Creativity, getting messy and new work

God is doing new work in us – and over the past several weeks, our Art Guild has been exploring new ways of how the Creator can help us be creative and express ourselves.

Art for the Heart explored colour theory, alcohol inks and mosaic tiles and squares. It was an interesting six-week series that had participants playing with crayons and pencil crayons to assess colours and how they work together. It was essential information for alcohol inks, which was an incredible exploration of colour and texture.

Alcohol-based inks are what are used in Sharpie and other permanent markers. They’re readily accessible and can be blended and textured easily with everyday items such as cotton balls, straws, felt and stamps.

An Art Guild veteran created a naturescape, with purple hills that meet the sky in the distance, as well as gentle verdant slopes and trees. It’s reminiscent of Psalm 23, where our Shepherd takes us to lie down by the stream and rest.

The same artist  – known for her love of plants and walks in nature – took a closer look at flowers as she worked in class.

She spread the red alcohol-based ink on her tile, initially likely by blowing, a technique used in making flowers with alcohol inks. Many participants commented that their flower emerged and took shape in ways they hadn’t planned or imagined as the ink spread across the tile in whisps and circles. Artists added texture with a spray of alcohol or blending solution.  Using Sharpies or a similar marker, they added lines and dots to create focal points and leaves to enhance what would become the petals of the flower.

The purple creation features texture and colour that we are starting to see in our gardens and have eagerly awaited for months.

Just a couple of weeks later, bulb flowers begin to sprout through the still-cold soil and add colour in surprising spots around us.

Being courageous enough to get messy, explore and see what happens (or letting go of control and imagining what is emerging) are incredible gifts that our Creator God gives us and encourages us to accept and use.

As our gardens begin to spring to life again, let’s be thankful that God is doing a new work in us and around us.