Art Movies

I'm always interested in movies that deal with the subject of the arts and artists.
But you know, I don't get out much when it comes to movies.

I have added some creative movies to my Netflix queue, but I'd like a little help rounding it out. Have you got a recommendation?

Visual Artists:
Pollock- Jackson Pollock
The Agony and the Ecstasy- Michelangelo
Lust For Life- Vincent Van Gogh
Girl With a Pearl Earring- Jan Vermeer
Camille Claudel- Camille Claudel
Basquait- Jean Michel Basquait
Modigliani- Amedeo Modigliani

Composers/Musicians:
Amadeus- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Immortal Beloved- Beethoven
Magic Bow- Paganini
A Song to Remember- Frederic Chopin
Walk the Line- Johnny Cash

Writers:

The Hours- Virginia Woolf
Shadowlands- C.S. Lewis

Dancers:
Isadora- Isadora Duncan
The Hidden Soul of Harmony- Mark Morris
Le Mystere Babilee- Jean Babilee

The Invisible Star

If you're a female, when you were a child, did you ever spin around in a long dress pretending to be Cinderella? Perhaps you watched Cinderella on TV or video. Was it a cartoon version? Maybe a parent or sibling read it to you. Or perhaps you saw Rogers and Hammerstein’s 1965 production starring Lesley Ann Warren. Maybe you watched the 1997 show with Brandy, Paola Montalban, and Whitney Houston. If you’re a big Cinderella fan, perhaps you saw and read all of these and more.

What about My Fair Lady—did you ever imitate Eliza Dolittle singing about the rain in Spain (or the rine in spine)? Did you mentally protest against Henry Higgins when he asked “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?”?

Many cultures have their rags-to-riches stories like Cinderella and My Fair Lady. The details differ, but the general plotline is the same: a poor, plain girl of questionable pedigree rises from poverty to become rich and beautiful, perhaps even the queen of a vast empire.

The Book of Esther is like a Hebrew Cinderella story. Yet some significant differences set this drama apart from fictional stories such as those mentioned above. For one thing, Esther’s story actually happened. The book begins with the same Hebrew word (“wyhy”) that introduces the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Ezekiel, and Jonah. We are supposed to read Esther as fact, not fancy.

Another key difference is that in Esther, the villain (Haman) is far worse than any evil stepmother or chauvinistic linguistics coach. Haman is out to commit genocide, and the king approves his plan without hesitation.

Yet there’s an even more significant difference: the main character in this Cinderella story is someone other than the woman at the center of the drama. In fact this story’s main character is never explicitly mentioned by name, nor does He appear. An accurate Playbill for this drama would have to have an empty space next to the photo of the one playing the lead. He is invisible, yet we trace His hand through every turn in the plot as the seeming coincidences add up.

William Temple, the ninety-eighth archbishop of Canterbury, was known to have said, “When I pray, coincidences happen; and when I don’t pray, they don’t happen.” The author of the Book of Esther stacks together a long string of “coincidences,” while never mentioning anything religious such as the temple, prayer, or even God’s name. Yet readers without being told know better than to think all the events in the book merely happened due to chance. We are left instead with one conclusion: The only way all these “coincidences” could have happened is if God directed every last detail.

Consider some of the “coincidences” in Esther’s story:

. The king wants his wife to appear, which just happens to set in motion events that will lead to the survival of an entire people group.
. The queen refuses, which just happens to provide the opportunity for Esther to become queen.
. Esther just happens to be beautiful enough to enter (and win) the king’s beauty contest.
. Esther just happens to be received favorably, both by the eunuch over the harem and by the king himself.
. Mordecai just happens to be in a position in the palace that allows him both access to Esther and to overhear a plot to kill the king.
. Mordecai’s revelation of the plot is recorded in the king’s annals (which just happen to be read on the most opportune night some years later).
. The dice or “lots” thrown to determine when the Jews are to be killed just happen to indicate the twelfth month, allowing eleven months for the Jews to seek a means of deliverance.
. Esther’s unexplained delay in having a second banquet just happens to allow the king a chance to have the insomnia that will motivate him to listen to his chronicles.
. The section read to him just happens to be the part about how Mordecai saved his life.
. Haman just happens to arrive at the palace with Mordecai on his mind at the very moment when the king is thinking about how to honor Mordecai.
. The very “gallows” (or pole) Haman installed for having Mordecai impaled (they would “spike” people after killing them) just happens to be the means of Haman’s own destruction.
. The king’s entry into Esther’s room at the exact moment when Haman falls on her couch just happens to make him misinterpret events, resulting in Haman’s death.
. Not one Jew is listed as killed while 75,800 of their enemies just happen to be destroyed—on the very day when the Jews were to face destruction.

This Cinderella story has ramifications that far exceed an “if the shoe fits” scenario. Much more is at stake than a glass slipper and love that ends “happily ever after.” Ultimately, Esther just happens to be in the right place at the right time and of the right nationality to intervene for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people and save them from certain genocide. God uses Esther to make a way, to keep His promise, to triumph over evil in one grand reversal.

And He is still sovereign over every event of our lives today.


Excerpted from Espresso with Esther.

SPS Card Tip

When you make your SPS cards, be sure to write on it somewhere how the card came about.

• What does it mean?
• Why did you pick those images?
• What scripture was involved?
• What's the story?
• Was there a song involved?

The back of my Closed card.

