The Spectrum Blog

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

By Alexander Carpenter

T. S. Eliot reading his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Comical creation

By Andrew Hanson

Art: Interview with Rod Crossman

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

The latest issue of Spectrum, which is already in the hands of subscribers, features Rod Crossmans’ abstract painting, “First Man,” on the cover. Born in South Dakota and raised in Upstate New York, Crossman now lives in Indiana, where he makes a living creating paintings and as a professor and Artist in Residence at Indiana Wesleyan University. Crossman’s paintings have been published on the covers and in the pages of the best sporting magazines, books, and journals. His work has been exhibited and collected worldwide, including at the Smithsonian, Chicago Art Institute, Woodson Art Museum, Ward Museum, High Museum and some of the most elite galleries. In addition, he has designed trout, turkey, upland and duck stamps for several states. His artwork ranges from landscape and nature artwork to abstract paintings, such as the one that appears on Spectrum’s cover. According to Crossman, “First Man” is a painting that “explores the idea of polar opposites in color, value, and materials and the way they complete each other.”

Recently, I interviewed Rod via email. Here's our conversation on art and the sublime:

Would you mind sharing a bit about your background and how you came to be an artist? Has art been a lifelong passion for you?

I have always been drawn to those things that surprise me. My mother was able to help nurture a deep appreciation for the beautiful… a sunset, flower, a good story…. Our home contained very little “art.”  Our family was economically very poor, but rich in love.  I do think my curiosity and deep appreciation for beauty was formed in the tension of this crucible.

Your body of work covers a wide range of styles—realist landscapes, sporting art, etchings, abstract paintings, American Indian subjects, figures, and even film. How is it that you came to embrace so many diverse styles of expression?

Exploring such a diverse range of subjects and style creates another type of tension or conflict. The possibility of a shallow reasoning or research exists. Artists also seem to be pushed into one area or style because of marketing pressures that come from publishers, galleries and collectors. It happens in every kind of art… music, theater, writing, etc…. My question is why? Why does it have to be that way?

What are your influences, artistic and otherwise?

As far as work goes, my major influence is the design I see in creation. Lately I’ve been inspired by the work of Industrial Designer Ross Lovegrove, photographer Gregory Colbert, and Dutch artist Theo Jansen. I’m also researching the idea of sustainable growth. Being a responsible citizen and steward of our natural resources has become a more important issue in my life.

What kind of physical space do you paint in—do you create your nature paintings on location or from memory? What is your creative process like?

I work in a large converted Quaker Church that was abandoned a century ago. Originally it was the first Quaker Meeting House in this part of Indiana during the early 1800s. It overlooks a small stream and is a constant source of inspiration. I paint from life, memory, and a blend of both. I like to experiment with ways of applying paint. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a blend of digital and traditional painting on the same platform.

You say that you’re “interested in moments of ‘Wonder’ and ‘Awe’—the magical ‘state of being’ that leaves us vulnerable to the idea there is something more important in universe than ourselves.” Is this sense of wonder one of the themes you explore in your art? Do you have a sense of what that “something more important” might be?

I agree with the author David James Duncan. He suggests that to live without a sense of awe and wonder might not be a “sin” in the spiritual sense but that it surely is one artistically. I also think wonder and awe helps keep us from becoming too infatuated with our own self worth or being deceived into believing we are in control of our world. The antithesis of pride is a humble spirit. This humble spirit makes it possible to love others more than we love ourselves. I believe in God the Creator who has known and loved us from the very beginning of time. In Genesis Chapter two, it says he created all sorts of trees for the Garden and made them “ pleasing to the eye.” That implies he created them for our pleasure—a sublime thought: to be loved by the one who created all things is a thought too deep for words. This love comes with a call to love others more than we love ourselves. This love does not give us the right to live without “seeing.” Understanding that love allows us to “see” the  “Holy” in everything, from a tiny water drop to the ocean.

Of your painting, “Revelation” that that hangs overhead in the lobby of a building on the Indiana Wesleyan University campus, you said, “We are both a physical and spiritual being, but often our spiritual eyes are shut, making it impossible to see the invisible yet eternal things around us.” Do you consider yourself to be a Christian artist? If so, what does that term mean to you?

The whole idea of “Christian artist” is kind of a gnarly one for me. Am I a “Christian artist” or an “artist” who happens to be a Christian? Does my faith identify me or my calling? We seem to need labels—it helps us feel like we belong to the club. When we paste that label somewhere visible, it’s a free pass to the club meeting. I tend to think that’s a dangerous way to figure out where or who we belong to. Should I put a cross behind my signature to let people know I’m a Christian? That kind of action can suggest I’m not ashamed, or it can be a visual testimony, but for me it can be an easy form of evangelism. I prefer a personal evangelism that is born out of earning a right to be heard. The best way to do that is by loving one another.

Bonnie Dwyer’s editorial in the current issue references something you pondered in your blog: “Will God hold us responsible for the questions we don’t ask?” This would seem to point toward our moral responsibilities as human beings. What is art’s role in this?

Art can bring understanding and meaning to those things that there are no words for. It’s one of the reasons human beings have always needed it. When I stand in front of Michelangelo’s Pieta, it’s like being able to stand at the very edge of the universe and see thousands of galaxies. Scripture says “ the heavens declare his glory.” Good art can do that too. It can also be good worship and good stewardship. I think it can bring pleasure to God. It’s perhaps visual evidence of our love. Art can encourage and enhance worship, thoughtfulness, and it can usher in revelation and encourage social change through changed hearts.

Do you believe art has an impact in today’s society, which has been described as fragmented and lacking coherence? How do you feel about the idea that art can or ought to bring about social change?

I want to feel the pleasure of God. One of my favorite verses is 11 Chronicles 16: 9: “The eyes of God roam throughout the earth, looking to strengthen the one who is devoted to him.” I keep throwing my art out there, making it the best I can, trusting God will see it and know how much I love. Then His strengthening will allow me to love the world in a way that makes it a little better place to live.

Both of your sons are serving in the military—one of them in Iraq. How are they doing?

Both of my boys are in the Army. Both have been a part of the current war. My oldest son was there in the beginning and my youngest is there now. War is always tough on the families but tougher still on the soldiers. I pray every day for our young men and women in uniform. My boys are doing ok but need your prayers. Thanks for asking.

Visit Rod Crossman's website.

The kin-dom of God

By Alexander Carpenter

The future's already arrived; it's just not evenly distributed yet.
--William Gibson.

I think that this was Jesus' message as well: The kin-dom of God is here for some and is coming to more.
Not everyone experiences it yet, but more and more grasp that we, of this spot in space, create our future and it's up to each person to realize the kin-dom of God today.

The future: Theoretical physicist and 2057 host Michio Kaku speculates on the future of civilization.

is here? The final scenes of Stanly Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 6

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Identity: Owning My Spiritual Territory   

“Where thou art, that is home.” —Emily Dickinson 

Last week, we completed part 5 of our spiritual journey through art. We have now taken survey of the landscape of our spiritual journeys, mapped where we’ve come from and where we’re going, taken inventory of what’s in our spiritual luggage, contemplated who our traveling companions are, and claimed our spiritual territory. In case you missed them, here are links to the the intro, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4. and part 5. This week, in our last installment of this series, we envision the flags that fly over our individual spiritual lands.   

Our culture is flooded with symbols. We see them in product branding, corporate logos, bumper stickers, advertising, flags, and religious icons. Consider the following examples:   

The Olympic flag: five interlocked colored rings to represent the five areas of the world joined together in the Olympic games.      

The American flag: George Washington is said to have declared, “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.” For some, the red and white stripes represent, respectively, the blood of freedom and purity.   

The flag of the United Nations: a map of the world surrounded by olive branches symbolizing peace.   

Coats of arms: In European traditions, the symbolism in tinctures (colors), divisions of field, ordinaries, and charges (crosses, lions, bears, fish, dragons, etc.) are used to create coats of arms to represent family clans, or sometimes individuals.    The one above is the coat of arms of South Australia.

Family crests: The circular Japanese “kamon” or family crests often include symbols of flowers, trees, birds, or lucky symbols. The one above is the family crest of the Miura clan, my ancestral Samurai family linked to Emperor Kanmu, the 50th imperial ruler of Japan. Miura means “three bays,” and the crest seems to indicate three bodies of water. 

The Christian flag, which includes the most universal symbol for Christianity, the cross, red for the blood of Christ, white for purity and forgiveness (“My sins have been washed white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18), and blue to represent heaven, truth, or baptism.

The Seventh-day Adventist logo: “The choice of the Church's logo reflects the core values that Seventh-day Adventists are committed to. The foundation is the Bible, the Word of God, shown open since its message must necessarily be read and put into practice. Central to that Biblical message is the Cross, and is also central in the logo. Above the Cross and the open Bible is the burning flame of the Holy Spirit, the messenger of Truth.” 

The bread and wine of the communion service symbolizing the broken body of Christ and his blood 

The tearing of the temple veil at Christ’s crucifixion

The prophetic symbols of Daniel and Revelation

A spiritual flag represents your faith, your spiritual values. If you were to fly a flag over your symbolic spiritual territory (the territory you claimed in last week’s activity), what would it look like? Joshua challenged the Israelites: “Choose this day whom you will serve,” and then declared, “As for me and my household, we will follow the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) This was Joshua’s “verbal flag,” his public statement of his faith. 

1. Consider the symbols, colors and shapes of flags and family crests and their significance in your spiritual journey. For example:  What colors represent your spiritual territory? What do those colors symbolize? Courage? Faith? Grace? Compassion? What shapes and symbols on your flag represent your spiritual values? When others see your flag, what do you want them to understand?   

2. Make a flag that represents your spiritual territory.   

 

This is my “flag. I drew it (left-handed again) in the circular shape of a Japanese family crest, which is also the shape of the earth with its surface of water. The colors—greens, pinks, and golds—represent creativity, growth, and light for me. Emblems include a stalk of bamboo, a symbol of strength, endurance, and growth; and a white flower that represents the centrality, purity, and multifaceted simplicity-complexity of grace, which also evokes the idea of faith in a creative, compassionate God. This exercise, for me, was the most challenging of all six we’ve attempted. I found it difficult to distill into simple symbols an expression of my spirituality, but having attempted to do so, I’m all the more convinced that it’s important to be able to own one’s spirituality. “Choose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua challenged. Making the choice is the first step; understanding and being able to express what that choice means is the next—and complex and significant leg of the journey.

 

***

This is the final installment of our spiritual journey through art, but hopefully not the end of your artistic exploration. The gate has been left open. I hope that you’ll return often to consider how art can impact your spirituality, and I hope that you’ll carry what you’ve learned through art into the rest of your life. 

To close this series, I want to share with you the artwork sent to me by artist, teacher, and mentor Nancy Johnson, whose comments you may have seen from time to time on this blog. (She also happens to be my dear mother-in-law with whom I share a love of creative endeavors.) Nancy created two drawings in response to the first exercise in this spiritual journey through art, which was to create a representation of the current landscape of one’s spiritual journey.   

The first depicts a traveler on a rather dark and desolate path just past an overshadowing, sinister-looking tree. Light streams from a source up ahead. Nancy says that creating this drawing allowed her to reflect in a manner that ultimately inspired her to go on to make the second drawing:

I was completely blown away when I saw the second drawing. The rings of the circle in Nancy's artwork are filled with words and intricate drawings that represent significant dates and places, a self-portrait, a picture of Nancy’s family, depictions of artists that have impacted Nancy’s spiritual journey, and finally—what moved me most of all—dozens and dozens of names of loved ones. You’ll have to click on the image to get the full impact of Nancy’s artwork. To me, it’s a portrait of a rich life. I think it’s fitting that the circle depicting Nancy’s journey fans outward, grows larger and more intricate. The X depicts where Nancy sees herself now. Beyond the X is the future, and I can only imagine the harvest that will fill each succeeding ring of the circle.   

Nancy created these drawings in conjunction with the first exercise, but she was already projecting ahead to where I was headed in subsequent exercises. In the second drawing, she effectively maps the span of her spiritual journey up until now and casts forward into the future. She identifies a diverse community of travel companions and names the individuals in her extensive spiritual family tree. Her  drawing includes symbols that evoke a sense of her spiritual territory and spiritual luggage. Though Nancy may not have intended it thus, I think this artwork reflects the fullness and scope of her spiritual journey and the many lives she blesses along the way. I’m moved and inspired.   

Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your artwork, and thank you, readers for joining me on this six-week spiritual journey through art. May your journeys continue. May they be graced with light, artfulness, fellow travelers, and growth.   

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 5

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Discovery: Staking My Claim 

"To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul." —Simone Weil 

Last week, we completed part 4 of our spiritual journey through art. We have now taken survey of the landscape of our spiritual journeys, mapped where we've come from and where we're going, taken inventory of what's in our spiritual luggage, and contemplated who our traveling companions are. In case you missed them, here are links to the intro, the intro, part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. This week, we stake claim to our spiritual territory.   

God to Abraham: "Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3) 

In this week's exercise, spiritual territory is metaphor for spiritual gifts or spiritual stewardship or spiritual wisdom. What do you recognize as your sphere of spiritual influence, and thus, your sphere of responsibility? Where do your gifts of wisdom lie? What is the spiritual territory that has been entrusted to you?   

Consider several aspects of spiritual territory: 

Category: 

"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each for the profit of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the workings of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He will. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:1-12) 

Scale:   

"I never look at the masses as my responsibility; I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time—just one, one, one. So you begin. I began—I picked up one person. Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand…. The same goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community. Just begin—one, one, one." —Mother Theresa   

"Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life." —Dalai Lama 

Duration: 

"You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose." —Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from The Little Prince" 

"I try to live what I consider a 'poetic existence.' That means I take responsibility for the air I breathe and the space I take up. I try to be immediate, to be totally present for all my work." —Maya Angelou

"Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors." —Jonas Salk 

Spiritual territory may be literal physical territory—your home and the lives you nurture within its walls, or your local community, or your church. Or it may be symbolic: perhaps your spiritual territory is the teaching of young children or social activism or theological scholarship. Whatever the case, responsibility begins with recognition—recognition that "The earth is the Lord's in all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein" (Psalm 21 1-2), and recognition of our role of stewardship.   

1. Consider the symbols of land and geology and their significance to the spiritual journey. What is the spiritual territory you claim? What territory has been placed in your responsibility? What does this spiritual land look like? Is it fertile? Arid? Mountainous? Next to a river? On an island? What does these geographical metaphors represent to you?   

