Forget About Counting Sheep

There isn't time. Listen. Listen to what Jesus said. Now paint with black ink on a blank white sheet of paper. Let your mind go and paint. It's in there somewhere and it will come to mind. It will show your personality, experience, environment, and faith. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7.

Creating from the Heart: Sheep and Goat?

Tom Overcasher offers the third in our series of images from Ken Krafchek's "Creating from the Heart" workshop. Tom's piece brings together images from two sayings of Jesus: one about the plank and the mote, and another from Jesus's many pastoral sayings. These two paintings were combined in collaborative discussion in the studio—call it communal intuition! The sheep simply needed to stand in counterpoint to the eye, to the plank/mote which contains its own layers of symbolism.

I'll let Tom add his own post to share about his process, but until then please consider what this image has to say. Do the parts come together to create a more powerful symbol than they would individually?

What about the corporate participation in creating this sketch? Was it presumptuous of us to tell Tom what we thought he should do with his images, and the combination in which we wanted him to present them, or was it a true reflection of the Body, working as a whole?

Cotroversy Abounds

Marnie's post raises the question of controversy in the community of faith. What role does it play? Or, more importantly, should it play? Is it healthy to have controversy in the church? Recently, I was watching a clip about two unlikely friends in the gay marriage debate as I was channel surfing after work one late night. Much to my surprise, I was riveted by a piece on Pat Robertson's 700 Club that was suggesting that friendship across enemy lines was the key to controversy in the church and our culture. Finally! Someone was talking sense and in a place, quite frankly, that I least expected it. Christians need to re-learn the art of healthy debate because I am convinced we do a great disservice to Christ himself when we either retreat to our own small corners of the world or we find ourselves demonizing those who hold opinions divergent from our own. Maybe there is a place for the Gospel of Q after all and for friendship that is marked by love and conversation that is not afraid to go towards the deep end of life. In my humble opinion, this is what Faith Renaissance seeks to create in the studio, in worship, in our coffee house and across tables wherever our members find themselves drinking a good cup of coffee.

Creating from the Heart – The Gospel of Q

I created this ink sketch in Ken Krafchek's "Creating From the Heart" workshop, in response to a familiar passage from sayings of Jesus. Ken read these passages as sources for spontaneous painting, using sayings from the "Gospel of Q."

(The short version of "Q" is that it is thought by many biblical scholars to be a book of Jesus's words, a source common to Matthew and Luke, gospels in the current canon which are similar in many ways. Controversy abounds!)

This sketch may suggest source passages, or it might speak to you in new ways about Jesus and the gospel. The process of creating it was more playful for me than usual, even though the subject isn't an easy one.

What might you say (or draw or paint) in response to this sketch? What would you say (or draw or paint) instead?

An Excercise in Zen

Ken has graciously offered some reflections on his art to our discussion:

"My artmaking is an act of personal discovery. It is a process, or action philosophy, grounded in the possibilities of the moment…

I consider the process of putting brush and ink to paper to be an exercise in Zen – a Koan of sorts – a furious, intuitive event designed to confront and confound my logical discursive mind. This method strips me of my penchant for planning, predicting, or prejudging some future outcome. It cancels out my preconceived notions of good and bad, self and other – and permits an awaking to that which both encompasses and transcends “normal” concerns…

Immersing myself in this “mindless” act of creativity, it is interesting to note how very often Christ’s image calls out to me…"

-- Ken Krafchek

Emptying Out & Filling Up

This morning in my devotional reading on the cost of discipleship, I encountered this quote from The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp that connected for me with Ken's image. I now share it with you for your pondering...

"A cup is a container for holding something. Whatever it holds has to eventually be emptied out so that something more can be put into it. I have learned that I cannot always expect my life to be full. There has to be some emptying, some pouring out, if I am to make room for the new. The spiritual journey is like that -- a constant process of emptying and filling, of giving and recieving, of accepting and letting go."

During Lent, I wonder what might need to be emptied and what might need to be recieved to make room for the new? When I encounter Ken's image I am reminded of the life Christ poured out for me that in turn, enables me to be filled with love for others who are by the world's standards, unlovable. I am moved towards putting my love into action, which is not always easy or convenient. Today, I am heading to the Hermitage to serve communion to some of our elderly members and I will keep this image and Rupp's comments in my heart as I offer Christ's body and blood. I trust that I will receive much from this community as I learn to let go and share God's love through faith in action. Who else might God be calling us to "make room for" in our lives as we seek to live faithfully inthe world?

Creating from the Heart

The art studio at Faith Renaissance has just wrapped up a thought-provoking workshop entitled "Creating from the Heart", which was led by artist, activist, professor, and friend, Ken Krafchek. Ken led us in a process of responding to sayings of Jesus through intuitive ink painting. There was often profound silence as we worked, but also moments of laughter, and even anger as the bluntness of some passages and the demands they present felt unreasonable.

Please join us on our Lenten walk by reflecting on and responding to the small sampling of images that we'll post weekly, starting with this brush-and-ink crucifix created by Ken. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

We're planning a coffeehouse in April to discuss these and other images, and the issues they provoke. Watch this space and our website for more information, and plan to join us!