Lean in Dear Artist, Friend, What you create is important.

Oh, You think...that you are "just" an artist, what can you do that matters, that makes a difference or a lasting mark in the world? How does 30--40 hours of studio time per week, prayer, and refining your craft contribute to anything worthwhile or long lasting? It's not like we are physicians or researchers committed to curing the illnesses that destroy or those on the front lines fighting for innocent lives to be spared....Right?

I've had these battles. These inner fights with that critic that lives in my head.

I've downplayed my role and minimized the value of what it is I've chosen as my vocation.

I've been my own worst enemy and fought against spending precious time in the studio believing there must be a more "worthy" pursuit.

Yes, I've been there...The ugly truth is that I'll probably be there again next week

BUT

I won't stay there.

I won't stay there because I've witnessed the manifestation of hope that comes from someone meeting up with the image they needed to behold that gave them that reminder that there is hope, that confirmation that they are understood and that they are seen. A divine connection.

Not many question a beautiful piece of music that moves them, the written word that speaks life, or a stunning sculpture that stands the test of time chiseled from marble so long ago.

and

I'll never stop fighting those voices that speak the opposite of the calling on my life and I pray you won't either.

If you've received healing, gained knowledge, fought battles (lost or won) If you are a human being on this side of Heaven and know that there is more....You carry something precious

What you have inside of you is worthy to create and put out into the world. It is powerful and can and will be used to speak life and truth and bring forth beauty. To shed the light of love and hope and drown out darkness is a more worthy calling than we can even perceive.

Whatever you create, be in the act of creating.

I was at an art show in November. A young man came into my booth space. He was quiet, head down, and quite taken with a small piece on the display table. It was a print of an original painting. He kept looking up at the original and then down again at the print. I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to leave him alone for a moment. When I felt it was time, I thanked him for coming in and looking and asked if I could help him. He said "I want to buy this print" I said "I'm honored and blessed that you want it" He said, "My friend's husband was just diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and he won't make it to Christmas. This is a gift for her. I want her to look at it and know that she was loved by so many through this time."

I was so moved. I noticed he was also looking at the ornaments on a tree I had in my booth and I chose the one he was considering and gave it to him and, with a hug, we completed the transaction.

This is not just a moment, this is not an insignificant thing that happens and passes and has nothing important attached to it.......................this is eternal.

When I created said piece, I knew it was for someone. I've learned to believe that the process is for me and my interaction with my God, but the finished piece created from that time is for someone else and for a deeper purpose than what the limits of my faith and imagination can conceive.

Lean in dear Artist friend. Lean in to the passion to create. Don't fear that there won't be provision. I've had testimony of that as well. Know that what you do is a ministry of presence and your art is a delivery system for peace and hope to the soul.

We are messengers, light bearers, and hope bringers. In relationship with our Creator, we find purpose.

Artfully Yours, Tina

P.S. I know that many who read this will be moved and some will be offended by the heart of my calling as an artist. The truth is good and gospel is disruptive. Being moved is to be fully alive and to be disrupted in an opportunity for a pivot shift of great significance.

This piece is in process and it's about what grows out of that quiet conversation in studio time. The inspired moments.

I'm excited to see where it goes.

"Olde Winter"

All the time, I'm pinning photos. When a photo gives me an emotion, I save it. I know there is something there in that gut reaction that I experienced in that moment when I saw those eyes that was meant to be interpreted in some way.

This is how I felt when I was scrolling through black + white portraits and saw the photo of a man...his eyes so full of experience, wrinkles so full of wisdom, and a knowing endurance and persistence that was to be respected.

My heart took an extra beat and I immediately saved his image not knowing how he would play into a future piece of art.

I wanted to create an image for Christmas/Winter and didn't want to go with the Santa aesthetic I had created in the past.

I felt like a combination of, Old man Winter, Father Time, and A Christmas Carol so I began to lay down paint.

The idea and combination of magical meanings began to converge....A clock ticking away, layers of transparent glazes, glints of light, marks, and more to discover built in to the brushstrokes. It all began to take shape.

Icy moments in a wind blowing through the painting created a magical, even mystical, atmosphere that sets up the warmth in the eyes of this man.

There is meaningful movement in this piece.

This piece speaks to the ending of a year, a moment in time...celebrating it, but letting it go...as well as the infinite possibilities a new year, a new season, a new moment can bring.

"Olde Winter" nods to knowing and experiencing things deeply, and is an image I was blessed to create.

Please go here for details and to secure your print

The Original Painting of "Olde Winter" is also available....Here

Blessings to you,

Tina

"The Holdout"

Winter is coming. Just step outside, take in a deep breath...you may decide that Winter is actually here.

My family always had hummingbird feeders up in the Summer. We dislike the idea of taking them down in late September, but know that we must because the hummingbirds must go wherever they go before the freeze.

I was taking my feeders down a few weeks ago and had this thought...

The warmth is leaving. The comfort of the sun will soon be masked by gray days only giving us peeks at it's brilliance to keep us going.

I see Summer collecting in bubbles of light and moving on?

For our own good, we (much like the Hummingbirds) must change with the seasons.

They move on as we move inside.

We aren't designed for this atmosphere, at least, I'm not

In this painting, "The Holdout", a loving, but forceful, soul is saying..."it's time to go...for your own good, it's time to go"

but...

sometimes, we are stubborn and settled in because it's familiar and there is sustenance here.

Have you ever stayed too long?

In a job, a relationship, a friendship?

Have you been stuck too long in a mindset, unhealthy habits, a lifestyle?

I am blessed to have carefully curated people in my life whose wisdom comes from above and their grounding is strong and true. They communicate in love, they have my best interests at heart, and care more about where I'm going than where I am. This has been a catalyst for growth as I've moved from one season to another.

I am blessed to have a Husband who is that person, and a small group of women who are those people. One of those women, I've know since the age of 14.

When I'm tempted to stay too long in the familiar, when I get my heels dug in, when I get comfortable and a bit stubborn, when I am "The Holdout", they help me move.

I thank God for my people.

Blessings

Tina

*"The Holdout" is an original mixed media oil painting by Tina Lawver and is available for purchase.