a visual journey (of the heart)

one of the things i find an absolute joy is when i get to connect with other creatives face to face in their own creative spaces. you can learn a lot about an artist when you take the time to get to know them right where they live (and an artist spends a lot of time in their creative space-regardless of if the artist is a painter, a sculptor, a writer, a film-maker, a musician, a cook, an actor, a dancer, a craftsman, a photographer, -and the list goes on. -and regardless of whether or not the artist is actually "producing" or "selling" any art). the goal is more than getting to experience the art that they make. it's even more than learning about the creative process they go through to make their art. the goal is to connect...to know...to feel...to listen...to understand. yes we can connect an artist's art and be completely inspired...but i find it more satisfying when i'm able to connect with the artist's heart. 

yesterday i had the wonderful experience of spending several hours connecting in conversation with an artist who spends a lot of her time in her studio allowing creativity to be the language of her heart. 

Lisa Cheney is a graphic design artist in Boise, Idaho who utilizes mixed media visual art techniques and life journaling to fuse a unique style and voice to the growing genre of visual journaling. she teaches workshops and classes and her work has been featured in several magazines. 

when Lisa journals she lets herself be real upon the pages. her world is full of joy and pain, color and darkness. the pages of her journals and the texture of her canvases are filled with color, words, emotion, and honesty. her work is both beautiful and raw. and i love it all! 

Lisa and i share a lot more in common than just our first name. we share a love for the story. we both have a drive to do the heart work (no matter how hard) throughout the journey, and we recognize the need for grace to let the story come forth (however it needs to). life has layers...and Lisa's art is full of layers. i learned from Lisa that when we allow ourselves to invite others into the layers, we invite the opportunity for more chapters to be written in our story.  

my time with Lisa was filled with homemade books and journals strewn about displaying colorful imagery and writing that tells her life story through art. our conversation flowed throughout the day like one of those curly straws where you can see the liquid moving down and around and through as you happily await it's arrival. and as i exited her studio i found myself longing for another sip. 

i think it's appropriate to say, that when it comes to inviting you in to the layers of her story, Lisa can explain things better than i can...check out her blog and learn more: a visual journey

Envision, NNU, and VineArts Leaders Retreat

I've returned from my month long art ministry road trip around the Pacific Northwest. It was an amazing time of travel connecting with other creatives and art ministers in Seattle, Vancouver BC, Bellingham, and Portland. If you'd like to read about my journey and see photos you can go to my blogsite: www.traveling-artist.blogspot.com for the posts I wrote from the trip. 

It's only been days since I've arrived back, but in between doing laundry, getting some sleep, and processing through my trip, I've already been plugging back into the art community here in the Boise area. 

Envision (Oct 2013):

 Wednesday evening I attended the monthly meeting of Envision. It's for creatives of faith who desire community amongst other artists for encouragement, inspiration, and connection. This month we heard from abstract artist, Connie Sales. She shared her life story with us and invited us to enter into a contemplative time with God through her art. I met Connie a few years back when I first performed at Art in the Bar (an art event produced by Dead Bird Art & Framing, held quarterly at The Knitting Factory in Boise). Connie's raw and profound artwork drew me in immediately. Her work is a window through the pain of life's heartaches to the hope that Christ is. Her work speaks of her journey but it's also a voice of any humans journey. I appreciated her vulnerability then and I continue to appreciate it now. Being at Envision this week was a wonderful way to enter into my re-entry from my travels.

NNU (The Call Conference 2013):

On Friday I joined a team that comprised of a few of the VineArts Leaders, some Envision Artists, and some Fresco Art Students, (along with staff from NNU) to bring a morning of Art & Worship to some incoming students at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. This special kind of collaborative art is something that Artist, Sculptor, Mentor Dean Estes has been bringing to NNU for several years now. Time was spent weeks in advance praying for and preparing 3 large canvases that would be the outline of a collaborative art piece for the 50-60 young adults to work on together. 

 Throughout the morning, Dean spent time speaking to the students about a topic he holds very dear to his heart (how to maneuver through the changes of life). He shared Scriptures and quotes and stories that connect in with the theme of the incoming conference, all the while he invited them to paint on the canvases together. 

 Students were invited to come up and make their mark upon the story. Side by side they experienced what it was like to co-create (with God and with others). 

 When they were completed they were able to see that though they are individuals they really are a part of something so much bigger than themselves. Together in community they have the opportunity to allow their little bit become part of the larger picture. 

 Afterwards those of us who were facilitating the event gridded out and cut up the 3 canvases. The students were randomly given a piece to take with them: a reminder that they are important. I love helping to facilitate these kinds of events. Through creativity, I get to watch people's hearts open up and hear God's heart for them and their lives.

VineArts Leaders Retreat 2013:

 photo taken by Jessie Nilo

I got to spend all of Saturday with my Art Family up in the mountains of Idaho for a VineArts Leaders Retreat. We carpooled up together (a convoy of Art Ministers) to enjoy a day of renewal and filling.

 photo taken by Jessie Nilo

We gathered at a cabin in Crouch, Idaho owned by ministers Jerry & Val Reddix . They minister to ministers, pastors, & missionaries by providing a place of refuge and retreat. Yesterday wasn't a day to plan events or tackle administration tasks for the arts ministry. It was a day set aside for worship, prayer, connecting in conversation, sharing stories, art making, and communing with God and with each other. 

 We had times of worship and prayer together that was deeply enriching to our hearts and souls. 

photo taken by Jessie Nilo

We were able to engage with each other heart to heart. Listening, loving, learning.

And we were able to co-create with God and each other to speak life to others through creativity. 

I value days like yesterday when we set aside the labors of business and the things we do to prefer one another in community. To lead others...it's not just about being in charge or being out front or knowing stuff. It means having a heart that is willing to be stripped and broken. It means being teachable. It means having an attitude of service and humility. It means choosing community when hurts and woundings, insecurities and fears, want us to shrink away into isolation. We were made for community. We are relational beings. But it can be hard. With so much going on in each others' lives, it can be difficult to allow ourselves to be open and to be vulnerable before each other. But I believe that by being open to God ministering to us as individuals and ministering to us as a team it aids us in maneuvering the bumps in the road that we come upon on our journeys (personally, with others, and in ministry). It's a beautiful thing when you get to see your "family" members becoming who they were meant to be. I'm very thankful for my Art Family. They help me gain the courage to be fully me. 

Fill me up Lord that I may be poured out.