2. Make a drawing that represents the spiritual land to which you are laying claim. 

Here's my drawing (left-handed once again), which is split it into four smaller pieces (click for full image):

On a small scale, a flat arid stretch represents what I consider to be the spiritual territory placed in my responsibility. People who are crossing parched land in their spiritual journeys often come into my life. The climbing of treacherous snow-capped mountains, I leave to the erudite. The drowning waters, I leave to those who know how to save. The lush meadows are strangely foreign to me. The crossing of parched land, however, I understand. And I know that it calls for the simple gift of water, which I think of as a metaphor of compassion and nurturing. I'm still learning to give this gift, but it is one I've received, and it seems only natural that I should pass it on.

On a cross section, I feel I am always drilling down toward the spiritual-universal level of my spiritual territory, on a level deeper and darker than what is visible on the surface. I feel my heart pulling me toward that cross section of earth, as though that's closest to the source of water that will nourish arid ground.   

Switching perspective a bit, a geographical map of my spiritual territory includes the island of Adventism connected to the mainland of the world, or humanity. I've always felt my responsibility was to the world at large more than to the island of Adventism. I wish Adventism didn't feel like an island and that I didn't have to straddle the bridge that connects the two.   

Finally, my spiritual territory wouldn't be complete without this quote from J.R.R. Tolkien: "We come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal light that is with God." It was with physical light that God opened the curtains on our literal earth and with metaphorical light that, as a writer, I explore my literary world. 

What I gained through this exercise was an awareness of where I stand, and consequently, a sense of possibilities growing out of the spiritual territory that has been entrusted to me. "My foot stands in an even place," David said, and I feel much the same (Psalm 26: 12). 

Have you made any discoveries through this exploration of spiritual territory? Leave a comment and let me know. As always, if you're brave enough to share your creations with the world, scan them in and email them to me (signed or anonymously) at sharon@sharonfujimoto-johnson.com along with a brief description of your artwork. I'll see about putting them up on the blog.

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 4

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Traveling: Living on the Road

“I am a part of all that I have met.” —Lord Alfred Tennyson

Last week, we completed part 3 of our spiritual journey through art. We have now taken survey of the landscape of our spiritual journeys, mapped where we’ve come from and where we’re going, and explored what’s in our spiritual luggage. In case you missed them, here are links to the intro, part 1, part 2, and part 3. This week, we consider who our companions are on this journey.

Travel in the Biblical stories was rarely a solitary experience. Noah traveled with his family and a ship full of animals. Abraham’s lengthy travels with his wife, Sarah, were rich with failures and victories alike. Friends Barnabas and Silas accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. Joseph and Mary make a wearing journey together toward Bethlehem and a part in the story of salvation. Moses spent forty years wandering the wilderness with a crowd of oft-complaining Israelites.

We are not alone on our spiritual journeys either. “The Lord will guide you continually,” Isaiah wrote (Isaiah 58:11). Not only are we accompanied by divinity on our spiritual journeys, but we are also accompanied by one another. Our paths weave together and across one another like braided streams. We encounter one another on our spiritual journeys, sometimes as fellow travelers, sometimes as guides and followers, sometimes for encouragement: “For if they fall, one will lift up his companion, But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:10)

As you mapped your spiritual journey a couple weeks ago, perhaps you began thinking of people who impacted you along the way—perhaps an older person who took the time to befriend you as a child, parents who modeled a joyful Christian life, a college professor, a friend who is overflowing with grace, or even a fictional character who challenged you to grow spiritually. These are some of your companions on your spiritual journey. Perhaps not all of the significant individuals in your spiritual journey were positive examples, but in some way they affected the direction of your path. These are also your companions.

In college, I encountered two professors who, for me, modeled a life rich in spirituality and art. I saw in them both a genuine faith and a deep love of art, and because of these professors, I realized that I didn’t have to choose between religion and art. I began to believe that I didn’t have to give up either Adventism for the artist’s life or vice versa. My professors had answered Asher Lev’s struggle to reconcile religion and art by embracing both fully, and by doing so, they became spiritual ancestors of mine.

But I am not just on the receiving end of spiritual legacy. I am passing on spiritual legacy as well. My dear nieces and nephews come to mind, of course. They’re growing quickly and are beginning to navigate their own spiritual journeys too, and I’m aware that I’m accompanying them on their journeys and that I’m passing on to them something of my own faith. They are my spiritual descendents, and I hope the spiritual legacy I leave them is an understanding of God’s faithfulness and unchanging love.

Who are your travel companions?

1. Consider the symbols of genealogy, families, and community and their significance to the spiritual journey.

I think the visual of a family is particularly significant here. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). In a sense, our family trees all start with Christ.

What is your spiritual genealogy—literally and figuratively? Who are your spiritual ancestors and descendants? What role models (biblical, familial, secular, fictional) do you include in your spiritual genealogy? What I’d like us to consider here is the impact we have on one another’s spiritual journeys as fellow travelers.

What spiritual inheritance has been passed down to you? And to whom are you passing on this spiritual inheritance? Spiritual descendants may not necessarily be younger than you. They may be friends who seek your companionship on the spiritual journey; sometimes spiritual legacy is passed on and received simultaneously. They may be parents who are growing into the experience of grace.

What is your main role in this family tree? Are you a mother? A younger sister? An uncle? An older brother? I don’t mean literal familial roles, but the spiritual role you fill within your spiritual family tree. Are you the elder sister who nurtures the spiritual growth of those around you? Are you the younger sister looking for spiritual guidance? Are you the uncle who always makes time for his nephew? Are you the spiritual father in your family tree? Does your spiritual identity reveal anything significant about your journey?

2. Draw a spiritual family tree that includes your fellow traveling companions. It can be a traditional-looking family tree, or a creative interpretation.

Here’s my spiritual family tree (click for full-size image). It’s much more extensive than my genealogical family tree, and it’s a series of overlapping circles. The circles represent grandparent, parent, sibling, aunts/uncles and descendants roles in my spiritual journey. As I sat down to do this exercise, I realized that in my mind there’s a lot of overlap between the roles—hence the overlapping circles. Each of these roles represents something specific for me.

Grandparents in my spiritual journey represent “heritage”—the faith beliefs and examples instilled in me during childhood. Parental roles represent modeling—the modeling of a life of faith. I chose writers like Flannery O’Connor, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Chaim Potok to represent the many novelists and poets who have impacted my spiritual journey, and they join my real life parents and others from whom I’ve inherited spiritual values. Aunts and uncles represent “nurturing” to me, and the initials and names in this circle indicate some of those who have not so much passed down spiritual values to me as encouraged me in my quest. The quality characterizing my spiritual siblings is “growth.” The names and initials in this circle represent those with whom I am learning and growing. Finally, I’ve designated the word “grace” for the circle that represents my spiritual descendents, because an understanding of God’s grace is what I hope to pass on. In this circle are the aforementioned nieces and nephews, but also my community and the world. I don’t know exactly my role in my community and the world, although I have some inkling. I do know that each of us makes an impact. Each of us passes on something to the world in which we live. For me, I want that something to be grace. In a sense, everything I’ve learned and experienced in my spiritual journey funnels into that statement.

“Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy. None of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together they compose the world.” —Marcus Aurelius

What does your spiritual family tree reveal? What are the responsibilities that come with inheriting faith and with passing on faith? I discovered through this exercise that I believe that spiritual legacy is an interconnected, complex, and colorful inheritance. In our community of faith, our influence is real and it matters. How we live our faith matters—not for what it means for us, but for what it means to those with whom we share our spiritual legacy. We can neither overlook those who have traveled with us on our spiritual journeys nor ignore the responsibility of spiritual legacy. The experience of God’s grace flows down from the hands of Christ into our lives, and it is meant to continue flowing out of our lives into the lives of others.

Are you participating in this spiritual journey through art? Leave a comment and let me know. As always, if you’re brave enough to share your creations with the world, scan them in and email them to me (signed or anonymously) at sharon@sharonfujimoto-johnson.com along with a brief description of your artwork. I’ll see about putting them up on the blog.

Next week’s activity is “Discovery: Staking My Claim.”

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 3

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Moving Forward: Packing for the Journey

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last week, we completed part 2 of our spiritual journey through art. We have now taken survey of the landscape of our spiritual journeys and mapped where we’ve come from and where we’re going. In case you missed them, here are links to the intro, part 1, and part 2. This week, we’re considering what we carry with us on the journey.

This is your spiritual luggage. What’s in it?

Luggage, in this exercise, represents the spiritual heritage that has been handed down to us, the philosophies, ideas, and beliefs we’ve collected along the way, the tools we use along the journey to forge our own paths.

I think it's very hard to be spiritual unless you have resisted the religious ideas that were first given to you, unless you resist dogma. It seems to me that great religious or spiritual journeys are just that: journeys; they are passages from one side to another. If you buy what has been given to you as dogma, you may be religious in some terms but you probably know very little about the spiritual. There are of course ways of taking journeys within one's own religion. I've always liked that Buddha, in order to talk about sin and temptation, had to pass through the city of sin and temptation. He didn't avoid it, he went through it, came out with a vision that exceeded it. That's a spiritual journey. If you stand still, you know nothing about spirituality.  -Stephen Dunn, poet

Consider these biblical references (some narrative, some metaphorical) to what we carry on our spiritual journeys:

• When Jesus sent out the 70, he directed them, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’” (Luke 10:3, 4)
• For the rich young ruler, the message was similar: “‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’” (Mark 10:21)
• Noah was commanded to take some unusual baggage on his boat ride. “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19)
• Paul bids us, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

While I attended boarding academy years ago, I flew back to Japan every summer with two suitcases so full they barely zipped shut. My suitcases were bursting with clothes (you know how teenage girls are about clothes), books I couldn’t part with for even a couple of months, and a plethora of stuffed animals. At customs at Narita International Airport, stuffed animals popped out left and right, much to the dismay of officials who made the, in my opinion, unwise decision to inspect my suitcases. I think I packed everything I could, because I didn’t know which belongings I really wanted with me over the summer.

By contrast, fifteen years later when my husband and I traveled to France and Germany for two weeks, we each packed a backpack in the spirit of Rick Steves. We had travel-sized everything. Each piece of clothing was carefully chosen and rolled into the tiniest space possible. Everything we needed we carried on our backs, and when my pack got too heavy, my husband took some of the load.

Somewhere between academy and the trip to Europe, I grew out of a pack rat and into someone who enjoys purging excess belongings. This is true of my spiritual luggage too. I’ve shed much of what feels unnecessary to my spiritual journey, and I’m down to the bare essentials. These include faith in grace, kindness toward others, open-mindedness, and responsibility to humanity. They aren’t 28 fundamental beliefs, but they are my fundamental beliefs. I believe they’ll last me the journey. Even so, even though they’re light luggage, sometimes I still need someone to help me carry the weight.

1. Take inventory of what you’re carrying on your spiritual journey. Ponder the symbolism of what’s in your spiritual luggage.

• Is your luggage light or heavy? Did you pack light, or do you have a dozen suitcases of luggage?
• What’s in your luggage? Ten pounds of Ellen White’s Testimonies? Twenty-eight Fundamental Beliefs? A stack of old Spectrum magazines? A case of Nuteena?
• Have you been asked to carry something unexpected on your journey—an illness, an emerging talent, or an experience of grief, for example? Were you handed Moses’ leadership role, Job’s boils, or Noah’s livestock to take on the journey when you least expected it?
• How much of what you’re carrying with you was an inheritance? How much have you acquired along the way?
• What did you forget to pack? Did you forget that robe of grace, balm of Gilead, or armor of light? Did you lose something along the way that you miss—mustard seeds perhaps?
• What baggage do I need to leave behind? Have you acquired excess belongings?
• What kind of shoes did you pack for the journey? New Testament sandals? Combat boots? Running shoes? Why?

Here’s my luggage (drawn left-handed once again) and some of its contents:

I’ve packed a library—the Bible, Ellen White, and fiction. Much of what I know and believe about the world and God, I learned from these books that aren’t so removed from one another as one might expect. I’ve also packed a compass that represents my explorer’s spirit and a palette with which to express my love of the beauty, balance, color, texture, etc., all at play in the world.

I’m still searching for answers to the difficult questions—the ones that everyone always tries to answer but never adequately—and also a spiritual community. Though I’ve depicted community by a church building, my sense is that my spiritual community has boundaries different from the walls of a church building, or even a set of 28 doctrines. My spiritual community is creative, alive, and expansive in ways that transcend typical boundaries, and I haven’t found it yet.

Along my journey, I’ve lost a child’s faith in which prayers are always heard. I want to believe that prayers are always heard, but sometimes I just don’t know. By choice, I’ve left behind most of my black and white film, because the world is more colorful and complex than black and white photos can represent.

I’m still carrying too much luggage though. I need to empty my carrying case of guilt, because I have grace instead. I need to rid my luggage of unnecessary boxes in which I like to place people who have received my stamp of disapproval, because they too have grace. My luggage will be lighter that way, and more joyful, and I’ll go farther in my travels.

“Bon voyage!” Jesus bids. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light,” he says (Matthew 11:30). Not only that, when I am lost, he carries me. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, when the good shepherd finds the one lost sheep he “lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” and carries it home. (Matthew 15:5) I am meant to thrive along the journey. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

2. Make a drawing that represents what you’re packing for your spiritual travels. You may want to divide your belongings into four piles: what’s in your luggage, what you forgot to pack, what you’re looking for, and what you need to leave behind.

What does your luggage reveal about you, the spiritual traveler? This exercise is about taking inventory, and if necessary, allowing us to recognize what’s weighing us down. Perhaps you'll be reminded of what's most important to you in your spiritual journey. Or, if there are belongings you need to get rid of, perhaps you'll take this opportunity to mentally unpack them from your luggage and leave them behind. Perhaps you'll decide to take the time to open your luggage regularly to see what you can learn about your spiritual journey.

Discovery often comes to us slowly, after all. I'll leave you to ponder this quote from Rainier Maria Rilke:

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer."

Are you participating in this art journey? If so, please leave a comment and let me know. And as always, if you’re brave enough to share your creations with the world, scan them in and email them to me (signed or anonymously) at sharon@sharonfujimoto-johnson.com along with a brief description of your artwork. I’ll see about putting them up on the blog.

Next week’s activity is “Traveling: Living on the Road.”

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 2

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Choosing a Direction: Mapping the Journey 

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Last week, we completed part 1 of our spiritual journey through art—taking survey of the landscape of our spiritual journeys. I hope the exercise was meaningful to you. In case you missed them, here are links to the intro and part 1.   

