I just finished a new book: "Sisterchicks do the Hula!". In the book, two best friends decide to celebrate their 40th birthdays by running away to Hawaii for a week. While there, Laurie shares 259 pics with Hope that she's never shown anyone else... including her husband. Hope is shocked that this amazing talent has never been made public and asks why. Laurie explains, "As long as I keep them tucked away like my own little treasure, then no one can reject them or criticize them. Everybody has an opinion." Hope answers, "...you know in your gut that you have to do something with this gift... It's like you're carrying around this 259 pound baby that you want to protect from thie big, bad world. And you know what? You just have to give birth and trust God for what's going to happen after that."
I have so many creative avenues in my life. I love to draw, to paint, sew. I love to create. I make aprons, clothing, jewelry... I have full sized paintings of landscapes, fairies, flowers... I am writing some now. I have a lot of spinning plates, and most of them involve some form of creative outlet. But for the most part I don't do anything with them once I finish a project. I have a closet full of aprons that are all pressed and ready to be worn. I have cute little hair barrettes. I have so many paintings all stacked up with no place to hang them. What good is all this?? Why can't I put them out there for the world??
Because they are my creations. They are windows into the heart of me. I can't handle the thought of someone looking into my window and saying it's not good enough. It's been something I've struggled with for a long time. I end up hiding away from my art and from creating my art because of that. It's very sad. What's ironic is that I teach an art class in our county Juvenile Detention Center and I tell those boys every week that what they create IS art. They complain because they "don't know how to draw" or they "can't make art". I remind them weekly that anything that comes from their heart IS their art. It doesn't have to LOOK like art they see out in the world, because it's THEIRS. It's their baby. Their creation.
The Sisterchicks talk about this. "You said the other day that my ability to create this art is a gift God gave me... that every life is a story... and the artist simply expresses the truth and beauty of that story. I can do that... I can interpret the story because... I'm an artist."
God, give me the guts to share your story through my art. To let people see my heart... your heart... through the windows of my creations.
I have so many creative avenues in my life. I love to draw, to paint, sew. I love to create. I make aprons, clothing, jewelry... I have full sized paintings of landscapes, fairies, flowers... I am writing some now. I have a lot of spinning plates, and most of them involve some form of creative outlet. But for the most part I don't do anything with them once I finish a project. I have a closet full of aprons that are all pressed and ready to be worn. I have cute little hair barrettes. I have so many paintings all stacked up with no place to hang them. What good is all this?? Why can't I put them out there for the world??
Because they are my creations. They are windows into the heart of me. I can't handle the thought of someone looking into my window and saying it's not good enough. It's been something I've struggled with for a long time. I end up hiding away from my art and from creating my art because of that. It's very sad. What's ironic is that I teach an art class in our county Juvenile Detention Center and I tell those boys every week that what they create IS art. They complain because they "don't know how to draw" or they "can't make art". I remind them weekly that anything that comes from their heart IS their art. It doesn't have to LOOK like art they see out in the world, because it's THEIRS. It's their baby. Their creation.
The Sisterchicks talk about this. "You said the other day that my ability to create this art is a gift God gave me... that every life is a story... and the artist simply expresses the truth and beauty of that story. I can do that... I can interpret the story because... I'm an artist."
God, give me the guts to share your story through my art. To let people see my heart... your heart... through the windows of my creations.
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