This is a series which reflects on the struggles which all of us face in our lives. The struggle may be great or small, profound or trivial, secret or public; but the reality is that none of us live without it. In a sense, our lives would be small, boring and largely meaningless if we […]
One of the realities of working with clay is… the fire. I did not set out with the intent of making a “Shattered” piece — I was just sculpting a figure. However, the creative process does not always go as we plan. At temperatures from 1607°F (875°C) to 2345°F (1285°C), there are plenty of things […]
Watching the stars… This was actually a “test” piece. When I originally bought the kiln and clay from a friend who was retiring from working with clay, there was one unidentified block of clay. I found that it fired to a rich, semi-gloss brown. I have tried to identify that particular clay body so I […]
We often hear people speak of great artists as “gifted” individuals. I have even heard people use that term to describe my abilities in art. I’ve wondered about the deep implications of having a gift, and what impact that has on the way I practice my art. First: a gift is something which is given. […]
The concept behind this piece — as a single piece, and not just ten little sculptures — is the way God has created us, as individual artists, to live and operate in community. … As God has created each of you, and molded you through your life experiences, He has made a wonderful and unique person, every one of you beautiful in your own distinct way, standing on your own, with the gifts that only He could give.
Over the last several years, my sketch book has become one of those personal, somewhat “sacred” things in my life. It has become my faithful companion, recording words, pictures, abstract shapes, emotions, truth, pain, practice, sketches of people at airports and on the subway in Prague. I’ve gotten so I hardly go anywhere without it […]
It struck me that people go through a number of stages/seasons/steps as they start to grapple with what it means to be an artist. These stages aren’t really well defined, and have a lot of overlap, but I think they still map a definite progression in both the individual’s understanding of their personal call to be an artist, and of how other people begin to see them:
One of the never ending discussion threads that I have run into time and time again is the ageless question of, “What is Art?” There have been countless minds much greater than mine which have wrestled with this question, and I strongly suspect that there is no complete answer to this question. So, I am not […]
One of the things you always wonder about when you go on a trip like this is, what, honestly, are the long term outcomes from all the time (and money) invested in this trip? Sure, it’s really great to be able to travel, to see other people, to expand our understanding (intellectually and spiritually) of […]
One of the interesting things I’ve noticed when looking at art with some of my non-artist friends, especially when looking at more abstract art, is the tendency of those friends to ask, “But, what does it mean?” Now, in their defense, these friends really are trying to understand what they are looking at. They squint […]
You may remember some of the stories from my trip with OM Arts to the city of Baja in southern Hungary in 2011. I wanted to share a story with you which I just heard a couple of weeks ago – one which speaks about the lasting impact of our short trip there. On that […]
After more than 35 years of prayer, the Lord blessed Sue and my desire to minister together in the Czech Republic. The outreach was sponsored by a local Russian speaking congregation and its young, energetic pastor. Pastor Oleg and the church had been working on planning this outreach for 1½ years. There were seven of […]