Education in Fine Arts

 [4]

So. Fine art. What to say?

 

My progress with fine art is moving, albeit quite slowly. My perspective on it is constantly changing, always up and down. One day I am starting to enjoy art again, the next its difficult to even open my sketchbook. I am unsure of why this is, but I just need to look into my heart and ask God what is going on. We recently had an assignment dealing with street art, and I just made some simple stencils and spray-painted them onto a piece of extra wood.

For mini-outreach, I made a new linoleum print with the words “you are children of the Light” and I plan on putting those up all over the Czech Republic, wherever I go. I hope I will want to do lots of art while on mini-outreach, as well as big outreach. My passion is faded and my inspiration is lacking, yet there is always hope. I just need to go to where God is on this and ask him for help.

I have met quite a few of the other fine art students from the Fall MOTA; it is cool to meet new people doing the same track at me. I was talking to a new friend about fine art and I found we shared the same feelings of discouragement and reluctance with art and that was encouraging to know that I am not alone in that. He told me that lecture phase art was really tough for him too, not in a way of skill but in the mental sense of doing the art. Throughout outreach he said he was really able to find his niche in fine art, and he encouraged me to not give up, to keep striving to find out what it is that my heart truly loves to do. It was so good to talk to someone about this struggle and I am thankful to God for showing me that I am not alone in trials.

So as I go on mini-outreach, my prayer is that I can be encouraged more and inspired deeply in my art. Progress can always be made. Yet I resolve to be determined and disciplined and do my best to take to heart the words of my new friend: do not give up.

[3]

Much time has passed since I last talked about my fine art class. We have already completed two more projects and are beginning a new project. The project that I mentioned in my last post, the one about how I see God, turned out differently than I thought it would, but I do like the result. This one is kind of hard to explain, but basically I drew a tree, yet not with using lines but rather with words. The entire tree is made up of words and it comes together to make an image of a tree. The words are all things that I see God in. For example, one part of the tree says “I see God in children, in laughter, in joy.” There are several leaves on the tree which are made up of words as well. These leaves include all of the things in creation that I see God in, which is basically everything that is created by God. I enjoyed doing this project, because I love using my penmanship and doing word art, so I am glad I was able to find enjoyment in such a difficult assignment. I found it difficult because to me, God is something that is so huge and so indescribable that you cannot simply make a piece of art depicting him. I did my best to think in a new way and to come up with a creative way to show how I saw God. As I thought more about it, I realized that I see God in everything around me. So I began to write down all of the things that I saw God in, and the list grew and grew until I had enough to fill out the tree and the leaves. Stephen and I talked about this project once I had completed it and he said that it seems unfinished, and that there could be more to it, so I am going to do my best to take some time in this next week to recreate it. I want to make it bigger and present it in a more three-dimensional way; we will see how it turns out.

The last project we were assigned was an installation piece. We had to design, create and install a piece of art somewhere in the castle. This project excited me because it was something different and I looked forward to working on it. But, as per usual, I left things until the last minute. I was in Prague all weekend, and this project was due on Monday, so I started and finished it all on Sunday night after I got back to the castle. I did complete the project though. I made vines and flowers using old clothing and wrapped it around a wooden beam that is in the art studio. I used three different green materials that I cut into strips and braided them together to make the vines. Then I used red, blue, orange, and purple, all with yellow insides, to create the flowers. The vines are meant to represent me and the new life that I am experiencing with God and that I am growing so much in him. The flowers are visible signs of growth and change and hope in my life. On one side of the beam there are only purple and blue flowers and the other side has the red and orange flowers; this is a contrast between warm and cold colours. This idea represents that there is a “warm” and “cold” side to the new life that I have; just because I am growing and becoming someone better does not automatically determine that everything will be simple or easy or just one thing, but instead there are many sides and challenges to this journey that I am on.

The location of my installation is also important to me. I installed it into the studio partially because I would prefer for people to not see my art, but mainly because I wanted to show that I am finding new life in the studio. During the first weeks of DTS, I dreaded going up to the studio and having to do art there. As time went on, I started to become more comfortable up there and while it is still sometimes difficult, I am doing my best to have new life with my art as well, and to really grow in my talents with art and become a better artist for God.

