Joy In The Journey

"The nature of God is a circle

of which the center is everywhere

and the circumference is nowhere."

Empedocles, 490-430 BC


The smell of coffee brewing and bacon sizzling reminds me that the journey can be as wonder-filled as the destination. Fellow artists- enjoy the journey! And remember, with art we are all students.

My love for math ended in the Third grade. Standing at the blackboard with chalk in hand, I stared at the problem before me while my teacher and peers looked on. Before that moment, math was my favorite subject, but with the introduction of long division, there occasionally came something previously unseen in my mathematical career- a remainder. Heretofore, problems worked out neatly. Two plus two equaled four. Seven minus one equaled six. There was closure that, for me, was satisfying. With division, there was the possibility of leftover numbers. I didn't like that. So my division always worked out even. No remainders. Ever. To correct this, my teacher called me to the board one day. I began the problem and as I neared the end I realized it wasn't going to work out even. So I drew a line under the last number and wrote 'zero'. A few people laughed while the teacher sighed. She explained the problem. I understood the problem. But, I didn't like it.

It was years before I understood why.


As I consider the notion of teaching art, a thought continues to surface- from caves to chapels, art is about choices.

As Dorothy Sayers eloquently says, art begins in the mind of the maker. And then, let the choices begin. Color, size, material...

I have been working (trudging slowly) through the process of illustrating a children's book. Every artist's process is personal. Mine involves trial-and-error. A lot of error. I begin with thumbnails. Like these:

Eventually, an image evolves.

Final Version

For this series, I arrived at producing pieces on a variety of materials, from papyrus to wood. This piece is on cardboard from a Zao water box-

Exodus 17:6


A matter of choice brings me back to my third grade blackboard. Standing there, staring at the problem (gently corrected by my teacher), this thought began to form-


Why is there only one correct answer?

I understand, and take comfort in the fact that, in this life, there are singular absolutes. I also revel in the wonder of this thing we call art, because with art we have as many correct answers as we have artists. And, as Michael Card says, "there is a joy in the journey."

A new video from my son, Samuel:

A Poem From Estonia

 Yesterday I ran out of coffee. Not a single bean in the house. Those of you who know me recognize the gravity of the situation. This morning I drank hot tea. There is a place in the Kingdom for a steaming cup of black tea, but it will never replace a cup of of well-roasted Sumatra. But sometimes it's good to change routine. 

 Last week a few friends came for fish tacos- Andrew, Janell, Spencer, Libby and Hanna. Good food, good conversation, laughter. Hanna, a ministry school student, made two significant contributions to the evening:

1. a cake

2. a poem

in Estonian

Both were amazing.

Here is Hanna's poem, in English and Estonian-

The Marks of Shadows

Hanna-Liisa Reinpuu

When you are walking on the road

you can't see behind yourself.

When you turn around

you roll up the past

Afraid to knock, afraid to open,

afraid to share your dreams.

Why don't you continue the road

that you started when you were born?

Why are you shaken by somebody

who doesn't care about your dreams?

His flattery tangles you in the trap

you don't know how to let go from his firm grip.

..and by slow degrees all beauty will fade to oblivion.

You are running on fire

feet in the air.

You think you can leave without leaving a mark.

Estonian Version

Varjude jäljed

Hanna-Liisa Reinpuu

Kui mööda teed Sa kõnnid

ci näe Sa enda taha

Ümber pöõrates Sa rullid

lahti mineviku paha.

Kardad koputada, kardad avada,

kardad oma unistusi jagada.

Miks ei jãtka sa teckonda,

mida alustasid sündides?

Miks kõigutab sind keegi,

kes su unistustest ei hooli?

Ta meelitavad sõnad mässivad sind püùnisesse,

ei oska sa lahti öelda ta hoardest.

...ja vaikselt kòik ilus vajub unustusse.

Sa jooksed kui tulel

jalgu maha panemata

Arvad, et vòid laukuda jälgi jätmata.

 Hanna's Cake


For more Estonian poetry, Hanna suggests reading the work of Juhan Liiv, one of Estonia's favorite poets.

Re-Purposing and Kingdom Ethics

Camp Stephen Mural Backdrop

Acrylic on canvas

12' x 5'

Teresa Carter

"The passing years and the artistic life have taught me that past, present and future are realities only so long as I dwell on this globe that whirls around a star."

Vinita Hampton Wright

"There are two things you should know: first, what you are; second, that you are not what you are by your own power."

