Something strange has happened over the past year . . . I’ve become an artist. Perhaps it’s something I have always been, but God has breathed life into my artistic dimension in about 14 months. Now I live and breathe art. I sit around in old clothes puzzling over concepts with gesso drying on my hands, with 4 different paintings in progress around the room. I read artist websites for hours at a time. I watch less movies, spend less time shopping, and make out-of-nowhere observations about life. I even field – humour - requests for commissions. I’m so grateful for this path ahead of me, and pray for insight to pursue it.
This week I’ve been developing my own personal mandala (I thought I had to make a mandolin, but luckily I don’t have to craft a musical instrument, just a circular symbol). Yesterday’s brunch informed my process. Six of us gathered to pray and discuss the values of the congregation we’re leading in Strathcona. It’s an interesting mix – a bunch of visionaries and a few practical thinkers – all of us with very distinct yet harmonious ideas about what living a worshipful life looks like.
So many of my values can be symbolized by circles, that I didn’t really come up with a single concept. I decided to go with a non-geometric form – a free-form, organic shape. It symbolizes the many layers of me, and also the idea of me as a vessel. I sculpted it on the canvas today with my usual off-white blend of gesso, drywall, and coffee grinds. It will take a day or two to dry, and should be ready for me to work on in class on Wednesday. I have no idea what colours I will use yet though – colour is a whole other dimension of symbolism than form.
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