The project that we are currently working on is called linoleum printing. You carve a picture out of linoleum using the negative space in order to dip it in ink to stamp onto either paper or fabric. It is something I have never done before, but I find myself enjoying it. It is a really cool method of art and I am looking forward to seeing what the prints of my linoleum look like.

So that is the update for my fine art track. Lots of new things going on every week. So much learning and changing and growing in every area of my life, and it is still exhausting but also quite amazing. I am so thankful that I am able to be here to learn so much; thank you also for taking the time to read this.

God bless!

[2]

This past art project was a huge challenge. Again. I feel as if I am going to have to think of a new word for my art assignments, because I have this sense that each new project will be challenging me in new ways every time. It is a good thing though, for I already feel myself growing in my skills and in my abilities to really be able to glorify God with my art.

The last project was to make a self-portrait but as God sees us. I painted a portrait of myself and I titled the final piece “Living Beauty”. I had a really hard time painting realistically, and painting a face, but it was a good struggle. With God’s guidance, I attempted to portray myself as a beautiful and strong daughter of God, who is alive in Christ with the light of Christ inside of me. I painted a dove in my eye, and the idea came from Song of Songs in chapter one, verse fifteen: “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.” To show that I have life in Christ is represented by the vines that I painted growing from my hair. There is a yellow area starting from my heart that shows that I have light from Christ inside of me and through his lessons of life and as I grow in him, this light will keep spreading until I am able to fully and continually shine his light.

While working on this project, I grew more with my fellow fine artists, Chloe and David. We really helped each other with constructive criticism and encouragement, and I am looking forward to more studio time with them. This next project we have been assigned is to create a piece of art that shows how you view God, and we are only allowed to use black and white. It is, of course, another challenge. Yet I am determined to meet it head on and do my best in order to bring glory to God.

[1]

The very first project that the fine art track of the January 2012 MOTA was assigned consisted of going outside in the snow and building a representation of where our relationship with God was using only natural materials. I have never done anything like this that was affiliated with art, so it was a big task. But I accepted the challenge and after a couple hours of pacing in the middle of the woods, I created something that tried to communicate my thoughts as best as possible. I told my project like a story: throughout my past I have been surefooted on the foundation of Jesus Christ, yet I was tempted and fell into sin. I was broken as a result of my sin. Yet every time I fell down God helped me back up and put me back together. So over time, my faith in him grew and I was eventually standing upon the Rock of my salvation; my faith was the deepest it had ever been. Just like every other time in my past, I was tempted by sin and trials came into my life, so I fell down and broke apart again. I was then lying on the ground, away from the sure foundation I found in Jesus; I was broken and discouraged because I knew I had failed again and I was so tired of failing. As I was crying out to God for help, my Shepherd found me and gave me new eyes in order for me to see the plan he has for me and he granted me strong feet to follow in his guidance down my path in life. Through the words of a very special friend: “One must be broken in order to rebuilt”, I found encouragement. I realized that though I had fallen many times, after each trial, I grew in perseverance and faith. Through my suffering, I was able to be rebuilt by God in order to become more and more like the person he wants me to be. That is basically the story of where I am with God right now, and I am looking forward to the future to see what his plans hold for me.

Once this project was completed, we were assigned a new one. Our new task was to illustrate our representation with a new medium. We were not to copy the idea exactly, but rather adjust it so that we could better show what idea we were trying to express. Again, I was totally challenged by this new assignment. Challenges are good and they push you to grow, and I know I have much room for growth in art. But this past art project has been a huge struggle for me. I have always looked forward to doing art; all throughout high school I loved art class and getting the chance to paint or draw or whatever work was going on, but this last project has been the complete opposite. I had the hardest time getting an idea for what we had to do and I dreaded going up to the studio to work on my project. After working late to complete it, I was horrified by the end product. I know that the artist is always the hardest critique for one’s own personal work, and some people say I am too hard on myself concerning my art, but if I am being completely honest I have to say that I think this specific piece of art is terrible. Since I procrastinated as a result of dread of the studio work, I did not have enough time to start again; I barely gave myself enough time to finish it in the first place. Even if I had time, I daresay I would be unable to come up with a solid idea that could truly represent what I feel inside of my heart. That is the root of my struggle: being unable to express my emotions and feelings and thoughts about my relationship with God and to put them into art form. This is so incredibly different, for my relationship with God keeps changing, and over the past week it has evolved tremendously. With my first project, I believed that when I fell into sin, I therefore fell off the foundation of Jesus. But my fine art class reminded me that we are always on the foundation of Jesus, we are just shaken terribly by the consequences of sin and fall apart from that. And I also realized that in my past I had not always been standing on the foundation of Jesus, but rather upon idols that I thought could hold me steady. So with this new project, I tried to express these new developments.