Bernard of Clairvaux

1090-1153 

Youth camp ended Friday, at noon. Samuel and Emma experienced the week as campers, Teresa as a teacher, leading a group in art projects, and me as a kitchen volunteer. There is much time for reflection while chopping and cooking and mopping and dish-washing (my hi-lite was learning, thanks to Aaron Hershberger, to toss a pizza!). My respect for all who serve in the kitchen is now one of admiration.

While trimming the fat from a case of chicken, I meditated on the notion of creativity, specifically, where and how ideas occur for these creatures known as 'artists'. I am grateful for a memorial designer named Eugene H. Faehnle. He led a design workshop I attended in Elberton, Ga., almost twenty five years ago. On day one, he said, "It occurred to me one day that many of the designs in my industry have not changed in more than half a century. The traditional 20th Century memorial is, what I call, a P2 SerpBurp with corner clutter and band aids (see below for 'tombstone terminology'). I began to take note of contemporary design, as it relates to other fields. I realized something. Companies spend millions on good design. So, I drove to the local drug store and walked the aisles, noting product shapes and dimensions." 

Eugene H. Faehnle revolutionized American memorial design by re-purposing good design. He passed away several years ago but his memory is honored by the American Institute of Commemorative Art's Annual Design Contest. 

 P2 SerpBurp w/Corner Clutter & Band Aids

I owe Eugene Faehnle a great debt. He stands in line with those who have helped shape the way I see. He reminds me that we, along with our 'ideas', are not our own; we are a part of a collaborative collective, stewards of creative moments meant to enhance, encourage and educate others. I have a list of concepts I keep tucked away, a group of pieces I plan to realize one day. While trimming chicken fat in a church kitchen, I had this thought- what if God, in His infinite generosity, gives me more ideas than I can generate so that I might give them to other artists/students? What if I posted a project concept on an international bulletin board and an artist in Tokyo had the means and time to realize it in a way I never imagined? After all, we who claim the name of Christ, are not owners but stewards, even over 'intellectual property rights'. It's Kingdom Ethics fleshed out. 

I have compiled a list of a few concepts I have tucked away and I am making them available to anyone interested. You can click here for a PDF link, or, if you email, I will send a hand-written list from one of my yellow legal pads- old fashioned, USPS snail mail. Everybody loves mail. If you see something you decide to produce you don't have to tell anyone you got the concept from a guy in South Carolina (tho' I would be thrilled to hear from an artist in Tokyo). My email address is- shekhinah@juno.com.   

Tombstone Terminology

P2- Polished two sides 

Serp- Serpentine Top

Burp (BRP)- Balance rock pitched

Breath of Life

Arundo donax is listed as a noxious weed in Texas, an exotic plant pest in California, an invasive weed in Hawaii, and as an invasive, exotic pest in Tennessee. Arundo donax, a.k.a., Giant Reed, is also the primary source of clarinet reeds.

My friend Martin Powell is a virtuoso clarinetist and I have been blessed to hear him perform twice in the past week. Both times he played the Adagio Movement from Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. The first time was evening in the Grand Cafe of Heritage International, the second time was morning on Prayer Mountain in Moravian Falls, NC. Whether morning or evening, large group or small, Martin was one with the instrument- the picture of discipline and devotion; public evidence of years spent in solitude. The sound produced by Martin's breath passing over a reed defies my intellect and inspires my imagination. To watch an instrument submit to a musician, as the clarinet does to Martin, confirms for me the power attainable when the created works with the creator. Teresa of Avila puts it thus, "...Martha and Mary walking together." 


 

 

View from Prayer Mountain

Genesis 2:7 reads, 'Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.' The word translated 'being' is, in the Hebrew, neh-fesh; literally- 'one who breathes'.

When Martin Powell plays Mozart's Clarinet Concerto all of creation hears the breath of life.

Martin Powell

can you hear me now?

shema

Strong's #8085

to hear, to listen, to understand, to obey

Last night, I asked my wife, "If your life was a movie, what channel would it be on?" She thought for a moment and said, "The Discovery Channel."

I like that.

So I am reading through the Old Testament in a different translation than I usually read and I come across this-

God asked Solomon,

"What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you."

Solomon said,

"Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong."

An understanding heart. God liked that. In the Hebrew, the word translated understanding is

shema,

a word that is, according to my Lexical Aids to the Old Testament,

...one of the most important verbs in the Hebrew Old Testament. It appears 1,160 times. The main idea is perceiving a message or sensing a sound.'

