Over the past few months, I have looked at a few books related to creativity in hopes to find one to do for an artist’s bible study or small group. Nothing really spoke to me. Yet.
I had a meeting with an artist recently about joining the roster of teaching artists in the studio. In sharing my “philosophy” on creativity, I brought up an idea that has resonated with me deeply.
So, if God Created us in his image and we are like him, then we are created with the gifts of creativity! We must create. We long to see beauty and meaning in our surroundings and we long to participate in creating that beauty and meaning.
The same day I had been talking to another artist and she recommended a book called “The Artist’s Way“. I loaded it on my Kindle that evening. It was originally written in the 1990’s by an author named Julia Cameron. It was revised in 2015 and that’s the version I loaded and immediately started reading.
When she told me about The Artist’s Way, Kim had no idea I was being prompted about doing a bible study for artists.
The opening line of chapter one says, “For most of us, the idea that the creator encourages creativity is a radical thought.” And I thought, oh my gosh, this is the essence of creativity, just as I said to my new teaching artist! The first chapter goes on to say, “Those who speak in spiritual terms routinely refer to God as the creator but seldom see creator as the literal term for artist”.
Whenever I’ve been asked who my favorite artist is, I say besides Dr. Suess? God! I’ve written so many times about his amazing artistry, attention to detail, and use of all the concepts we seem to think WE created – line, shape, color, texture! Those are concepts HE allowed us to discover through openly creating with him!
I imagine God in his beautiful beret, holding his infinite palette of colors in one hand while flinging paint everywhere, creating endless masterpieces. He throws back his head in joyful abandon and does it again and again.
Every day he whips out another palette, another kind of paint brush, another technique and pours his designs into the sky at sunset. Every evening, never the same sunset appears, and people stop to ponder it all. And it’s amazing.
As I pray about having a small group, the arrows are pointing to using The Artist’s Way as a text book. I feel inadequate to lead any deep subject. I am a writer, not a speaker. I imagine myself as the worst of counselors as I am the “Suck it up buttercup, Get ‘r Done, don’t whine just make the change, move forward don’t dwell” kind of girl.
One of the other teaching artists says this book literally changed his life and he has “The Artist’s Prayer” tattooed on his back!
Coincidences? I think more like Godincidences that so many who have been brought to create with me see that their creativity is a gift. Just like when we try to find features in our children that come from their father, so we find the features of our Heavenly Father reflected in ourselves.
Shortly after these Godincidences started, a married couple attended one of my workshops called Art in the Garden. It turns out that the husband is the “creative one” and that the wife is a therapist. She wanted to find a creative activity for them to do together because he loves crafts and art! He and I were talking about having discovered our creativity later in life and I was telling them about “The Artist’s Way” and how I believe that our creativity is an extension of God.
I would love to do a book club based on the book… and Godincidence of all Godincidences, I would LOVE to find someone to lead such a book club.
So! If it all comes together, let us begin… If it all goes as planned, “The Artist’s Way” is coming to an art studio near you and I would love to invite you to join us! If you are interested I would love to hear from you! My thought is one Sunday afternoon per month, but I am listening.