Now that we have recognized and documented the current landscape and season of our individual spiritual journeys, let’s take a look at the big picture. Where did your spiritual journey begin? Where have you been since then in your quest? Where do you want to go? How do you get there? What are the obstacles in the way? What else lies along the path in this journey? 

Consider these biblical stories of travel: 

The book of Exodus tells the story of the Israelites wandering through the wilderness for forty years—from slavery to the land of milk and honey. 

In Genesis 6-8, Noah and his family travel through torrential rains and heaving waters for forty days and forty nights before the ark came to rest.   

Genesis 12-25 tells of Abraham’s journey through family drama, famine, doubt, and faith to find “the land I will show you” as God put it.   

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul travels extensively as a missionary, enduring persecution and imprisonment.   

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.  ~Lillian Smith 

Travel isn’t always a physical act. Here are few familiar biblical metaphors that come to mind:   

“Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.” (Proverbs 4:14-15)   

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13) 

“Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (Psalm 25:8-10) 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) 

“‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:17, 18) 

1. Ponder the path of your spiritual journey on a map. If it’s helpful, jot down brief answers to the following questions before you start drawing.   

Are you journeying along a well-traveled highway or a lonely mountain road? 

What is the pattern of your spiritual road? Straightforward from point A to point B? Winding and circuitous?   

At what pace do you travel? Is arriving most important to you? Or do you prefer to meander along the scenic route? Have you gone in circles?   

Are you following a set of directions or are you seeing where the journey will take you? 

What landmarks mark your spiritual path? Baptism? Life landmarks like marriage, divorce, deaths, births?   

What’s your destination? Heaven? Perfection? Spiritual peace? Grace?   

Have there been times when the path was unclear to you, but in hindsight, you see clearly that a divine hand was leading you?   

2. Consider common elements used in map-making and how they’re relevant to the map of your spiritual journey.   

Are there boundaries—religious, cultural, geographic, or otherwise—on your map? Have you crossed any of these boundaries? Who created these boundaries?   

What physical features appear on the map of your spiritual journey? Railroads? Foot trails? Bodies of water? Caves? Glaciers? What do these features represent? Does a lake represent danger? Does a river present a source of knowledge? To you, is a cave a mine of hidden wealth or a treacherous risk? Is there an area marked “Danger! Do not enter!”?   

Where is your spiritual home on your map? Is it a physical place? A doctrine? The Adventist church? Have you found it yet, or are you still looking?   

3. Create a map that represents your spiritual journey.   

Your map can be as literal or symbolic as you choose. It can be detailed like a topographer’s map or as simple as a child’s drawing. Consider where you’ve come from, where you are now, and where you’re headed in this map.   

Here’s my map. (I’m drawing left-handed again, and it’s really hard to write small! Really, I promise my handwriting is usually much more legible.)

My map is vertical, because I envision life as a vertical growth pattern—at least ideally, that’s the way it should be. It’s fairly chronological. I was born SDA and fairly sheltered, which is symbolized by the stone walls at the bottom of the map. My baptism, depicted as a bridge over a river in Japan, is a transition of sorts into an individual spiritual life. But there is a sign early on that warns, “Not well-traveled!” And indeed, my individual spiritual journey thus far has not been on the main highway of Adventism. Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev introduced me to the complexity and struggle of a creative spiritual life. My spiritual path in college bypassed the prescribed “religious” circle, but it was moving straight forward. During my year in France, I found my own faith. Not too long ago, there were the white water rapids of a long illness and church turmoil, but a life raft of love and grace carried me across. And then, the revelation: the “gondola of grace!” Imagine: it’s been here all along. I wish I had known. I wish more people knew!   

The pattern I see in my map (though probably not clear from my scribbled drawing) is that many of the milestones in my spiritual journey have been moments of complication—of an integration of my spiritual beliefs into the expansive and complicated world in which we live. I believe the trend in my spiritual journey is away from a separation of the secular and the spiritual and toward a holistic life. On another level, I’ve been steadily moving away from boundaries and theories to something similar to the Dalai Lama’s statement, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”   

What does your map say about you? Do you notice any patterns in your spiritual life? This exercise is not just about seeing the big picture of our spiritual journeys. It’s also about forging new paths toward a thriving spiritual maturity. We can’t change where we’ve been on our spiritual journeys. That’s part of the terrain we’ve covered, part of our history. But what about the journey to come? Each day, we’re charting the map of our individual spiritual journeys through the choices we make—but not alone. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11) “For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death,” David reminds us (Psalm 48:14). 

Are you participating in this art journey? If so, please leave a comment and let me know. I'd love to hear if it was a meaningful experience for you and what you may have learned from the activity.

As always, if you’re brave enough to share your creations with the world, scan them in and email them to me (signed or anonymously) at sharon@sharonfujimoto-johnson.com along with a brief description of your artwork. I’ll see about putting them up on the blog.   

Next week’s activity is “Moving Forward: Packing for the Journey.”   

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Part 1

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

“The soul never thinks without a picture.
—Aristotle

Last week, I invited you to embrace your identity as creative being, made in the image of the Master Artist and to join me in a six-week exploration of spiritual journey through art. Over the next six weeks, we’ll contemplate symbols and metaphors of spiritual journey through simple art activities. Rest assured—you don’t have to be an artist or even artistic to participate. In this journey, an open-mind and sincere effort will be infinitely more valuable than artistic talent. Really. In case you missed it, here's a link to the intro.

“Dare to err and to dream. Deep meaning often lies in childish play.”
—Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

I’ve prepared these activities for Sabbath afternoon enjoyment by one or by many, but chances are, you’ll feel compelled to share what you’ve created, so consider inviting your significant other, a good friend, your kids or grandkids to join the journey too. After you’ve created your individual sketches, have a show-and-tell to share what you’ve learned.

Each week, we’ll focus on one aspect of the spiritual quest:
1.    Survey: Observing the Land and Its Seasons
2.    Direction: Mapping the Journey
3.    Movement: Packing for the Journey
4.    Traveling: Living on the Road
5.    Discovery: Staking My Claim
6.    Identity: Owning My Spiritual Territory

What you need:
-a pen, pencil, a box of crayons, colored markers, tube of toothpaste or whatever you want to draw with. (If you’re absolutely terrified of drawing utensils, you may take a pair of scissors to pictures in magazines and catalogs. But I encourage you to just try scribbling and see what happens. )
-a piece of paper, the back of a napkin, last week’s church bulletin, or anything else you can draw on
-an open, reflective mind

Ready? Here we go, dear readers.

Part 1. The Survey: Observing the Land and Its Seasons

“We must accept life for what it actually is—a challenge . . .
without which we should never know of what stuff
we are made, or grow to our full stature.”
— Ida R. Wylie

This week, we take survey of the spiritual land in which we find ourselves and recognize what season it is in our individual spiritual journeys. Where do you find yourself today? What is the terrain of your spiritual life? The climate? The season? Is it a scorching Nevada desert in the dead of summer? A Southeast Asian monsoon? A beautiful early spring in the countryside? What are the blessing and challenges of the spiritual place and season you find yourself in? Consider the following Bible verses that use metaphors of place and season:

“He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths…. My hope He has uprooted like a tree.” (Job 19:8, 10)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul….” (Psalm 23: 1-2)

“For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth: The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” (Song of Solomon 2:11-13)

“Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” (Jeremiah 9:18)

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” (Psalm 125:1)

1. Contemplate the symbols and metaphors of place and what they mean to your spiritual journey.

• Does your spiritual life feel like a climb up a steep and rocky terrain right about now?
• Or have you recently come through a treacherous valley to those green pastures of Psalm 23?
• Perhaps you find yourself at the edge of the Grand Canyon—at the brink of both possibility and danger.
• Or perhaps you are in the safe and familiar front yard of your childhood home.

Where are you in your spiritual life? Choose a place that represents where you see yourself right now in your spiritual journey. Visualize its terrain and what it signifies about your spiritual journey.

2. Contemplate the symbols of climates and seasons and what they represent in your spiritual journey.

• Is it springtime in your spiritual life? Is the new grass a vibrant, thriving green? What is sprouting and coming to life? What are the flowers in bloom, and what do they represent? Is it raining? Flooding?
• Is it summer in your spiritual life? If so, is it a dry summer or a humid tropical season? Is the sun beating down on you mercilessly and drying up the ground? Or is it gently warming the terrain of your soul?
• Is it autumn in your spiritual life? If so, what is coming to harvest? Are the leaves turning brilliant colors? Are the leaves falling away and decaying? What do they represent?
• Is it winter in your spiritual life? What lies dormant? Is something at rest this season so that it can come to life in the spring? Is it biting cold? Crisp and clean? Is a sheet of snow covering a muddy landscape?

Choose a season that represents the climate of your spiritual terrain. Visualize symbols that represent that season for you. Those symbols could be raindrops, flower petals, falling leaves, snowflakes, weeds, or anything else that’s meaningful to you.

“We see the brightness of a new page where everything yet can happen.”
—Maria Rilke Rainer

3. Pick up those drawing utensils and that piece of paper now. Scribble something that represents the landscape and season you’re experiencing in your spiritual life.

It doesn’t have to look like a masterpiece, but it ought to be honest. The process of discovery is significantly more important than the end result. In this exercise, you’re documenting where you see yourself today in your spiritual journey, and this act, I anticipate, will be revealing. Though it’s a simple act, putting pen to paper in this way forces us to walk right through the walls of our comfort zone. It reveals where we have perhaps been blind.

David wrote, “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” (Psalm 51:6) In the moments when you hold that pen in your hands and are drawing your spiritual landscape and climate, you are facing “truth in the inward parts.” There’s no turning away from it, as your hands, eyes, mind, and heart engage in putting pen to paper.

I did this exercise with a group of friends a few summers back, and at the time, I made a collage of a tropical island and palm tree with a thought bubble that said, “Vacation doesn’t last forever; the real world and responsibilities await. I must go home soon.” I chose that landscape, because it represented how easy it is to become lazy in summer. I felt I needed to be more responsible and intentional in my spirituality rather than coasting along.

By contrast, one friend drew a stark winter landscape depicting a mountain, snow, and two lone flowers representing her significant other and herself. “I feel we’re coming through a long, cold winter, with only the slightest bit of hope of spring,” she said. “His flower is a bit higher on the mountain, because he’s ahead of me.”

This is the drawing I did just recently. (By the way, I’m drawing left-handed even though I’m right-handed, because I didn’t want to have any perceived advantage as someone who has dabbled in art all her life.)

In this drawing, I’m standing on a mountain after having made a treacherous climb. The truth is, after the tropical summer of my drawing several years ago, I encountered the mountain of prolonged illness, the near-disintegration of the church I’d called home for seven years, transition to a new home church—all of which was trying on my spiritual life. I chose to sketch the skies in a colorful blue though, because throughout this treacherous climb, God’s grace and the compassion of those who love me were evident and always surrounding me. I feel like I’ve come over the top of that mountain now, and I’m looking ahead to where I want to go. I’ve come full circle through the seasons, and it’s summer again—but I’m not on vacation.

Perhaps you’ve come to a place of peaceful respite in your spiritual life, and recognizing this brings you to gratitude. Perhaps you’ve been pretending that it’s a lush springtime in your spiritual life when in reality drought has set in. Or perhaps you’ve fallen into a canyon and are struggling to climb out. Wherever it is you find yourself, taking survey of the landscape is the first step to discovering where we want to go from here.

If you’re brave enough to share your creations with the world, scan them in and email them to me (signed or anonymously) at sharon@sharonfujimoto-johnson.com along with a brief description of your artwork. I’ll see about putting them up on the blog.

Next week’s activity is “Choosing a Direction: Mapping the Journey.”

Art: Spiritual Journey Through Art - Intro

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

"We need to get more people commenting on your art posts." That's what Bonnie Dwyer, editor of Spectrum, said to me when I dropped by the office earlier this week. Thing is, I'm pretty sure I know why my art posts don't generate too many comments, and it's perfectly fine by me. Nevertheless, Bonnie has encouraged me to blog about the thought process behind my art posts, so, dear readers, here goes:

When I was originally asked to blog for Spectrum, I thought long and hard about what I could write about on a regular basis. In the end, art was the obvious choice. Art is how I became involved at Spectrum, after all. (Remember the redesign of the magazine nine or so years ago and how we started featuring artwork on the cover?)

In addition, I've loved art all my life, and I want art to thrive within my community of faith. Unfortunately, I don't think we talk about, or explore, art nearly enough as Adventists. I'm "painting with a broad brush" here, but art for Adventists is largely confined to stained glass windows and Harry Anderson paintings--both of which I love, for the record. I want for us to move beyond the obvious so that the experience of art is expansive, transforming, and ultimately, actually meaningful. So that's why I blog about art.

Although my art posts don't often induce a slew of comments, I know you're reading them, and that's really my main goal anyway. Yes, I would love to see active conversation about art, but it's not all about the dialogue. It's also about listening and pondering in the quiet of your own mind. It would probably be easier for you to take a position on these art topics when sides in an issue are clearly delineated. In that model, there are clear choices, and you could choose either side of a fence, A or B, black or white. And, consequently, you might be more inclined to pick a position and post a comment. But I'm not telling you what to think about art. Just think about art. I'm simply giving you an opportunity to be aware of art on your own terms, to be open to experiencing it, and to listen to how it changes you.

I'm also aware that the word "art" itself scares a lot of us--let alone the idea of forming ideas about it in relation to spirituality. "I'm not an artist!" you might say. "That's out of my area." But we're all creative beings, made in the image of the Master Artist. We live in the paint strokes of His masterpiece, in the crevices of His collage. Art is all around us in the form of shapes, colors, patterns, and texture. We draw on divine principles of design, balance, and beauty in the clothes we choose, the homes we decorate, the cars we drive, the lay of the land and its buildings. Art is all around us, and it has the potential to change us in powerful ways, spiritually. I really believe that, and I really want art to become a more integral and vibrant part of the Adventist community and of our individual spiritual lives.

So, that's why, for the next six weeks, I'll be posting a participatory series called "Spiritual Journey Through Art." Each week, I'm going to invite you to embrace your identity as creative being, to pick up a blank piece of paper and a pen, and to scribble as you explore your own spiritual journey. Think of it as a summer course: Art and Spirituality 101. And no, you don't have to be an artist to participate. You just have to be willing. Trust me on this.

Wherever you are in the world, reading this blog, I hope you'll participate. If it draws you out to share what you've learned and join the conversation on art on this blog, wonderful. If it simply allows you to explore art and spirituality in the privacy of your own life, in your own home, in a way that's meaningful to you, that's wonderful too.

Join me on this journey!

