Creative Christian

[joellehameister]

Manifesto

I will sit in the uncomfortable. 

I will lean into the uncomfortable.

I will seek out the uncomfortable. 

In order to grow I must be uncomfortable.

It is through the uncomfortable that I grow. 

Through being uncomfortable I have found how to be comfortable.

There are two ways I have best seen this

My art. I sat in the uncomfortableness of doing something different and succeeded. The woodburning had a cursive font, which was a real struggle for me. My handwriting is like a 12 year old boy, so it was very daunting to think the entire piece was based on the font. BUT I leaned into the uncomfortable and it turned out amazing. 

My sports. My form in my technical events were bringing my scores way down. My coach told me, I must sit in the uncomfortable positions to achieve the results we want. It has taken a lot of practice to get out of my usual, known positions and into the uncomfortable ones that will help me do better. Lately I have been leaning into the uncomfortableness and have been excelling in my events.    

This image is a representation of the uncomfortableness I have to sit in. I sat in this little nook everyday at work and one day my friend Josh Aaron took it. I had to put myself and him in an uncomfortable position in order to achieve what I wanted. I have this picture printed out now and when I see it, I remember sitting in the uncomfortable is a good thing. 

[joellehameister]

Discussion Response

I like structure. I think that that is why I don’t like abstract art. I like to play by the rules and will call someone out if they step out of line. I did not think of it this way until Tina started asking me questions on why I do not like abstract art. Almost everyone thought that abstract art was something that they struggled with. 

Another thing I brought up was the statues being brought down. We all shared opinions and thought that America needs more art. I said that we have very little historical pieces in America, yet they are tearing them down. Instead of tearing them down let’s have conversations about it. 

We ended up on the questions who and why. If art is good or bad, it depends on who and their why. Two people may both like an art piece but have different reasoning or two people may have different opinions on the art piece, but have the same reasoning. 

[joellehameister]

Reading Response Week 15

Art as a Twenty-First Century Calling

A Christian artist can look at what Jesus did and follow his lead. He took examples of everyday life and used that to relate to people. As artists we need to relate to others. If we don’t pull from personal experiences and walks of everyday life, then there will be no way for people to relate to the art. Good pieces of art come from people relating to it. They enjoy what they think about when they see it, how it makes them feel, how the colors act with one another. We must follow Jesus’ lead and use what is around us in everyday life to present a message to the people. 

How to Look at Abstract Art

“You must physically go to galleries and museums where you will find one painting intentionally hung between two other paintings.” I had never thought about this. A gallery is not just a space where art is hung up all over the place, but strategically placed to create a certain viewing experience. It is easy to just look at the art, instead of looking to see what is really going on behind the art. The artist has specific reasons for doing everything and that is what makes abstract art. There is a deeper meaning to it, but if you just look at the painting you will miss it.

[joellehameister]

Question of the Week 15

What art is most challenging for you? Why?

Abstract art is the most challenging art for me. It doesn’t resonate with me. I usually find it too out there or ugly. The pieces I do like are few and far in between. I personally, just don’t like that type of art.

What makes an artwork good or bad? This question really depends on who you ask. For me artwork that is good is artwork that is pretty. Artwork that is bad is artwork that is ugly. I may think something is ugly, but someone else may really like that piece. I also may really enjoy seeing historical statues, while someone else wants them torn down because they think they are bad. That is the thing about art, it is different for everyone. Everyone holds a different opinion. We cannot put a label on art being good or bad in general, we can only put a label on it for a personal appeal. 

[joellehameister]

Discussion Response #14

Success can be different depending on the situation, the person, the other factors present. Everyone in the room had a different definition of success, this has to do with a combination of nature vs nurture. We then moved on and talked about what type of art we are drawn to. Sophia said she likes art that tells stories. It allows her to see, get into the artists head and think of what they were thinking during the process of making. I agree with Sophia that art that tells a story, it gives more FEELING than just a 2-dimensional painting can give. Tina said, art is a collaboration between the viewer and the artist. What the artist is feeling while making and what the viewer is thinking while viewing.

