Archive for insprational
re:purposed from Missional Living…
Posted by: | CommentsCheck out this insightful post from Tom Cottar over at Missional Living…
One of the new buzzwords of our ‘green’ society has caught me by surprise and slowed me down. Insiders no longer use the term ‘recycled’, as in ‘recycled glass’, but ‘repurposed’.
Which I completely love, but not in a green way…. (read more)
The Gnawing Discontent…
Posted by: | CommentsGod has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there. – Oz Guiness
photo credit: Daniel Owen (Daniel & Sonja on Flickr.com)
I’ve been seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for some time now…
It doesn’t seem to be getting any brighter.
Do you know what I’m talking about?
God plants a seed of himself in us, Paul called is a “deposit” of the glory to come… His Holy Spirit. And this Spirit speaks to our innermost thoughts and desires, He enlightens our passions, He restores our hope…
Sometimes, when I’m feeling cynical, I think He teases us…
I know a couple of ministry-types that kinda flounder from position to position, church to church, looking for the right fit… To me, they constantly seem to be trying to shove the proverbial square peg into a round hole…
They don’t see their own shape…
If you know many ministers, you know at lease one of these guys:
The Evangelist who continually tries (and fails) as a Pastor…
The Missionary who settled for a job administrating other missionaries…
The Youth Pastor who thought it was time to “move up” to Senior Pastor…
Their work doesn’t bring energy and life to them… Instead of living “abundantly,” they have settled for a place of service that provides some counterfeit for life: monetary stability, worldly prestige…
You get the idea?
I find artists to be especially vulnerable to this kind of thing… After all, there are only 32 new positions for “rock stars” that come available every year and 85% wash out by year-two… For the guy that has great musical talent, a job selling widgets seems more stable, reasonable and safe…
But Jesus didn’t say, I have come to give you a stable life…
Knowing this truth, however, is very different from walking it out… I struggle a lot to walk in my gifts and calling… I get discouraged easily when things appear to be trending away from the goal that I’ve set my heart on…
That’s when I eat Oreos…
Discouragement is the enemy of abundance, but I’m not convinced this is true of Discontent…
Discontent can be a catalyst… It can drive us to work harder, work smarter and really sell-out to our vision and calling…
Are you sold-out to your vision and calling?
Or shall I pass the Oreos?
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. -The Bible, Psalm 37:4
Discussion Starters for Activating Artists…
Posted by: | CommentsAs we come up on the end of August, we thought we’d review some of the great ideas that we’ve gleaned from artists that we talked to this summer:
Painter, Moyra Blayney sells her landscape work through a coffeehouse that donates their consignment fees to charities…
Gloria Mendez teaches craft and beadwork classes at her church and works with a local nun to help her become self-supporting…
John Prichard, a student-filmmaker, produced a short film to promote the new work of a foreign missionary…
Mixed-media artist, Kathie Luther, mixes artistic expression with prophetic and end-times images to express provocative ideas about the Christian life…
Stagecraft-trained writer, Tim Jones, uses his gifts to produce dramatic presentations for church outreach…
What kind of service/ministry are you doing with your gifts? Share thoughts and ideas here…
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Reboot For Inactive Artists…
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Untitled by Moyra Blayney
I’ve been chatting with Moyra Blayney, our Featured Artist, about her work and her recent reboot. She had been inactive with her art for 15 years before opening a small show earlier this year at a coffeehouse in Belfast. Since I have also had a reboot in my writing and theatre in the last year, I thought that it might be encouraging to share a few thoughts…
It’s easy to get stuck in the routine of your “real life” but I think that artists (and this is probably especially true of Christian artists) abandon real living when they trade a day job for their artistic passion. For me, it was selling sprockets (not joking) that totally consumed my productive hours and kept me wishing I could do something artistic rather than doing it.
Dreaming takes a lot less effort than actually putting paint on a canvas or words on a page. Guitar Hero is easier to master than guitar. Watching TV is easier than appearing in a play… you get the idea.
I hadn’t given a lot of thought to my own reboot until I started talking to Moyra… but her story and mine share some of the same elements… Elements that might actually form some foundational principles for rebooting… I wanted to share them.
1. FEED YOUR INNER-ARTIST… It struck me that Moyra stayed interested in reading about art and art technique even when she was inactive. For me, attending plays and reading classic literature kept my imagination active even when I was too busy to write.
