This is not about hearing a voice on the outside,  such as the latest news happenings, T.V. shows, Family issues, etc.  This is about looking inward, deep within, in the heart of your soul.  What stays with you for days and weeks, maybe [...]]]> The First Question – What is Stirring Inside of You?

This is not about hearing a voice on the outside,  such as the latest news happenings, T.V. shows, Family issues, etc.  This is about looking inward, deep within, in the heart of your soul.  What stays with you for days and weeks, maybe even years?   How does this voice influence your life and cause you to do what you do?  While reading this paragraph did a thought come to your mind…if so stop,  write it down.  These thoughts of deep stirring are sometimes fleeting, or the voice of the critic or judge rises up and you discount the thought.

The Second Question – “Who They Be” vs “Who You Be”

Do you like this person’s artwork and that person’s artwork, this latest subject or style of art….what’s hot right now and then try to create painting from those ideas?  I’m not talking about learning,  and strengthening technical art skills.  I am speaking of creating art as an echo of another person’s work. This  is creating artwork out of Who They Be….not Who You Be!   This is what is happening in much of the paintings we see today.

The Third Question -  Are You an Echo or an Original?

Do you create art from the voices that come from the outside in or do your create from the still small voice within?  This is what separates you from the “art pack”, creating works from revelation and inspiration instead of being an echo.  This is creating art out of who you be!

My Example – The Process of Painting “The World Within”

I paint and teach coming out of  “Who I Be” as a spiritual director and artist.  You can read my About page for more information on my life.  My passion is to help enable you and others to create art from the heart which will inspire others and help them to see life with new eyes.  Art is not just about creating pretty pictures or art for art’s sake!  Art is about inspiration, painting what others are not able to see; it’s about opening eyes that are blinded by the busyness of life. In my series in the development of  “World Within” (which you can see below in my earlier blogs) is a painting that will be used as a visual teaching tool for meditation.  Maybe some of the examples I use may be helpful to you.  As you can see I come from a Christian perspective but the basic principals can be used or adapted by anyone regardless of spiritual belief.

To Realize One’s Destiny is a Person’s Obligation to God and Mankind.

Continuing development of the painting, World Within - A Journey into Meditation

The eyes are the window to the soul. “Images” influence you and me everyday through advertising, entertainment and news shows, magazines, etc and everything we look at in daily life. These images speak to us and influence our lives, as individuals, as a culture and how we “picture” life. [...]]]> The Power of Image

The eyes are the window to the soul. “Images” influence you and me everyday through advertising, entertainment and news shows, magazines, etc and everything we look at in daily life. These images speak to us and influence our lives, as individuals, as a culture and how we “picture” life. This cultural imprinting affects you and me … regardless if we are aware of it or not!

The Visual Arts

All art has the same effect on us, but in this blog I’m focusing on visual art. When you look at a particular piece of art, an emotional response is generated. It could be good… it could be bad… or maybe you might feel indifferent. Sometimes you might give a verbal response. A pastoral landscape may cause you to feel a sense of peace and you might respond verbally concerning the beauty of the painting. A picture of war may cause fear, or a sense of injustice or a number of other negative emotions.

Spiritual Art

I like to use the phrase “art created from the heart for the heart,” as a simple way to describe spiritual art. Painting an original work of art is the transaction that brings the spiritual into the visible.

Visio Divina – Divine Seeing

Visio Divina is a Christian prayer practice that opens your heart to another way of experiencing God’s presence of love and revelation. This “divine seeing” comes from Lectio Divina (divine hearing). Lectio Divina is an early Christian church practice of meditating on a passage of Scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit speak to your heart, then responding in prayer and allowing that Word to shape your life.

During the first several centuries of the early church, most Christians could not read, and only the very wealthy owned books. The people learned by looking at pictures and listening to the Scriptures that were read out loud. If you go to early European churches today, you will see many of the walls covered in paintings. These walls were the peoples books.