The Art of Creating

References:
- Genesis 1; Genesis 2
- John 1:1-18 NAS
- Dickblick art supplies
- Pebble Mosaic idea
- German artist Albrecht Durer

I have a question for you… What do you get when two shutterbugs get married and go off to a State Park for their honeymoon? Answer… A lot of joking banter of whose turn it was to use the camera and almost 1,000 pictures taken within a week. Granted, we were using a digital camera so we didn't have to buy film, but still… That is a lot of pictures, isn't it?

Thing is, that is my wife and myself. We love taking pictures. She has taken an actual photography course on the science behind good photography. I, on the other hand, have not. My use of the camera has been primarily to recording significant events (like pictures of family and friends, vacations, holidays, etc.) and to gather possible references for drawings or paintings. Yes, I do love art. I have taken an art class just about every year of middle school, high school, and college. I am definitely not a Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo (and I don't mean TMNT), or an Albrecht Durer. But, I do have good artistic talent. I have never tried pursuing art as a career, just as a way to express myself.

I have worked with many different mediums, or types of art. For example, I have done a lot with charcoal, pastels, pen and ink, ceramics, painting, etc. For what ever reason, I don't seem to be as strong working with colors as I am working with black-n-white mediums. That is, my quality of work is not as good when I working with colors, like pastels, as it is working in black-n-white, charcoal for example. Usually I will use a reference for my art work. It can either been a photograph that I have taken, a picture from a magazine, or a still-life that I put together. Sometimes I draw from my imagination.

Whether it's drawing, painting, using pastels, or photography, art as a hobby can be expensive. I have no idea how much I have paid in my art supplies over the years. And, I have quite a few supplies! And, I admit, some of them are the cheap end of a certain medium. This is more often the case with my colored pencils or pastels. I don't use them a lot and I am not as strong in that medium. So, I am not going to invest nearly as much money as I would in something like a camera or a pen set. In fact, a good friend of mine in college had a very nice pen set. He was a psychology and art double major and pen-n-ink was one of his favorite mediums to work with. He let me use his pen set for one of my art projects and I fell in love with their quality. I told my parents about it and, the next thing I knew, I had my own set for Christmas. Except it was a 7 pen set. Each pen had a nib of a different thickness, enabling me to draw more exact lines. I still have that pen set today and try to use it on occasion.

Over the last few years, I have done a lot more 'artistic work' with writing than I have with drawing. I have always had good talent with creative writing, be it writing prose or poetry. No, I have not done much in the realm of poetry lately. But, I have done a lot of creative writing over the last few years. This blog is just one example of creative writing for me. I journal at times, though not very regularly. I also have done a lot with sermon and Bible Study writing. For me, they are no different than writing a good story. You have a message to deliver and you have to do it effectively. Although I usually organize my sermons and Bible Studies in an outline form, I have used those outlines to create blog entries on occasion. My blog on Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one example.

We all have artistic skills of some sort. For some, it is cooking. Others are gifted in story telling. Still others are gifted in how they arrange things in the home. Still others are gifted in music, be it singing, playing an instrument, etc. Some have amazing gifts in a certain area, and others don't seem to be 'as strong.' But yet, we all have some sort of artistic talent.

I believe that this is because the God that created the world and all that we see is the Author of 'being creative.' I mean, think about it… Think about the huge variety of animal and plant life that is around you. Ever think how many different kinds of butterflies there are? Or how many different kinds of spiders? Not only do they have very different coloring and size, but their favorite habitat or favorite food greatly differs.

Also taken into consideration how many different shades of skin the human race has! There's black, white, tan (like Asian), medium brown for Native American or Middle Eastern, or black. In fact, there are many variations of each! Not just skin color, but also eye and hair color.

When I look around and the many different kinds of flowers one can see in the Prairie alone, I am amazed. At the Homestead National Monument, they have a large area set aside for allowing the plants that used to grow on the Prairie. Each time I have walked through that area, I have been astounded that the rich variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Needless to say, I have taken many pictures of that area alone. I don't know of anyone who can create like that! Many have tried, and have created wonderful works of art. But yet, to me, nothing a person can do compares to what God has already done.

It amazes me just how talented some people are. It also greatly saddens me when people use their talents to hurt others. For example, some people are very gifted at singing. But, instead of writing songs to inspire others, they write songs to hurt others. The same thing goes with drawing or humor. Instead of using their talents to be a blessing onto others, they use their skills to put others down to feed their own egos or the egos of their 'race.' They use their skills to feed their negative stereotypes and promote more hatred instead of using their gifts to bring people together.

