My Artist’s Journal

“Esther” – Mixed-Media / 8.5 x 11
Acrylics & Color Pencil on Cardstock
(c)2013 Lewis M. Curtiss jr~

As most of my friends will tell you, I am not a man of few words. Nope, I ruminate through ideas with thorough discussion. I’m getting better though. I work very hard at speaking less and listening more. I think it’s my global thinking and my philomathy that usually get me into trouble. When I get excited about something I could discuss it all day long. Discovery and learning are passions with me.

My art however, is visual, not verbal or written. I’m a visual storyteller. I got my start in theatre way, way back in the late (19)60′s (Middle School). I went on in college to add film and video work to that. Telling stories in linear, visual media is my background. Today, however I’m a static story-teller, similar to a photographer, and the Artist’s Journal has now become my new lab.

I no longer keep an Artist’s Journal simply to capture and store ideas. In the Artist’s Journal I hone my ability to visually portray what I’m ticked off about, what I’m passionate about, or what I’m excited about. Step by step, I’m leaving planning and preconception behind.

These days I’m simply trying to begin to make art with little or no notion of what I’m even going to say, and I’ve got to tell you, that takes a great deal of courage. My training in theatre and film both required a ton of preproduction planning. Most visual art doesn’t. It’s not like I’m Michaelangelo doing the David or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Sure, if I had a public commission, I’d thoroughly plan it out, but I don’t do public commissions.

These days my Artist’s Journal is a lab or a playground where I can experiment, and “waste” materials to learn what I can do with them. Working in my Artist’s Journal allows me to develop and hone a deepening connection with life, story, and visual expression.

When it comes to self-expression, most of us don’t think a lot about what’s on our minds. We simply put it into words and speak our minds. That’s exactly what an Artist’s Journal is helping me to get better at; to portray with few words and very meaning-filled picture(s) what’s on my heart and mind.

For inspiration I’ve been visiting loads of other artist’s websites who work in Collage, Mixed-Media, Assemblage, Altered Books, Art Books, and Artist’s Journals (I love these media!). What I’ve found, especially among the Artist’s Journals, is the cathartic, therapeutic, release of laying out what’s on the artist’s mind in pictures and words. Much of it is really wonderful because it speaks clearly and powerfully, “I’m hurting,” or “I’m totally filled with joy,” or “That really ticks me off!”

My left-brain has been the root source of the disconnection. I’ve been better able to talk about what’s on my mind rather than to simply portray it visually. If I did beautiful compositions only, then I’d be producing a great deal of work without story; for me, nice but devoid of meaning.

My storytelling arts practice demands the presence of the human condition. I don’t care if it’s a gently smoking pipe in an ashtray, or a footprint in the sand. Someone passed this way. Someone with a life has been here. In fact I really love artifacts; the merest suggestion of human presence. I love the mystery of who they were, why they were “here”. That’s probably why I love Archaeology so much – but I digress.

This idea is similar to what I’d tell my casts when I directed theatre productions; out there, backstage, beyond the set is the rest of the story-world. It’s called back-story. It’s our responsibility to give our audience a sense of a full-scale world beyond the walls of the set. They need that full-scale context beyond the scenes of our play, right here on-stage. I want the same sense of back-story in my work; the art is merely a window into a larger world “beyond the looking glass”.

It’s what we, as viewers/readers bring to the theatre when we watch a good play, read a good novel, or see a good film; we see something of ourselves in these story-telling media. I want my art to suggest something larger, a back-story that the viewer brings with them to their own personal engagement of the work.

It doesn’t matter what they bring to the experience, because in reality, it’s their story. They hopefully see/experience something for and of themselves. And I’m finding that the best place to hone my skills to express story in my artworks, is through the safe, never a mistake, don’t think, don’t “fix it” sheets of my Artist’s Journal.

Mother’s Day 2013

“Don’t mess with our Mom!”

