This is a bit tangential, but one thing it stirs in me is the very recent memory of a message I sent to a musician I've never personally met. Of many songs he's created and I've loved, one stands out in my life. I refer to this particular song as "my calming song." Whenever I am stressed or hit by anxiety, this song soothes me like nothing else. It takes me outside of myself and my difficulties. It has become possibly my favorite song ever. I never tire of hearing it, and it's one of those songs that, whenever the opening melody plays, my heart skips a beat like my soulmate just walked into the room.
I'm a burgeoning visual artist, so I personally love to know that what I create resonates with people, which was part of my motivation for reaching out. I wanted him to know that his creation is so dearly loved. My goal was to share some encouragement that what he's created, what he's still got inside him left to create, is so very important to the world. To thank him for making my world more beautiful.
I think that it's easy, as people who create, to focus on something we want to communicate, in hopes that it will resonate with someone in a similar fashion. The interesting thing is that I don't believe the song I've referenced was necessarily created with the intention of becoming what it became to me. One of the most fascinating things for me to ponder is the idea that every individual experiences everything in the world differently. I could produce a painting meant to convey something specific from my heart, but my particular use of color or blending, or even some small accent or detail included on a whim, could be the very thing that draws someone else in. They may completely disregard my intended message, but still be affected deeply by the piece.
Art, indeed, embodies stories. In a fluid, living, breathing sort of way, it embodies the stories not only of its creator, but of any who encounter it after completion. In an odd way, this encourages me to put aside my propensity for perfectionism, because no matter what I attempt to convey, the receiver will receive through the filter of their own heart and experiences. It gives me a sense of freedom to simply create and communicate, in hopes that what's meant to land will do so - wherever and however it's meant to. In hopes that it in some way enriches the world around me.
Wow... thanks for getting my gears turning this morning! :)
thank you for sharing. I hope that songwriter feels affirmed by your generous words.
and yeah—I would imagine with visual arts that possibility of kaleidoscoping interpretations is very present. I like that you're able to lean into that. it's like—what's good about a tree? that it's lovely? its color? the shade it gives? the way it changes? the strength of its trunk? the bounce and sway of its branches? the hidden grounding of its roots? thinking about where it is in its life cycle? its relationship with sun and rain?...
not sure it's relevant, but I love this quote from Francis Schaeffer:
"Consider God the Creator. Is God's creation totally involved with [so-called] religious subjects? What about the universe? the birds? the trees? the mountains? What about the bird's song? and the sound of the wind in the trees? When God created out of nothing by his spoken word, he did not just create [so-called] "religious" objects. And in the Bible, as we have seen, God commanded the artist, working within God's own creation, to fashion statutes of oxen and lions and carvings of almond blossoms for the tabernacle and temple.
"Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person who is a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism."
It is relevant, in a way, yes. I remember reading this selection from Schaeffer for the first time last year and feeling it to be both revelatory and innate at the same time. I appreciate the supplemental perspective. :)
This is a bit tangential, but one thing it stirs in me is the very recent memory of a message I sent to a musician I've never personally met. Of many songs he's created and I've loved, one stands out in my life. I refer to this particular song as "my calming song." Whenever I am stressed or hit by anxiety, this song soothes me like nothing else. It takes me outside of myself and my difficulties. It has become possibly my favorite song ever. I never tire of hearing it, and it's one of those songs that, whenever the opening melody plays, my heart skips a beat like my soulmate just walked into the room.
I'm a burgeoning visual artist, so I personally love to know that what I create resonates with people, which was part of my motivation for reaching out. I wanted him to know that his creation is so dearly loved. My goal was to share some encouragement that what he's created, what he's still got inside him left to create, is so very important to the world. To thank him for making my world more beautiful.
I think that it's easy, as people who create, to focus on something we want to communicate, in hopes that it will resonate with someone in a similar fashion. The interesting thing is that I don't believe the song I've referenced was necessarily created with the intention of becoming what it became to me. One of the most fascinating things for me to ponder is the idea that every individual experiences everything in the world differently. I could produce a painting meant to convey something specific from my heart, but my particular use of color or blending, or even some small accent or detail included on a whim, could be the very thing that draws someone else in. They may completely disregard my intended message, but still be affected deeply by the piece.
Art, indeed, embodies stories. In a fluid, living, breathing sort of way, it embodies the stories not only of its creator, but of any who encounter it after completion. In an odd way, this encourages me to put aside my propensity for perfectionism, because no matter what I attempt to convey, the receiver will receive through the filter of their own heart and experiences. It gives me a sense of freedom to simply create and communicate, in hopes that what's meant to land will do so - wherever and however it's meant to. In hopes that it in some way enriches the world around me.
Wow... thanks for getting my gears turning this morning! :)
thank you for sharing. I hope that songwriter feels affirmed by your generous words.
and yeah—I would imagine with visual arts that possibility of kaleidoscoping interpretations is very present. I like that you're able to lean into that. it's like—what's good about a tree? that it's lovely? its color? the shade it gives? the way it changes? the strength of its trunk? the bounce and sway of its branches? the hidden grounding of its roots? thinking about where it is in its life cycle? its relationship with sun and rain?...
not sure it's relevant, but I love this quote from Francis Schaeffer:
"Consider God the Creator. Is God's creation totally involved with [so-called] religious subjects? What about the universe? the birds? the trees? the mountains? What about the bird's song? and the sound of the wind in the trees? When God created out of nothing by his spoken word, he did not just create [so-called] "religious" objects. And in the Bible, as we have seen, God commanded the artist, working within God's own creation, to fashion statutes of oxen and lions and carvings of almond blossoms for the tabernacle and temple.
"Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person who is a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism."
It is relevant, in a way, yes. I remember reading this selection from Schaeffer for the first time last year and feeling it to be both revelatory and innate at the same time. I appreciate the supplemental perspective. :)