Hisart

5.02.2011

2011-05-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Striding up the deck, barefoot child on my hip, I spy the surprise horizon. Feeling it’s a gift just for me, I sigh at the utter magnificence. The great Beacon spotlights nature’s bridal train, waters cascading like hot lava… thick and full and lavish with radiance of diamonds disappearing…reappearing. At first sight, the ocean lulls me in with it’s song of velvet birds and savage stallions. The song that ties the world together with invisible string.

I dip my toe into this current that seems to enliven every cell of my body with it’s crisp chill. Who can look upon this wonder without the temptation to test it’s life? Yes, it’s real. It’s alive. Sinking down, the sand envelopes me like a toasty blanket as if to say, “Sit back. Stay awhile.”

Awhile… I could quite possibly spend my life in this place, drawing from it deep truth… a head rested on God’s chest. The notebook of perspective. My life unfolded and refolded with smoother curves.

I breathe in that misty sting of salt in hope that this memory will permeate me... come with me when I am beckoned to go. I glance over at pairs of tiny feet invigorated by crashing and sifting waves. Their tiny bodies will bottle this remedy for later use. Shells in their pockets hold the clang of wonder and echos of freedom. I can still feel the smooth skin of sanded shells between my once tiny fingers like the memory of an old friend long missed.

Three times

2011-04-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

God of three

God whose hands hold my soul, flesh falling aside

God who sees my essence

Who am I that you would leave a place filled with the candle glow of comfort and crisp white sheets

That you would fit your ocean into a body so small, so fragile

That you would wrap yourself helpless to become Help

A diamond in the dingy pocket of a thief

The lost remedy to our greatest disease

God of three

God who washes filth from our foot soles with his very own hands

God whose blood runs deep rivers through grey forgotten houses

God of three

Three denials

Three redemptions

To find one lost sheep

Speak

2011-01-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

So, it’s been awhile. Not that life has lacked inspiration, simply time and maybe words. Tonight I saw a movie that would not allow me to put this off another minute. Appropriately, the movie is called Speak. I must give my husband credit for picking it out at the library. It’s a Sundance film from 2004. Though it doesn't present the story from a Christian view, this movie gives such insight to the language of art and it's role in the healing process. The story is based around the thoughts of a teenage girl who is raped at a party. After the traumatic experience, she is unable to tell anyone what happened. The film takes you with her as she battles the inability to let anyone in, faces the reality of what happened and finds a deep-seated strength to begin to heal. Drawing becomes her language when she has no words. The story is filled with beautiful analogies of a broken spirit and new life and anyone who knows me knows my obsession with analogies! There are simply no good words (haha) to describe the impact of this movie-you simply must see it! You know it’s a good movie when you have to pee REALLY bad at the end because you didn’t want to pause it for even a minute! Check it out and post your thoughts here!

Article

2010-11-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

Check out this wonderful article by Richmond artist (and inspiring friend) , Mark Sprinkle, on the work of Christian artist Holly Smith. What beautiful pieces!

Haircap Gregarious by Holly Smith 2009

Monoprints on various fabrics, collaged and fused, machine and hand embroidery, approximately 42” x 38”.

Art Watch

2010-10-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

So, I made it to RIHOP last night... without my guitar. It was a refreshing and freeing experience. I had been thinking all weekend about these words from an Enter the Worship Circle song...

Oh, mercy fall on me like a warm blanket...on my cold cold heart
Clean me with Your blood that turns me white on the inside
I'm on my knees again 'cause I'm breaking Your heart

Put in me...what I cannot buy with
Put in me, oh God...come restore my broken soul
Put in me...what I cannot give myself
Put in me...a clean heart

(Put in Me by 100 Portraits & Waterdeep)

It's an amazing song so check it out at the link above if you haven't heard it.

As I sat at the watch listening to phrases the team sang out, it seemed to fit together with those words. The singers chanted, "I cling to you" and "I am found in you" over and over. I began to see this image of a broken woman. The Bible story of the woman caught in adultry about to be stoned comes to mind. She was sitting coiled up with her arms wrapped around her. She has given up. She's like a crumpled up piece of paper tossed aside. The blue and green colors surrounding the woman in the drawing are the cold harsh elements. The mercy of God is that warm glimmer that redeems her. In the drawing, this is the golden, orange and crimson colors coming in from the top and reflecting off of her face and arms. The sky above her is open and rain is pouring down on her.

2010-10-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

A creative spirit cannot be learned, it must be known.

2010-10-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Haha! Welcome Paul!! You're doing an awesome job! After all, God used your team's and your worship to lead me to that revelation. I think that as friends and artists, regardless of how much time everyone spends hanging out together, God is often working behind the scenes. I was asked recently how Hisart, as a ministry, ensures that we represent quality art. How do we judge or weed-out the stuff that doesn't "fit". I don't think I had ever really thought in depth about that question. After pondering it for awhile, my response was that we don't claim that responsibility for ourselves. I don't think we have the burden or the authority to say what is great art. That's God job. I would propose that our roles as artist advocates, worship leaders, friends, etc. is simply to model our best adoration of God using our skills and be willing to guide those who have a desire for something we have discovered. Though that's all we have to do, it's also quite a challenge.

By the way, if anyone's up for doing art at Paul's watch this Tuesday, 10.19.10, at RIHOP, 8-10pm, please come join us! I promise not to chicken out this time!

Well worn path...

2010-10-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

After reading Miranda's current blog...two things come to mind. The first is the realization that I have no idea what is going through the minds of my team...which might help me in the future. The second is I never give thought to a "new" thing. I go with only one goal in mind..the well worn path. Perhaps it's time for that to change.