Time for the boss: Happy Fourth

By Alexander Carpenter

Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U. S. A."

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said son if it was up to me
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said son, don't you understand

I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there
He's all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain"t got nowhere to go

Art: Ways to Explore Sacred Spaces

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Photographer Blaine Ellis: "In the tradition of sacred architecture, light has become a symbol of the transcendent, a metaphor for the unknowable. Sacred space becomes a visual theology, a sculpture in light...."

What is sacred space to you? A religious building? A starry night sky? Your local hospital's chapel? A garden? Consider these ways to explore sacred space.

1. View Ellis' photographs, which capture light in doorways and windows of sacred spaces.  

2. Explore an online atlas and guide to more than 1,300 sacred sites.

3. Browse articles published by The Institute for Sacred Architecture, a non-profit organization with the purpose of discussing issues related to contemporary Catholic architecture.

4. View Building Faith: Sacred Architecture, a six-part film series that explores the role of architecture in six religious faiths.

5. Read The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture by Lindsay Jones (Harvard University Press), a two-volume investigation of religious architecture and the human experience.

6. Learn about different types of labryinths, find walking labryinths across the U.S., or print out finger labryinths.

7. Read Patrice C. Brodeur, Ph.D., and Susan F. Morrison's article for Harvard University's "The Pluralism Project" about the challenges of  "Sharing Sacred Space" across denominational, linguistic, cultural, and financial divides.

8. Peruse author/public speaker/consultant Scott Berkun's account of leading an architectural tour through New York City focusing on sacred spaces.

9. Walk part of The Art Line, an envisioned line of walkable, interactive, outdoor artworks stretching across America along the 39th Latitude.

10. Read The Return of Sacred Architecture: The Golden Ratio and the End of Modernism by Herbert Bangs, which has been called "a superb clarion call for a restoration of beauty, integrity, and above all, sanity in modern architecture."

11. Find and visit sacred spaces in your community beyond your local church building.

12. Visit sacred spaces in your travels this summer.

Art: Seeing Beyond Sight

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

What does it really mean to see? What would the world look like if you could not see?

Tony Deifell put cameras in the hands of visually impaired teenagers and taught them how to take photographs in a literacy-through-photography class. The result is Seeing Beyond Sight, a 152-page art book that showcases an astonishing and sometimes challenging view of self-expression and creation.

Explore Seeing Beyond Sight here.

Obey Your Thirst

By Tim Dunston

When I was in Africa a few years back I saw a billboard that reminded me why I need to carry my camera with me more often. It looked like your everyday Sprite advertisement--green bottle, slogan, all larger than life--but, underneath the green bottle wasn't a picture of Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James, just these words:

"Want to succeed in life? Drink Sprite."

I didn't know if I should laugh or borrow an axe and chop it to pieces. I didn't do either, in fact, I didn't do anything. Really, what can you do when marketing hijacks art?

"But a picture of a Sprite bottle is hardly art," I can hear you say to me. And you'd be right. It's not art. "Then why bring it up?" I hear you ask. I bring it up because revealed in that billboard is the essence of marketing. We have learned to have so much fun with marketing--as many of us watch the superbowl for commercials as to see the game--we forget that its essence is deceit. The slogan on the billboard had nothing to do with the product being sold. It was meant to take advantage of the anxiety we feel. Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad thing to obey your thirst, it will often lead you to meaning. But even when we buy their product, even if we drink it, we find it doesn't really satisfy. Not the way we wish it would.

So, what do we do with that anxiety? If we can't buy our way out of it, how do we exchange it for meaning? For starters, you can put down your remote, stop channel surfing and pick up your paintbrush, or camera, or microphone. Art has the power to save us from that anxiety, marketing only has the power to make us spend.

"You really think art has power?" I hear you ask. Well, art is a bottomless well, always has been. It has been there in every generation, in every period of history to help bring us back from the brink, to quench the deepest thirst. When we create, we reveal a divine playfulness that draws us toward something more deeply human. That is the power of art. It re-humanizes us, it reawakens meaning in our lives. And the beauty of art is that there is even more re-humanizing power when we share it.

Often when we think of art, it's as a painting or a poem, but art is so much more than just works of art. It's a way of life, a way of living. When we reawaken the parts of us that play and create, not only do we produce works of art, but our everyday, mundane existence becomes art--we become living works of art. Art has this power because the essence of art is the revealing of truth, and it is that revealing that gives art the power to save.

So, back to the earlier questions. What can we do when art is hijacked? And what do we do with the anxiety we feel? Same answer to both questions. Ultimately, I'm glad I didn't chop down that billboard. Since then I've learned that creating is a more powerful form of change than destroying. But, on to the answer. I've got just two words for you. Create. Share.

There's power in art, there's even more when we share it.

Art: Interview with Karen Gimbel

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Karen Gimbel first contacted us at Spectrum after picking up a back issue of the magazine at a college bookstore. As an artist who had long been away from the church, Karen says that Spectrum gave her hope of an opportunity to engage in dialogue on important issues. For Karen personally, one of those issues is art and its convergence with spirituality. Karen says of creating art, "For me, my works are prayer made visible, the invisible made manifest in this world."Karen's email to us led to the showcasing of one of her artworks on the cover of Spectrum. The newest issue of the magazine, with Karen's beautiful abstract piece, "Through a Glass Darkly," on the cover, will be landing in the mailboxes of subscribers in the next few days.

It has been a pleasure to correspond with Karen and to hear about her spiritual and artistic journey. Following is our conversation on the significance of art in a spiritual life, desire, why the act of creation is like pregnancy, and much more. A subtle point Karen makes is about the importance of listening. "I seek to deepen my capacities to listen to the spirit who moves through me and creates art," she says. It struck me that, artist or not, listening--to one another, to the world around us, to the voice of the divine--is a significant part of the journey of spiritual growth.  

SF-J: Tell me about your journey--with art and with the Seventh-day Adventist church.

K. Gimbel: I grew up in a large extended family of devoted Seventh-day Adventists - several generations on both sides. I also had an intense yearning to create art. When I was 30 I had enough disillusionment about the church that I left the church in a very conscious and articulated (and angry) way. In my journey to individuate and find my own spiritual path, my efforts toward finding creative expression was a vital element. Any ability that I might have to receive inspiration that I am able to manifest in works of art is a result of this deep inner spiritual work – and the fruit of my long years of searching for my own relationship to a God of my own understanding. It is a very sweet kind of homecoming to see my art on the cover of Spectrum. I am only now turning to my history with a curiosity about how to integrate and understand my first 30 years of Seventh-day Adventist religious and social conditioning. 

SF-J: Do you find parallels between the journey of the artist and that of the believer?

K. Gimbel: My art and my spirituality are deeply connected, but I don't like the word "believer." I've devoted a lot of my spiritual practice to learning how to not divide the world into believers and non-believers. I am an individual who is seeking to deepen a relationship with God or Christ, and I could be called a person of faith. In a similar way I seek to deepen my capacities to listen to the spirit who moves through me and creates art. There are definitely parallels there, some of which are still very mysterious to me, and I like it that way!

SF-J: Many of your paintings are abstract and filled with bold washes of color. Where do you find the inspiration for your artwork? What are you exploring in your art?

K. Gimbel: Inspiration… this is a great mystery to me. I feel that much of my inspiration is a listening process. I tune in to some inner music, or another way of putting it is that I listen to the whisper of an inner voice (Holy Spirit?). It is a very intense experience, and yet is also tremendously subtle. Sometimes it comes through as an image, other times as words. Sometimes it is a shape, or a color. Sometimes it's an idea that's as clear as "yellow squares"… other times it's a growing insistence to try something new, like using a piece of wood for the plate of a monoprint to get texture in the print…

It can also be, at times, a particular scene or memory that just must be expressed somehow. It's rather rare for that to be photographic or representational. More often it is a feeling that comes through in another, more abstract way.

I truly feel the connection with inspiration and touching the face of God. Or feeling like God moves through me when get out of the way and let it flow or move through me.

SF-J: What are some of your influences--artistic and otherwise?

K. Gimbel: Big skies (especially in Alberta and Alaska), early evening light, close views of abstract colors and patterns in nature.

Then there are the artists whose work I have admired over the years (Gustave Klimt, Marc Chagall, Georgia O'Keefe, Emily Carr, Morris Graves, Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Rothko) who explored new forms of art without concern for what the rest of the world thought of their work. The artists I'm most interested in have also been exploring the question of art and spirituality (NOT religion).

Poets are also a strong influence (Rumi, Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, Hafiz, Denise Levertov, Pablo Neruda, Billy Collins). Titling my works is a kind of listening – always after they are complete, kind of like completing a poem.

I've also had the great good fortune to count among my friends many working artists and poets, and to have had a couple of very encouraging and supportive teachers. My daughters, Heather and Katrina, have been both teachers (modeling both diligent practice and taking risks creatively) and steadfast supporters of my steps toward expressing myself. I fantasize about a website featuring the work of the Gimbel Girls, as both of my daughters are accomplished artists in their own right!

SF-J: Are you a full-time artist? What is your creative process like ?

K. Gimbel: Currently my art is not a full-time activity, and I'm not even sure I want it to be. I'm much too sanguine in nature to be happy doing one thing. I enjoy working with people, and am currently employed part-time at a green building supply shop here in Floyd County (ecosolution.com). My art has been growing as an income source, and therefore requires more of my focus from the business side. My intention is to allow my creativity room to express in art, and concurrently to devote the time and energy to the business, in the hopes that my life can be more supported by art and I could choose to not have other employment.

My creative process is kind of like getting pregnant. I feel the need to create growing in me, often with ideas that need expression, or images that come to me as inspiration, and then I'm gestating. Eventually I know I will need to create the time and space to get out my art supplies and have another round of doing art. I've not had a dedicated studio space yet, so my work usually involved clearing the better part of a day to get out my papers, inks, and tools, dance with the colors and other processes for a chunk of time, then put everything away at the end of the day. One of the biggest challenges is finding space for the monoprints to dry overnight in the one room cabin we're caretaking this winter! My fiancé/partner is very supportive and long-suffering in this process that can have a fairly big impact on our shared living space!

SF-J: Why do you create art?

K. Gimbel: That's kind of like asking, "Why do you eat? Why do you breathe?" I create because I have to. If I don't allow that space, or honor those desires, then something in me dies. I believe that God speaks to us through our desires (that is why my blog is titled "Art For Joy: an exploration of desire." Which is not to say that our desires are always to be expressed exactly as we feel them (another discussion could be had about the "purification of desire"), but that when we pay attention in our lives, and we are attending to our spiritual practices, our desires can actually inform our actions in ways that uplift and contribute to the world. I believe that all great art, or for that matter, any great contribution to the world's body of wisdom and beauty, comes from this desire to create, to manifest in the physical world what has been experienced in an inner sense, which to me is God in us.

SF-J: How is art significant for the person of faith? Can it have meaning for those who are not creators of art?

K. Gimbel: My art has great significance for me in terms of my relationship to God. Anyone who engages with art as viewer has the option to open themselves to be touched in their own way by the same source that informed the artist. I've had many people tell me how deeply my art has touched them, moved them, and when they describe their experience I feel a deep affirmation of the process I'm involved in as creator. Something is moving through me when I create, and something is speaking to the viewer who relates to that art. To me, that something is the mystery we call God.

SF-J: Where do you see your journey taking you from here?

K. Gimbel: It's always new, and always the same. Every time I approach my work I go through the same fears, and the temptation to return to something that worked before. For me the challenge is to keep my listening open and to hold "success' lightly. When a piece really works, really moves me, these fears don't disappear – they actually increase! Will I ever be able to do this again? I intend to continue to work with this process until the day I die. This is why I am here. It's risky business, there can be many disappointments. However, there is no other way to feel God in me than to be willing to be burned by my own desires in what I think of as " the crucible" of  co-creation.

For more on these topics and to see more of Karen Gimbel's art, visit her blog: Art for Joy.
Or read the artist's full bio. For more conversation on the spiritual life, consider subscribing to Spectrum.

Did Karen Gimbel's thoughts strike a chord, trigger a thought? Share with us.

Art: Summer Conferences & Workshops

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

This summer, why not delve into an exploration of art and spirituality at one of these conferences or workshops?

The Glen Workshop
"God of the Desert: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam" through the Prism of Art
July 29 – August 5, 2007
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sponsored by Image journal, the Glen Workshop is part arts festival, part intensive workshop. This year's theme is "God of the Desert." The workshop aims to discuss what art and literature can contribute to the issue of continuing tensions among the three Abrahamic faith traditions.

More information

Trinity Arts Conference
"For All the Saints"
June 7 – June 10, 2007
University of Dallas, Texas

The 11th annual Trinity Arts Conference is a multidisciplinary conference on faith, art and integrity. Workshops in visual art, writing, songwriting, and cinema will explore the artistic heroes of the faith--past and present.

More information

Albion Summer School of Art
40th Year Celebration with Vernon Nye
June 17 - 29, 2007
Albion, California

Vernon Nye will once again participate in the summer painting workshop at PUC's Albion Field Station, located on the Mendocino coast. The workshop is open to beginners and advanced students. All classes are held outdoors, weather-permitting.

More information

Adventist Forum Conference
"Adventism in the Present Tense: Pondering Our Pasts, Plotting Our Futures"
September 28 – 30, 2007
Santa Rosa, California

Don't miss this year's Adventist Forum conference, which will feature Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, authors of Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream. Attendees of the conference will also have the chance to see "The Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White," an original play that premiered at Pacific Union College.

More information

Art: Interview with Greg Constantine

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Greg Constantine is an emeritus research professor and artist in residence at Andrews University, where he taught art for forty-two years. He has exhibited his art across the U.S. and in Europe, and his art has previously appeared on the cover of Spectrum. Born in Ontario, Canada, Constantine received his Bachelor of Arts from Andrews University in 1960 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1968.

Through his career, Constantine has explored unusual techniques and perspectives. His early work includes a series of paintings made by "squeezing paint tubes in horizontal lines directly on the canvas to create large television images" and what he calls "slices of art," or paintings that combine famous artworks." Constantine has also experimented with juxtaposing or integrating faces and buildings, trios of faces in profile, and more recently, "tilted images" and "stretched images," which toy with the perspective in famous paintings.

"King Tut Trio," © Greg Constantine, acrylic on canvas and wood, 34" x 48" x5"

I caught up with the artist recently (via email) to ask him about his creations:

SF-J: How would you describe your artwork? What are you exploring in your artwork?

