Why Are You An Artist?

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Permalink Reply by Edward van Vliet on December 3, 2009 at 7:35am

1. i am an artist because i am an artist. as the cliche goes, i have always drawn. it wasn't really until university that i thought about it in any concrete way as a profession or calling -- i just made art and tried to communicate ideas through that art. but i see my calling as an artist to be to both christian and non-christian, in church culture and outside of it. a large part of that calling is educational. and it all begins with knowing one's identity as a son of God.

2. hopes, dreams, desires? i have many. i'd like to make a living at my art. i'd like to teach art to high school students, if not college. i'd like to speak to [christian] artists more about their calling and challenge them in the work they do. i'd like to exhibit more often and more widely than i currently do. i'd like to start a consulting business or establish resources for artists and churches exploring the praxis of art and faith. i'd like to be involved with a group of christians who believe in the power of art to move people and open up conversations about Truth and be salt and light within the contemporary art world. never mind all the specific projects (books, installations, exhibitions, buildings and space) that are waiting for completion...

3. my goal and focus is communicating Truth. art is a way to start conversations and open doors. many years ago i was shown a picture of what my calling is. essentially, like the formation of a pearl in an oyster, my work (art or words) is a grain of sand - an irritant - that gets in the cracks of people's souls. that grain slowly becomes a pearl (an image of the Kingdom). it is simply my contribution.

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Permalink Reply by Deborah Ford on December 8, 2009 at 8:56am

God has given us all a special gift. As a child if your parents, teachers see that gift and help to direct you in that direction this could be the start of a building of that gift. As for me that's how I began. I feel that what ever gift God has given you it should be used for His Glory. Before being a Christian I was doing it for the money and maybe the idea of being discovered. After becoming a Christian that whole idea changed. I felt more that God gave me this gift to glorify Him and I should honour Him not just in my art but in all that I do. Also going through some hard times and God always being there for me why shouldn't I be there for Him. So that's why I'm an artist to share with others how God is our Lord and Saviour. Now I'm in the process of working on a web site and being able to share my artwork with the secular world and with Christians.

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Permalink Reply by Lori Bonas on December 8, 2009 at 3:25pm

I am a artist because that's what God wanted me to be. So he wired me that way. I have had a creative mind from as far back as I could remember. It isn't a trade I learned like being a plumber or being a hairdresser (even though those do take talent and skill) but for me it is what I am and it can't be separated from who I am or how I think.

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Permalink Reply by Juanita Maria Gonzalez on January 4, 2010 at 7:34pm

I have believed that I was more of a craftsmen/women then an “artist”. I love art, I appreciate and know when I see talent. I get all excited and want to do art, but I think there is block from childhood that keeps me blind and stiff so I don’t flow with my own creativity. At 57 I am enrolled at a jr. college taking transfer classes to the university in town, because I am determined to let God rip away the blind fold and loosen me up.
My goal is to get a BFA in graphic design so I can make money for living. I would like to continue to make hand made jewelry for I am a silver smith have been since high school. I want to make a living being creative because it brings the joy of the Lord out in me.
I desire is to make things that others enjoy having so that the joy of the Lord comes out in them. I think art is all about bringing something out of oneself and sharing it with others so that it bring something out of them.

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Park on January 7, 2010 at 4:14pm

although i think everyone is an artist in a way, i claim myself to be one because i couldn't find anything else that made me feel like i was actually living... i guess that's how He wired me? also, i chose to be an artist because i think the art can be the most powerful and effective way of communication between souls: to communicate Him in me and my life.

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