I typically like my cards to be image driven so there aren't a lot of words involved. Because of this I write on the back of the card any scripture or songs that were an inspiration for the card. Alternately, I might describe what the card meant to me at the time I created it.

With the card from the second week of Esther, I was inspired by the idea of God working unseen in my life everyday. The outside of the card has images that represent different days of my life. Open the door behind these days and see God's hand providing: sunshine, rain, coffee, milk, chocolate, dogs, computers, etc. On the back of the card I wrote what this means to me.

A couple of amazing things happen when people look at each other's cards. Most of the time, the artist teaches the viewer a new way of looking at an idea or scripture. At other times, the view interprets the card to mean something very relevant but entirely different than what the artist intended and the artist learns something new. Both of these are thrilling experiences.

Want a bigger surprise?

Look at your card six months or more from now. You might be surprised by the words you wrote. They may reveal how much you have incorporated this insight into your life. With the distance of time, you may see more clearly where you were at the time you made the card. You also may gain a whole new meaning from the card that even you didn't see the first time.

Isn't this a lot like scripture itself?

The Give and Take of Art

A few nights ago, I was reading the CD insert for my Seal CD and came upon this wonderful sentiment:

One of the most popular questions people seem to ask is, "Why don't you print your lyrics on the album?" Well, the answer to that is that quite often, my songs mean one thing to me and another to the listener. But that's OK because I think it's the general vibe of what I'm saying that is important and not the exact literal translation. How many times have you fallen in love with a lyric that you thought went, "Show me a day with Hilda Ogden and I'll despair," only to find that it went "Show me a way to solve your problems and I'll be there." I guess what I'm saying is that the song is always larger in the listeners mind because with it they attach imagery which is relative to their own personal experience. So it is your perception of what I'm saying rather than what I actually say that is the key.

You give something.
I give something different.

I take something.
You take something different.

That is the beauty of art. That is the beauty of life.

The Miss Persia Pageant

All the girls in my extended family love to get together for movie night when we can watch Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality. The plot goes something like this: Clumsy FBI agent with scary eyebrows and nasty hair undergoes metamorphosis to work undercover as beauty pageant contestant. Subplot: The main character starts out thinking pageants reduce females to their various parts (bad) but ends up believing pageants are positive exercises that emphasize the whole woman—including brains and talent (good).

What do you think of beauty pageants? Do you lean toward the agent’s “before” or “after” assessments?

What you think of beauty pageants might have some bearing on how you interpret the first chapter of Esther. Esther is the heroine of the pro-pageant group; Vashti is the heroine of the anti-pageant group.

The Esther group tends to see a great example of the need for wifely submission. Vashti’s husband wants her to appear wearing the crown, but Vashti refuses. So she gets what’s coming to her: she is deposed and the process of replacing her is set in motion. Bo-o-o, Vashti! Esther later competes in the pageant, wins, and everyone lives happily ever after. Ye-e-ah, Esther!

The Vashti group tends to champion women’s rights. They see Vashti’s actions as good in refusing to allow her husband to degrade her. Some scholars do believe the king wanted her to appear wearing only her crown—a crown which, incidentally, probably signified his sovereignty. And historians sometimes point out that, judging by the date in which the event happened, Vashti may have been nine months’ pregnant, though others think this was the royals’ wedding banquet. The text links the king’s demand with an over-abundance of alcohol (1:10) and Ahasuerus later seems to show a hint of remorse (2:1), so the text is tipped a wee bit in Vashti’s favor. Some in this camp see Esther as a negative example because she goes along with the status quo.

Frankly, both approaches miss the mark. Esther 1 is not about marriage. Nor is it making a case for feminism. The story is not even about beauty pageants. These subjects are “rabbit trails.” The text doesn’t focus on any of these aspects, and neither should we. If we take such approaches to “applying” Esther, we miss the point.

Here’s why I think it happens. The inductive Bible Study method is a good and popular approach to studying God’s word. It emphasizes considering a biblical text first by observing what it says, then interpreting what it means, and finally by making application. This is a particularly fine approach to studying New Testament epistles.

Yet our method must change a bit when we approach Esther and other narratives (stories): we must consider larger blocks of text at one time to find the application the author intended.
If we take the same approach with Esther that we do with the epistles, we might mistakenly “try to apply chapter one” when the entire message doesn’t appear unless we look at the entire story from all ten chapters.

When studying narratives we need to see the whole story put together before we can see the point or points the author is making. The approach (observation, interpretation, application) is good in both cases; yet what changes is the size of the sections we consider at one time.

Think about what would happen if we drew conclusions about the Three Little Pigs before we knew that the brick house stood despite endless huffing and puffing. Drawing application after the first piggy’s house crashes is possible (“wolves can kill you; watch out for them”), but chances are slim that the application we’d take away would be the one actually intended by the author.

A faulty interpretation of Esther, then, is to look at a king giving orders to his wife and her refusal to comply, and then to make any sort of application from that information. The author doesn’t tell us whether the king was wrong or whether his wife was wrong. And it’s probably for good reason: that’s not the point. Such information is background information that lays the groundwork for telling us how Esther got where she did.

So what are the main points of Esther’s story? They’re not stated in a handy summary. But after we read the entire Book of Esther we see them: The God of Israel shows loyal love time and again to His covenant people; the Almighty Lord is sovereign in all His dealings; and the Lord of providence kindly cares for His people despite their disobedience.

And all that is still true of Him today.

He loves you. He is in control. And He cares about you, no matter what you’ve done.

Excerpted from Espresso with Esther.