Constantine: My artwork has, for the last 32 years, involved transforming pre-existing images taken from art history—not just changing them, but creating something else. This is not an entirely new idea. Artists from Rembrandt to Picasso and on have incorporated other artists' visual images into their own work.

I may have gone a step further in making art about the artists themselves in my artist licenses of 1981 and my three books of drawings depicting three well-known artists visiting three American cities (Vincent van Gogh Visits New York, Leonardo Visits Los Angeles, Picasso Visits Chicago). Although I am a painter of acrylics, these four concepts were rendered in other mediums (oil ink or acrylic on styrene, and the drawings were conte crayon on paper.

I have pretty much pursued novel ideas, as they present themselves, in an impulsive way--although I cannot allow too many other ideas to intrude while I am attempting to explore and realize a concept to its logical conclusion. I've always seemed to have many more ideas than time to pursue them.

SF-J: What are your influences, artistic and otherwise?

Constantine: Much of my output has started with well-known masterpieces and their attendant museum quality frames. I suppose because I have taught art history and also been involved with the contemporary art scene, my life can be defined by this as well as teaching studio art for 43 years. I am also an avid golfer and have a patent on an object that I created as well as about a dozen paintings concerning the history of golf.

SF-J: You’ve taught art for many years and have even been called an “evangelist for art.” As a professor, what do you hope to convey to your students?

Constantine: I retired from teaching in May [2006], but not from painting! I may be found in my studio 5 days a week and I really feel great that I don't have to prepare for classes any more. I never thought that was a burden, but this is even better. I hope I have been an influence to my students to be original (in spite of my own art seeming to borrow from the masters), and also to have integrity and being honest to oneself with healthy self-criticism, and perhaps most importantly, to pursue ideas and look for “connections” amongst existing concepts.

SF-J: During your years as art professor, how did you divide/balance your time between teaching and creating art?

Constantine: Many times I was asked, “Where do you find time to make all this stuff?” Well, I couldn't FIND the time. I had to MAKE time! That entails saying no to some things that want to intrude. Even so, I didn't skip committees either.

SF-J: What kind of physical space do you create in, and what is your creative process like?

Constantine: Andrews University has been good to me—I retired as an emeritus research professor and artist in residence—and I have been provided with a wonderful studio and office. I have a difficult time explaining my creative process. I suppose I’m not aware of the non-self conscious methodology, which has been my modus operandi.

SF-J: How would you describe the state of visual art in Adventism, in Christianity?

Constantine: I cannot pretend to be informed about the state of visual art in Adventism. I know I had to just go out there (into the art world) and try to see if my work “cut it.” I decided to start at the top (New York), and if that didn't work out, I'd try Plan B. I don't know what Plan B would have been, because I had immediate acceptance to Plan A. I've had support within the church as well, both from the institution and the membership interested in my art.

SF-J: Do you believe art can or ought to bring about social change?

Constantine: My art has never been about social issues.

SF-J: Do you consider yourself a Christian artist?

Constantine: I consider myself an artist who happens to be an Adventist Christian (or the other way around). I have created works, which could be considered to have overt spiritual implications (e.g., Jesus of New York—another book of drawings that I can't seem to get published).

SF-J: What are you currently working on? Any plans to publish more books?

Constantine: I am currently working on a series of paintings which involve violating the traditional “picture plane.” You'll have to refer to my website to get an idea of these "tilted paintings.” I still show my work regularly in New York at OK Harris Works of Art. I've been with them since 1983. I'm also putting together a book of my artist licenses, which I hope gets published. I've also submitted a book idea about the origins of golf (Scottish shepherds and all that).

 
"Vincent Paints Coney Island on a Sunday Afternoon," © Greg Constantine, 44 " x 65"

View Greg Constantine's websites: www.gconstantine.com and
www.shepherdstick.com

Is there an artist you'd like to see interviewed on this blog? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Art: Upcoming Exhibits

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

If you live in Northern California or will be passing through in the next few months, I recommend two upcoming exhibits featuring Adventist artists Thomas Morphis and Vernon Nye:

Constructions
Jenny Honnert Abell, Marya Korgstad, and Thomas Morphis
April 22 - July 1, 2007
Artists' Talk: Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Berkeley Art Center
1275 Walnut Street, Berkely CA 94709
(510) 644-6893

Thomas Morphis, professor of art at Pacific Union College and several-time cover artist for Spectrum, joins Bay Area artists Jenny Honnert Abell and Marya Korgstad in an exhibit at the Berkeley Art Center. "The physical and psychological processes of assembly are explored in Constructions, an exhibition of collages, found objects and installations.... The artists, selected from the Fall 2006 Members' Showcase finalists, gather disparate materials including architectural features, magazine clippings, fabric, and twigs to create works that convey experiences of memory, loss, whimsy, and regret." (Source: Berkeley Art Center)

And, just in case you missed it, here's my interview with Morphis from last October.

Celebrating 90: New Work, Vernon Nye
April 21 - May 13, 2007
Rasmusssen Art Gallery, Pacific Union College
Opening reception April 21, 1:00 - 5:00 pm
More info: (707) 965-7362

Longtime watercolorist and retired PUC professor Vernon Nye exhibits new work at Pacific Union College. "Vernon Nye has contributed greatly to California watercolor painting and was one of the key artists to emerge on the West Coast during the Post World War II era," according to California & American Art.

Nye studied art with Eliot O'Hara, Roy Mason, Ted Kautzky and Harry Anderson. He began his art career by as a book illustrator for the Review and Herald Publishing Association. Later, he moved to Northern California and became chairman of the art department at Pacific Union College. He also taught watercolor classes on the Mendocino Coast. In addition, Nye created posters for the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Defense and held the position of staff illustrator for the Federal Civil Defense Department. Last year, the classroom in Pacific Union College's Rasmussen Art Gallery was dedicated as the "Vernon Nye Lecture Hall." Nye is now retired, but he continues to paint and exhibit his work in California galleries.

Easter Sunday Meditation

By Alexander Carpenter

Holy Saturday Meditation

By Alexander Carpenter

Good Friday meditation

By Alexander Carpenter

Throughout this weekend I'll be posting musical mediations on the experience of Jesus. Why do you think Jesus died?

Art: Karen Gimbel's 'through glass darkly'

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson


How would you like to have your very own copy of Spectrum art?

Karen Gimbel has announced the availability of giclee prints of "through glass darkly," the beautiful painting that is scheduled to appear on the next cover of Spectrum. The original painting is also for sale, as well as originals and prints of Karen's other artwork.

Visit art for joy for more details.

Further thoughts on the Chocolate Christ

By Alexander Carpenter

Over here, Sharon rounded up and provoked opinions on the Chocolate Christ controversy.

Here's the main parties involved, in their own words.

I appreciate Cavallaro's Sweet Jesus and I'm glad that the Catholic Defense League's Bill Donohue found out about it.

Here's Cosimo Cavallaro's work. He's used other edible media such as cheese and ham so employing chocolate was not just an ad hoc idea intended to offend as he states in the video above.

On Malkin: frankly I'm tired of this meme that fundamentalist Christians have it rough here in America. They got the Vietnam and Iraq wars they wanted. We're falling behind on stem cell research thanks to them. And now we've got political climate in which candidates say dangerous things like this:

Crane asked if Romney believed the president should have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens with no review. Romney said he would want to hear the pros and cons from smart lawyers before he made up his mind.

As lawyer Glenn Greenwald notes, Mitt Romeny can't say -- at least not until he engages in a careful and solemn debate with a team of "smart lawyers" -- whether, in the United States of America, the President has the power to imprison American citizens without any opportunity for review of any kind. But in today's Republican Party, Romney's openness to this definitively tyrannical power is the moderate position. Ponnuru goes on to note:

Crane said that he had asked Giuliani the same question a few weeks ago. The mayor said that he would want to use this authority infrequently.

It sounds like Giuliani is positioning himself in this race as the "compassionate authoritarian" -- "Yes, of course I have the power to imprison you without charges or review of any kind, but as President, I commit to you that I intend (no promises) to 'use this authority infrequently.'"

The Puritans came to America and many of our God-fearing founders worked to create an American where that's not supposed to happen. Mr. Donohue might remind himself of how Catholics got treated in 1590s England. But apparently for too many contemporary believers what they really fear is a chocolate Jesus.

Are these fundies ignorant of the history of Christian art such as the representations of the Madonna lactans where Mary's exposed breast squirts milk into the mouth of Jesus, saints, and toward the devotee.  I don't too many Jews protesting Michaelangelo's sculpting of David's genitalia, not exactly the star of David. . .

Bill Donohue, who's pushing this campaign, has a history of sounding like an anti-Semite and a Manichean bully.

If someone is offended by the idea of an edible Jesus, he or she should probably stay away from communion, especially if they take transubstantiation seriously. If they don't like a naked Jesus they should stay away from Europe. Given the two thousand year history of Christianity, this debate of sacred nakedness didn't really exist during the Renaissance; it's really post the Council of Trent 1545-1563 that it became an issue for Catholics as a reaction to the awareness of individual interpretation that the Protestant reform unleashed.

Art often works as a mirror on the observers. Like verbal debates, how we react to human understandings different from ours contributes to revealing who we are as a society. While Donohue's certainly no Nazi, authoritarianism always fights the individual's representation, especially of, opposite reality. But what really burns authority is the fear that people are laughing (or worse) at them behind their back.

How we portray and defend our most sacred objects and ideas actually gives them and us meaning. The way that art alters our senses and perceptions often forces our true selves up and out into the light of truth.

Just listen to Bill Donohue and it's pretty easy to get a taste of W(his)JWD.

Art: Chocolate Jesus

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

The blog Iconia, "wherever faith meets art," has compiled a roundup of responses to the controversial sculpture of Jesus made from milk chocolate that has been all over the news. Here's what some bloggers and news outlets are saying about the cancellation of a Holy Week exhibition of Cosimo Cavallaro's "My Sweet Lord."

Blogger and art history professor at tesserae asks "Why should stone or paint be given more respect or priority than the use of plastics or in this case chocolate?" 

Joan Walsh on Salon says, "It's a bad day for the Jesus I personally believe in, the slightly swarthy, all-loving, hardworking guy who realizes he's going to have to spend yet another weekend not reading or playing golf or watching baseball, but trying to get Donohue to start acting like a good Christian, finally, and not a bully."

Journalist Michelle Malkin asks, "How would the MSM cover an artist exhibition of a 'Chocolate Mohammed"' timed to coincide with Ramadan? They wouldn't. But find an artist to mock Jesus at Easter with a chocolate sculpture, and you'll get wall-to-wall coverage."

University of Michigan student Todd shrugs: "I don't think it should have been as big of a fuss as it was."

At Daily Kos, frstewart says, "My first question was whether the figure was hollow or solid - I always felt cheated somehow when I got a hollow bunny" and responds to Michelle Malkin.

Read more at Iconia.

Art: Da Vinci Goes to the Dogs?

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson


"Dinner and Drinks with the Son of Dog"
 © Ron Burns

In his new painting "Dinner and Drinks with the Son of Dog," Ron Burns re-creates Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper," but replaces Jesus and his disciples with dogs. One gallery owner has already refused to carry the work. "'Maybe the world isn't ready for this. Truth is, I wasn't trying to be controversial with this one,' says pop artist Ron Burns. 'I love Da Vinci, I love dogs[,] and it seemed like a fun idea to bring the two together.'" (Press Release: PRweb.com)

 

Burns' specialty is portraits of dogs in vibrant neon colors. He has participated in charity functions for Animal Planet and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and has also been named artist-in-residence with The Humane Society of the United States. View Ron Burns' gallery here.

What's your reaction to this artwork? Is it harmless? Offensive? Inconsequential?

 

Art: Interview with John Hoyt

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Subscribers, the newest issue of Spectrum is in the mail and will soon be arriving in your mailboxes. If you don’t yet subscribe to the magazine, why not start with this issue? It features pieces with intriguing titles like, “Cybersex, Solipsism, and Paul’s Notion of the Body,” “Dreams Come True in (Black and) Blue Hawaii,” “Invitation to a Christian Witness for Peace in Iraq,” and “Pork.”

The cover of this issue showcases an artwork titled The Mirror by Canadian artist John Hoyt. This is Hoyt’s third Spectrum cover. Here’s what he says about The Mirror: “This image is based on a Photoshop sketch/oil painting from 2003. The Mirror, or so it seemed to me at the time, is actually a ‘reflection’ on the idea of law as a revealer of personal defects. My paintings often draw on various fifteenth-century sources for their imagery. When using these sources, however (which I alter to varying degrees using Adobe Photoshop), I am working as an artist, rather than an art historian. In The Mirror, for example, The Tower of Babel is from Pieter Bruegel.”

I had the chance to exchange emails with John Hoyt to further discuss his art: 

SF-J
How would you describe your artwork? Is there a common theme connecting your body of work as a whole?

JH: My first response to people who ask this question is that the key to understanding my work is what I think of as a “deep-seated religious neurosis.” That seems to catch their attention. I have found other artists who share this condition—most of them now dead of course. Hieronymus Bosch might be an example, but of course there’s a whole corpus of “outsider art” that seems reasonably neurotic as well.

SF-J
Why do you make art? For whom do you create?

JH: I paint to work through my neurosis. Plus it’s something to do—go into the studio, put on headphones, and drop out of reality, so to speak. So it’s for me, I guess. Unapologetically self-centered. But I like showing on occasion as well—I just don’t like the pressure of an imminent show. OK . . . to be honest I really enjoy having a good show in a nice gallery—just so they don’t happen too often. Once every couple of years is often enough. And I really like it as well when people express some understanding of the work . . . though that happens rarely enough.

SF-J
I'm struck by the intricacy, vibrant colors, and surreal combination of elements in your artwork. What is your creation process like? What kind of physical space do you work in?

JH: The short answer to the first part is: I paint from photos, but I make the photos myself (i.e., I use Photoshop a lot.) It’s hard to talk about, but easy to show someone how it works. So the “sketching” (i.e., creating a detailed digital photo on which I can base a painting) takes weeks and weeks; I do it on a computer. Eventually a sketch feels “finished”—though I think of the digital photo as a “work” in itself of course. Then I spend at least an equal amount of time on the painting (a basement studio in my house)—just oil paint on canvas for the most part.

SF-J
What are some of your influences, artistic and otherwise?

JH: Northern European art of the 1400s and early 1500s—I have looked and looked at the work, made trips to Belgium and Germany to see it in situ, etc. Then there are the German Expressionists and the Surrealists . . . and of course I already mentioned outsider art (I love the Museum of Visionary Art in Baltimore).

SF-J
Would you care to comment on the state of art within Adventism, or Christianity? What are we doing right? Where is there room for improvement? In what direction should we be moving?

