How I Work/ Does Art Just Come to Me?

I have been asked if the artwork I create "just comes to me". Art may sometimes be received with an impact of wonder to the viewer. Given this, there can be an assumption of the piece having flowed out of an artist's talented powers. My artwork, or any ability, is not driven by the vague or mystical. While I may be inspired at any stage from planning to creation, or be moved to do a certain theme, the bottom line is it takes work to create art. As I do, I use the creative energy of a natural talent. Throughout the process, however, applied work and time is required, like any other endeavor anyone may pursue. One may do the same with music, numbers, or building materials. Each of our vocations requires honing our skills. They do not come overnight. Art may appear mysterious - how did he do that? In reality, it requires effort throughout my entire life and in every piece.

Does artwork come easy? Creativity may stem from a natural ability, yet each art piece has its own challenges. As I work my foremost goal is to capture the subject using all my skill, and to stretch, pull, and learn more each time I create. This is the part that interests me and drives me the most. At times, this aspect may not be easy. The challenge is to keep the desire to do my utmost, even when it may be hard to do.  Those moments will come, they are a given. I make plenty of mistakes, working through them.

We find a prevalent idea with non-artists and some artists concerning the need to "feel it" or be moved and inspired or we can not work. If there are artists who work this way, I suspect they would find the ability within themselves if they are not limited to that idea.  This is not the case for me. I can create art anytime. I work everyday. Any obstacle within me, or in the work, is something to be adjusted to. To wait for inspiration, or when I feel right will only keep me from working. To keep doing art, moving from one piece to the next, is natural for me. Oftentimes inspiration comes when I simply sit to work on it, as I go. I find inspiration for my next pieces with subjects I want to portray, or by an idea behind them I wish to explore. Each week I will go through tough times, tedious periods, and moments when I need to set the piece aside for the next day.

Being an artist is enjoyable. The satisfaction of a completed work and the creativity needed for it are great motivations. I find that if I have spent an extended period away from the art table, my mood is affected. Productivity gives us a sense of propose, to remove this can lead to negative emotions.

A special joy is found in God giving us the ability to be creative. A wonderful gift He gives us, pointing right back to Him as all Creation is His awesome handiwork. How wonderful that He creates each of us with different talents. Our Creator gives each one talent unique to each. For the artist, it encompasses the eyes, the hands, and the mind He fashioned. We paint or draw, showcasing and highlighting what He has already created in vibrant living life. Artists are as if students studying what He has wrought Himself - yet mere children of dust who can only appreciate with awe His own glorious handiwork. It is wonderful how God calls us to grow and shine, yet creates in us the ability to do so Himself. With God, He gives a gift to us first and we merely give back to Him what He gave us and fashioned within us.

Artwork: © Jeffrey M Green. "Halved", 16 x 20", colored pencils.

The Beauty of God

When we contemplate the many attributes of God, we see a God of awesome and powerful beauty. In each characteristic - such as holiness, righteousness, purity, mercy, love, forgiveness, patience, and omnipotent power - we see perfection. As we look to Him with reverence, from the vantage point of the cross of Christ, we see a God of multifaceted grandeur.

That such a magnificent God is near and ever present to us in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ almost sounds too good to be true. Yet it is wonderfully and exultingly true. Through every trial, or mundane circumstance of life, He is near with astounding grace.

Praise God for His incomparable beauty and the radiance of His Son in glory. In all the the fullness of God, our Lord Jesus is at His right hand.

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3

Artwork: © Jeffrey M Green. "Minsi Lake", pastels & "Sunset Over Barnegat Bay", colored pencils.

Artists Focus on God through the Showcase of Creation

As an artist, many times I reflect with the deepest devotion on the beauty of God. We do not often think of the word beautiful in relation to God. It is glory of the highest glory, utter sublimity, awesome beyond our finite minds. The appreciation of God as beautiful calls to mind all His glorious attributes, with an awe of joy.

How gracious it is of our Creator that mere man can enjoy creativity. A gift from the Hand that created our very beings and the capacity to express ourselves. Though we see mere shadows and reflections of His wonder in the world around us, they are revealed as His handiwork and point back to Him.

God’s beauty, a radiance of glory, is the delight of my heart’s desire. It is not a beauty of the trivial, however, or our own often worldly idea of merely nice or charming. God is awesome above all things. He is absolute in power, vastly beyond us, in glory, holiness, and character. Yet, this same God is personal, intimately near in the most healing love, in the Person of His Son. Jesus, the wonderful gift of joy that sets us free.