Mother’s Day is a kind of broad experience for me because in effect I have had three mothers bring me into the world and raise me. My “mother” is a person of collaboration; three people who have done their part and handed me off to the next to continue the process. This went on from my birthday right up to mere days before my 18th-birthday.

For eighteen years these three women, my birth-mother, her sister (a maternal aunt), and their mother (my maternal grandmother) all worked hand in hand to provide a home, protection, and life-guidance. All three of them have passed on now; my mother when I was 7-years old, my grandmother when I was 17, and my aunt when I was an adult and married to the love of my life, and a father to our three children. Only my aunt got to see her “grandchildren”.

It’s on mother’s day that I miss them most because I know that my mother and grandmother would have fallen in love with my bride, Emily. If there was ever any truth to the saying that a man marries his mother(s), it’s right on the money for me. I married a wonderful woman who characterizes much of what I valued in both my aunt and my grandmother. It’s uncanny, but Em will often make gestures, stand, or make facial expressions just like my aunt. Em’s sense of generosity, hospitality and elegance all remind me of my dear grandmother. They’d have gotten along like family.

The best way I can repay them all is to heed their counsel well, deeply honor my own covenant of marriage, and to raise our children the very best way we can. These three mothers have all invested their lives into mine, as do all good mothers into the well-being of their own children.

I hope that in some way this will be a special day of gratitude from you toward your mother(s). Mums everywhere, I hope you will be blessed by the families, yours or surrogate, in whom you’ve invested so much of your own lives.

Thank you and bless you all.

My Favorite TED Speakers

Like my Artist’s Bookshelf sitting on my desk, I though I’d share my own list of personal favorite TED Talk speakers. I got this idea by jumping onto the bandwagon along with the likes of Bill Gates, Peter Gabriel, Barbara Streisand, Glenn Close, etc. Like the books on my Artist’s Bookshelf, I view and re-view these videos gleaning them for the uplifting wisdom and change being shared.

Never having put this list together per se, other than my Firefox Bookmarks for Inspiration & Creativity, I came to realize that my list is entirely about creativity and the contexts and environments in which it flourishes. It really shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. For me there is something about positive, selfless human potential which is exciting. In a world of “the self as everything” these liberating ideas shared for the common good are often life changing.

For almost 15 years now, I’ve been deeply concerned about and involved with creativity in the arts. More especially, with artistic creativity driven by the Judeo-Christian worldview. I call it faith-driven art, not Christian art – something I won’t go into right now.

I have also personally experienced the deliberate suppression of my own creativity by often well meaning persons concerned with my future well-being; “You’ll never make any money. You’ll be broke all your life. You can’t make it on art alone.”, etc. And like many, many other faith-driven artists I know, even fellow Christians and the Church have, at times, been personal adversaries. So my own lusty thirst for the nurture and nourishment of artistic creativity has grown into a powerful force in my life. I glean log-jam breakthroughs whenever, and wherever I can find them.

So, here’s my own list of 9 people whose ideas and work are a constant on-going nourishment and nurture to me in my own faith-driven arts practice. I’ve provided a link to the Profile Page of each speaker because many have appeared on TED more than once, and there are links to additional resources, and lastly you don’t want to miss anything they have to offer.

Here they are in alphabetical order;

Brene’ Brown / Shame & Vulnerability

Sunni Brown / The Power of Doodling

Susan Cain / The Power of Introversion

Tracy Chevalier / Finding the Story in the Painting

Elizabeth Gilbert / The Burden of Creative Genius

Malcolm Gladwell / Spaghetti Sauce & Bombsights

Seth Godin / The Obsolescence of Gatekeepers

Amy Tan / Elusive Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson / Education & Creativity

I’d love to hear from you. What are some of your thoughts? What are your personal favorites?

Enjoy!

The Power of “Why”

“People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek

Joey O’Connor of The Grove Center for the Arts & Media, posted a TEDx talk by Simon Sinek about “Why.” While Simek’s brief 18-minute talk focuses on inspirational leadership and what I call, invitational marketing, the power of “Why” resonates with the faith I love by, the art I make, and their convergence wherein I dwell.

