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Why do I really want to go to this conference?
I am an artist, and an artist for the church. I paint during the service sometimes, and they even have a whole wall in the lobby with my paintings on it! So in a way, I feel responsible to grow in this gift. But I also want to sell my work and eventually make a living at it too, and creating excellent art for both secular and faith based worlds that SELLS is a challenge.
Beyond that, art is a communication tool to deliver a message. The problem is the church and the secular world speak two different languages. The secular world may be put off by the languages, much less be able to understand it. "Blood of the Lamb" taken literally or not in the secular world, is really quite creepy and cultish. But those of us with a Bible based background and education know the implications and symbolism of "the blood of the Lamb."
But the same message of redemption can be delivered in a visual language that the secular world can understand.
It's like translating the Bible into another language. The visual language.
And that's partially what this conference is all about.
I would really like to hear what other people in the Christian artist workforce have to say about this.
The church as a whole has gone back and forth about art for millennia, and I'm sure it will happen again with the cycle of the use and misuse of art as a tool. But we are currently in a phase where we are bringing GOOD art back to the church, and we young artists are at the forefront of that effort that will shape how art is perceived by the church for the artists and years to come.
More importantly, we have a responsibility to use our talents, skills, and time for God's glory. We can worship God with stick figures and joy, but need a reputation of excellence if we want to put it on the same market as the art we sell to pay our bills. It's about giving God our first-fruits, the BEST of what we can do. If the best we can do is stick figures, so be it. If not, let us paint will all our skill. We have to compete on two grounds. The first is how we pay our bills and the secular, visible, physical standards by which our art is priced and valued by the customer. The second is the spiritual, the message of the work, and our heart in creating it. Spiritually, it can be a tool or a snare. Satan will hate the tools, and what may be spiritually powerful may not be commercially viable in the secular market, because they are judged differently. So how do we as artists make a living at art and worship God with our gifts at the same time?
"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this will be given to you as well."
God knows what we need, he knows that we have to practice our art and eat, it's how he designed us. And it might be hard, but that is part of the great adventure. It just never seems like an adventure at the time. But I believe that we should make art for God first, because that's the art that will have the most lasting impact.
No matter what happens:
"Make good art" ~ Neil Gaiman
