03/22/10 entry...is there a spiritual nature to the process of applying oil paints to a canvas with a brush, alone, in an attempt to faithfully depict a scene in your vision?
03/27/10 entry...could a spirituality based on the process of creating a painting be defined? Think about it...
04/21/10 entry...imagine being able to sense that God was part of everything we do...that God awaits us every instant in our action...as an artist, God is even at the tip of my brush. What is spirituality anyway? Isn't it some way of living that bring you closer to God? If it is, then painting a landscape painting is a form of spirituality, because that's what painting does for me. Ponder that.
04/30/10 entry...I am convinced that God knows when we need consolation. Unexpectedly, I received some today in the form of a visitor to my gallery. The lady was also an artist, so the conversation centered initially on my paintings, her paintings, and the paintings of other artists whose work we both admired. But mysteriously, our dialogue began to drift to spiritual matters and we acknowledged that we were both practicing Catholics. She shared that while she was firm in her faith, she was more relaxed in the practice of it. She was, however, very passionate about her art. She was not uncomfortable with this priority, however, since she felt that her art was an extension of what she believed as a Christian. It was who she was, she said. This was something I really needed to hear. For awhile, now, I have been disturbed by a feeling that my spirituality was overwhelming my art. This was unsettling for me, since the process of painting had always seemed like contemplation and had given me a real sense of peace. On the other hand, my spiritual journey has been a struggle, lots of ups and downs, almost a war, and has been anything but peaceful. As I became more intense about my spirituality, I began to feel I was being asked to sacrifice my art, and I was left with some remorse and resentment about this. So, unaware that she was on a mission of ministry, my artist-visitor delivered some divine consolation to me today. After she left and I reflected on her visit, I realized there was more here than just "art-talk". The blessing of her presence was meant to tell me that it was alright to relax my spiritual quest and make room for my art, that it wasn't the "either/or" thing that I, alone with my analysis, was trying to make it. In fact, this "either/or" attitude may even have fueled my spiritual battles. Hopefully, I can stay centered on the fruit of today's consolation and discernment. Who knows, it might even be ok with God to become passionate about painting again. Art and Spirituality?
05/04/10 entry...Recently, I read that we are "acted upon" more that we "act on". As a painter of the landscape, I am aware of, and open to, being acted upon by the sky and earth every day. I see this kind of being "acted upon" as contributing to my growth as an artist. In my relations with the human community, however, I struggle with this same "openness" to being acted upon. I don't always see the "growth" side of it. But perhaps my art can minister to my spirituality here. I see artistic growth in being acted upon through nature. Maybe, spiritual growth could result from being "acted upon" through humanity as well. Open to be acted upon...Art informs Spirituality?
05/11/10 entry...Marie Theresa Coombs writes that "any encounter has the potential to open out to the realm of the transcendent". I like how that is worded..."any encounter"...that could be with creation or with the presence of another. I had such an encounter today with another artist that was all about talent, desire and the seventh decade of life, and it was charged with transcendent admonishment for me. It was a profound message, filled with art and spirituality, and I need to "go ponder" it for a time. I think it has to do with much being given, and much being expected, but I'm not sure yet. Spirituality challenges Art?
06/02/10 entry...we have just returned from a few days spent at Lebh Shomea. More and more, we realize what a blessing it is to have this place near us. A place of silence, a huge library of books to ponder, simple food...but most of all the silence...the first language of the transcendent. This visit was even more special in that we also did some painting...created two small studies in oil of palm trees on the grounds. Standing on the big porch, alone, looking up at three palms dancing in the stiff, Gulf winds and painting their portrait with yellow ochre and raw umber, two earth pigments made just from God's sacred ground...it gives me such consolation just to recall the event. All gifts from God...palms, sky, wind, earth pigments, my life, silence...and seeing my forever-friend in the distance painting also...all gifts from God. We have stayed at Lebh Shomea before, but this time it truly was...Art and Spirituality !!!
06/16/10 entry...Often, art...especially visual art of the kind I do...is thought of in terms of a product. You do it, you frame it, you hang it on the wall, and hopefully somebody buys it. In the beginnings of my journey as an artist, this was my mentality. But a few years ago I realized that what I had come to appreciate was not the product but the "process" of creating a painting. The joy was in the journey, not the arrival. In the morning when I rushed into the studio to see what I had worked on late the night before, what I saw was only a vague approximation, a glimpse, of the process and did not speak of the pleasure...or the pain...I had experienced in the journey of the process. Only I, and the transcendent, knew that. I am much more at the beginning of my spiritual journey than of my artistic journey, so I still think in terms of a "spiritual product". How does my spirituality looked framed and hung on the wall? But I am learning to see the similarities between the artistic and the spiritual journeys. Writing these observations about the connection between art and spirituality is becoming more about spirituality as a process than a finished product It is the joy I am given in noticing the connection, pondering it, and committing it to words that is my reward. In fact, I am beginning to see it as the process of my spiritual transformation. I am creating a spirituality, not a painting, but God is using the experience of my artistic journey to show me the way on. Joy in the journey!! Another connection between... Art and Spirituality.
07/03/10 entry...I was given an opportunity the other day to display how well I "loved my neighbor". I didn't do well. My behavior showed that I have a lot of work to do, spiritually-speaking. Art is the same way. You can talk a good game, but when your painting is framed and hung on the wall, the viewer can see right away where you are, artistically-speaking. In both journeys, there may come a time when your work will be displayed. Hopefully, it will be a "good show"...exhibiting "Art and Spirituality".
07/17/10 entry...Today, while I was working on a painting in the gallery, I was suddenly aware of the gifts I have been given. Having vision to see, a hand to hold a brush, an arm to move the hand, a mind to make decisions to move the arm to put paint in the right place on the canvas to depict what I see, and a wonderful little space where I can work in silence...an abundence of gifts! Later, in a conversation with a visitor to the gallery, I was aware of another gift I have been given...the gift of believing in something larger than myself, a transcendent other, God. In the last year or so I have come to see that "all is Gift" from God, but today I was especially thankful for the gifts of "Art and Spirituality".
08/11/10 entry...this last Saturday I had a conversation with a lady that produced another one of those "Art and Spirituality" connections for me. Talking as a landscape artist, I was explaining how I could turn a visually awkward arrangement of trees, clouds and hills into a more "paintable" view by just taking a few steps to the right or left. All I had to do was be "open" to changing my viewpoint. This lady, who was also very spiritually mature, smiled and commented that it was the same when we look for God's direction in the events of our everyday life. Events are the raw stuff that happen to us every day. Seeing God's direction for us in these events depends on our viewpoint. If we are "open" to taking a few steps right or left, it just might be that even events which appear awkward and unpleasant contain direction for us from God. As in a landscape, seeing this doesn't depend on God, it depends on us, and being "open" to changing our viewpoint. How do you view "Art and Spirituality"?