JH:  Adventist art—I think of this as an oxymoron. Protestantism never really knew quite what to do with art, and I think Adventists are solidly within that tradition. (Ironically, some of the art I like best was made in what came to be Protestant Europe . . . this interesting strain of art did not long survive the Reformation though, as far as I am concerned.)  So my advice is to compartmentalize—keep the art separate, let it live its life. If this leads to more neurosis . . . well, good painting is often the product of somewhat neurotic, dysfunctional spiritual environment, I find.

SF-J
For you, is there a struggle between being an artist and a spiritual person? How do you resolve the tension of being an artist creating edgy art and someone within the Adventist community?

JH: Between art and the “spiritual” side of my personality—no, there is no conflict; the two are really more or less one and the same. The struggle for me has been with religious ideology, if you see what I mean. Perhaps best not to pursue this thought too far . . . it leads me to bad places!  Very few people in the local “SDA” community ever see my work, for that matter. I had some bad experiences a number of years ago—I was invited to show work on campus a couple of times by administrators who did like my work, only to receive very negative responses from others who did not like it at all . . . eventually I realized there was no point.

SF-J
So, is the struggle external or internal? I think I hear you saying that it's imposed on the artist by external forces—but I suppose it ultimately becomes an internal struggle, because it remains up to the artist to figure out how to compartmentalize art and the community. Does the artist essentially end up maintaining dual identities then—the artist within the community and the artist outside the community?

JH: Firstly, I do see a lot of my peers struggling with their identity with respect to the community” (i.e. the SDA “family.” ) So it’s really nothing unique to artists. (Actually I think I see the biggest struggle within the group I think of as SDA “scientists.”)  I have heard such people acknowledge their attachment to the “family”—but then go on to express their frustration at the inability of the family to adjust to current “reality” (i.e. specific scientific/theological issues –presumably all of us have some sense of these issues and how the conversation gets bogged down). So yes, such issues do need to be resolved on a personal level. But I think I have moved beyond this stage. It does help a lot to have non-SDA friends who also have spiritual inclinations but come from a radically different tradition (Native spirituality, for example) and can help me see things from a different perspective.

SF-J
Have you explored spiritual themes in your artwork?

JH: I have always explored spiritual themes. For example—I find an entire alternate spiritual reality in the work of some outsider artists . . . I think of myself as exploring that sort of thing as well.

Art of belief

Thanks to Graeme Sharrock

Belief

Is there anyone who
Ever remembers changing their mind from
The paint on a sign?
Is there anyone who really recalls
Ever breaking rank at all
For something someone yelled real loud one time

Everryone believes
In how they think it ought to be
Everyone believes
And they're not going easily

Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water
You never can hit who you're trying for

Some need the exhibition
And some have to know they tried
It's the chemical weapon
For the war that's raging on inside

Everyone believes
From emptiness to everything
Everyone believes
And no one's going quietly

We're never gonna win the world
We're never gonna stop the war
We're never gonna beat this
If belief is what we're fighting for

What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand?

What put a folded flag inside his mother's hand?

John Mayer, "Belief" from Continuum (2006)

Art: Printmaking Takes Us on an "Art Loop"

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

The Japanese have a word game called shiritori, in which players must come up with a word that begins with the last syllable of the previous word: "neko" > "kotatsu" > "tsuru," and so on. I think the English equivalent is called a "word loop," which is a cousin of the word association game. (I say, "sweet potato," you say, "potato chip," I say, "chip-n-dip," and so on). In any case, in these word games like these, one rides the magical loop of mental associations. Here's an "art loop" of sorts, beginning at an Adventist college near you (well, if you're in Southern California, to be exact):

"€œWomen in Printmaking€"

March 1 - April 5, 2007

Opening reception: March 5, 2007

Brandstater Gallery in the Visual Arts Center, La Sierra University

Open Monday-Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 2-5:00 p.m., closed Friday, Sabbath, and University holidays. The exhibit celebrates the 30-year anniversary of Women in the Arts Movement and is curated by the Riverside Art Museum. Closing reception: April 5, 2007. Info: 951-785-2959. 

 

Printmaking is also on exhibit in New York City: "Artistic Collaborations: 50 Years at Universal Limited Art Editions," at the Museum of Modern Art, January 17 - May 21, 2007. As featured in the New York Times article "Even in the Digital Age, a Strong Case for Printmaking" (registration necessary, or log in from "bugmenot.com.")

 

And in New South Wales, Australia:

Still on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary art, New South Wales, Australia is "Multiplicity," a printmaking exhibit that aims to tell an alternate history of prints and multiples over the past 40 years. October 18, 2006 - March 25, 2007

 

Speaking of Australia...
"Where the Rivers Meet: New Writing from Australia," the current issue of MANOA, the journal of the University of Hawaii, is an outstanding collection of fiction, essays, poetry, and photography representing a complex society in which diverse groups seek belonging and the preservation of community.

 

Speaking of belonging...

The "outsider art" of Mexican artist Martin Ramirez is garnering interest:

Article: "Mystery Train: Martin Ramirez, outsider," New Yorker 1/29/2007

Review: "Outsider In," New York Times, January 26, 207

 

And finally, speaking of community and art and you...

Futurefarmers is an organization that seeks to bring people together to create new work that cultivates consciousness. Project for Public Spaces is dedicated to creating and sustaining public places that build communities.

Art: The Paradoxical Truth

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

In our minds, we often place the life of imagination and the life of faith on opposite ends of the spectrum, but in reality the artist and the believer are partakers of the same beautiful paradox. Contemplate this:

"The paradox lies in this: we can experience presence--one might just as easily say grace--when art approximates the leap of faith, when it dares to place us directly inside an act of discovery. The risk of imagination, like the risk of faith, instills fear in those who believe we can only be saved by rational propositions. But the paradoxical truth is that unless we learn how to lives in that risk-taking leap of faith, we will lose touch with the meaning of those propositions."

-From Gregory Wolfe's essay, "Bearing the Image," Intruding Upon the Timeless (Baltimore, MD: Square Halo Books, 2003)

Art: Exhibits at PUC and LSU

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Pacific Union College and La Sierra University both have art faculty exhibits in their campus galleries now. If you're in the vicinity, take a peek at what our art faculty have been up to:

January 13 - February 8, 2007
"Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit"
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1-5 p.m.
Rasmussen Art Gallery
Pacific Union College
Contact: 707-965-6303

January 27 - February 15, 2007
"Art Faculty Show"
Monday - Thursday 10 a.m. - 4p.m and Sunday 2-5p.m
Closed Friday, Saturday, and University Holidays
Brandstater Gallery at La Sierra University
La Sierra University
Contact: (951)785-2959

Also of interest might be the recently-opened exhibit “Tools for War, Tools for Change, Tools for Peace” at the Stahl Center Museum of Culture at La Sierra University:

January 27 - December 1, 2007
"Tools for War, Tools for Change, Tools for Peace"
Wednesday and Saturday, 2 - 5 p.m.
La Sierra Hall, Stahl Center Museum of Culture
La Sierra University
Contact: (951)785-2999

Next month, check out the student art exhibition at Pacific Union College:

February 17- March 18, 2007
"Student Art Exhibition."
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1-5 p.m.
Rasmussen Art Gallery
Pacific Union College
Contact: 707-965-6303
Opening Reception February 17 7-9 p.m.

Art: Interview with Lisie S. Orjuela

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

I had the pleasure of interviewing artist Lisie S. Orjuela via email. If you’re a Spectrum subscriber, you’ll probably recognize the vivid colors and organic figures in Orjuela’s work, which has twice appeared on the magazine's cover.

Orjuela did her undergraduate studies at Andrews University and later completed her graduate studies at New York University and the Art Students League in New York. Orjeula has shown her work in solo exhibitions in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, as well as in Mexico. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions across the U.S. Orjuela works in Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and four-year-old son. She says she divides her time and energy between working/nourishing her art and taking care of/nourishing her little boy.

Here’s our conversation about the artist's life:

SF-J
Would you mind sharing a bit about your background and how you came to be an artist? Do you come from an artistic family? Has art been a lifelong passion for you?

Orjuela
My cultural heritage is Argentinian. I grew up in Uruguay, Switzerland, and arrived in the USA at age 13. My father worked as an evangelist with the South American and European Divisions, and then at the General Conference of the SDA church. Art was not something really present in my upbringing. Drawing was something you might do when you had nothing else to do. However, while living in Switzerland (for 5 years) our family traveled around Europe, and I was exposed to excellent and powerful art and architecture.

Unbeknownst to me, a seed was planted within me. I had been exposed to the potential power of connection and communication through art. While in school in Switzerland, art was part of the curriculum where everyone was expected to do well (as with all the other classes), but here in the U.S., of course, that was not the case. Art was not part of the curriculum, and was clearly considered a triviality. But, as I started to explore what I would study in college, the seed for art suddenly awakened after I saw a tiny reproduction of a Rembrandt in a world history book. The pull, the bug, the power of it began to grow. So, I only started my art training in college, at Andrews. Since then, yes, it has been my passion, my obsession.

SF-J
Two things strike me in particular about your work: the layering of glowing colors and the organic, dance-like poses of the figures. Because the figures in your artwork portray ambiguous identities, they feel universal, relatable. Would you mind talking about the underlying themes in your body of work as a whole?

Orjuela
The inner world, also known as the soul, the spirit, the psyche, and the mind is what captures my attention. I am interested in how we human beings relate to ourselves, to others and to our environment. This is what motivates me and drives my artwork. The paintings integrate and weave thoughts, feelings, and experiences into an avenue in which to tap into, express and at times nurture this inner core.

I tend to use the female figure as a protagonist (which is different from the traditional and even of most contemporary art). I want there to be an insinuation of movement, of life in my work, and yes, a few of my paintings are directly linked to dance.

I am seduced by color, I love the way color can reach the inner parts of us and infer subtlety, boldness, emotions, thoughts. The figures, colors, patterns, layers are my tools, my way of exploring and expressing something of the inner world.

SF-J
What are some of your influences—artistic and otherwise?

Orjuela
My influences—work that I connect with in a powerful way come from artists such as Diebenkorn, Giacometti, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and the early Renaissance artists, among others. In terms of content and themes, my interest in the inner realm must stem from my strong religious upbringing. I took the religious teachings and beliefs very much to heart as a child, and my search and inquietude with the spiritual connection and understanding from that early time has obviously continued in a broader sense in my artwork.

SF-J
What is your creative process like? What kind of physical space do you work in? 

Orjuela
I have a studio in my house. It has a good amount of light and I work during the day. I have regular times set aside to work, since I need good chunks of time to quiet the mind from all other responsibilities and mental obsessions.

I work with oil paints, oil bars, and oil pastels on stretched canvas. Most of my current work is approximately 4 to 5 feet square, though I sometimes work on smaller pieces as well.

I work in a way that reflects natural life; in a slow organic manner. I work with images and colors to understand and express aspects of life. The paintings are created with multiple layers of paint, visual textures, rich earthy colors, as well as the human form. The female figure tends to be a central part in most of the work, dissolving and coming out of the surrounding ground, interacting with it, and being a part thereof. The paintings change and evolve continuously as I work on them, as layers cover and reveal some of the earlier stages. Patterns and textures, in addition to color, are part of my vocabulary, adding to the richness and ambiguity of the pieces.

SF-J
For you, is there a struggle between being an artist and a spiritual person? Or do the two feed each other in a positive way?

Orjuela
There is no struggle at all between being an artist and being a spiritual person. For me it is all the same, it is all connected, all comes from the same depth of my being. So it is the same struggle. It is funny to think about that now, because as I began (in college) I struggled enormously with the belief that art and being an artist was in direct conflict with spirituality, with an ethical life.

View Lisie Orjuela’s work.

Spectrum Blog in NYC

By Alexander Carpenter

Greetings from New York City. I am here for a week on an Arts and Religion junket - makin' grad school pay off. On Sunday morning the class visited the Middle Collegiate church on the Lower East Side. (Don't worry Cliff, I'll always be a Seventh-day Darwinian. : ) If you are a pastor or have a pastor's ear, or have some say somewhere in worship, visit Middle Church's web site. A gospel choir, a puppet show, a killer epiphany homily on the flesh and Christ with a performance of a Baby Sugg sermon from Toni Morrison's Beloved  and a fellowship dinner all without a single praise song, alter call, or frou-frou moment.

In an Adventist world where too many leaders are trying to play catch up to evangelical language and largeness, this growing, inclusive arts-centered church gets worshipping God just about right. The latria of God by a church in space and time is an art and despite the first-century golden-age myths of Christian Restorationism, the grace of God must be imagined in community or it doesn't exist. I'll posit that excellence in the arts converts the rhetoric of welcoming into what might be called holy atmosphere. 

Photo by Cliff Goldstein

Art: New Year, New Look

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

For those of you who are subscribers, the latest issue of Spectrum probably arrived in your mailboxes over the holidays. Alex and Johnny beat me to posting a photo of the beautiful cover (a few posts below), but here's more about the artwork created by Thomas Morphis:

From the artist:

"The original inspiration for this piece was a memory of sitting in a church, seeing red pews in layers from the back to the front. The flowers represent an offering or gift of innocence/love; the symmetrical arches and angel add to the spiritual theme. Bits of the text collaged into the piece include 'the most obvious thing in the world is the obscure,' 'knowing one from the other,' 'smolders beneath the consciousness,' and 'guide rail.' I suppose this piece is ultimately trying to get at the question of the ability to know God/Truth. The wrestling figures suggest struggle, as the world Peniel in the title comes from the biblical story of Jacob wrestling with the angel."

 

Morphis is professor of visual arts at Pacific Union College, and you may remember that I had the pleasure of interviewing him on this very blog a couple of months ago. (Read the interview.)

But there's more. Did you happen to notice that Spectrum has an updated look? Spectrum's designer, Laura Lamar, has created a subtle redesign of the magazine. According to editor Bonnie Dwyer, on a practical level, the redesign was intended to streamline the layout process. You will also notice that beginning with this issue, Spectrum's online presence and its print journal will work cooperatively toward a vibrant community.

 

Speaking of which... Spectrum/Adventist Forums now has a logo too. Created by BPcubed, a Sacramento design firm, the logo consists of three connected human figures. On the cover of the magazine, the logo runs side-by-side with the new tag line: "community through conversation." That is indeed the goal of both this blog and the magazine, and Spectrum hopes to continue to cultivate and nurture that community in 2007.

