome with God, we limit Him and what He desires to do in our lives and with our lives.

Imagine what it would be like if we asked the Great Creator to create something new, something unexpected, in us today? What would happen if when we approached God , and as wonderful as His presence has been felt each time we have approached Him before, we asked Him to create something new and unexpected this today? What would happen if we did that every day? How much richer would our lives be? How much more would the unsaved see Jesus through the body of Christ if we asked God to create something new in us - every day?

　

A NEW REVISED ARTS MINISTRY VISION STATEMENT

(God has seen fit to clarify, sift and refine the vision and purposes of Prodigal Arts.  What follows is the result:)

Prodigal Arts is based in the understanding that creating is a gift of God; and that creating art as a response to that gift is an act of worship, is a calling, and is indeed an obedience to that call.

Through on-on-one, community, exhibitions, presentations, groups, conferences or interactive special events, Prodigal Arts seeks:

·         to foster the understanding that just as we do not have to justify ourselves to earn God’s grace, art is not required to justify itself in terms of its usefulness;

·         to foster the understanding that every person is not only gifted and called according to His purpose, but by God’s grace  there is life-transforming freedom in that gifting;

·         to further nurture and equip artist and non-artist alike, who have come to Christian faith, or renewed, deepened their faith in God, so that they may grow into and fulfill their callings and be a faithful presence in our communities;

·         to encourage, assist & equip others in developing locally meaningful arts ministries.

Prodigal Arts is an arts ministry which seeks to share the fullness and the freedom of the grace of God…

…to see the ordinary, the broken and the un-useful,

as remarkable, precious and redeemed.

Beginning to See the Ordinary as Redeemed

In the rush of daily life, we look at many things, but “see” very little.

We ride through God’s creation so fast, and so preoccupied that we look out the window and “see” but a pale, fleeting impresson of the wonder that we are traveling through. When we walk or even ride a bike slowly, we allow ourselves to be part of it all – to actual participate in it all – and we begin to “see” the ordinary as remarkable and wondrous.

 

That is the stuff of good and great art – that which makes us “see” the ordinary again, or “see” the ordinary in a new way.

 

Taken further, how many of us live our lives at such a frenetic pace – very busy, with many “good things” that keep us very busy – that we “see” very little… A perfunctory quick read through a mini-devotional or listening to something spiritual on the ride to or from some place… a quick prayer… How many of us don’t take the time to “walk”, and allow ourselves to “participate”, and never get a sense of God in our real lives?

 

That is the stuff of the good and great “art” of being in the Spirit, and allowing the Holy Spirit a chance to make us “see” what He would have us see…

So, good art is like a good relationship with God – we begin to see as God sees –

the ordinary as remarkable, redeemed and wondrous…

What is Christian Art? (Or Why Do Christian Artists Get the Hard Questions?) (Part 1)

 
What is "Christian Art"? What is a "Christian artist"? What kind of art is a "Christian artist" supposed to create? These are questions that artists who are Christians get to face. Christians who are called to creative vocations get the "hard" questions. Ultimately, all Christians come to a wall where they must answer hard questions as to what is "ultimate" in their life, but artists get hit with hard questions right from the "get go". I know that after God brought me back to Him at the age of 56 years old, I had very serious questions, like, "Okay God, now what? How is this supposed to work? How does my art fit with God?" Thankfully, just as we cannot limit God by putting Him in a box, God does not desire to limit us by putting us in a box either.

Sometimes we have a tendency to have preconceived notions about what some things are, or what they should look like. In order to find some answers, we need to slow down and really examine what our Christian lives are all about. We each need to pick this “idea about our art and our God“ up and turn it slowly in our hands; look at it, feel it, meditate on it and see it from different perspectives.

So, what is a "Christian artist"? I follow that question with more questions... What is a "Christian furniture maker"? What is a "Christian factory worker", or a "Christian firefighter"? 

The real heart of the matter is not what kind of art an artist makes, or what furniture a craftsman makes, or where a weatherman works, it is more a matter of where we place God in our life! In Western culture, we have separated our spiritual life from our “everyday” life. We have largely taken God out of our everyday life. How we approach everything we do is a matter of worship - especially relating to gifts of the Spirit…gifts from God. The level to which our callings, our vocations, our jobs, our arts, are an act of worship, is a direct reflection of our attitude of worshiping God in the first place. Do we worship God from a place of fear, duty or love? Do we worship God primarily for what we can get, for what He can do for us? Is our worship self-centered or God-centered? 

We seek to be excellent in what we do, as a matter of glorifying God. We seek to make custom furniture, make accurate weather reports, give good customer service, produce art in a manner that ultimately glorifies God, not ourselves.

What kind of art should a Christian artist make? I don’t know. That’s between God and the artist. As mentioned at the outset of the article, God doesn’t put us in a box. God doesn’t give you a gift and not want you to develop and use it to its fullest. It is more likely to be other Christians who will not know what to do with you as an artist and try to put you into a box of presupposition and limitation. They probably will even be well-meaning, but have been conditioned by church culture and tradition.

I encourage every artist who is a Christian to take time and examine how being Christ-centered applies to your art. Seek God’s face. Don’t let anyone tell you what “Christian art” is.   If you “Google” the topic “What is Christian Art?”, you get some very interesting and varied ideas about what “Christian art” is. I encourage you to read, study and pray about it. Do not let someone, even if they are well-meaning, put you in a box. Each believing artist needs to come to their own place before God.

To me, being a Christian artist is about two things - being an authentic Believer, and being an authentic artist. 

 God uses the broken and the un-useful, as well as the beautiful to give Himself glory.