“Use art, it is a tool it is embedded in everything we do” -Tina

It is easy to put art in a box. That is something that you do in a high school class. That is something you see in a gallery. Artists live off government funding. All of these are things that people think about art. But art is so much more than that. It can help us express emotions that we cannot express with our words. It is easy to put art in a box, but we need to take it out so we can use it as a tool throughout life. 

[joellehameister]

Reading Response

“Let the Games Begin” by Stephanie Sabo

I liked how the author started with a comparison to the Olympic games. This allows for readers who are not familiar with art, pull in a common interest. The Olympics contains so much culture, art, and sports, that almost everyone enjoys it.

I did not realize Tina’s art work in this exhibition resembled sports. As the author talked about it, the art pieces made more sense to me. I was confused by just looking at the images, but reading the descriptions about them helped me understand the art pieces. When we just look at pieces of art, we do not always know what is going on. We need to dig in order to fully understand the context.

“Art as a Proper Job”

In Art and Soul Signposts for Christians in the art, there was one section that I really liked. “Be willing to compromise”, is a section that I need to work on. I get so stuck on an idea and I am not willing to move onto another one. I do this in a lot of aspects of my life. I can get so focused on a plan and get it done that I don’t stop and look around. That reminds me of the Ferris Bueller quote that I added for the image of this blog. You have to stop and look around or you may be missing out.

Love the Art, Hate the Artist

The pigment prints were very interesting looking. I had never seen images like this. Then when you hear the background of the artist and things he had done, you look at the pigmented prints differently. I have experienced this with one of my favorite Youtubers. John Crist is a Christian comedian who makes funny Youtube videos. He was accused of inappropriate relations with women after his shows and this changes how I look at his art. Even if I really like the videos, I still think of what he had done.

[joellehameister]

Question of the Week #14

What types of art are you most drawn to? Why?

Art that most draws me in is natural art. I love looking at photographs, paintings, and all sorts of images of beautiful places. The reason I like this is due to my love for adventure. When I see these images I imagine myself in that location. This creates an adventure possibility in my mind. I think of the people I would go there with, what I would do there, and all the other things I would see there.

Another type of art that draws me in is digital art. Working in the digital marketing field, I am exposed to alot of different aspects of digital art. While I am not making most of the digital art, I am having to figure out what captions go with it, what channels it should be distributed on, and if it fits the style of the campaign.

Has an artwork ever changed your mind about something? Explain.

I have never looked at art in such a way that it changes my mindset about something. The closest thing that has happened to me that relates to this question would be seeing how to use different mediums. I like to walk the line and stay in the straight and narrow, but there are so many ways we can use art supplies. My sister paints acrylic cartoon characters on sticky notes. I would have never thought about putting acrylics on sticky notes. While I may not have had a drastic change of mindset from a piece of artwork, this course is teaching me how to look at art differently that I would normally.

[joellehameister]

Yay & Boo Playlists

I liked this assignment. I picked cover art for my playlist based off of what is inside of them. The Yay! playlist includes songs that I listen to to pump me up. Songs when I am feeling good and want to be in a state of “Yay!” The Boo playlist is full of songs that remind me that life can be rough so don’t be thinking too highly of yourself. A lot of the songs in the Boo playlist also play a role in thinking that life could be a lot worse, and I am not in the situation the singer is in. I kept both playlists at 10 songs. More can be added as I find more songs, but I felt 10 was a solid amount for a playlist. 

Yay! Playlist

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/yay/pl.u-XkD0vN0C2ogEDqo

Boo Playlist

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/boo/pl.u-yZyVE6lCdDZRYxD

[joellehameister]

Question of the Week #13

What makes art successful?

