Everything we are and everything we have is a gift from God; therefore, it only makes sense to honor God with that gift. The following are 5 ideas for honoring God with your art:
- Thank God for your artistic talent gift. Creativity comes from God who made us in His creative image. Whatever is good and perfect comes from God; otherwise, it becomes about us, such as:
- How to improve,
- Who to follow,
- Art sales and exhibitions,
- Social media,
- Web traffic.
- Show up everyday, make time. If God gave you this gift you need to make time for it.
- Invite Jesus into the art process. He has a plan for your art. Create with Him.
- Grow in spirit and grow in ability. Work at your craft to expand your skill for God to use.
- Create from a place of rest. Be still and know that I am God. Art like everything else comes through a peaceful spirit in tune with Your Creator. Your body needs food, your spirit needs spiritual food, both need rest, and exercise, all in balance.
It is easy for the artist to get caught up in producing art for the sake of producing art. You need new pieces for the next exhibition. You work like a mad person to meet deadlines and wonder why you no longer enjoy the process. Creating art should be a joy!
There are plateaus along the journey. Once you no longer feel enthusiastic about making art, it may be time to just play around with new ideas. Ask God for inspiration. There have been a few times when I sat down with a blank canvas and had no clue what would show up. One such time I just started with a sky and the rest just happened.
The painting sold at Innovation Park “Art in the Workplace” before the exhibition opened to the public. It took exactly three happy hours to paint.
Another time I had a painting that failed twice so I had nothing to lose by experimenting on the canvas. I did not re-prime the canvas but painted over two previous layers and produced the following:
Some people have said they were moved by the image that I titled “Forsaken”. They said it speaks to them.
These are just a couple of examples. I usually paint pastoral landscapes. All my successful ones are where I invited Jesus into the process. All of them were labors of love as it should.