The world, life within us and around us, was fashioned by the hand of a glorious Creator. An artist does not sit before an empty canvass and watch as it somehow forms a wonderful work of its own making in an accident of time (however long is needed for it to somehow emerge itself from nothing from a medium somehow existing the same way). Here we see art fostering appreciation in existence as a cause from a personal God.

Artists have a unique role in highlighting the experiences and showcase of Creation. It is not something we do in our own nobility. Does God really need anything from man? No, it is a gift. The very ability - the eyes, the perception, the hands, the mind, life itself - is all a gift. With feeble imperfect hands of mortality and dust that merely admire vibrant living life He has wrought, we use our perception and creativity.

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead. Romans 1:20.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Psalm 104:1.

Artwork: "Garden Butterfly", © Jeffrey M Green.

Self-Definition

Each of us have roles in life. There are many labels we use to describe these. In them, we find a sense of purpose. When we ask the question, "Who am I?", we focus on these aspects in order to understand ourselves. Yet, do they really define self? What exactly does?

As I view my life, I see a number of things. I am an artist. As such, I have a role in the local community and society. I have been blessed with many supporters and friends with my art endeavors. My purpose as an artist is an important part of me.

I have been a husband for almost five years. I have a role in marriage, having been blessed with a unique woman who loves me more than I deserve. Being a husband is an important part of me.

I am a member of a local church. I am blessed to have friends there that I value very much. They have been a support for my parents and welcomed me as well. Being involved in the church community is an important part of me.
I am the son of caring parents, for much of my life they have been a support in the midst of challenges I had that were not easy for them. Their imprint will be part of me for the rest of my life. My role as a son, and in the wider sense of my family, is an important part of me.

All of these make up parts of me. Yet, considered individually, or combined together, they do not ultimately define me as a person. What defines me, that which determines my identity, that which designates who I am – is grounded in the fact that I am loved by a Holy God. I am loved in an undeserved grace, received as His own in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. It binds all of these parts together, is head of all of them, and establishes their value. This truth is so profound as to encompass and define life, with all the roles or purposes in relation to it.

This does not equate to the label "very religious person”, though it may seem to. Most of the things that I shared concern relationship. I am bound to the person of Jesus Christ wholly, in relationship with the most beautiful love anyone can ever know. It is a life of ever receiving. Daily His love shines in my experiences, making all good things beautiful, working beauty and grace from pain. My soul rests, it finds completion in He who not only made me, but redeemed me. When I come to know that I was created by a personal God, am saved by His grace to draw near to Him, I find the fruition and reason for my very being. I find why I am really me, what I exist for.

God’s love in Christ is what defines me. In this, it does not negate the rest, rather, it imbues them with even more meaning they could have alone. This purpose infuses all of life. Christ is the “Amen” to all truth, to all love, to all the events I experience. He is on the throne of every life’s breath, yet intimately as a friend who never leaves or forsakes. Such joy is wonderful and beautiful, permeating life with the sublime love Christ has for us.

Artwork: "Awaken", © Jeffrey M Green. We see in this work a sense of determination, of purpose. The realization of which is that of bringing about the awareness of an awakening from things that have gone before.

The Desire to Avoid Discomfort

As Americans, perhaps more than any other culture, we tend to resist any form of discomfort. Whether it is physical, financial, emotional, or situational, we cry out against difficulty. We are brought up on our rights, what we can demand, and what we see as a sacred promise of the pursuit of individual happiness. In some ways today, these noble ideas have transformed in our psyche as a desire to shield ourselves from any trouble at all in life. You might even say we largely have redefined them solely to serve our own comfort.

When it comes to real life, it is unavoidable that there will be some kind of trouble. There will be difficult, even painful experiences. We may encounter this almost every day in some manner, or go through periods where we are overwhelmed. Our pasts may be filled with events that left many scars inside of us.

Some seek comfort desperately - or at least the lack of discomfort - by self medicating with drugs, alcohol, prescription abuse, or a myriad of diversions and entertainments. Modern life has uniquely brought many challenges of stress, along with ways of promising to alleviate it, though ultimately they add to the problem. The pull of them, nevertheless, is very strong.

Not everyone reacts this way. Perhaps the most universal reaction in the desire to avoid discomfort is complaining. Grousing has almost become a right in and of itself in our society, while on an individual level it defines much of our conversation. We complain about our bills, our health, our bad breaks, our marriages, how people treat us. The airwaves and media are filled with complaints about our government. We respond with visceral emotion, as if entitled to an intrinsic right to be free of any challenges. If things are not this way, we feel something is very wrong.

In terms of societal interaction, when we see all discomfort defined as a wrong itself, blame becomes a ready weapon, enmity the energy of social discourse. With punishment and apologies demanded, we are appeased, so we can feel safe and comfortable again. Is our over-vigilant sensitivity to tolerance issues, political correctness, or our raging against any contrary opinion other than our own (whatever they may be for either side) really a desire to never be uncomfortable?