Esther, Part 1: Coincidence?

Hindsight is 20/20, right? Not always. How many times do we chalk things up to coincidence instead of recognizing that maybe God had a hand in it?

As MyGeek approached his graduation, we discussed what we wanted to do afterwards. Did we want to stay in NC? We made a huge decision to move to TN. I have felt for years that God wanted me to move back there and the time seemed to have presented itself. We packed up a lot of our current household stuff, stored it in TN, and put our house on the market.

Six months later, MyGeek graduates. No offers had been made on the house or on the job front but I wasn't really worried. I knew it would take at least six months to "get into the system". But things were going to start hopping now, right?

Nine months pass. There were no offers on the house and not a single interview or rejection letter! Have we done something wrong? Did I not "read" this right? And other strange things were happening. We met and became close to several new friends and helped start a very exciting, new small group. The longer we stayed, the less we wanted to leave. We had to make a decision. The listing agreement on our house ended in June. If the house was not sold or there were no job offers by then, we'd stay in NC.

Twelve months later. June. The week before our listing agreement runs out, MyGeek gets four phones calls about potential jobs — in NC. Four calls in one day. He said, "Isn't this a weird coincidence?" I don't think it is. Looking back, we had questioned and doubted our decision so much and wanted to know what to do. As clear as a situation like this can be, it appears that God lent a hand in keeping us in NC. Am I happy about it? Sure. Do I know why? No, but I’m o.k. with that.

Please, don't misunderstand. I don't see God's will as a series of signs and coincidences you decipher on a daily basis. If I get up in the morning and see a commercial for McDonald's mini-melts, I don't read that as a sign that I'm suppose to go to McDonald's (although those mini-melts are really good). If I hear a missionary speak and he happens to be from the same hometown as my grandmother, I don't see that as a sign I should be a missionary.

I do believe that God answers prayers and, above all, that He has a long-term plan — a plan for His Kingdom. I am in His long-term plan; I am not His long-term plan. I believe God's will, more often than not, means doing the right thing or, in cases where there's no right or wrong, simply doing something! I will exhaust myself, spinning in place, trying to figure out whether it's God's will for me to work with the youth, write music, or start my own business. Can God be glorified in all of these? Yes. Then glorify Him in whatever you do.

I highly recommend Chuck Swindoll's The Mystery of God's Will if you want to read more on this subject.

Esther, Part One

Tonight I was searching the web for Esther-related things and found this cartoon. It's almost as old as I am!

Announcements: Ta Da!

First things first: The winners of Erin's...what's that? Yes, I said winners. Plural. Yes. Erin got generous and made two sets. Okay, as I was saying, the winners of Erin's two SPS kits are patricia a. boutilier and Kellyn. All taxes are the responsibility of the winners. Void where prohibited. Tax, title and license extra. If the winners will email their snail addresses to sglahn at aspire2.com, Erin will get your stuff in the mail pronto. Thanks, everyone, for participating!

Today marks the official start of the online study in the Book of Esther. If you didn't sign up for the Yahoo group discussion, it's too late for this go-round. But you can follow along with us anyway starting Sunday. Here's how. The instructions for the week begin here or by going to http://www.soulpersuit.com/ and hunting down the Esther study, week one. If you do the artsy assignment for Sunday, feel free to email a .pdf to the email address cleverly disguised above, and we'll get it posted to the SPS site for others to enjoy.

We always love hearing from you, so thanks to all who posted comments.

Free Giveaway: Last but not Least

Ladies and gents, I'm pleased to offer you one last free drawing to kick off our Espresso With Esther summer Bible study. We've already given away two rock-solidly written Bible Study books, an up-and-coming artsy Christian journal, and now...

oh, wait a minute... first things first.

Perhaps you're new to this blog and wondering, "What in the world is this SoulPerSuit thing?"
Please allow me to direct you to our sidebar in which you will find a purple Yahoo! button. If you're interested in the SoulPerSuit concept, click the button to join us this summer and you'll get to experience it first hand. Here are a few details to fill in the scenario:

What: SoulPerSuit is diving into The Book of Esther this summer. We're hosting an on-line discussion group for any and all that would like to jump in. So come on!
When: Registration is closing down on JULY 19. And that is SOON. Click on the Yahoo button if you're thinking you'd like to join us.
More on When: We'll start discussing Lesson One on July 25. The group will run for 5 weeks.
Something New: An added feature this time around is that we're incorporating weekly "live discussions" and "studio nights" during which the SPS community can chat about what they're learning in Scripture and give each other a creative boost to get those concepts out in a visual, auditory or kinesthetic fashion.
It'll be like a cyber-coffee shop. A cyber-art studio. A cyber-recording session. A cyber-farmer's market. (Take your pick, whichever you like best.)


So, without further ado, I'm pleased to present you with our last giveaway in this series.

A SoulPerSuit Starter Kit

This starter kit contains:
- 4 different colors of 4 x 6 cardstock
- a 4 pack of mini permanent markers
- a mini journal for writing and sketching your SoulPerSuit ideas
- a mini mechanical pencil
- a glue stick
- a deck of standard playing cards
- a box of Jelly Belly's (to sustain you during your creative moments)

If you supply your own magazines to cut and paste, this kit contains everything else you need to SoulPerSuit.

Would you like a chance to win it? Here's all you've got to do.

Leave a comment on this post.

Sandi will announce the winner on Wednesday, July 25th. I really hope it's you.