Before reading on, please watch the Sinek talk because nothing I say from this point will make much sense without it. Thank you.

~

Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, I want to share with you what I saw in this idea of “Why.” As I said, for me it had absolutely nothing to do with inspirational leadership or invitational marketing, but everything to do with faith, with art, and with Faith&Art.

Faith

Here in America, we seem to treat our church-life as if it were a job, and our churches as if they’re businesses. We seem to need to develop programs which, like modern corporate marketing, will “bring ‘em in!” If however our churches taught and lived by discipleship; if they taught us how to find and develop our own “why-story,” I really believe that the Christian faith in America would be growing by leaps and bounds.

To my mind, it’s virtually impossible to invite someone to the foot of the Cross by explaining a boatload of facts, figures, rules & laws, and scripture. The walk to the foot of the Cross is not a head trip, but a heart trip. As I see it, we each need to know our own “why-story” really well. We need to be able to share it when it’s asked for; “Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you.”~1Peter 3:15. And maybe we need to learn how to gently help others find their own “Why” when they’re seeking Him.

Art

Recently, arts advocate, Christy Tennant Krispin mounted a showing of the Krispin’s private collection of art. Entitled Close to Home, Christy gave a brief talk about why they had chosen each piece of art. It was about relationship; their relationship with the artist, with the artwork, and the artist’s relationship with the work. Christy didn’t wonder if a certain piece would go well with her draperies. She was buying someone’s story; their “why”.

I have heard a very few sage counselors say that we artists need to know, deeply, our own story and be able to articulate it. When people buy our art they’re buying a chapter of our lives, or at least a page. If we’re ready to share what’s behind our creative journey, we can connect with those who wish to make some of our work a part of their own lives.

Faith & Art

In these earliest of years of my journey into the convergence of faith and art, I find that my “Why” drives it all. In the realm of “Why,” I return to John 3:16 ~ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The “Why” is about a) relationship and b) about bringing Him glory; about pointing to the foot of the Cross, and about becoming fully human (About You/Dick Staub). My own journey toward becoming fully human happens in the worship, the praise, and the wrestling of making art in service to the King, the Lord, my God.

The late Madeleine L’Engle got it so very right when she wrote; “To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory.” Walking on Water, pg 16 / L’Engle.

I hope you know your “Why.” Mine’s at the heart of the creative journey.

ReOrdered Loss?

A few weeks ago (Feb 17) my laptop crashed, and it did so pretty hard.  That’s why I’ve been rather scarce in the social media conversations. For the last month I’ve been popping onto the internet to check FB and Gmail, and that’s about it.  No more searches for articles involving the conversation of Faith & Art.  No more researching reference images for projects I’m developing.  Just FaceBook and Gmail, and that’s all, period.
This experience has been far less difficult a digital downsize than I ever imagined.  I mean, this laptop is a very important tool to my arts practice.  I use it, in addition to Gmail and FB, to manage my blog, manage my ETSY site “Fingerprints”, and need I so I can develop my own website this year.  But it can also become a brain-sucking monster for me, especially when I’m fresh out of ideas and should be taking a refreshing walk, sketching, or taking photographs rather than trolling the internet.

However, this experience has been a great example for me of less truly becoming more.  In the last few weeks I’ve come to an enlarged understanding of the mixed-media/collage art I’ve been making.  I’ve turned a few creative corners and am incredibly excited about what’s cooking.

This choice has opened an entire universe of creative possibilities to me; new materials, new methods, and how I can use them.  Why I didn’t make this decision to explore assemblage before now, I’ll never know.  I even put out a call for unwanted/free cigar boxes.  Sure enough, an artist friend was looking for a new home for her abundant collection and graciously supplied me with a wonderful variety.  Thrift Store searches have changed because I’m looking at the materials available to me in a whole new light.  Collage/mixed-media is usually 2-dimensional.  Assemblage incorporates a broad variety of found objects and 3-dimensional elements.

