the heart of this artist

sometimes i get the opportunity to look at my heart (it's motivations and desires, it's movements and responses, it's thoughts and emotions)...and i get the chance to see (or wake up to understand) that the mural that is my life is still in progress of being painted. though i desperately want it to be completed...and many times cry out in angst that it is not. the picture is still rough, unfinished, and at times, unrecognizable. and there are reasons for this. there are many cans of paint of various colors that still need to be mixed and applied. there are several parts of the canvas that still need to have primer brushed on. there are still slops and spills that need to be forgiven and worked in. there are still details that need to be carefully painted in (at the right moments, only after the base colors are applied)...and all the while, i am in constant need of refocusing on the pre-liminary sketches and tweeking the current layout to reflect the original idea...and yet, allowing for spontaneity and creativity to bring the mural to become an even deeper more intimate and beautiful painting. that is my heart. that is my life. sometimes it feels like an un-mixed can of paint (goopy and unwilling to show it's true color). and sometimes it feels like a slopped on, muddled, and overworked area of the canvas (will it ever be salvagable?). but every-so-often i am given the chance to experience my heart from a very tall ladder or scaffold high above the canvas...to see it as a whole mural from above...to understand that though it is still in progress of being completed...my heart is good. God is painting a beautiful mural with my life.

RE:FORM

have you ever found yourself in the middle of doing something and you realize that there is something very special happening in the midst of it all? this week was one of those moments for me...and i'm finding it hard to put into words how i feel. what i do know, is that my heart has been impacted in a very profound way due to some very spontaneous and creative events that have taken place at my church recently. as you know, i am an artist...a full-time self-employed painter. i've been doing this for almost 10 years...walking the journey of making a career out of what i love to do. i call my business "REVELATORART". the name is after Saint John the Revelator (author of the book of Revelation in the Bible...a letter of prophetic imagery revealing all kinds of phenomenal spiritual & supernatural aspects of God and His Kingdom)...it inspired me that God is the ultimate artist who has filled me with His creativity to do art (and not just "pretty" art...but art that creates emotion, that takes action, that says something, that goes deeper). and i live my life as an artist who desires that God would be revealed in creative & prophetic ways through the artwork that i create...that others may experience something special with my art and be inspired and perhaps even challenged. about 4 years ago i began a deeper creative journey...i became a part of a new art ministry called vinearts at the Vineyard Boise *i talk more about vinearts and the role i get to play in leadership as the gallery coordinator and a task force member, on the left sidebar of this blog site...just scroll down some and you'll find the info about the ministry and what we're about.* this week our vinearts director was commissioned to gather a team of artists and paint a very large mural as a backdrop for the sanctuary stage. the mural would depict the theme of our all-church Bible study in the Book of Acts. our pastor has called us all to be reformers...to make a difference in the world by "engaging in the Spirit-filled advent-ure" (that's "believing for the advent-ure by living a life of daring faith between Jesus' first & second coming"...which is NOW!) he sees reformation like a ripple effect...a rock dropped in water creates ripples that move out from the center farther & farther & farther out...making a bigger impact than the original rock (that rock being Jesus and us being the ripples) so our director called a few of us to task and we set to making this large piece of art a reality. she came up with the design and we all worked on it together. we stretched 3 panels of canvas (equaling 51 feet long and 12 feet high) onto a garage floor to prime. this was truly the largest painting i've ever worked on (and i've done some large murals over the years). then we hung the canvas & traced the outlines of shapes from a projected image of a multitude of ripples (creating a paint by number on the canvas). then we brought the canvas back to the garage floor to be painted. there were 7 of us artists working for days all hours using large brushes fashioned to long sticks, mops, & brooms to paint the majority of the mural. then the canvas was rehung in it's resting place as a backdrop for the sanctuary stage. and then themed wording was traced from a projector & painted on top. and if that wasn't enough to get us all excited...the director and myself (specifically chosen) were able to put finishing touches on a strategic part of the mural (the spot where the rock is plunked into the water) by being a part of the worship all 3 Sunday morning services for the paintings' unveiling. the director & myself helped lead worship with the band by painting alongside of them! it was the first time the Vineyard Boise has had that sort of thing take place in a main Sunday service (i know that there are many churches out there who regularly incorporate art in their worship services). a couple of years ago our arts ministry held some special art & worship nights at the church for people to come and interact with art as worship (but we haven't done one for a couple of years), and of course we do have an art gallery that displays themed art exhibits (4x/yr) which i am in charge of, and we have various teaching workshops & inspirational monthly meetings for the artists of our community, and we have had a guest speaker visit twice who is a potter (he throws pots and gives a sermon at the same time)...but honestly, painting during worship (as worship) on Sunday morning...this was a first! and i must say that i was totally honored to be one of the two people who got the opportunity to break it loose in this way. WOW! not only was it a dream of mine to be a part of something like that...not only was it an extremely fun experience (unifying & meaningful for all involved)...but as the band played and the singers sang & us artists painted...we were all worshipping and proclaiming God's majesty & His faithfulness & His glory. i could hear the congregation responding with more enthusiasm than i've heard in a long time, as they sang and danced with their all amidst such creativity....GOD's creativity! it wasn't about me. it' wasn't about vinearts. in fact, it wasn't about art at all. it was about God...to God, for God. it was a memory that i will hold dear to my heart and cherish for the rest of my life. it was truly a moment that transformed us all. and it was the beginning of re:form.