What we all want, ultimately, is security. We want assurance that our needs are secured. The need for food, shelter, money... hope must become fact. Security must become an indelible stain on our hearts and minds because the threat of insecurity is dibilitating to the soul. Perhaps Solomon knew that to hear God is security.

"Hear (shema), O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!"

Hearing From God in Walmart

"Give us this day our daily bread."

Matthew 6:11

When praying for 'daily bread' becomes a personal reality you learn to be a good listener. Several years ago my family and I were involved in a 'faith-based' ministry (another way of saying the pay comes from God's hand). Many days our son would ask, "What's for dinner?" My wife would say, "Whatever God provides." We never missed a meal. One day my wife made a grocery list. She placed it on the kitchen counter and said, out loud, "Lord, this is what we need. I'm asking You for it." Later that day, we returned home to find 14 grocery bags on our front porch. Everything from my wife's list was there, and, items not on the list like cookies and ice cream (it hadn't melted). I guess God cares about dessert.

On grocery expeditions I try to be Spirit-led, praying while walking between aisles of food. Today I was in Walmart and I asked, "Lord, what can I get today?" My current funds were limited, so I knew His response would be short. I heard 'milk and sugar.' Now, I know some of you reading this will be rolling your eyes at this point. "Come on, Mike. The voice of God in Walmart?! Maybe in the Middle East or a burning building!" As I said, praying for daily bread is a personal reality for my family. Interesting thing about 'daily bread'- it's daily. We Americans prefer 'monthly', stockpiled, pantry-filled bread. The 'what I want when I want it' bread. When the cupboard is bare we worry. The issue for me is one of trust. Do I trust (believe) that God loves me? 

I love hearing music performed live. My son and I have been to a few amazing performances in the past few months and every time there is a moment I look for- the look of knowing. It is a look exchanged across the stage between musicians, followed with a brief smile. The look of knowing says, "That's it! Well done." I believe God has a look of knowing when we pray, from the heart, "Give us this day our daily bread."

Psalm 19
Roz Dimon
Click here for a beautiful interaction with Psalm 19

Moments of Beauty

"Artists of the world, may your different paths all lead to that infinite Ocean of beauty where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy."
Pope John Paul II
Letter To Artists
1999

There was in the Art Room today
a moment of complete and total silence. It happened during fifth period. I looked up from my work to see a classroom of high school students working, silently immersed in the process of picture making. It was a moment of beauty.

Google Results for beauty


Moments of beauty abound. I understand what it means 'to teach'. Well, at least most of the time. I feel right, true in design, when I am teaching. For me, teaching is a series of beautiful moments, and the most beautiful is the 'aha' moment. Every true teacher lives for the 'aha', the exclamatory-  εὕρηκα (I have discovered it)! Good teachers know that the 'aha' is reciprocal. Here are a few personal 'aha' moments I was recently blessed by:

The Lion, The Sheep and The Fire

Acrylic on paper

My wife was visiting a friend and one of the children, a five-year-old, was painting. When the friend's daughter finished, she presented the painting to my wife. It is amazing.  With economy of stroke the child rendered a lion leading sheep though a fire. Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." I am looking at the painting now, it hangs in our kitchen, and the words of Jesus speak to my Soul, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

Backwards Logic

Cyanotype Proof

Christopher Shreve

One of my students has been working/ruminating on an art project for months. He will tell you, as he has me on numerous occasions, "I can't do art." He and I have shared hours of conversation, on a variety of topics, and I know that his mind yearns for logical order. One day I asked, "Do you know of the unsolved proofs?" This question began a new series of conversations, culminating in a printmaking project appropriately titled- Backwards Logic. I watched him today as he carefully arranged layers of formulas, screen printed on vellum, in a precise pattern. It was a moment of beauty. It was art.

Jamie Morgan - Enamored from Shutter Down on Vimeo.


Another moment of beauty occurred this morning before school. Teresa and I attended the Twenty Fourth Annual YMCA Community Prayer Breakfast. The speaker was James Morgan, President and CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. He shared his heart, the heart of a father, with 2.200 people in the Grand Ballroom of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. His sincerity and humility ministered to me. Then he introduced his son, Jamie, to the crowd. It was a beautiful moment. Jamie spoke and sang with an honesty that is refreshing, and again, it was a moment of beauty.


To hear more of Jamie Morgan's music click here.


I think, however, today's top 'aha' award goes to a colleague- Amy McNelis. Today is recognized as the National Day of Prayer and she led some of the students in a group prayer.
Thank you, Amy, for that moment of beauty.