 

Reactions to the new design? Thoughts on how to nurture the community? Leave us a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Art: An Online Auction for the Kim Family

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

For your interest:
Artists have joined efforts to organize an auction of fine art and crafts to benefit the family of James Kim. More than forty artists and crafters have contributed items in a variety of media. 100% of the proceeds from this auction will go to the Kim Family Fund, the official memorial fund set up by the friends and family of James and Kati Kim. Bidding starts January 3, 2007 and ends January 7th.

See a preview of auction items here.

Art: Makoto Fujimura's Bugle Call to Artists

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

On the release of Operation Homecoming: Epistles of Injury (Random House, 2006), artist Makoto Fujimura reflected on the connection between the arts and the writings of war. "If you remove works of art that do not in some way relate to, or respond to wars, our cultural landscape would be full of holes," he writes. In light of this reality, Fujimura goes on to delicately weave together icons in the arts and recent events in a bugle call to artists. "[This bugle call] begins in a belief that our lives are to be lived for others," he says, "To the extent we are able to do that, to that degree we will see a new language of expression that is not self-centered, but self-giving and generous." Fujimura's blog post is well worth reading.

Mentioned: J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," C.S. Lewis' "The Problem of Pain," 20th century masters Rothko and Mondrian, T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," Picasso's "Guernica," Iraq, Amish school shooting, Jesus' realism, etc.

 

Makoto Fujimura was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts and was educated bi-culturally between the US and Japan. Fujimura graduated from Bucknell University in 1983, and received an M.F.A. from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with a Japanese Governmental Scholarship in 1989. Noted artist and critic Robert Kushner says of Fujmura's work, "The idea of forging a new kind of art, about hope, healing, redemption, refuge, while maintaining visual sophistication and intellectual integrity is a growing movement, one which finds Fujimura's work at the vanguard."

 

Read the full article on Makoto Fujimura's blog, "Refractions".

Visit Makoto Fujimura's web site.

Art: A Gift Guide to Art-Spirituality Books

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

This Christmas season, what about giving yourself or the artful person on your list a thought-provoking book on art and spirituality? Here are some suggestions:

Intruding upon the Timeless: Meditations on Art, Faith, and Mystery
By Gregory Wolfe

Book List Review on Amazon.com: "Wolfe firmly believes that religion and art can help us discover who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going. In these pieces, Wolfe's topics include the ongoing culture wars; the faith-based work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Joyce, Flannery O'Connor, Graham Greene, and Walker Percy; the evangelical subculture's appropriation of pop-cultural trends and cliches; and how the artist of faith can survive in a market economy that rewards the media-savvy personality. Far from being preachy or doctrinaire, Wolfe's elegant prose is a joy to read and savor; his provocative, illuminating essays fully engage the mind."

Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Art
By Steve Turner

Editorial review on Amazon.com: "Imagine art that is risky, complex, and subtle! Imagine music, movies, books and paintings of the highest quality! Imagine art that permeates society, challenging conventional thinking and standard morals to their core! Imagine that it is all created by Christians! This is the bold vision of Steve Turner [who] believes Christians should confront society and the church with the powerful impact art can convey."

Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue
By William Dyrness

Editorial review on Amazon.com: "How can art enhance and enrich the Christian faith? What is the basis for a relationship between the church and visual imagery? Can the art world and the Protestant church be reconciled? Is art idolatry and vanity, or can it be used to strengthen the church? Grounded in historical and biblical research, William Dyrness offers students and scholars an intriguing, substantive look into the relationship between the church and the world of art."

Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist
By Robert Wuthnow

Publisher's Description: "In a provocative book that explores the fascinating link between the creative and the sacred, Robert Wuthnow claims that artists have become the spiritual vanguard of our time. Drawing on in-depth interviews with painters, sculptors, writers, singers, dancers, and actors, Wuthnow includes the spiritual insights of accomplished artists who have gained prominence as Broadway performers, gospel singers, jazz musicians, poets, Native American painters, weavers, dancers, and installation artists."

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
By Madeleine L'Engle

Editorial Review on Amazon.com: "Walking on Water collects 12 brief meditations by Madeleine L'Engle on the nature of art and its relation to faith. L'Engle, the beloved author of A Wrinkle In Time, has written and spoken widely and wisely about the connection between religion and art."

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
By Eugene Peterson

Editorial Review on Amazon.com: "Drawing on language in Ezekiel and Revelation, Peterson says that we ought not read the Bible the same way we read a cookbook, a textbook, or even a great novel. Rather, Christians are to absorb, imbibe, feed on and digest Scripture."

Concerning the Spiritual in Art
By Wassily Kandinsky

Book Description on Amazon.com: "Pioneering work by the great modernist painter, considered by many to be the father of abstract art and a leader in the movement to free art from traditional bonds. Kandinsky’s provocative thoughts on color theory, nature of art."

My Name Is Asher Lev
By Chaim Potok

Book Description on Amazon.com: "Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. Asher Lev is an artist who is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels even when it leads him to blasphemy.In this stirring and often visionary novel, Chaim Potok traces Asher’s passage between these two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other subject only to the imagination."

Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art
By Nancy J. Azara

Customer review on Amazon.com: "This is a wonderful book for artist and non artist alike. You do not need to have experience with meditation to follow the guidelines in this book. It has been a delightful experience to follow the exercises here. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to enjoy a thoughtful art making experience."

Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century
By Marianne Williamson
 
Review on Spiritualityandpractice.com: "The spiritual practice of imagination informs and animates this collection of essays by 40 contemporary thinkers who present their visions of a better America in the next 50 years. Marianne Williamson (The Healing of America) serves as editor, and the photographs in the volume are by Joseph Sohm. This is the kind of book that will speak to the heart, mind, and soul of all those who believe in holistic health, educational reform, civic activism, societal transformation, personal growth, ecology, and spiritual politics."

Spectrum
And, last but not least, a subscription to Spectrum makes a great gift.

Spectrum web site: "With a mission to encourage Seventh-day Adventist participation in the discussion of contemporary ideas, Spectrum magazine tackles topics as diverse as religion and science, racism, forgiveness, and vegetarianism. Articles about the Adventist experience are also featured. Original art and poetry grace its covers. Each issue is 80 pages. It is published quarterly in January, April, July, and October." Order gift subscriptions.

Art: Collaborative Projects

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

"Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy; none of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together they compose the world." -Marcus Aurelius

 

In art, there is often a physical and psychological distance between the artist and the viewer. The artist creates in relative solitude, and his/her work is viewed in a gallery somewhere by a viewer who interprets this artwork with his/her own distinct set of parameters. Even so, part of the allure of art is that it's a collaboration of sorts. Art allows or perhaps even asks the viewer to become engaged, to ask questions, and to react.

 

In the global multimedia world, collaborative art projects are emerging as a new type of participatory art. In these projects, art is shared--not in a linear fashion between the artist and viewer--but through the collaboration of all of its participants. Each individual participant becomes both creator and viewer within a larger community working to create a collaborative and often ever-evolving work of art.

 

Here are a few collaborative projects in which you too can participate:

 

You Are Beautiful

The stated goal of this project is "to spread a positive message throughout the world by any means necessary, except through commercial use." In exchange for a SASE, one receives five "You Are Beautiful" stickers to be distributed or displayed in his/her city. These stickers appear all across the U.S., and on every continent--in countries as diverse as Egypt, China, India, Australia, and Argentina. Have you seen one in your city?

 

[murmur]: Hear You Are

This is an archival audio project based in Toronto, CA. At specific locations throughout the city, one can find signs with a telephone number and location code marks. Visitors may call the number on their mobile phones and listen to a story about that particular place while engaging in the physical experience of being there. There are also [murmur] projects in San Jose, CA, as well as in Vancouver and Montreal, Canada.

 

The 1001 Journals Project

This began as The 1000 Journals Project, an experiment to follow 1,000 journals through their travels around the world. Travelers added to journals before passing them along. This project eventually gave birth to the new "1001 Journals Project," in which participants can add to a traveling journal or to a "location journal" to which they themselves must travel. Or they can share a personal journal.

 

The Mirror Project

Also an ongoing community project, the Mirror Project invites people to send in photographs they've captured of themselves in reflective surfaces. It is based on the concept that self-portraits reveal one's truest face. The Mirror Project was featured in O, the Oprah Magazine in 2002.

Go ahead. Make art.

Art: Web Roundup

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Even if you cannot understand the Finnish language, you may enjoy viewing the beautiful photos on Ansku Jaakkola's blog. Ansku Jaakkola is a wife, mother, and pastor of four Seventh-day Adventist churches in Central Finland. View Blog
(Thanks to Johnny for the tip!)

The Palm Springs Air Museum (Palm Springs, CA) will showcase replicas of machines envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci, November 3, 2006 - March 25, 2007.
More information
(Thanks to blog reader Darla Greene for the heads-up!)

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has a calendar full of family activities and children's films. If you're not within visiting distance of the museum, check out their web site for a plethora of interactive art projects and educational activities for children.
Go to NGA Kids

Sarah Hall is a well-known Toronto-based stained glass artist whose work has received numerous awards. She has created stained glass artwork for churches, synagogues, and mosques throughout North America. Her book on stained glass, The Color of Light: Comissioning Stained Glass for a Church, is the first book of its kind in the field.
View Sarah Hall's Gallery

Art: Interview with Thomas Morphis

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Spectrum readers are likely familiar with the work of Thomas Morphis whose art has graced the cover of the magazine several times already. Besides teaching art at Pacific Union College (a position he has held since 1986), Morphis is a working artist whose work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

Currently, Morphis is working on a large series of mixed media paintings based on the word "Peniel," the name of the biblical place where Jacob wrestled with the angel. The overriding theme of this series is struggle, and each Peniel painting incorporates an image of wrestling figures.

Other ongoing projects include “Fragments,” which grew out of the “Peniel” series, and “Architectonics,” a series of vivid watercolor paintings “somewhere between sculpture and architecture.” In 2005, Morphis installed “Sky Parabola,” a 4’ x 18’ abstract stained glass window at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Upcoming in 2007, Morphis’ work will be on display at the Morris Graves Museum, Eureka CA, and the Red Mountain Gallery at the Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno NV. Morphis holds a B.F.A. degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art and an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Morphis (via email) about his work as an artist. Here are some highlights from the interview:

SF-J
For me, your artwork is distinguished by texture created with active lines and amazing color combinations. I especially love the vibrant yellows and oranges against the icy blue that I often see in your art. What is it that you especially love about the process of creating art? Is there some underlining theme to your work as a whole, or do you try to avoid defining that so as not to limit the breadth of your work?

Morphis
The creative act—when you put something down, whether a scrap of paper, a line, a color, and it clicks, it works—it surprises you. There's something about discovering the life of the artwork. I want each piece to come alive, to grow, to evolve, to assert its own identity. I don't have a precise or concrete preconceived picture in my mind of the final product, only a general direction or feeling or idea. I try to be open to making things happen visually that are unexpected. Again, discovery comes to mind. It doesn't always work. Sometimes you try something and then need to take it out, cover it up, but that act can also lead to something else that works.

So, my abstract collages are primarily about this act of creation, aesthetics of form. The watercolors are based on the collages, but at that point it's more of a technical challenge to translate the collage into the colors and textures of watercolor.

The mixed media works (“Peniel” primarily, and “Fragments”) come very much out of this process. Compared to the watercolors, they are much more improvised and spontaneous. But an added difference is the introduction of more organic shapes and (something I've been thinking about for a long time) the inclusion of the human figure, which opens up huge possibilities as to content/narrative. I include just a bit of found text (clippings from book reviews, evocative words and phrases, from books, from foreign language texts), which adds more narrative suggestions to the work.

I should add, with the mixed media pieces, I really try to be as inclusive as possible, not only in putting together imagery of all sorts and sources, but also to mix media, to remember to drop the brush and pick up the charcoal/ink/glue stick/china marker, etc.... I suppose a challenge I enjoy subconsciously is to make this diversity coalesce, to throw a wrench into the works and make it "fit." But now we're back to the topic of surprise/discovery.

SF-J
On your web site, in your discussion of the "Architectonics" series, you mention being inspired by deconstructive architects like Daniel Liebeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Rem Koolhaas and also by your reading of Don Quixote. What are some of your other influences, artistic and otherwise?

Morphis
A few of my earliest major influences that come to mind are, first and foremost, Pablo Picasso and Kurt Schwitters. Other influences include painters Richard Diebenkorn and Giorgio Morandi, sculptors Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore, and although I’m not a big reader, early favorite writers were Gertrude Stein, Richard Brautigan, and Carlos Casteneda. Looking back, I see that they have in common an interest in alternate realities, or in Stein's case, an alternate way of presenting reality. As for visuals in life, I’m influenced by construction sites & demolition sites.

SF-J
How do you work as an artist? What kind of physical space do you work in?

Morphis
I built a 24' x 36' studio over a garage, with a wood stove for heat, north-facing skylights, and lots of windows. I have two large tables that I work on, because I work flat.

SF-J
Is there a struggle between being an art professor and an artist? Or do the two feed each other in a positive way?

Morphis
The only struggle is time to do both. On the plus side, they feed each other. My interest in going to galleries to see what other contemporary artists are doing, and my own creative quest—these both add to what I can bring to the classroom. And seeing the creativity of students, their unique visions and talent—I'd like to think this helps keep me more open-minded, less monocular (metaphorically speaking).

SF-J
When you're creating art, are you conscious of being a spiritual person and an artist both? Do you try to compartmentalize art and spirituality, or do the two worlds coexist peacefully in you?

Morphis
I feel that I don't really compartmentalize the two, or even have a struggle there. I think that my art is an expression of me, not only of my visual ideas but also my "take" on life, which includes values, interests, concerns, and approach to life—and thus spirituality. Once in a while, an artwork is more overtly about spiritual things, but not generally. Hopefully it's a more pervasive influence, overall.
_______

View the artwork of Thomas Morphis

Are there other artists you'd like to see interviewed for this blog? Let us know.

Art: New Exhibits to Explore

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

"What art offers is space, a certain breathing room for the spirit."  --John Updike

On the heels of the carefree days of summer comes autumn, a season for reflection. It's an ideal time to explore art. A number of current art exhibits around the U.S. explore religious or spiritual themes. Exhibits range from textile arts to Middle Eastern artifacts, and from Andy Warhol to Rembrandt. If you're within driving distance of one of the exhibits listed below, why not make it a weekend excursion? Or check your local arts and gallery listings for exhibits near you.