Before finding out what makes art successful, you have to define what success is. When you are little you think of success as making a lot of money and having a good job. You may think of success as an interview going well, even if you don’t get the job, it could still be successful, because you learned something from it. Personally I think success is achieved when you do what is right, do something well, or achieve something. When art comes into play, the term success can change. Some may think making it big and selling one of your creations for millions is a success. Others may think that getting someone to smile or to think outside of their normal day to day thoughts is a success. I believe art is successful if it benefits myself or someone else. If I created a piece that I did not fully enjoy, but someone else can benefit from it, then it is a success. If I create a piece that I had fun making and I enjoy, then that is a success. I think success needs to be defined by each individual to achieve what they want. If success had a line, then not everyone would live up to it, even though they have succeeded in their own way. 

[joellehameister]

Reading Response #13

Imagine

The book talks about art being influenced by the places the artist is creating the art. Christians sometimes worry about this because of some areas being known for things that are unChristian. It makes a good note about there being Christians everywhere. Once Christ died on the cross and rose again, the message was shared across the nations. Paul took it to Rome and it became wide spread. While there is just cause to worry about bad influences on Christians, we must remember that there is also great influence for Christians out in the world. 

Lynn Aldrich

I really liked her work. After reading the interview I went through her gallery and checked out all that she had made. The use of common items to make beautiful pieces of art was really cool. The article showed her “coral” made out of everyday cleaning supplies like sponges and scrub brushes. It did look like a reef, even though it was all cleaning sponges. In her interview she talks about how Jesus hung out with wealthy people, but he also hung out with poor people. As artists you should not strive to just reach the wealthy, but also reach the less wealthy.   

Manifesto 

Manifesto is defined as, “a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.” After reading that I did not know what to think before going into this video. Then the video begins and I am even more confused. A woman is getting ready for lunch and is impatient with her kids. Then she starts what seems like it would be a prayer saying, “I am for an art...”, again and again and again. Then she looks at the camera and starts talking like a robot. Once she finishes they distribute the food and she pours gravy on the chicken for a long time. Then it pans to the living room with animals that have been stuffed and a crow cawing in the living room. 

The other video I watched was Manifesto 10. It was very slow at the beginning just like the other video. There is talking throughout most of the video talking about art. It is talking about how people are coming to creativity and different things. She then starts talking in her robot voice again. Then the normal voice starts talking again. This was one of the weirdest videos I have ever seen. I am sure that watching all of them at the same time would have a much different effect than watching just two of them. I understand the statement that Rosefeldt is trying to make, but I just don’t understand it in the way she is doing it. I am sure, someone with a deeper understanding of art would see this and believe that it was an impressive piece of work, but for me it was just weird and confusing. It made me feel uncomfortable watching and I did not understand what was going on. It seemed like something that should be coming out of the Twilight` Zone.

[joellehameister]

Discussion Post #12

I felt this week’s question was very similar to questions we have talked about in the past. Every time we talk about a question like this, we end up landing on what is the heart behind the art. That is what it all comes down to, what is the purpose of the art? Are we doing this art for our own selfish ambition or are we doing it for God’s glory. I find myself guilty of doing art so that others will say that is so cool or wow you did an amazing job on this piece. What I should be doing it for is to show how God has given me this great talent and give it all back to him.

During our discussion Tina asked some questions that make us ponder why we do art. A lot of the questions she asks us I do not have answers too, rather I just sit in this realm of continued questions. It is good to not always have the answer, yet rather sit and ponder the many questions we have. I don’t always know why I choose to paint the sky a certain shade of blue or why I didn’t choose a different shade, all I know is that God gave me this ability to choose which shade I want to use.

We finished Emerge. Out of all the books I have been assigned at Jessup, Emerge was the easiest to read. With the photos and broken up pieces of text, it was entertaining and fun. I would highly recommend any Christian artist this book as a way to see creativity from a different angle.