While I struggled with this project, I am reminded that it is only the beginning, and I have many opportunities to grow and to become a better artist. I hope to be able to rid myself of the dread I find when I go to the studio, for I really want to look forward to using the gifts I have for the glory of God. I have a long road ahead of me, which is most likely full of many more trials and suffering, but I have new eyes and strong feet and the guidance of my Shepherd to help me. I also have the assurance that I am able to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ, found in 2 Timothy 2:19 - “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stand firm.”

     [My Relationship with God] This is my second official art project (the first one was built outside using only natural materials to also represent our relationship with God). Thing about this project is that I am satisfied in the fact that I can only get better. 

(I would post more pictures, but this one literally took half an hour to upload. My apologies. At least you get one picture.)

[3]

Much time has passed since I last talked about my fine art class. We have already completed two more projects and are beginning a new project. The project that I mentioned in my last post, the one about how I see God, turned out differently than I thought it would, but I do like the result. This one is kind of hard to explain, but basically I drew a tree, yet not with using lines but rather with words. The entire tree is made up of words and it comes together to make an image of a tree. The words are all things that I see God in. For example, one part of the tree says “I see God in children, in laughter, in joy.” There are several leaves on the tree which are made up of words as well. These leaves include all of the things in creation that I see God in, which is basically everything that is created by God. I enjoyed doing this project, because I love using my penmanship and doing word art, so I am glad I was able to find enjoyment in such a difficult assignment. I found it difficult because to me, God is something that is so huge and so indescribable that you cannot simply make a piece of art depicting him. I did my best to think in a new way and to come up with a creative way to show how I saw God. As I thought more about it, I realized that I see God in everything around me. So I began to write down all of the things that I saw God in, and the list grew and grew until I had enough to fill out the tree and the leaves. Stephen and I talked about this project once I had completed it and he said that it seems unfinished, and that there could be more to it, so I am going to do my best to take some time in this next week to recreate it. I want to make it bigger and present it in a more three-dimensional way; we will see how it turns out.

The last project we were assigned was an installation piece. We had to design, create and install a piece of art somewhere in the castle. This project excited me because it was something different and I looked forward to working on it. But, as per usual, I left things until the last minute. I was in Prague all weekend, and this project was due on Monday, so I started and finished it all on Sunday night after I got back to the castle. I did complete the project though. I made vines and flowers using old clothing and wrapped it around a wooden beam that is in the art studio. I used three different green materials that I cut into strips and braided them together to make the vines. Then I used red, blue, orange, and purple, all with yellow insides, to create the flowers. The vines are meant to represent me and the new life that I am experiencing with God and that I am growing so much in him. The flowers are visible signs of growth and change and hope in my life. On one side of the beam there are only purple and blue flowers and the other side has the red and orange flowers; this is a contrast between warm and cold colours. This idea represents that there is a “warm” and “cold” side to the new life that I have; just because I am growing and becoming someone better does not automatically determine that everything will be simple or easy or just one thing, but instead there are many sides and challenges to this journey that I am on.

The location of my installation is also important to me. I installed it into the studio partially because I would prefer for people to not see my art, but mainly because I wanted to show that I am finding new life in the studio. During the first weeks of DTS, I dreaded going up to the studio and having to do art there. As time went on, I started to become more comfortable up there and while it is still sometimes difficult, I am doing my best to have new life with my art as well, and to really grow in my talents with art and become a better artist for God.

The project that we are currently working on is called linoleum printing. You carve a picture out of linoleum using the negative space in order to dip it in ink to stamp onto either paper or fabric. It is something I have never done before, but I find myself enjoying it. It is a really cool method of art and I am looking forward to seeing what the prints of my linoleum look like.

So that is the update for my fine art track. Lots of new things going on every week. So much learning and changing and growing in every area of my life, and it is still exhausting but also quite amazing. I am so thankful that I am able to be here to learn so much; thank you also for taking the time to read this.

God bless!