Engage the Senses

If anybody can sniff out a good article, Kelley Mathews can. She sent us a link to this piece by Lauren Winner on connecting smell with doctrine: i.e., aromatheology. Check it out.

Happy Birthday, Erin!

We love you!

Winner of Giveaway #2!!

Hope Chastain, come on down!

You've just won yourself a free copy of the first issue of 3.1.6 Journal of Christian Thinking.

Congratulations!!

If you will email Rhonda at "rhonda at soulpersuit dot com" with your snail mail address, she'll get that in the mail to you ASAP.

Giveaway #2: A 3•1•6 Journal

The party continues here on SPS! This week we're giving away a copy of the 3•1•6 Journal itself!

I'm going to make you work a little harder than Sandi did. There are 25 contributors to the first issue of the 3•1•6 Journal. Visit the Current Issue page and give me the name of one of them. No repeats! There are also links to the contributor's web sites and blogs on the Current Issue page. Visit some of their sites to get an idea of what you'll find in the Journal.

Sandi will announce the winner of the Journal next Tuesday, July 17.

Christians in the Arts

I returned to Dallas from Atlanta last night after attending the International Christian Retail Show. While there I found out about a site that might interest you. Blogger LeAnne Benfield Martin describes it as a discussion of why Christians should be interested in the arts, and she interviews artists using their work to shine Christ's light in the world. Check it out. It's http://www.christiansinthearts.blogspot.com/.

We Have a Winner!

The blog commenter going by the name Donald James Parker is the lucky winner of Espresso with Esther and Solomon Latte. Congratulations! If our winner will contact us at sglahn at aspire2 dot com with your snail mail address, we'll send it to you. Thanks to everyone who participated. Stay tuned for more giveaways! And thanks for all the artsy sites. We'll check them out, and in a future post, we'll post our faves.

Free Giveaway

We're gearing up to do another online Bible study group, this time going through the Book of Esther. Anyone anywhere in the world who can type in English is invited to join. (Scroll down for the link.)

In celebration of our 3.1.6 journal article and in anticipation of the new cybergroup, I'm giving away two free books from my Coffee Cup Bible study series, Solomon Latte (Song of Songs) and Espresso with Esther. Both books go to one lucky winner.

You could spent about twenty-five bucks buying/shipping them, or you could enter to get them free. All you have to do is leave a comment, and we'll throw your name into the hat for a drawing to be held Tuesday. Your name goes into the hat once per comment ("count me in" is good enough), but we'll throw it in twice if you include in your post your favorite artsy web site or blog.

Published! Party!

To celebrate our feature in 3.1.6. A Journal of Christian Thinking, the SoulPerSuit team is celebrating next week by awarding prizes and doing the funky chicken!

Here's the schedule. Mark your calendars, dust off your keyboard (no lurking!), and get ready to win some very cool prizes.*

July 5 - Sandi has a little something special to give away to our blog readers and SoulPerSuit participants.
Want to win it? Just enter a comment on her post between 7/5 and 7/11.

July 12 - Winner of Sandi's giveaway is announced.
Didn't get your name drawn for Sandi's giveaway? Rhonda starts a new giveaway party today. From 7/12-7/18, comment on her post and toss your name in the hat!

July 19 - Erin announces the winner of Rhonda's giveaway and kicks off a drawing of her own. You can influence the purim a third time from 7/19-7/25 by putting your comment on Erin's entry.

July 26 - Sandi will announce the winner of Erin's giveaway. And put out the welcome mat for our summer SoulPerSuit in the Book of Esther.

*None of the prize awards are funky chickens. Sorry.

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SoulPerSuit is hosting an on-line creative group this summer!
We're diving into the book of Esther
Start date: July 25th
To join the on-line group, click the Yahoo! Groups Button in the right margin.

Create Your Own

Today I want to introduce you to some sites where you can play and create online. Whether you're a kid or a grown-up or a grown-up with kids, you can engage in imaginative play alone or with somebody you love.

Remember Mr. Potatohead? Think same concept, different genre. View my quirky modern art and create your own at Mr. Picassohead.

Next, create your own band complete with sound. I will spare you the link to the one I made. It would annoy you as much as your music used to annoy your parents.

If you follow my blog you already know how to create your own Jackson Pollock and your own Mondrian.

But why not trying a shot at creating your own cartoon character.

Create your own D&D character (you don't have to play the game to have fun making up characters). Mine is Stoaga Fletcher, otherwise known as Stoaga the Shadowdancer, Lady Stoaga, Lady Fletcher, Lady Stoaga Fletcher the Shadowdancer, Lady Stoaga Fletcher the Powerful, or Stoaga Fletcher the Weaver.

Finally, create your own psalm. For this you don't need a web site. Write down the hardest thing you've ever experienced. Then jot down how you felt (or feel). Then write a short prayer that ends with an expression of trust.

Give your left brain a break and tap into the creativity God made you to express.

[Photograph of The Guitar, 1918. Oil on canvas, by Juan Gris. In the public domain.]

500 Years of Female Portraits

My Geek sent me this cool art video. It shows 500 years of female portraits in Western art. Watch the video while looking at the eyes or the mouth only and see how they change or stay similar over time. I was surprised by how many works I didn't recognize.

Auditory Transport

On Father's Day, my husband was finishing a project in the backyard and as I stood there holding his icy glass of lemonade for him (it was the least I could do, it was Father's Day, you know!), I was hit smack in the ears by a memory.
My hubby fired up his circular saw to trim a few pieces of wood for the ramp he was building and all of a sudden, my childhood came flooding back to me. In particular, my childhood with my dad.