Confession

2010-10-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here's my confession: I've had this life-long fear of drawing in places where people might be looking over my shoulder. Recently, this fear made it's way to the front of my mind as God has been mudging me towards more "daring" art. The other night, I escaped my chaotic house and drove up to RIHOP for Paul's watch. I had kind of planned to try out sketching during the watch instead of my usual guitar/singing role. I made it as far as the door at RIHOP with supplies in hand before the fear of exposure swept over me. That's totally how it works right? I think almost ever time I feel the Lord nudging me out of my comfort bubble, a familiar color of fear seeps in to the picture. To me, creating is often such a gut-renching vulnerable state that I feel like every bystander can casually gaze right into my soul. The funny thing is that my skills these days are so rusty that I often see my six year old, head cocked to one side, innocently staring at one of my drawings followed by the question, "What is that?". I have to laugh at how dramatic the act making art can sound when I write this out! It seems so ridiculous to feel so naked when many people will probably see something totally unrelated when viewing my work.
So...back to the story about the prayer watch...I decided to bring along my guitar you know just in case (I chicken out). Well, once inside, I do in fact take the easy way out. As I'm playing, I find myself lost in the bold details of the drums behind me and enchanted in the mysterious melody of the flute. I close my eyes and I can see dancers all around me. With eaching arching movement, their hands are painting color in the air. I feel like I am actually seeing the music. The visions are right under my eyelids and I don't want to open my eyes lest they float right out. The colors they paint are like rich chocolate emotion- that's the only way I know to describe it. The dancers are painting truth and life all mixed up with gritty humanity. It's their language. It's beautiful and it flows in and out of my heart so effortlessly. I love it.
The I realize that this is why God wanted me to sketch. Yes, the music was fulfilling. It drew me into God's presence. But, what He had in mind for me was even greater.

Insightful art

2010-10-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Came across this video today...made my mind wander to deep places. Check it out at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs&feature=player_embedded#!

Revelation... maybe?

2010-09-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

This morning I decided to sketch. I began a drawing of no one in particular. I simply thought I'd play with a little proportion and perspective. It was almost by accident that I savored the process. I had nothing pushing me to finish or get to a certain point. Every now and then I'd step back and evaluate my mistakes and begin to correct them objectively. I was able to let the work teach me about myself...and not be offended. It was one of those revelations that you can almost hardly even call a "revelation" because you can't believe you have missed it for so long. Can anyone relate? Quite simply, it was the fact that creating is WORTH the process even if the product is not perfect or even pleasing. The truth is, as with most processes performed by man, it is very likely that the product will not hit the mark. I have had it in my head for so long that the work of my hands was somehow linked to my value. I feel like I've lived by this lie without even knowing it. It's kind of like this veil that's been covering a whole different world of free expression. How much have I missed out on because I was afraid of what it may reveal? How much have I held back in fear? It's so crazy that we can kind of stumble onto these massive vision shifts totally unsuspecting. I guess that's how God works sometimes.

Why create?

2010-08-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

My most recent new experience has been teaching art to a small class of homeschooled children ages 5-12. While I have been immersed in visual art my whole life, translating that into communicable language seems like quite a challenge. I have been using some sources here and there but mostly I am creating a curriculum from scratch. In one of my first lessons, I decided to talk about why artists do what they do. Why do we create? That seemed like such a vast question to me. Yet, in the same instant, I silently replied just as I had been taught, "To glorify God of course." While I do believe that to be the answer, I also tihnk there is much more depth to that whole idea than I had realized before. I have heard the term "glorifying God" so many times that it has settled into that group of pat Sunday school answers along with "Jeeee-sus". As I rolled this question over and over in my mind, I was reminded of a lesson I taught recently on color. Color fascincates me in the fact that the colors we see are only a small portion of a gigantic spectrum and that we only are able to see those colors because of special equipment that God as built into our eyes. It blows my mind to think of what we will see in Heaven, when we have perfect eyes. But I am getting off subject quickly here! What God showed me was in the fact that color comes from light being reflected or absorbed by the object it is shining on. Do you see where I'm going here? The reason God chooses us as artists, the reason our reflection of Him is so important is because he made us unique. The light will reflect and absorb in different ways on each of us, revealing a new aspect of Him, a new portion of the spectrum of His glory. This gives new meaning to the idea that we are all part of one body, each playing a different role. It makes no sense to compare our works one against the other to see what is best. The only purpose comparison should serve is to bring greater glory, greater honor to the ultimate picture.

All things new...

2010-08-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

So we slipped off the radar for awhile there. Though we had planned for a smoother transition, life was not so accommodating! It’s good to be back! Despite our lack of web presence in the last few months, our Richmond Christian Artist community is steadily brewing. God appears to be sending out little shots of new life here and there. In my own life, he added baby #3 to the Pheifer clan in February. As you might imagine, it has taken awhile for the schedule to re-boot itself. Though the days are quite full of homeschooling, feeding, bathing and chasing, I feel God leading me toward new “births” in the creative realm as well. I have received multiple words about new opportunities and doing things that I never imagined myself doing before. In June, I sensed that God was releasing me from my work in organizing and running The Reflecting Pool Art Gallery at Commonwealth Chapel. I feel a ting of sadness in letting go of a ministry that God has allowed me to plant and tend since it’s inception over four years ago. But as with most endeavors that I pour myself into, the end has revealed some hidden truths. Some are good…confidence, encouragement, accomplishment, community. Some bear a sting like that constant fear of being fully known, fully revealed and vulnerable. But experience has showed me that pain leads to growth. So, as I think on new things that God is stretching into my view, I plan to focus on simply and honorably being an artist, creating with all my chips thrown in.

In Transition...

2010-08-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

HisArt.Org is in the process of changing from an online store to a blog site. Please excuse the lack of content at the moment. We'll be back soon!