When we allow our experiences to be in the hands of God, rather than our own, we are free to address life’s situations in a much healthier manner. In Christ, trials and difficulty are the chief way that God enables us to grow. In and through them God brings beauty and transformation, for our good. In this way difficulty transcends our annoyance, our resistance, and bitter complaining. Instead, it becomes opportunity. Our focus then is not on ease, but on Him.

There really is no way to avoid all discomfort or difficulty. We do not need to allow these experiences to go to waste, using up precious mental and emotional energy. By offering it to our Father, in trust that He has our best in mind at all times, we are free to receive the joy of His love in the midst of painful trials. It is a sure promise to hold onto, even when things get tough. It is then that abundant blessings await us.

Artwork: "Jetty", © Jeffrey M Green.

Welcoming God

Since the beginning, mankind has been running from God. Though we are empty and deeply broken, we seek our own way. If we may be inclined to think of God, we do so on our own terms, as if He were to answer to us, or ought to. If it does not happen this way, we are quick to get angry, in our generation.

The wonderful truth is that God is actually pursuing us. He actively seeks us, for He loves us beyond measure. So much so, that He gave His very own Son. Christ suffered, died, and rose again to bridge the gap of enmity between God and mankind. What is even more wonderful is that this is not an impersonal act vaguely applied to us. It is for each of us individually. God values each one of us, where we are right now, in our circumstances. Are your trials too big or too bad for God to love you? This is far from the case. It can be the very thing that brings you to an end of yourself, to welcome a God who waits for you to receive His Son.

Scripture says that when someone repents (changes their mind, receives Christ) all the angels in Heaven rejoice. Because it is the most beautiful thing a person can experience, with ramifications now and for all eternity. A sure hope that is not fickle emotion, but utterly trustworthy because of the object it is in, God Himself.

Artwork: "Through the Trees", © Jeffrey M Green.

The Problem of Evil

The problem of evil has been debated and explored for thousands of years. Up until our modern time, it was a given for us that evil existed. What we are seeing in modern society now, especially in the West, is a denial or redefining of evil and morality. It is a major shift in thinking.

There is, however, one sense where we very much are absorbed with the issue of evil more than ever before. It seems strange that on the one hand we want to remove this truth, but on the other we have become almost obsessed with it. It really comes down to where our focus and motives are. In our day, evil is most always considered in terms of “the other”. We see evil in that other person, that other group, that other society, that other mindset or views. We get caught up in this, and as we do so, we assume in ourselves that we are among the few that are “good”. Today's extreme behavior of the tolerance movement is very much driven by this energy, yet, no one is really immune. It is, after all, a human heart matter. When battle lines are drawn against each other, we see it in all camps.

God does not have the limited or reduced view of good that we do. Ours is based on a sliding scale of our own human perception, with others as a comparison – such as, “at least I (or we) are not as bad as they”. Today we are quick to use the words “do not judge me”, championing personal freedom as an all-encompassing banner, yet are constantly preoccupied with “the other” and what they deserve.

The Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. This is the human condition universally. It is very hard for us to see evil in ourselves, however. It is uncomfortable to do, certainly.  We run away from this idea or strive to live up to a code or philosophy of some kind in order to somehow try to counteract it, feeling that, if the good somehow outweighs the bad, we will be OK. We have an idea that we are really not so bad, failing to understand what true good is. True good is in relation to the source of good, which is God. True good is not relative, it is pure. When we are truthful with ourselves and look within as we stand before a Holy God, we are confronted with the fact that denial or redefining moral reality only adds to our sad state.

Deep within, we know – though we push it away, distract ourselves, or deny with all our energy - that we do wrong, we are imperfect, we hurt others, disappoint our own selves, and fall so short of good. Thankfully, though the judge’s gavel has been brought down, the sentence does not have to be despair. We can find joy, release, and true freedom.

As we are confronted with our own evil - the Bible calls this sin -  we are invited to fall to our knees and receive the Christ who, in the purest unfathomable love, paid for it in full on the cross. He rose in victory over sin and death, bringing us true life. Great is the love God has for us, that though we are sinners, He gave His only Son.

When we receive Christ, we are washed clean. Where there was once enmity and separation from a Holy God, we find through Jesus, tender mercy and connection. Where there was hopelessness and darkness, we find rejoicing in the beautiful unmerited grace of God. God, who at the same time as being utterly and awesomely Holy, receives us with open arms in the gift of His Son.

Artwork: © Jeffrey M Green. Altered colored pencils self portrait.