I cannot remember a house that we lived in where my father didn't make some kind of addition or major alteration. The sound of the drill and the circular saw hummed through the air every spring, summer and autumn weekend of my childhood. Dad built patios, room additions, rabbit hutches, back decks, gazebos, bookshelves, pantries, even a dining room set.


Standing there last Sunday with my husband's icy lemonade glass dripping in my hand, I became a 9 year old, standing there with my dad's glass of icy lemonade dripping in my hand. Watching with interest how he sawed and drilled. Asking for his leftover scraps of wood to build a fort. Wanting to help him work, but unable to bear the heat. Skipping off to run in the sprinkler and drink some lemonade myself. The sound of the circular saw buzzing in the background of my play.

That night I called my dad to share my memory with him.

Is there a sound that brings back a memory so strong that it transports you to another time or place?

Modern Art, Anyone?

I'm taking a doctoral class in modern art in my program at UTD in conjunction with the Dallas Museum of Art. In the past when people said modern art, I always envisioned Abstract Expressionist stuff, which I disliked. But I do appreciate Grant Wood ("American Gothic") and many of the regional works painted during the Modern Period. (I prefer represtational art in the living room to ginormous chunks of metal outside.)

As part of my class, which consists of about fifteen teachers-as-students, I am learning about a lot of technological resources. So I'm here to share some cookies (not the computer kind):

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)'s web site sets the standard for the industry. And they have a cool interactive section, which provides a great intro to modern art so people like me who appreciate it but have a lot to learn can find out more. Check out "Making Sense of Modern Art."

Also, a cool program that's considered the post-PowerPoint ideal for educators is Pachyderm. They work with educators and the arts a lot, so some of the content in their demos is fab. You'll find everything from heaven and earth depicted in art to mummies and madonnas. Enjoy!

3•1•6 Journal coming June 25

SoulperSuit is very proud to announce that they will be featured in the new publication, 3•1•6: A Journal of Christian Thinking, a venture by Founding Editor, Bill Dowis. His mission statement for 3•1•6 is:

"To provide provocative Christian writing and artwork that ignites thought, discussion and a deeper understanding of the Christian faith."

Dowis wants to fill a niche in the periodical genre and "create something that will cause people to think." The Journal plans on doing this through ficiton, non-fiction, art and poetry entries. Did you catch that? He plans to do it through creativity!

Until June 17 you can order the first issue at a discount. You can also find a promotional poster ready to print off and hang at your local art/coffee hang out. Help get the word out! Order lots of copies! Post about it on your blogs.

In recognition of the event we have several exciting things planned:

• We will do the Esther study (posted on our web page) starting July 25’07.
• Leading up to that study we will be giving away several goodies.

So be sure to check back here often and spread the word.

Please Stand By!

It appears we are having some technical difficulty with our blog. To the many of you out there who have been trying to post a comment on our blog but have been unsuccessful, you may give a sign of relief - it's not you. For some reason, it appears that no one can post comments on our blog except the administrators. I don't know how this happened but I'm going to try to get this fixed.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fix it considering that I also seem to have removed some administrator privilages from - umm - myself.

It's time to call in My Geek! What we do without superheroes?

Insult or Compliment?

When I think about my first experiences with the fine arts, they didn't come from visiting museums or attending the symphony and the opera. (While that would have been nice, our family had many young children which makes attending cultural events prohibitive. Trust me, everyone enjoyed themselves more when we stayed home.) My exposure to the arts really came through the outlet of mass media. Billboards, commercials, radio programs, children's sing-along records, cereal boxes, movies... marketing and entertainment venues mainly.

I wonder now, if I had not become familiar with some of those sounds and images, would I have understood the works when I encountered them as an adult? If a brilliant musical composition was reworked and mass released to help a company sell me their product, was it insulting to the song's composer or was it simply another way to expose the world to his genius?

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I remember watching Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny reenact the Ride of the Valkyries during Saturday morning cartoons, complete with Viking costumes and dramatic, cartoon-y landscapes.

I remember enjoying Disney's Fantasia with ballerina hippos and crocodiles, dancing dandelions and roses, Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice... all set to classical music.

Goodness knows how many people have taken DaVinci's Mona Lisa and given her beards, cat faces, sunglasses, fistfuls of dollar bills...

When my grandmother passed away last year, I inherited one of her statuettes- a 10" tall gnome, sitting on a pile of books, chin on his fist, contemplating his gnomish life. It bears striking resemblance to Auguste Rodin's sculpture of The Thinker.

.

Have you ever seen the painting, The Scream?
Have you ever seen The Scream superimposed with the words "Give me coffee!!" or "Where's the chocolate?!"

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I have to admit, my kids sometimes hear the strains of Tchaicovsky's Nutcracker ballet and squeal, "Oh, oh, oh, remember when Barbie danced to this part as the evil witch approached on her dragon?!" Sometimes they see a Rembrandt portrait and say, "Gosh, that looks a lot like the cover of my picture book, "Cats and Snails and All Kinds of Tails. Except in my book that painting isn't a man and his dog, its a smiling kitty cat with a bird sitting on his hat."


So... is mimicry the highest form of flattery, or is it the lowest form of insult?
When society takes something deemed to be "high art" and brings it down to the common people, either as an advertisement, a commercial jingle, the soundtrack for a movie, a child's cartoon, or a cutesy sculpture for the living room, is that good or bad?
Would the "high artists" be offended or honored by what we're doing with their creations?

