Welcome to my monthly newsletter! Scroll down to stay updated with the art and events happening in my world. Be encouraged and inspired to live wholeheartedly and creatively in your own life!
Hello friends!
YOU are creative.
If I had a dollar for every time someone told me, “I’m not creative,” I’d be a wealthy woman. When people find out I’m an artist/musician they tend to say it to my face. Women say it in mommy groups, in relation to mothering and homemaking. Teenagers say it to distance themselves from judgement, afraid of not measuring up to peers. Men very often say it as part of a cultural, pseudo-masculine facade, as if being “masculine” has anything to do with creativity, or the lack thereof. (One group of people I have never ever heard utter this phrase...children.)
In that context, people are usually trying to tell me that they have a sense that creativity is around them, maybe in them, but that they’re not sure about letting it out. I think I know what they mean by “creative”, but I have a hard time with the narrow sense of the word. My guess is that they haven’t thought about it very deeply, but instead mean to tell me that they haven’t colored in a coloring book since childhood, they don’t sing - even in church, and they’ve simply written off any thought of auditioning for the part of Tevye in the local playhouse rendition of Fiddler on the Roof.
They know there’s more to life than meets the eye. They’ve felt it in nature, in love, in art, in grief. But that “more” seems to be reserved for other people, only for the ‘special ones’. If they’re honest with themselves, there's a longing inside them to explore ideas and make new things, but when they’ve tried to visit the part of themselves where creativity is supposed to be found, they often notice the experience feels hollow and the language of creativity, obscure.
Even people who have known a creative life are vulnerable to this longing. People who, in the beginning, as children, used their imagination and innovation, have stalled into a humdrum use of inherited maps for daily life. They know what it’s like to birth the new, but it’s been a minute, and now they’re not sure how to shake off the settled, safe harbor of the already known.
People are willing to look all over the place for creativity. They’ll spend money on Master Classes, watch TedTalks, take painting classes, learn computer programming languages, and scroll through Pinterest for hours. They’ll buy instruments, but never pick them up. They’ll watch Chef Ramsey, but never make a dish. They’ll sing in the shower, but never share the tunes.
No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet creative sages throughout history have suggested that the reason so many of us cannot see the script is precisely because we are already in the story. The creative life is not afar off, it requires no expensive equipment, no necessary experience, or special charisma. The only thing lacking is our willingness to suppose that we already have everything we need; to give an affirming nod to the truth of who we are and what we have to give.
We are created in the image of The Great Creator, so creativity is in our nature.
2021 can be a year full of curiosity, expansion, and amplification with your willingness to shine. You are creative and have something to give our world. Let it out.
Jesus said it this way, “If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!” Matt 5:15 (Message)
Peace and Wholeness,
Sarah
“When I refer to ‘creative living,’ I am speaking more broadly. I’m talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear….A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a h*** of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner—continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you—is a fine art, in and of itself.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
Paintings Lately
This year’s first couple of months have continued to be full of absurdity and chaos. I don’t know about you, but I heartily resonate with the meme going around that says, “I’m getting tired of living through historic events.” As always for me, painting (and, lately, writing) have been good outlets.
This one is still in process…”Flourish Through”, 6 ft x 5 ft oil and acrylic on canvas (Part of a series I’m working on, exploring passageways/gateways - personally symbolic to me lately.)
Commission a painting!
Is there a painting you’d like for me to create for you? Do you have an idea, a mission, a message you’d like to display through images on your walls? I'd love to have a conversation and work to create for you a just-right painting.
“BELIEVE”
What an honor. I created this piece for my friend, Jeri. (She was our education coordinator at ERCLC when we were first homeschooling 15 years ago. I needed, so much, the encouragement and wisdom she poured into me. Let’s just say, I love her.) When she reached out to commission this painting, Jeri gave me pretty much free reign to create something that would reflect her thoughts, struggles, dreams, and prayers for her new year - things she shared with me. The piece is now framed and on a wall in her home....a daily reminder of things already radiating from her heart.
“TRACY”
I was honored when Paul asked me to create a gift for his wife, something original to celebrate this beautiful woman. She is crowned with love, is a mother of three, is a blogger (her words on her drape), sunflowers are her favorite, and, though she lives with pain and uncertainty in her body, she is looking toward an eternity of Goodness. He surprised her with the piece and it now hangs in their home as a reminder that her life is cherished.