Aimlessly wandering the aisles of an art supply store with an unlimited budget is my idea of fun!
Being able to liberally spend is a dream, which could end up becoming a nightmare for one who hates waste as much as I do. My trips to the local art store are mission driven, to purchase specific items on a budget that often feels inadequate.
I began this journey by making a deal with the Lord—an innocent transaction at the time. He was to supply me with everything needed to be an artist, and I would serve with my art!
How He or I would fulfill this transaction was fuzzy in my mind. His many promises of abundant supply were not yet familiar. That would come years later. His faithfulness since then has been stunning! While He has more than done His part, I'm still learning what it means to follow Him faithfully.
I'm keenly aware of the prohibitive cost of art supplies. But if making art was to be a journey of faith, how else was I to begin than to trust Him for those expensive supplies?
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Â Philippians 4:19
Knowing the promises, and walking them out in the daily pursuit of creating art, are totally different activities!
What an adventure to rely entirely on Jesus to provide as needed! Not always easy or predictable, yet I have never run out.
He kindly supplied encouragement when I was feeling blue, art materials when I was low, ideas when I felt wrung out, energy when I was weary...
But more than anything, I am most grateful for the sense of mission He imparted when I wondered about the worth of my feeble attempts at art.
Every time a finished work of art speaks to another, imparting emotions and meaning I never anticipated while creating, I experience the power of His purpose.
Art speaks! It can woo, move to tears, inspire, provoke, remind of past experiences, bestow hope, attract, hint at the unknown... It has been a privilege to have Him use my art like this—an honor that keeps me creating.
For many artists generating a worthy income from their art thrills them. But to me, making a sale is no match for the sense of awe in knowing that God uses my work to speak to others. No amount of money can replicate that emotion. He will do the same for you! But this post is not about that thrill. It is about His divine provision being more than enough for every act of creativity in the foreseeable future.
The start of a New Year usually has me on the prowl looking for a challenge. What good is a New Year without some aspect of it feeling NEW? I sought the Lord for direction and for new ways of approaching my work. Would fresh supplies trigger an unexplored direction?
As I looked around my cluttered studio I was surprised to realize that I had more than enough supplies to create art for at least this year, if not longer! And that was not because I did not need more of what I frequently used. I did. Yet what screamed louder were supplies that were still unused!
I tended to reach for the same palette of colors, familiar papers and work in a manner that had a easy rhythm to it. Even if I switched media, from acrylics to clay, or from watercolors to ink.... I still made predictable choices. Repeatedly replenishing those same materials kept me from using other costly supplies, once enthusiastically purchased, yet never used.
Forgotten were the ideas that tickled my imagination, as I walked out of the store with a ream of textured paper, an exotic color in acrylic, inks that shimmered with metallics, pens of all sizes and thicknesses.... Their potential was never realized, because I reverted too often to the familiar!
I looked again and was struck by how little pigment is truly needed for a painting, how far a palette of gouache can go, how many tools for clay I'd never as yet experimented with....!
I need to USE all this, I decided!
Some paints and inks had long dried out. Another year of leaving supplies unused was poor stewardship. Â I HATE waste! Wait, did I already say that?
Unplanned purchases seemed to be the norm for us as artists. "What if......?" we tell ourselves..captivated by the thrill of acquisition and the excitement of possibilities. Well, this year will be different.
In 2025, one of my goals is to completely exhaust my present supplies for my own creative exploration!
My work will look different as a result. I expect it to be an exciting variation, not contrived, but the natural result of creatively engaging with supplies that are unfamiliar to me.
Commissions are different. Clients deserve artwork that is archival, made with the finest quality materials, usually in their preferred color palette and medium. But for my own work, I'm going to make messes, using materials that once caught my attention and were never exploited. And, perhaps, something good will come of it.
My conversations with Jesus in art will continue with the unfamiliar materials. That will stay unchanged.
I'll force myself to figure out how that screaming fuchsia can be used in a painting in a manner that is pleasing and not gaudy. What fun to at least try!
Perhaps you'd also like to inventory your studio and create new art with materials you meant to use some day and never did.
You may also discover, as I did, that God's supply has always been more than enough. I was just somewhat blind to all that was already at hand!
Happy New Year! May it be a year filled with excitement in your journey with Jesus, faithfully exhausting all He has already blessed you with to create works of worship and beauty!
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