Do You Love a Good Story?

One of my writing profs at UT Dallas recommended that I rent "Stone Reader." So I watched it on Saturday.

In this two-hour documentary, an eighteen-year-old buys The Stones of Summer, a literary novel by a little-known author and starts reading it, but he just can't get into it. Yet twenty-five years later when he gives it another go, he loves the story. Unfortunately, when he tries to secure additional copies, he learns it's out of print. Then when he tries to track down the author, nobody knows where the guy is. The mystery sends the reader, Mark, on a yearlong search for the elusive author. The documentary chronicles his progress.

Along the way, Mark interviews teachers at the Iowa workshop, a New York literary agent, and lots of interesting writing experts who end up talking about what it's like to write a novel. By the end, Mark ends up with a video story that's the equivalent to a pageturner in which he presents a realistic picture of what's involved in writing a novel.

The film is for readers and writers and anyone who likes a good story. I won't spoil the ending for you, but if nothing else, pay attention to how they lay out the chronology for maximum suspense and satisfaction.

Do you know of other films with scenes about the writing process? I know of Factotum, Deathtrap, Adaptation, Barton Fink, Shattered Glass, Freedom Writers, and Finding Forrester. Do you know of others? If you'll help me compile a list, my students will love you for it.

Change of Scenery

There's nothing like a vacation to refresh your mind and body - and creativity! We just returned from a great vacation on the east coast of Florida.

A change of scenery and climate can breathe fresh ideas into your art. It had been too long since I had seen an endless horizon, dug my toes in warm sand, smelled the salty air, tasted lobster and listened to the rhythm of lapping waves.

The colors and life of the tropics are distinct just as the desert of New Mexico and the mountains of North Carolina are - each offering their own palette and textures. With every picture I took, I saw a painting.

Do you have a memorable vacation or location that refreshes your creativity?

Color Collaboration

In 2001, 14 journal artists joined forces in a round-robin journal swap. With a simple theme- COLOR- each artist "hosted" a journal based on a single color scheme. All the artists needed to do was choose a color scheme, create a journal with enough space for the other 13 artists to work in, decorate the front cover and the first couple of pages to get things rolling, and mail it to the next artist on the list. The game was afoot!
Red, Black, White, Blue and Ochre, Aqua, Sepia, Violet and Yellow, Hot Pink and Orange, Sunset, Forest Floor, Metallic... from the get-go, one could tell this was going to be an interesting collaboration.

Every two weeks, artist's completed their contribution and mailed off one journal while anxiously awaiting for the next one to arrive. All mediums were fair game, all interpretations of the color were fair game, all approaches to creating these journals... fair game. It was an opportunity for each artist to show their true colors.

Over the next 16 months, the artists reveled in the journals they received. Some describe ripping open the packages containing their next journal before the postman even left their front walk. Others tell that they would dangle it like a carrot before themselves in order to accomplish some pressing administrative or household task. Still others just wanted to be alone with the newest journal, savoring it with a glass of wine or coffee, curling up with it by the fire to explore every detail of the previous artists' work.

They asked questions like:
How did the previous journal artists interpret "green"? How can I spring board from that idea or offer a counterpoint to it?
What medium lends itself to the boldness of violet? The subtlety of sepia?
How can I incorporate this piece of chicken wire (or roller skate wheel, or old apron tie) into my house design for "white"?

With each journal received, the artists had the challenge to weigh their independent creative vision against that of the entire group. They had to get a feel for the mingling of ideas and concepts within each journal's pages, while still maintaining their personal sense of style. Some artists chose to stick with their favorite media, others felt the need to branch out and try something new.

Karen Michel says, "Each journal truly emanated the spirit and style of the artist who made it, and at first it was quite a challenge to hold strong to my own vision and what I conceived to be my personal style. Working with the spirit of collaboration, I eased myself into the mingling of visions and images, getting my feet wet at first, then diving right into what turned out to be a very animated conversation of colors. I would listen closely to hear and feel what the book was saying to me and do my best as an interpreter."

The community that developed through their art journaling experiment continues on. In 2003, Somerset Studio published the collective works of this art journal community in the book, True Colors: A Palette of Collaborative Art Journals. It is a feast for the eyes, and a vanguard for the altered book and journal industry. Many of the 14 artists have websites featuring their work, as well as tips and ideas for creating altered art.

Michelle Ward, Nina Bagley, Lynne Perella, Anne Bagby, Keely Barham, Sarah Fishburn, Claudine Helmuth, Teesha Moore, Karen Michel, Marylinn Kelly, Lisa Renner, Judi Riesch

Check out the book.
Check out the artist's sites.
Get inspired.

Pray for Our Soldiers...and...

I hear it on the radio. I hear it in church. I read it on bumper stickers. "Pray for our soldiers."

Nothing wrong with that. It's good to pray. My friend's husband is "over there." She's caring for their three kids alone. I definitely don't want anything to happen to him, so I'm glad we pray.

But you know what's missing in such requests, don't you? Yeah--the reminder of our Lord's command to love our enemies.

Recently I was struck anew by the fact that God sent Jonah to Nineveh, which being interpreted was Babylon, which being interpreted was the heart of Iraq. Jonah resented (more like got royally torqued) that God offered his enemies a chance to repent. And they did repent, so God didn't do lightning. Woo-eeee. That did not go over well with the angry Jonah-man.