I am sincerely hoping that new habits, productive habits, continue to develop and stick even as I repair the damage to my laptop.  Oh, by the way, it appears that I wasn’t the victim of a virus getting past my Norton 360.  It’s seems to be a matter of a failed hard-drive instead.

Right now I’m running my laptop on a CD loaded with Ubuntu, a “flavor” of Linux.  All’s well except that I cannot upload Ubuntu (nowhere to put it without a C:/ drive) nor can I regain any of the other software I use; LibreOffice, Gimp, NitroPDF, etc.  But that’ll all return when I get a new hard-drive installed and formatted.  Right now I’m grateful for my Google Drive and being able to post and store everything on the web.

In the meantime I am actually enjoying these “limitations” by getting a boatload of new journals made, and developing new works in collage/mixed-media.  I’ll keep you posted as best I can, but right now, I’m really very (happily) busy!

Telling Our Story

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again, I really love our bi-weekly artist’s gatherings with Seattle Art & Coffee.  Friend and Arts Advocate Christy Tennant Krispin recently opened an art show of works from the Krispin Collection, the works that Christy and her husband Karl have in their private collection.  At the opening event at Dubsea Coffee near West Seattle, she gave a talk about some of the how’s and why’s of their choices.  It was wonderful.

We were so interested in this insightful relationship between collector and artist that we asked her to facilitate a discussion at one of our gatherings on the same subject.  So off we all went early on a rainy, cold Friday morning to sit together and talk about their collection and the promptings which drew them to the works they’ve chosen.

Our Creative Stories

All throughout both occasions the idea of relationship and story kept showing up.  Christy talked about her relationship with an artist and the story behind her finding that artist or that piece of work.  She talked about their relationship with a given piece of art, how it speaks to them and why it’s now a part of their lives.  A singular message rang out loud and clear; develop relationships with buyers and collectors by telling our story.

Each one of us, as artists, has a story.  In fact we have many stories, as many as the works of art we create because as Gregory Wolfe says, “Faith and imagination reach out to explore the mysteries of heaven and earth and then return to the community with the symbols and stories that help us know who we are.” pg 60 / Beauty Will Save the World/ Gregory Wolfe.  New stories are created with each journey into the making of a work of art.

To my mind, these are stories on three levels, 1 – the story of the artist’s own journey; 2 – the story which lead the buyer/collector to the work; 3 – the story found in the work itself.  What I got from these discussions is a powerful reminder that my art, my life, and my relationships with others (buyers or not) centers around how well and often I tell my story.

Christy’s collection of artworks centers entirely around story, those of the artist, those of her journey to discovery and collecting the artworks, and the story the piece of art holds for she and her husband in their home.

Telling Our Story Well & Often

My “take-away”; tell my story often. Tell it clearly, and tell it to anyone who’s interested.  Telling my story, my personal story, or how I came to make a work, or what I see in a finished piece of my work, all add up to building a relationship with anyone willing to encounter my work.

I’ve written about this before, that the one constant in my work is story. How often and how easily I forget that my relationship with people interested in my work is forged in a willingness to tell my story.  By telling my story I attract those who are engaged, open, and interested in the work.  It’s an invitation, not a seduction (selling/pushing).

COMMENTS: I’d love to hear from you!

What has been your experience, as either buyer/collector or artist, with this relationship?

Do you know your own creative story and can you share it well?

What experiences do you have in making a work; what’s the story there?

Digital Withdrawal

Have you ever had a major virus attack on your PC or laptop?  Last week, even though I have Norton 360, I got attacked and it took out my entire C-drive.  Up came a screen – which looked a bit different from the usual – asking for my activation code.  I figured it was nothing more than an update.  Wrong!

Over the next two-hours the virus erased my entire hard-drive literally bit by bit.  Nothing’s wrong with the machine except that it’s had a lobotomy.  It’s quite literally brain-dead. Eventually I’ll be looking for help at reloading all that’s needed to restore it to full working order.