[joellehameister]

Reading Response #12

Truth

It begins by talking about an alternate reality. We can feed ourselves lies that make us create an alternate reality from what is the truth. I find myself guilty of this. If I know that I have a meeting with someone that I don’t know what it’s about or something similar, I find myself dwelling on it before I even know what the topic is. Instead of dwelling on it I need to focus on what the truth is that I have a meeting I don’t know what it is about and I’ll find out at the meeting. It also talked about creating a village from the earlier chapters which I really liked. 

Usefulness

I enjoy the “wet life”. While at Hume there is no cell service so if I want to make a call or search something online I have to hike up to our families friends house who has Wi-Fi. I absolutely love not happen cell service. It allows for friendships to be developed in a way that they aren’t being developed in today’s society. You get to know someone for who they actually are not for the virtual world they can create. I wish people didn’t try to escape from the wet life as often as they did. My mom used to take a bucket out and have all my friends put their phone in it because they would be on it during parties. She would tell them this is not why we’re here, we’re here to enjoy each other’s company so everyone had to put their phone in the bucket.

The picture I put shows everyone hanging out at Hume and not on their phones. 

Emerge part 3

One of the steps for creative habits is start and that is probably my favorite one out of the nine. It says to be procrastination and that’s some thing I look to do every day. I don’t like to procrastinate because I don’t see the point in it it Hass to be done so I’d much rather get it done earlier and enjoy the rest of my time then just be thinking about what I need to be getting done.

All That is Made / Creativity as Devotional Practice

“When we start seeing art as a means to an end, we forget that it was often small, childlike moments that led us to God‘s presence” (p. 52). I really like this quote, so often we can get caught up in the mundane and daily tasks that we forget why we started doing in the first place. This leads me to take more time when doing something creative not just as a task but I was away to feel the small moments. 

All that is Made / When you get there, Remember that you were carried by the Spirit

This section talks about remembering the things that carried us forward. My boyfriend and I have been talking about this a lot lately and going back and looking at her journals to see what brought us together and remembering these fun happy times when there was no timeline or expectations pushed on us. We have to go back and look at why we started. 

[joellehameister]

Question of the Week #12

How can art be made “to the glory of God”? What does that look like? What doesn’t it look like?

How can anything be used to the glory of God? How can anything not be used for the glory of God? It is an interesting question that can lead you into a roundabout. I believe that everything we do can be used for the glory of God. What really matters is where your heart is when you are doing something for God’s glory. Art made “to the glory of God” can look a bunch of different ways. One way it can look is doing art as a form of worship. This could be through singing praise and worship at church, by yourself, or with friends. Another form of glorifying God through art is painting God’s creation. I love creating pieces of art based off of God’s creation. 

An example of art that is not made to the glory of God is music with cuss words. While there are some exceptions to this, most of the time, songs with foul language art not glorifying to God. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Another example of what art that is not to the glory of God is provocative photos and videos. There are many examples of what can or cannot be art for God’s glory, but I truly believe that it depends on what you feel in your heart when creating the art. 

[joellehameister]

Reading Response #11

Emerge Simplicity

“Embracing the simple life by practicing the art of minimizing is no easy task” (p.76). Life can be so overwhelming, we get caught up in our day to day routines and get lost. One of the pages talks about buying cheaper. When my mom would ask my grandma to buy her something, my grandma would say that will take me 6 hours of work to pay for. That would make my mom understand in a better depth the cost of things. I always remember that story when deciding if I should buy something.

Emerge Village

It is so important to be in a village. My family and family friends were so great growing up. They would support me in all I do and gather around me whenever I needed it. I didn’t have a close group of Christian friends till after high school and now it is amazing. Having people who share your same faith is an incredible thing to have. It allows you to have deep conversations and fun times all mixed together.

Emerge Habitat

I believe that the environment that we are in can spark inspiration. Don Perini gave examples of red couches and a corn and cinnamon heat sac that help him start having creative juices flow. I think that the things around us can inspire us to be more creative. When I am working on an art piece, I find myself looking around, not for anything in particular, but for something to influence me.

