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ART Biz

http://artbiThis is a link to an interesting site and a class for artists on getting organized.

Interesting class possibility...
http://www.artbizcoach.com/zcoach.com/classes/organize.html

Monday, June 30

On June 30th, a number of MANNA members gathered to talk about problems that many artists struggle with, this month focusing on organizational problems. It seems as though people who pursue the artist's calling either struggle with finding time to work, or finding money to work with. In looking at finding time to work, there seem to be two kinds of issues related to time - feeling non-productive, and prioritizing time to work. We read a lesson prepared by Eric to start the discussion going. Here is an excerpt:

Organization is not typically a strong characteristic of creative people. If you actually are creative and organized, consider yourself deeply blessed! More often then not, creative people are collectors and hoarders of things that spill out from drawers, closets, folders etc. We save quotes, scribbled ideas, sketches, books, interesting objects or materials, tools . . . and even broken things with sentimental value. The clutter of once-inspirational objects that we have amassed over time can overwhelm us at times. We also sometimes tend to be blind to the details of life, and eventually become overwhelmed by these same details once we realize that they are lurking out there. Artists tend to be like this. I can’t explain it, but I see this pattern over and over. The artist’s path is littered with the debris of inspiration . . . at times quite literally.

Following the discussion, we had a time of prayer. We had several new members who came from Kendall at this meeting who shared some of the struggles they are having as art students as well.

Next month, we will be talking about VOCATIONAL struggles, those struggles related to finding money to work with, and deciding whether or not to try to live off of the sales of your work. We are strongly encouraging MANNA members to come who are "full time" artists as well as people who do art "after hours", as well as people who may be struggling with deciding whether or not to be full-time artists. As always, we will have a time of prayer afterwards to pray for any art-related and life-related issues you may have.

NOTE: MANNA is in the process of becomming a CIVA affiliate, which means that we will be changing our name to Grand Rapids Christians in the Visual Arts (GR-CIVA). For the next few months, we will be using both names interchangeably, and eventually will phase out the name MANNA and go exclusively with GR-CIVA.

Meeting tonight

We will be meeting again on Monday, June 30th at 7:00 pm at Orchard Hill Church to discuss challenges that artists have. This meeting we will be talking about Organizational Struggles that artist's have. A case in point, I am sending this email out late. SO... don't you be late to this meeting.

I am recording podcasts of these lessons for the Grove Center for Arts and Media, so if you want to hear the material from the last few meetings, just email me at nyfung99@sbcglobal.net and I will send you a rough copy you can download to your ipod, burn to a CD, or just listen on your computer. Each one is 10-15 minutes long, so it is long enough to have a cup of coffee and use them to supplement your morning devotions if you want.

Also, I will be reporting to the group about my trip to Princeton this month to represent MANNA to the Christians in the Visual Arts group. For those of you not familiar with CIVA, you can learn about them at www.civa.org . Anyhow, we will likely be changing our name from MANNA to Grand Rapids Christians in the Visual arts (GRCIVA) as CIVA now is developing affiliate groups around the country, ours being the longest group in existence (since 2001).

SO .... come for a time of fellowship, learning, and "show and tell" with other Christian visual artists around Grand Rapids.

Hope to see you there,

Eric Nykamp

sent by Virginia Wieringa

Excerpts from MANNA meeting Monday, May 19, 2008

We have taken a different approach to our MANNA meetings these past two months, embarking on a series of discussions about various struggles which visual artists have at the point where their faith and art intersect. This month we discussed the topic of “justifying” our work to people. This was a lively and heartfelt discussion where MANNA members talked about struggles that they personally have. We concluded with a time of prayer and show-and-tell. Many of you have been asking for copies of the “letters to MANNA” which we are reading… so here are a few highlights. These letters are being recorded as podcasts and will be available through the organization the Grove Center for the Arts and Media out of California.

The Struggle with Justifying Your Work

“Art needs no justification.”

- Hans Rookmaker

“What I am good at doesn’t make any real difference in people’s lives. I mean, if I were good at something practical like carpentry or farming, then I would directly know that I was having an effect on people. Or if I were a preacher or therapist, then I would know that I was making a difference in the way people think and feel. But I am good at creating and expressing myself. What is the point in that? No one’s life is going to change in any significant way because they spend a moment seeing my work.”