At first, like any normal human being, I was furious.  I couldn’t figure out what was happening.  I couldn’t “fix” it.  There was absolutely nothing that could be done.  After about an hour of fiddling with it I pieced the events together and realized what had happened.  Then I was at peace about it all.  I wasn’t losing anything that couldn’t be replaced.  Any really important stuff is saved in other media, so no harm done.  Here’s the gift in it though, since I lost nothing except the convenience of a portable “use it anywhere” laptop, I was having all the symptoms of digital-addiction withdrawal.  Addiction is something I know about.

Many years ago I tried to quit smoking “cold turkey” and it took three attempts over several years to actually breakthrough to where I didn’t want another cigarette.  I was absolutely free of any pangs of desire screaming at me to be satiated.  It was bliss.

Right now I do have use of a couple of other computers.  That’s why I can continue writing, but – and this is significant for me – this entire fiasco has brought about a serious evaluation of why I use my laptop, how I use it, and what I use it for.

Confession: I’ve been pretty lax about getting to my art-making lately.  It’s a Resistance thing (read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art).  I was putting off working because I was, well, “working”.  No, I wasn’t wasting time playing videos, or watching movies.  I was doing idea/inspiration searches.  With me – because I’m a philomathic global learner – it’s not very focused searching.  I wander from one thing to another in an aimless meandering of utter, total, immersive fascination.  Once I’ve got the “big-picture” the connections all fall into place.  It’s awesome, and addictive; way better than video games!

I love learning so much that I actually hoard bookmarks.  If it interests me it gets filed in my – three-levels-deep – bookmarks in Firefox.  I may actually have more bookmarks than the Lord has angels, although I wouldn’t bet on it.  Anyway, that’s what I was having withdrawals over – wandering searches all across the web, anytime, anywhere.  I was so entranced that my latest batch of handmade coptic journals on my ETSY site had expired.  Much to my embarrassment, it took an email from an interested friend to tell me about it.

So here I am using computers from other family members, but in a highly limited way.  Maybe this is a Lenten thing the Lord’s leading me through, I don’t really know.  What I do know is that my Lord and Master is lovingly correcting me.  After all, I work for Him and I’ve been off “playing” and neglecting my work.  It took a PC virus to bring it all to a halt and refocus me, and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:22-23 NIV

This year I am in prayer that God will call me to deeper waters, in life, in faith, and in my art.  I have asked Him for this kind of revelation and here He is delivering what I need.  Aside from the fact that I didn’t lose anything important from the crash, and the laptop is repairable, the single most significant gift in the midst of that wretched frustration is that Father God restored me to my original commission.  He set my feet back on course so that I can grow, dwell in these slightly deeper spiritual waters, and create works of art from a far richer relationship with Him.

Running On Inertia

I have no idea whatsoever to write this week. I write this blog to participate and fulfill God’s mission for me in the conversation of Faith & Art: To help faith-driven creatives to discover, develop, and use their gifts to God’s glory. But maybe a specific mission for the conversation is unnecessary.

Maybe all I need do is share what I discover, or how I am growing, and leave it at that.

I also have a specific, and very relevant, mission for my art practice: That my art-making results in lives changed for God’s glory. In other words that it produces invitations to the foot of the cross of Christ.  And maybe this is enough.

Perhaps I’ve found any transition away from the first mission statement difficult, as if it was a betrayal or an abandonment of some important call from the Lord. Perhaps it’s taken these five years to realize that I’ve been given a new mission and that it is enough. That it’s all I need focus on.

My transition from problem-solver / helper-guide to producing artist has been, not difficult, but rather unclear. Maybe this year, 2013, is the year I get all of that cleared up and simply focus on doing the main thing really well – making art, showing art, and selling art. And as it may be wanted or needed, the help to others will happen along the way all by itself.