We all have choices to make, and there will always be consequences to our choices. They can either be positive consequences or negative consequences. We can either sow the seeds of love, joy, and peace through the things we do. Or, we can use our time and talents to sow seeds of anger, hatred, discontent. The choice is up to us. Even when we are using art as a way to express the sadness or anger that a person is feeling, care needs to be used with how it is expressed. Sometimes, something has to be drawn or written to put those feelings into down so that they can be processed. But then, because of how hurtful they are, they need to be thrown away, burned, shredded, or the like. As a way of letting go of the anger or sadness that one feels.

As I mentioned earlier, a close friend of mine in college was a dual major in psychology and art. His hope was to use art as a means of helping people to heal. There have been times where I have written a poem or drawn a picture to express what I am feeling. But, because of the nature of what I have written or drawn, and the fact that it is something negative that I am letting go, very few people have seen them. In fact, most were never meant to be shared with others. They were meant as a way of letting go with what I was angry or sad about. Although it hasn't always helped, there have been times where it has. Not just is the act of writing or drawing, but also in the tearing up or shredding. Though I still have the memories, those acts of doing something creative to express them in a controlled manner, and then purposely 'letting them go' has helped to lessen the impact those memories have on me today.

While in seminary, I participated in what is called CPE, Clinical Pastoral Education. Its a type of intense 'on the job training' for doing ministry. Typically, it is done in a high stress environment, like in a prison or hospital. Usually, half the day is spent in a class setting, learning more about ways to minister to those who are hurting. The other half is the actual ministry. I did my CPE at a Level One Trauma hospital in Louisville, Ky. I saw all sorts of people come in with very wide range of sickness and injuries. Some looked like slabs of meat that used to be a person. Others were those who were deathly ill with cancer, poisoning of some sort, or a serious infection. During my time there, I learned that ministering to those who are hurting is a real art. Although there are scientific ideas and research behind different disciplines of ministry, how you apply it is a real art. No two situations are the same. One method of ministering to one person my be extremely effective, all the while being totally ineffective in another situation.

During this time, I learned that times of prayer, either by myself or with others, can be like a form of art. We see that in the Book of Psalms. Some Psalms express deep sadness and distress. Others express great rage at a person or group of people. Others express awe and wonder towards God and all He has created. But, all of them are someone's expression of what they were feeling, written down as a prayer to God. A classmate of mine did a class on prayer that included some hand motions. I have to admit, it I was a bit skeptical of what I would get out of that class. But, I did find it rewarding. From a book she had read, she learned that sometimes, while confessing one's sins and shortcomings, a person should try holding one's hands out, hands open, and facing downwards. The reason for this is you are physically representing the fact that you are trying to let go of something and give it to God. Then, when you are asking for God's help and blessings, you change your hand position. Now, hold your hands straight out or at an upward angle, with your hands held like cups. This is to express your hearts desire of receiving God's blessings. It was an artistic expression of prayer, something that I was impressed with and have used on occasion.

The other night, my wife shared an article with me that she had found on the Internet. In the Facebook post, she asked me if I could see myself doing it. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of whether I could see myself doing a 'pebble mosaic.' But, as I read through the article, I soon was picturing myself doing just that. Or, at least trying to. I started picturing how I could use something common and every day, like a river pebble, and making something beautiful out of it. Having done some really neat works of art by carving clay, I knew that I could do something in 3D. Might be a bit of a challenge, but not impossible.

But, it also got me thinking about something else. Something very awesome that God does. For those who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, God becomes even more of an Artist. He takes something that was broken, dull, or even evil, and creates something beautiful out of it. Think about it… A favorite example I like to use is the life of John Newton, the author of the song 'Amazing Grace.' I mean, here was a man who sold fellow human beings into slavery. After his conversion to Christ, God used him to impact the lives of countless millions through his sermons and songs. Eventually, God also used him to help end slave trade in England. Something that used to be a source of income for him, he helped to end. Astounding, isn't it?!

And that is something God can do with each and everyone one of us. If we are willing to allow Him to work in our lives and through us. We can either choose to live life our own way, or we can choose to be God's instruments. One of the main reasons why I have this blog is so that God can touch the lives of others through me. Although it is an effective way for me to express myself creatively, it is more than that. It is a way for me to touch the lives of others. People I may never have been able to impact face-to-face. People that, because of how I write something, or what I feel inspired to write about, can impact them in a way that someone else might not be able to do. On this side of Heaven, I know that I will never fully understand how God has used this blog to touch the lives of others. Just like I will not know, in this life, how a 'chance meeting' to me was something God used to change someone's life. All I can do is walk in faith, trusting that God will use me. And, it is a form of art, I think, to prayerfully and actively walk with God and to be used by Him. Something that takes the common, the uninteresting, even the broken or evil, and something beautiful is made. May that be a reality in your life.