… Sometimes when I feel the need to justify my work, it is as if people are challenging me to justify myself. For myself, I go through times when I am overwhelmed with people not understanding my work, not understanding the ups and downs I experience about my work (sometimes saying “Why be upset about a painting?”) and even making comments about the amount of time I devote to creating. As creative people, it is easy to occasionally feel like we are some sort of “mistake” or that there is something wrong with us that makes us create the things we do. I hear many creative artists who say that they wonder if they would create the way they do if it were not for their mental illness, living with parents or spouses who had unpredictable behavior, surviving traumatic situations, or not being allowed to talk about feelings as children. I wonder in my own family why so many of the people with musical gifts also seem to struggle more in life and sometimes face tragedies that seem not to afflict the others. I myself struggle with this. And yet, for myself, these same things do not need to be seen as a symptom of something wrong, but as a way out…

… I have come to recognize in my own life that my art-making has an additional value. I have realized that creating is a form of prayer. Some people may find this to be a strange idea. However, I believe that it is a very Biblical one. The act of art-making allows us to create an environment that lets our minds wander, reflect, and meditate. The times that we create are times that we feel God’s presence, and when we are dealing with issues in our lives these quiet times are periods when we can feel God working through our imaginations to navigate these difficult waters. When we pour our lives into our art, our art making becomes a time of prayer. For myself, I could not imagine going through my own difficult times in the past without painting and making music about my struggles. God spoke to me at those times through music, singing songs to me through my very fingers, allowing me to become physically exhausted from playing or even snapping piano strings in making music out of my pain. He walked with me through the keys of many different pianos. He journeyed with me as I painted night after night in the various studio spaces I have had, using these long stretches of quiet to speak to my heart, to allow me to reflect, and to listen to Him as I beat patches of paint across many canvasses…

… Maybe some would say that I should have used these periods of time differently. But my times under the piano light and under my studio floodlight were moments where I needed to be with God during those dark times. Without a regular time spent doing these creative activities, I cannot say that I would have been in a place physically or emotionally where I could have listened to God, or where God would allow me to safely wrestle with Him. Without continuing to spend these times in my aesthetic sanctuary, I don’t know if I could have the same walk with God. Maybe others will benefit from my creativity. I don’t know, I have no control over this. What happens to my art after I make it is no longer up to me. I believe that the creative God I love gave me this gift to use – yes for the benefit of others – but also for me. I too am one of His children, whom he loves, and spending this creative time together is one special way that He spends time with me. To give me a gift that allows God to minister to me is just as valuable as giving me a gift to minister to others…

… Coincidentally, by speaking from my heart through my creative voice I often end up speaking for others who could not speak this way on their own. Through the use of my creative gifts, I allow myself to be an “aesthetic intercessor” on their behalf. If someone is moved by one of my paintings, my art piece then becomes the catalyst for their prayer, accelerating it and giving it a voice through the viewer’s emotional appreciation of this work of art. I once heard the musician and Christian academic Jeremy Begbie phrase this sentiment in this way “I cannot sing like that singer. But he sings for me. I cannot drum like that drummer. But the drummer plays for me.” I have a friend who is my “aesthetic intercessor” in a similar way. She sings in my church, sometimes crying while leading the congregation because the songs speak so eloquently to her heart, her experience, and subsequently they speak to me. I told her the other night after our rehearsal what watching and listening to her sing does for me. By her transparent emotions and physical interpretation of the music while singing, she speaks to God the way I too wish to sing to Him. When I watch her, I can imagine that her voice carries my own heart up to God’s ear as well…

Next month we will talk about struggles and successes with organization (every artist’s favorite topic). Here is a little taste of what is to come:

. The Organizational Struggles

“I know that a messy desk is a sign of genius,

but what if you can’t even find your desk?”

- adapted from a Ziggy comic strip

Dear Friends,

If there is one thing I hear often from the creative people in my life, it is that organization is one struggle that comes up over and over. Maybe it is the circle of friends whom I have, but from what I have seen in my life, this problem is one many creative people struggle with. The stories of my friends often are versions of on of these two stories:

“I used to do more . . . I just haven’t worked on anything in a really long time. In college I used to create because I had a professor who demanded that I turn in so many pieces. Now no one is making me do anything. I used to fantasize about living off my work, but I needed to support myself, so I got a job. Then came marriage and kids. Now I just am exhausted al the time. I sometimes have an urge and go make something, usually for someone who knew what I did years ago, but really I can’t remember the last time I made something for myself in months. Just looking at my stuff from college that I have in the closet makes me depressed. It reminds me of how much time has gone by. I am embarrassed to tell people how little I do each year. When people hear from my spouse what I do (or used to do), I always show the same couple of pieces. I don’t tell them that they are fossils from my past. I think God made me creative once, but I haven’t used my gifts in so long I wonder if He just took them away.”

“Who could find time to work on anything creative? Maybe some other people who are less busy than I am can do it, but not me. There is too much to do. If it is not work, it is family or friends who need me to drop everything at the last minute to help them. Except for the commute to and back from work, my life is fairly unpredictable. I think I just have given in to the interruptions of life. Maybe when my kids leave I will have time to work on creative things, but until then, I think I can just give up on having any kind of time for myself.”

May 19

This Monday we will continue to have the discussions started about discerning God's calling to create. We'll also have show and tell and prayer. See you at Orchard Hill at 7pm Monday May 19