In other words, my former role as creative problem-solver / pied-piper is past; done. It’s not God’s mission for me anymore. Oh, I’m still deeply passionate about faith, art, and faith & art. I’m still deeply passionate about adding value to the lives of those with whom I come in contact. I’m still deeply interested in being encouraging, but that’s no longer my primary role. God has other plans for me this year, and I need to follow them.

These last two or three years I’ve bumped into, stumbled across, or just plain become aware of many subtle movements and transitions which God has drawn me toward. They hadn’t coalesced into a new life chapter until just now, as I’m writing this post. The Lord is definitely calling me out into far deeper waters of creativity and faith. Perhaps I’ve been running on inertia for five years and didn’t really realize it. Maybe that’s why I’ve felt a little lost, because a number of my life-roles have closed recently, simply because they’re finished.

In the last three years my final Homeschool student graduated. Both my father and father-in-law have passed away. We played major roles in their elder care (a gift I wouldn’t trade for anything). We moved to our present domicile. We’ve had one of our kids move out on her own and put herself through an arts college. We have two others on the threshold of making lives for themselves. In that time, I’ve been able to cement myself into a career of visual art-making. Lots of things have happened and have come to closure, and it’s only now, at the top of this year, that I have just enough distance to sense those roles finally winding down. The turbines of effort have stopped.

These changes are having a powerful effect on my art practice, which is why I’m thinking out loud here in my blog. That must also be why 2013 feels like a major course change for me, and I like it. In the last three years I’ve met more friends in the arts community than ever. I’ve found what I believe to be my medium, even though I’m still searching for my own voice in it. I’ve moved from an art table set up in the dining room to occupying the entire basement with all the amenities needed to really be productive year round; studio, workshop, washroom.

These are all gifts. They’re all blessings. They bring tears of gratitude to my eyes. Instead of feeling useless or confused, God has given me vital, vibrant, new roles in faith-driven creativity, and for that I am eternally grateful.

This must be why 2013 feels so expansive, and filled with great potential and possibilities. It’s as if I’ve stepped out into an open meadow surrounded by forest. Now I can look up and finally see the stars. This must also be why I feel so much focused purpose and joy. I’m not lost at all because, while I don’t know my next destination, God has made my course crystal clear. In childlike faith, all I have to do is follow His spiritual compass.

I don’t have to run on the inertia of former roles anymore. They’re all done. It’s time to embrace new life-roles and for God and I to see what wonders we can make of them.

Connecting Some Dots

Every couple of weeks I attend an artist’s gathering. We discuss faith, art, faith & art. We have no other agenda except to cross-pollinate one another as brothers & sisters in Christ, and in creativity. We work in all different media; dance & movement, film & video, photography & painting, collage/mixed-media, literature & poetry, theatre & music. Because our gatherings aren’t about how, but about what & why, a lot of good stuff rubs off on one another.

Recently we were talking about a 3-minute video by Parker Palmer; The Tragic Gap. He talks about the extremes of what he calls corrosive cynicism and irrelevant idealism and what it takes to walk in balance between them. I’ve bumped into various forms of the same idea from other sources. As a global thinker, what I am seeing is an emerging larger picture. Here I’m simply trying to connect some dots.

Palmer says this, “So we have to stand in this place between what is and what could and should be. But we have to stand there without flipping out on one side or the other. To flip out on the side of too much reality is to be drawn into corrosive cynicism… To flip out on the other side toward what could and should be is to fall into… irrelevant idealism. …they [both] take us to the same place – which is out of action. They disengage us from this place in the gap where we need to stand in order to move things forward.”

Most of the time when I hear a call for balance, I am usually reminded of the life of Christ. It’s a walk that doesn’t get sucked into either the agendas of the world, or the Church, for example. It’s a life willing to suffer the slings and arrows of those who one minute call the artist friend and the next minute, foe. It’s not a life for the fainthearted. This is the creative life, the life of the artist of faith, full of risks, patronizing compliments, and biting criticism, but it is the life to which many of us are called.