“Art + Life”

Sister Corita Kent developed a list of 10 rules for teachers and artists. The list is uneven, it is sloppy, and the entire page is messy. These rules are how life is. We do not live in a straight forward perfectly spaced out world, but rather a messy world.

Kent’s art grew throughout her career. She moved from abstract art to almost fully word art. Her word art was very interesting. When she used the dfinder, it would create dimensional art, which was very cool to look at.

[joellehameister]

Question of the Week 11

How should art be used in church? What should that look like? What shouldn’t it look like?

I believe that art should not be distracting in a church. I have been in several churches where they have portraits or sculptures that are very distracting. I think one piece that has been distracting to me is the representation of Jesus bleeding on the cross. It can go two different ways. One way is it pulls you away from the message as you look at all the things going on in the sculpture. The other way is that it can bring you into the message as you see with your eyes the brutality that Christ experienced on the cross. This can lead into how art should be used in the church. Art should have a purpose, it should not just be hung up because there was an empty space. The art should relate to a bible story, a piece of scripture, something that a member of the body has created. 

In what ways does God “renew” our minds?

God renews my mind through a variety of ways. The first thing that comes to mind is sitting in silence. To just sit and be in his presence. I like to do this in nature and seeing God’s creation all around me. Other ways I renew my mind is to listen to worship music, read my bible, spend time in prayer, journal about what I am feeling, there are so many different ways to sit in God’s presence and renew our minds. In order to renew, we must come to Him and ask him to help us renew our mind.

[joellehameister]

Discussion Response #10

A lot of us view art that others do less harshly than we view art that we do. Kacey likes to look at abstract art because she focuses mostly on realism for her art. She wants to strive to break out of that shell and try different types of art. 

We ended up talking about green color theory. An overwhelming amount of green leads to your eyes actually seeing red. That relates to people who are color blind, who see green as red and red as green.

I mentioned the quote in the beginning of our emerge sections and someone else during our discussion mentioned it too. It was a really good quote and reminds you to break out of your box. 

Is art an act of love? Do we even know how to truly love? We have been given the perfect example of what true, real love is through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. 

How do we snap out of this self-deception? We have to break through and sit in the uncomfortable. Tina talked about going through a process that can take years. Life is messy. We think messy is bad, but it can be a good thing. I personally think messy is bad and need to think more about living in the mess. That mess can be good.

[joellehameister]

Reading Response #10

Emerge Ideas

Right off the bat, the quote by John Maynard Keyes intrigues me. “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” I feel this way, ALL THE TIME. I constantly want to paint or woodburn things that I have already done. It is hard to break out of that mold and do something different.  

Emerge Master

I also really liked this section of Emerge. I run the heptathlon for track and field, but I am nowhere near a master of it because I have not been able to practice all of the skills over and over again. There are 7 events in the heptathlon and only 5-6 days of practice a week. There is not even enough time to focus on an event a day. To be a master you must put in the time.

The section on teaching was also something very interesting. You can’t just put in the time, but you also have to change what you are doing. You have to try out different techniques and see what works best. 

Emerge Messiness

A failure resume. That is a very interesting thing that I have never thought about before. I think I will start doing this. This will help me look back at things I have done in the past and be able to learn from the experiences. Just today, I did not proofread an instagram story for work. The designer spelt design wrong, and I did not catch it. While I want to push it off on him, I should have looked closer at all of the posts. I will learn from this mistake. 

Emerge Habit

The creative triggers were really fun to read about. I like to reward myself for good work. I say, ok I need to work on this for one more hour or one more page and then can go get some ice cream. Renewing the mind is the most important of the 7 steps to form a habit. It is easy to get busy and not renew our minds. 

All That is Made- A Lesson in Beginning

I relate to the section it needs to be perfect. I am a perfectionist in many of the things that I do. I want the paper to be the best it can. I want no flaws in my watercoloring. I want the day to go according to how I planned. I have to remind myself to let go and let God’s plan go to work in my life.