"The Gospels in Medieval Manuscript Illumination"

The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
October 31, 2006–January 7, 2007

This exhibition explores the forms of decoration associated with the Gospels: portraits of the four Evangelists, illustrations of the life of Christ, and the ornamentation of canon tables . It includes many of the Getty Museum's early manuscripts, including a Greek New Testament dated 1133, as well as a number of later Armenian manuscripts.

"Between Science and Art: Work in Botanical Illustration"

San Francisco Botanical Garden, San Franciso, CA

October 1 - December 30, 2006

 

Botanical illustrator and teacher Mary Harden and students present artwork created from close observation of plant specimens resulting in art work that is taxonomically correct. The nature of the plant is revealed through the unique point of view provided by each artist.

"American Tapestry Alliance Biennial 6"

Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA

October 6, 2006 - January 7, 2007

 

“Weaving tapestry in our modern world requires a different mindset that has taken many years to cultivate. It requires faith that the world will still be here in two years. Weaving a tapestry is good for the soul,” says artist Nancy Jackson. Jackson's tapestries are on display as part of American Tapestry Biennial 6, a competitive international exhibition.

"Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds"

Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, MO

September 10 - December 17, 2006

 

Mercurial and buoyant, Andy Warhol's pillow-shaped silver mylar balloons roam the air currents of MOCRA’s spacious nave gallery and respond to the touch of the viewer. This installation is a visual, auditory and tactile experience that appeals immediately to the child in everyone.

"Rembrandt's Etchings"

Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin, TX

August 4 - December 10, 2006

 

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth, the Blanton will present more than two dozen of the beloved artist's etchings from the museum's collection that span his life and development. In addition, works by followers and later generations of artists inspired by Rembrandt will also be shown.

"Thresholds, Expressions of Art and Spiritual Life in the Carolinas

Lee Gallery, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
October 9 - November 17, 2006

 

This exhibit examines art as a religious and spiritual vehicle and is an exploration of individual artists rethinking one's religion/spirituality.

"I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion"
The Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY

September 18, 2006 through January 29, 2007

 

This exhibition will present approximately 100 works from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century, including paintings, drawings, textiles, metalwork, and photographs that identify core Sikh beliefs and explore the plurality of Sikh cultural traditions.

 

"Threads of Faith: Recent Work from Women of Color Quiters Network"

Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV

October 15 - December 31, 2006

 

Thirty quilts in this exhibition examine the role faith plays in the work of participating artists. Subject matter is taken from a favorite Bible story, or passage. The exhibition is divided into five thematic categories: Sacred Moments (Biblical Narratives); Bearing Witness (Women and Family); Hope: The Anchor of Our Souls (Prayers and Spiritual Meditations); Blessed are the Piece Makers (Worship Through the Arts); and We Have Come this Far by Faith (African-American Experiences)

 

"Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Cophenhage"

McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

September 1 - December 31, 2006

 

This is is an exhibition comprised of 123 of the finest examples of Islamic art from the C. L. David Collection in Copenhagen, Denmark. The works presented incorporate the full array of Islamic art from its origins to modern times, representing vast spans of time (seventh-nineteenth centuries), space (Western Europe to East Asia), and media (textiles; ceramics; metalwares; carved ivory, wood, rock-crystal and stone; parchment; and paper).

Art: The Curriculum at SDA Colleges in North America

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Fall quarter classes are just getting underway at many colleges in North America. How is art faring at Adventist colleges? Here's what can be discovered in a quick browse of art department web sites:

Andrews University Art Department

No. of Faculty/Staff: 6

Programs offered: BFA in graphic design, BFA in visual art (emphasis in ceramics, painting, photography, pre-art therapy, printmaking), BA in art (emphasis in art history, pre-art therapy, visual arts), BS in art education

Of interest: The pre-art therapy program for students interested in art therapy careers

Professor Greg Constantine's artwork was featured on the Spring 2000 cover of Spectrum.


Atlantic Union College Art Department
No. of Faculty/Staff: 1?
Programs Offered: BA or AFA in art, BFA in drawing, painting, or 3-dimensional design, BS in business and management of art, BS in pre-art therapy, BS in pre-scientific illustration

Canadian University College Art Department

No. of Faculty/Staff: 1

Programs offered: courses in drawing, design, oil painting, pottery

Instructor John Hoyt's artwork was featured on the Winter 2002 cover of Spectrum.

La Sierra University Art Department

No. of Faculty/Staff: 6

Programs offered: BFA in fine art, BFA in graphic design, BA in art, BA in art/Pre-Den, Pre-Med Program

Of interest: The art program for pre-dentistry and pre-medicine students

Professor Beatriz Mejia-Krumbein's artwork was featured on the Spring 2005 cover of Spectrum. Professor Peter Erhard's artwork was featured on the Summer 2002 cover of Spectrum.

Pacific Union College Department of Visual Arts

No. of Faculty/Staff: 8

Programs offered: BA and BS in fine art, BS and AS in graphic design (with optional illustration or web emphasis), BS and AS in photography, BS in film and television

Of interest: The film and television major

The artwork of professors Milbert Mariano, Thomas Morphis, Cliff Rusch, and Tom Turner have been featured on various Spectrum covers.

Southern Adventist University School of Visual Art and Design

No. of Faculty/Staff: 12

Programs offered: BA in art and in art therapy, BA and AS in graphic design, BFA in fine arts and in art education, BS in animation, film production, graphic design, and animation & computer science

Of interest: Student-produced films and the animation program

   
Southwestern Adventist University Fine Arts & Music Department
No. of Faculty/Staff: 2
Programs offered: courses in drawing, painting, two- and three-dimensional arts, art history

    

Union College Division of Fine Arts

No. of Faculty/Staff: 3+

Program offered: BS and AS in graphic design, BS in art education, BA in studio art, AS in art

Of interest: The division of fine arts includes both visual arts and music programs.

 

Walla Walla College Department of Art and Department of Technology

No. of Faculty/Staff: 2 and 2.5 + adjunct professors

Programs offered in the Department of Art: BA in art with commercial art or fine art concentration

Programs offered in the Department of Technology: BS in graphic design, BS in new media imaging, BS in industrial design, AS in graphic communications

Of interest: Art classes seem to be split between the art and technology departments. Design is grouped with aviation and automotive programs in the technology department; fine art is in the art department.

(The above data on art programs was gleaned from art department web sites and is as accurate as possible, based on what I can determine from information available online. Did I miss anything? Let me know.)

Art: Five Years After 9/11

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Has art helped you make sense of 9/11? Slate Magazine posed this question to a handful of writers, artists, and other thinkers. Individual responses varied widely--books, films, and even "missing" flyers were cited:

Author Harold Bloom says that he's seen "nothing adequate to the event." Photographer Zoe Strauss cites Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta, by Gore Vidal. Writer Gish Jen said she was "unexpectedly put in mind of 9/11 by [a] Brancusi exhibit at the Guggenheim." Mia Fineman, Slate art critic, says, "New York's temporary, collective installation of 'missing' fliers, produced over the course of a few weeks by hundreds of sad and hopeful people, is, to my mind, the most meaningful and authentic work of art on the subject of 9/11." Read all the responses here.

The September 11 Digital Archive is an online repository of stories, video, and still images related to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Thousands of people have already contributed to this collective history. Web site features include an overlay of stories and photos on an interactive map of Ground Zero at approximately 9:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001.

I'd like to pose the same question to you, dear readers. Has art (in the form of books, visual art, film, etc.) helped you make sense of 9/11? Share with us.

Art: Traveling Exhibits from CIVA

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) was founded in 1979 to explore and nurture the relationship between visual arts and the Christian faith. CIVA is headquartered at Gordon College, a non-denominational Christian school in Wenham, Massachussets. CIVA has available for rental several traveling exhibits. Click on the links below for images and booking information:

Talmud: The Art of Ben-Zion and Marc Chagall

This exhibit brings together artwork from two of the most important Jewish artists of the 20th century and consists of 18 intaglio prints by Ben-Zion and 24 color lithographs by Marc Chagall on biblical subjects.

 

The Next Generation: Contemporary Expressions of Faith

Drawn from the inaugural contemporary art triennial at the Museuma of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City, this collection of art from approximately 30 contemporary artists demonstrates the wide range of Judeo-Christian art.

 

Silver: CODEX VI

Created in celebration of CVIA's silver anniversary, this exhibit is a collection of 25 prints created by 25 artists in response to a work in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

 

Ordained to Create: The Self-Taught Art of Southern Preachers, Prophets, and Visionaries

Forty-three pieces showcase the passionate and creative journeys of 15 southern self-taught artists.

Art: Adventist Artist Elfred Lee

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

 

The current issue of College and University Dialogue features an interview with Adventist artist Elfred Lee. Born in Seoul, Korea, to missionary parents, Lee became interested in art while, as a child, he and his family spent three years in Japanese prison camps in the Philippines. Today he is a well-known illustrator and painter who teaches at the SDA University of Montemorelos, in México.

 

Lee is interviewed by Humberto M. Rasi, director of the General Conference Education Department and editor of College and University Dialogue. The journal is an international publication on faith, thought, and action, published by the Committee on Adventist Ministry to College and University Students (AMiCUS) in cooperation with the 13 world divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Elfred Lee on the Web

Web Site: Elfred Lee

Art Gallery: Elfred Lee Religious Art

Article: Elfred Lee Unveils Noah's Ark Painting

Shop: Elfred Lee Artwork on Christcenteredmall.com


Is there an artist you'd like to see featured on the Spectrum blog? Let us know.

Art: Summer 2006 Cover, "Redesigning Genesis" (Sneak Peek!)

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

 

Here's a sneak peek at the cover of the brand new issue of Spectrum, which will begin landing in subscribers' mailboxes at the end of next week.

The cover artwork by artist Cliff Rusch is a visual interpretation of a postmodern translation of Genesis. This work is part of a book-length art project called "Redesigning Genesis."

Rusch created this project around writer/musician Mike Mennard’s translation of Genesis. In "Redesigning Genesis," Rusch’s intention was “to parallel the new-ness of this translation by approaching design and visual form in non-traditional ways that breathe new life into the original meaning of the text." Cliff Rusch is a professor of art and the art director of public relations at Pacific Union College.

More artwork from "Redesigning Genesis" is presented in the brand new issue of Spectrum, along with an array of fresh, thought-provoking articles. How do you like seeing an ancient text presented as modern art? Do you find it invigorating, unsettling, or challenging in some way? After you've had a chance to look at artwork in the new issue, let us know what you think.

And if for some reason you aren't already receiving the magazine, consider giving yourself a subscription.

I heard this sharp cartoonist at a policy panel.

Posted by Alexander Carpenter. Click to read.

Art: From a Place of War

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

We're being inundated with images of destruction and death in the Middle East. And yet from a place of war, come also images of life. Art is an act of creation--the antithesis of destruction and death. A dab of paint, a filled canvas, a paintbrush are no match for bombs and guns, but through art, we process, we hope, and we heal.

Today, I highlight artwork from Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine--all of which depict trees, a universal symbol of life and growth:

"Wadi Habesor Acacia" by Ron Gang

Ron Gang is drawn to the resilient acacia tree from which the biblical Ark of the Covenant was made. It is said that a vow taken under the acacia tree may never be broken. "There are more levels of reality than just politics," Toronto-born Israeli artist Ron Gang says. "If we lose sight of the beauty around us, what is the value of living?"

   

"Landscape" by Sohail Sameir Salem

A young Palestinian artist who lives in Gaza, Sohail Sameir Salem is currently concentrating on themes, such as children, the human being, and freedom.

"Trees" by Miriam Benhaim

Born in Romania, Miriam Ben Haim now lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel. She creates some of her artwork on paper made from the desert near her home, a technique that reflects a deep connection to the land.

Untitled Oil on Paper by Mohammed Abusall

Born in a refugee camp, Mohammed Abusall lives and works in Gaza. His work explores the Palestinian love of the land and the realities of separation and exile.

"The Oak" by Joseph Matar

Joseph Matar seeks to capture the poetic beauty and hope of Lebanon in face of oppression and violence. Matar has been called a "great humanist." He calls himself "a messenger of love and of light, being one of the many children of the sun."

In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict, a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

 

Artists who create in a spirit of love for humanity move us in the right direction.

Art: Wassily Kandinsky

By Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

"Blue is the truly celestial color.... Black is like the silence of the body after death, the close of life." -Wassily Kandinsky

Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is considered to be one of the principal founders of abstract art.

Between 1896 and 1911, Kandinsky experienced an artistic metamorphosis, which led him to form the group Der Blaue Reiter (the blue rider) with Franz Marc and other fellow expressionist artists, with the purpose of expressing the spiritual through art.

One of Kandinsky's most famous paintings, "Der Blaue Reiter," depicts a figure on horseback cloaked in blue. To Kandinsky, the sensations evoked by color created a spiritual experience.

Kandinsky wrote in On the Spiritual in Art, a book that had a profound influence on twentieth century art, "Blue is the truly celestial color. It creates an atmosphere of calmness--not like green, which represents an earthly self-satisfied stillness; it creates a solemn, supernatural depth."

 

In a 2004 address, art critic and professor Donald Kuspit reflected on Kandinsky's book and concluded that it is more difficult than ever to be a spiritual artist. The question, Kuspit said, is "whether contemporary artists have the emotional capacity that Kandinsky had--whether they are willing to go through the emotional struggle he went through."

Have you read Kandinsky's On the Spiritual in Art?  If so, what are you thoughts on the book? Would you agree with Kuspit that being a spiritual artist today is more challenging than ever?

 

And if you haven't read On the Spiritual in Art and would like to, you can
download it as an e-book,
read it online, or
purchase a hard copy at Amazon.com.
 

Art: PUC Students Study Beauty in Paris

By: Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson

 

A group of honors students from Pacific Union College recently completed "Beauty," a class on art and aesthetics, in a two-week excursion to Paris, France.

“The course is not only a study of art history, but an examination of how we define beauty and aesthetics and how our definitions shape our perceptions of the world,” says Milbert Mariano, chair of the visual arts department, in an article posted on the PUC web site. Mariano teaches "Beauty" with Nancy Lecourt, PUC's Academic Dean.

 

The course's web site states that "it is expected that [through this class] students will develop a more informed understanding of their own concepts of beauty and that they will be well on their way to developing a personal philosophy of what is beautiful, and what is art.  It is also expected that students will come to a better understanding of the importance of ideas about beauty and aesthetics and how views of beauty inform and shape attitudes and views of the world."

 

"Beauty" is in its fourth year of existence and was held in Paris for the first time. Previously, the course has been taught in Binfield, England and Florence, Italy.

 

Article: "Paris in the Summer: Honors students study art abroad"

View Photos & Blog: Beauty/Paris 2006