The year I decorated the card you see here, the U.S. invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq. Those places are under His mercies, and not just because Jonah and Daniel did short stints there. From the desert to the iceberg continent, God's mercies are over all his works.

Okay, so that explains Babylon and Iraq and Afghanistan and even Antarctica. But Italian? Well, a prof in my PhD program was initially negative about my being a Christian, though she softened as the semester went by. Anyway, her speciality was/is Italian.

And she's under the mercies.

So am I. Romans says I used to be God's enemy, too.

So let's pray for our troops. But let's also pray for their troops. We need to pray the same for both: that they might all be translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His Beloved Son--the One who loves His enemies.

Childhood Games

I'm designing a large scale collage using imagery from childhood games. Depending on our ages, these were popular at some point in our household:

Hi-Ho Cherry-O
Rook
Uno
Sorry
Yatzee
Battleship
Monopoly
Rack-O

Help me build a list. What were some of your favorite childhood games?

Starving Artists

Amy Grant has been said to pack away the Lays potato chips during her recording sessions. The grease lines her throat and gives her, well... a greasy, throaty sound, I guess.

James Bond likes his martinis shaken, not stirred.

Back in the days when I made scrapbooks into the wee hours, all the women at the crops brought their favorite snacks to keep them chugging around the clock. Carrot sticks, Diet Coke with ice chips (not cubes, it must be ice chips), peanut M&M's, and Arby's roast beef sandwiches.


So, when you're in the creative groove, what is your favorite munchie to keep at hand?

What Are Your Faves?

Back in January when I was in Marfa, Texas, with a bunch of artsy types, several of my cohorts said I simply must read Twyla Tharp's bestseller, The Creative Habit. Tharp is an Emmy- and Tony-winning American dancer and choreographer (think "Hair," "White Nights," "Movin' Out"). When it comes to the subject of creativity, she's written a kickin' read. The layout is as creative as the prose.

Now, when it comes to creative writing, my fave is the 1983 edition of Writing the Natural Way.

If you want videos, the Catholic Communication Campaign's "Creativity: Touching the Divine" stands at the top of my list.

What is your favorite work(s) relating to art or creativity?

What is (Nude) Art?

WARNING: Links in this post lead to news articles containing artistic photographs of naked people.

It's a highly debated question: What is art? Many approach the answer by saying what art isn't. Is it art simply because it's shocking or disturbing, because it makes you think, or only if it's beautiful?

You may have seen and/or heard about the most recent photo shoot by American photographer Spencer Tunick. He is known for his nude photography. So here's my question to you - is it art?

I'll come right out and say I think it is. It's very provocative and creative. Artistically, the human body becomes an element instead of just the subject. I wonder if this might be a perspective our Creator has.

A definition of art that I use is that it's creating a new perspective on a familiar thing or the exploration of what things are made of by recreating them out of context. For example, drawing or painting a fish using nothing but black lines and still communicating the characteristics and environment of a fish. Or creating a picture of a fish out of macaroni by determining what characteristics macaroni and a fish have in common or in what new ways can you look at macaroni that can make it communicate "fish". Either way, you are either stretching the view of the subject or the medium.

Tunick describes his photographs this way:
"I aim to get a sculptural feel for groups of bodies, as well as create performance art." - Telegraph

He's scupting by exploring the use of a new medium.

So what do you think of his work?

Nudes were very common in works of the great masters. Is it different because Tunick uses photography?

At what point does nude art become pornography?

Has the church played a role in demoralizing art simply because of the nude?

Art Community: Community Art

Art is one of the few things in the world that builds community. Whether it's viewing a piece of sculpture in a sculpture garden, visiting a gallery opening, listening to a symphony at the concert hall, or watching a show in the theatre, art is created to be shared.
Shared in the enjoyment of a completed work. Sometimes even shared throughout the entire creative process.

Art is meant to be shared with others.

A wonderful example of art that is shared in conception, execution and enjoyment of the finished product, is Community Bridge, in Frederick, MD. This piece began as an effort to revitalize and restore a controversial sector of Frederick. The artist, William Cochran, proposed a collaborative art project using a bridge as his canvas. Not just any old bridge though, he wanted this specific bridge that divided the community into a quasi "right and wrong side of the tracks," both racially and economically. Cochran's vision was to use the very thing dividing the city in two and redeem it to become a point of unity, collaboration and community spirit. Hence it's name, Community Bridge.


Cochran asked 174,000 people (both locally and around the world) one question, "What image represents the spirit of community to you?"




In process from 1993-1998, and painted entirely in the trompe l'oeil style (meaning that the bridge surfaces are completely flat. Anything you see that appears to be three-dimensional is an illusion), Cochran and his art team incorporated hundreds of ideas contributed from the world-wide community. In the words of Cochran, "Imagination is the most powerful force available to humankind and everyone without exception has access to that force."

Cochran relied on a community to canvas the public for ideas. Cochran relied on a community of ten painters to assist in making the bridge mural a reality. Cochran now relies on the community of Frederick, and all the out-of-town visitors, to enjoy and experience Community Bridge together. Cochran's vision depends on community collaboration and serves to draw that community closer together. And one could even say that it creates community where there was none.


Cochran hopes to add still more symbols to the bridge. Click here to join the Community Bridge collaboration and submit your answer to the question,
"What symbol represents community to you?"

The Artist's Formative Stage

I think it was Picasso who said that everyone is an artist and the challenge as we grow is to keep from having it trained out of us.