Parker Palmer

Palmer goes on to remind us that by living in our own heads we can easily slip into one or the other; corrosive cynicism or irrelevant idealism. He offers this advice, “It is only in communities that we’re going to have a balance to check and correct our own self-perceptions.” This is one of the many reasons we faith-driven artists get together every couple of weeks, not to sit around and agree on everything, but to be respectfully honest with one another.

Author and lecturer Calvin Seerveld adds; “…truly God-praising artistry can flourish only when the artist is deeply embedded both in an artistic community and in the wider, societal communion of sinner saints.” Rainbows for the Fallen World pg 26-28.

To my mind, the Lord is calling us to walk as living sacrifices in tension or balance between many extremes, any one of which does not, by itself, guide culture toward any common good. He is calling us to walk, as Christ did, seeking first His face, and then simply giving Him whatever creative meaning we make without worrying about who it will affect, or how it will affect them. That’s the business of the Holy Spirit.

It seems to me that, our “job” is simply to live intimately with Him and give our work as an offering which He will do with as he wishes.

I am not saying that artists should forgo compensation; that’s not what I mean. We have financial needs just like everybody else. But I am saying, as do many others, that the “fame & fortune” however great or small is simply not the point.

The point resides in our own faith-filled walk with Him and in the art we make as a result of that walk.

Beauty Will Save the World: Initial Thoughts

Maybe it’s because I’m a Philomath – I love learning, but I do love a good book. I tend to gravitate toward non-fiction dealing with faith, art, faith & art, and creativity. The latest I’m doing a deep-reading on is Gregory Wolfe’s Beauty Will Save The World.

This culturally engaging, faith-driven, affirmation of creativity has got me by the ear-lobes and I’m so excited that I want to share just a few brief thoughts.

“My own vocation, as I have come to understand it, is to explore the relationship between religion, art, and culture in order to discover how the imagination may ‘redeem the time’.” Gregory Wolfe /pg-2.

Last October as the guest of Dick Staub, Nigel Goodwin, and Jeff Johnson, I attended a special gathering of thoughtful creatives and, like everybody else, was asked to give a 10-minute talk about my art practice; who I am, what I’m doing, and where I’m going. As I prepared my talk it occurred to me that; “What essentially interests me is the power of art, in all media, to alter the course of culture to the glory of God. I am searching for how art can communicate God’s love to the world without the trappings of mere religion, either to the Body of Christ (His Church) and to the world.” Lew Curtiss / Oct-2012

I was not many pages into Gregory’s book and realized that, here in my hands, lay much good instruction to that very process. This is why I couldn’t wait to write about this book even before finishing it.

“Just as Christians believe that God became man so that He could reach into, and atone for, the pain and isolation of sin, so the artist descends into disorder so that he might discover a redemptive path toward order.” GW / pg-6.

Further; “If art cannot save our souls, it can do much to redeem the time, to give us a true image of ourselves, both in the horror and the boredom to which we can descend, and in the glory which we may, in rare moments, be privileged to glimpse.” GW / pg-8

More and more do I encounter affirmations regarding the very high calling of faith-driven creatives of all media. More and more do I read and am further convinced that faith-driven art is the second voice of the Church (the Body of Christ), right alongside ordained clergy; that faith-driven artists – serious artists – share the same heritage in the tribe of Levi, and that we are sanctified and consecrated as God’s scribes and messengers in this world. More and more urgently – and Gregory emphasizes this in his book – is the need for serious, deeply rooted, faith-driven creatives to get to the work God calls each of us to do within His giftings and missions to each of us.

When I am finished with this first reading, this book will be annotated, highlighted, underlined, tabbed and tagged as it takes its place alongside the other reference works on my Artist’s Bookshelf; Walking On Water / L’Engle; Culturally Savvy Christian / Staub; Purpose Driven Life / Warren; The Artist’s Way / Cameron; Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain / Edwards; The Creative Habit / Tharp.