Passion is something that needs fuel. This is true in art, in relationships, in faith. If you’ve stopped fueling your imagination, pick up a book…
2. FIND A MUSE… For Moyra, it’s the Irish countryside… For me, it’s the Colorado foothills… But everyone has a place, an activity or a person who ignites our imagination…
For the Christian artist, there is a wealth of inspiration to be had in our relationship with God. I’ve found that the more I seek Him, the more inspired my writing becomes. Every good gift comes from God, after all, and our artistic talents are no exception… Ask Him to bring inspiration and He will.
3. TALK ABOUT YOUR DESIRE… Nothing fuels desire like speaking it out loud… And I can’t think of many things that are harder to talk about. It’s kinda scary to talk about a reboot. Our fear of failure kicks in and we freeze up.
Find a trustworthy friend and start talking about your reboot… For me, I started saying things like, “I’m writing that novella I’ve been thinking about.” My friends were very supportive… Moyra’s friend actually set up her first show… If your friends aren’t supportive, get some new ones.
4. SET UP A PLACE AND TIME TO WORK… Moyra had a deadline for her first show and not a single, completed canvas… She set up a studio in her home and set aside time to work… There’s nothing like a deadline to motivate you to work.
I did something similar with my novella, publishing the drafts of each chapter every Monday in my blog… Pointing my desk out the window and at the mountains gave me even more of a reason to sit down and write…
If you have a “day job” it is especially necessary to set aside a certain time (maybe the hour right after dinner) to work, otherwise, you will get derailed by business.
5. JUST DO IT… Talking and planning are great motivators, but eventually you have to pick up the brush, dust off the piano or fill the balloons with paint… You don’t have to write the Great American Novel or create a masterpiece with your first effort, but if you’re ever going to do something noteworthy, you must start somewhere…
Remember that the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step…
Want to add something or tell us about your own reboot? Comments are always welcome!
Read more about Moyra’s art here.
Read Tim’s novella, The Warrior, or check out his new live nativity script, bethlehemEXPERIENCE.
Featured Artist: Moyra Blayney
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Untitled by Moyra Blayney
We got an email a few weeks ago from Moyra, a painter living in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who had received a link to our site from a friend. After an exchange of emails, she attached a few photos of her work and we were hooked.
Moyra’s medium of choice is acrylic paint and her work, inspired by her love of the Irish countryside, is full of color and movement. We’ve been enjoying the sliding-show of her work at WOP for about a week now and never get tired of it. There is a noteworthy sense of peace in her work and Moyra’s warm and humble attitude has been a blessing as well. We had a last-minute opening for a feature and Moyra was the first-call.
Moyra started out like many artists, doodling cartoons with felt-tip pen in sketchbooks and journals. Encouraged by her family, she pursued art as a way of dealing with the stress of growing up in Belfast in the 70’s. She loved the paint-by-number kits that her parents inevitably presented her with each Christmas and buying new colored pencils for school each year was a treat that she remembers.
Through secondary school (that’s like high school in the US, but I only know that from reading CS Lewis books) and into adulthood, Moyra enjoyed reading art history and technique. Her artistic pursuits were derailed as she grew up and got a “real life,” but her passion for art hung on and she continued to read and study; trading tenacity for formal art education to become a self-taught artist.
Like many of us, Moyra filled her life with a “day job” but a desire to return to the art that she loved gnawed at her. In her own words:
I didn’t ‘do art’ for about 15 years… I always meant to… thought about it… read art books … dreamt of completing a canvas – but never, ever did anything about it. I guess I was busy with life…working hard and busy around home!
But a friend named Mark, thought that all she needed was a little push. Taking the initiative, Mark booked space for Moyra at Common Grounds, a christian coffee-house in Belfast, and informed her that there was space for 15 pieces… On opening night, about 50 of her family and friends turned up to support and encourage her… She sold 10 of the original 15 paintings… Part of the proceeds from the show went to support a local mission.
Moyra now has paintings for sale in a local art shop and is looking forward to a second show in September…
One of the things that we love about Moyra’s story is that she made a “come-back” after years of wishing for an opportunity, she was finally able to make the time to paint and to see the ways that God can work through her gifts. She describes it as a “second chance to be creative” and many of us know what that’s like. For Moyra, each new day is an adventure as she explores the possibilities for using her art to serve and bless others…
Tomorrow, a few tips that I gleaned from Moyra on being a successful, part-time artist and making a come-back after years out of the game…
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