When I was a kid, my mom taught me to make shavings from crayons. Then we'd press them with a hot iron between sheets of wax paper so they melted into a kaleidoscope of color. After that we'd cut out stained glass window frames and put the colored creation inside. Hanging in the window with the sun shining through, our homemade stained-glass windows took our breath away.

My kindergarten teacher taught me to make a turkey by tracing my hand. Did you do that too?

What are some of your first memories about creating something?

New Church: Part 1

Part 2, Part 3

My Geek and I have been getting antsy at church. We want more. We've found some friends who feel the same way. We feel like we're wasting time sitting in pews and going to meetings. Too much time in the building and not enough time with people. We're postmodern in our thinking and lifestyle. Our creativity is bursting at the seams to see what we can do with this passion, energy and possibility. What if..?

So, in January we started a new home small group. (I really see this as a home church.) There is no real plan except to always be moving forward by exploring and experimenting with what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. Many of our first discussions were about our identity and what we want to accomplish. But as we evolve, there were some simple things we wanted:

• As long as there's at least two of us, we meet.


• We have a starting time but we don't care what time you show, just get there!


• We end when we're done. It's usually late. But it gives us time to build those relationships.


• Since we meet on Friday evening, we decided to brown bag it to make it easier for families to come. No one has to cook, just run through the drive-thru of your choice. Eating together is a great fellowship time.


• Everyone pitches in. This is not a pew sitting church. We got things to do.


• No child care. If the kids run through the room or want to join us, that's fine. They're not made to feel like they're not included. It's important that they hear us discussing spiritual issues, however difficult. They always want to join in on our art projects.

Right now we're building trust and relationships. Although we'd all met previously at church during the "Sunday school hour", meeting in homes has changed things. Church is sterile and restricting. There's a time limit and everybody knows how to act for an hour. When you come into someone's home, you get personal and there's no where to hide. You tend to act more like yourself.

It's mid-April now and we're still learning about who we are and challenging what church and worship really are. We're in training. We've gone rock climbing, created life maps, studied the Sermon on the Mount and even shared cocktail recipes. We're learning to get into each others lives instead of just passing each other with fake smiles on Sunday morning. The same thing we need to do out in the world.

Are you having a revolutionary church experience? Tell us about it.

Mocha Gallery Updated

I know it's taken me long enough, but the Gallery for the Mocha on the Mount study is finished. There's some amazing work out there with cards from all three groups: two live and one on-line Yahoo! group.

Thanks to everyone for participating. Enjoy.

NC Mocha Wrap Up

I led a live group in North Carolina through Mocha on the Mount. It was a different group than SoulPerSuit has had before.

To begin with, the group was established first as a full time small group (or what some call a care group) and then the Bible study was introduced. The group wasn't established specifically just to do Mocha. This means that some folks were a captive audience. Although everyone agreed to do Mocha they really didn't know what they were in for when SoulPerSuit was thrown in the mix.

Second, it was almost a totally even mix of men and women.

Circumstances didn't allow us to have more than one SoulPerSuit experience but it went over pretty well. Everyone participated with some pretty profound results. I will eventually get them all up in the Mocha gallery on the web site. In the mean time, I thought I would share the one that I did. (I have another one in my head I need to make.)

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." -Matthew 5:8

It's hard to believe but, in my entire churched life, I can't recall a memorable teaching on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 8). Now I wonder if that's because those sermons would have been pretty brutal on its listeners or the pastor had a hard time facing up to the words of Jesus himself - or both.

I always thought that the Sermon on the Mount was like the illustrations found in my picture Bible. Fluffy and euphoric, flowers and pastels, birds singing and soft happy faces. Athough Jesus' words are delivered in the most loving way, this is not the feel good sermon those pictures portrayed.


"So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:48

I was overwhelmed by how much I hunger for things besides righteousness - superficial things that are in decay before I even attain them. Pop stars, designer clothes, electronic wow, celebrityism, and Starbuck's everyday. As the words in my collage say, "Nothing off-limits".

The results of the things occupying my mind cannot in any way result in righteousness. Therefore they result in garbage. (That's what's coming out of my mouth.) If I pursue Prada, I cannot edify. If I pursue Razor, I cannot sacrafice. If I pursue a $200/year coffee habit, I cannot feed the hungry.

To the right I used a king of spades to represent God. I found a picture of some hands offering a bar of soap and towel so I glued those on the King as if they were His. Not just offering them to me but waiting and ready when ever I decide to come around.

When I was cutting out all the pictures of the desires going into my head, I randomly cut out the hanging fruit (upper right corner). It was in the corner of the magazine I cut it out of so I glued it in the corner of the page because it fit. When I finished, it looked like a progression. As the fruit was to Eve, all these things are to me - "all that glitters". From the garden to now, it's all the same.

When Sandi saw my picture, she though that it worked in a circle. Garbage comes in, garbage goes out, the Lord cleans me up and I am able to produce good fruit again. That's the great thing about SPS cards. They have more perspectives than we realize when we're building into them.

What do you do with the Cards?

We've gotten this question before. So you've made these cards during Mocha on the Mount. Now what do you do with them?

Depending on the size and mediums used, here are some ideas we've heard or seen in the past:

• a book mark
• scan and use as background image on computer
• glue in a journal and build and entire altered book of cards
• hang on frig ;)
• set in window over kitchen sink
• attach to edge of compute monitor (like a post-it note)
• make into a greeting card and mail to a friend

Some of you full-time creative thinkers may have some other ideas. What are you going to do with your cards?