Two Sides of Deadlines

Deadlines can be both friend and foe.

On one hand a deadline forces you to finish a project and ship it. Without deadlines some of us would never finish anything. In this case a deadline is your friend.

Other times, and I can be really guilty of this, a deadline can cause stress, aggravation and fear. In my life, this type of deadline is almost always self-imposed. I set a goal for myself, often an unrealistic one, and then stress myself out trying to do the impossible. Actually maybe calling the deadline the foe here is misstated. If the deadline is self imposed and unrealistic, the foe is the one who set it, in other words, I’m my own worst enemy.

How we handle deadlines matters. Often a deadline will feel unrealistic because we have waited too long to begin or because we focus on the whole job that needs to be done, rather than working incrementally, chipping away at the job a little at a time. I hear people say that they work better under pressure all the time. I’m not convinced that’s true. You may feel that, but if I asked your family what you’re like under pressure, would they have the same response?

If you are in the place to set your own deadlines, I highly recommend it. Meeting goals is a wonderful thing and as artists, without a drop dead date, some of us will tweak forever, especially if you have tendencies toward perfectionism. Just make sure the deadline is realistic and attainable.

No one will want to be around you if it isn’t.

Forgive Me As I Rant…

Hi, my name is Dave and I am a work in progress. I usually try to keep this in the realm of the arts and ministry but occasionally I feel the need to jump in on a topic and today I have two.

First is the rescue of Amanda Berry and the two other young women that had been kidnapped (along with Berry’s daughter). First did anyone else find it really eerie that this event happened on the date that Hawaii 5-0 aired an episode about a young girl abducted and held captive for ten years. I thought that was a little freaky, but I digress. I try to live my life peacefully, never desiring to do harm to anyone. Folks in my denomination would love me to be against capital punishment, and for the most part that is where I stand, but every time I almost get there, someone does something like this and really makes me question my convictions. This is hideous and horrible. Amanda Berry’s mother died not knowing whether or not her child was alive or dead. I just have to keep reminding myself that God is bigger and knows what He is doing.

Then there was the man that aided her escape. This man is a hero as far as I am concerned and I am really disturbed with the way people are making fun of him. Is he incredibly well spoken and eloquent? No, but did he bravely step up to help and rescue another human being? Absolutely and bravery should be praised, not ridiculed.

And then there is Abercrombie and Fitch. Their founder, who I am sorry is not on the attractive A-list, recently had this to say about why his stores do not stock women’s clothing above a size 10.

“He doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people,” Lewis said. “He doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’”

I’m sorry but as if their soft core porn ads and signage weren’t enough, this is reprehensible. I am the furthest thing from an activist that there is, but I am calling for a complete boycott of this company. In a day and age where so many young people, especially young women, are dealing with eating disorders trying to attain an unattainable physical standard, this is the ultimate in irresponsibility. The hatred this man is spewing (the rest of the interview is worse) would not be tolerated were it directed toward any other group. It shouldn’t be accepted here either.

If you care about people at all, do not buy Abercrombie and Fitch!

Now that I’ve vented we will return to what we’re supposed to be all about.
Thank you for your time.

What do you want from me???

Hi everyone,
I am trying to make AMOKArts the best resource possible for creatives in the church. I want to create resources that people will use, and spread. So I was wondering what do you want from me? What kinds of resources would be helpful?

Also I am thinking of podcasting and/or a newsletter in addition to this blog. The question is, what would you find more helpful…

There is no try…

I saw this image on Facebook the other day and it bears repeating.

It’s my favorite quote from Yoda. There is no try… Do or Do Not. This is not to say there is no value in trying, but after a while, you’ve got to stop trying and just do it. Create the masterpiece, show it to the world and let the chips fall where they may.

This speaks to me today, how about you? Is there a positive area in your life where you need to stop trying and just do it? Is there a negative area in your life, where you need to stop trying and commit to quitting and living better?

Happy Birthday Dawn!

Today is my lovely wife’s Birthday and unfortunately we are about 250 miles apart but I want to take the time to thank God for a wonderful wife who has supported me through a lot of stuff and helped me to become something better. She is the one God used to draw me to Himself and marrying her was the second best decision I have ever made. She has given me two wonderful sons and a multitude of blessings. I am truly blessed. What can I say… I love my wife. Happy Birthday, Honey!

Incidentally, if you’re reading this and you’re single, this is the kind of spouse you should be looking for. One who builds you off and helps you to become better than you can be on your own and helps you to walk close with your God. If you’re married, the above is the type of spouse you should try to be.

I should probably add at this point that Dawn and I will be married 25 years this Tuesday. As a result, as soon as I leave the conference I am currently at, We will be taking a few days off. AMOKArts will most likely go silent from the 21st to the 23rd.
I’ll be back Wednesday.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: WILD!

There’s really no deep spiritual message to this one. Just taking an opportunity to learn some new skills, and work creatively. If you are looking for more creative outlets, give IllustrationFriday.com a try.

Incidentally if you need more challenges, check out my book 1001: A Sketch Odyssey: A 1001 items to draw, design, create and invent designed to build your art skills and expand your creativity

Feed my sheep…

It was a command given to a man three times. It was a command given to a man who had to feel disqualified for ministry, a broken man who seems to have felt like a lost cause. That man was Peter and then this morning it came to another guy I know at a point where he was feeling pretty low.

What does it mean to “feed my sheep?”

Who are your sheep?

What kind of feeding do you need?

I could really user your feedback here.

CCM: Creative Challenge Monday

 One of the things that has been impressed upon me is that we as creatives have a unique gift to make the complex understandable, thus helping people to understand the Gospel and come to know and follow Jesus. I want to help us to key in on that in the weeks ahead so from this day forward each Monday will be CCM: Creative Challenge Monday. I will post a word, a concept or a verse. Your challenge in that week is to create something that expresses the concept in whatever God glorifying way you choose. Write a story, create an image, make a video… The possibilities are endless.

This Monday’s challenge is a parable of Jesus:

The Sheep and the Goats

Matthew 25:31-46  31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

What does this parable mean to you? How would you like to express it to the world? How do people miss the point on this concept?

If you want you can share your results by posting a link to your work in the comments. If you don’t have a way to post your work, you can share them on the AMOKArts Facebook page.

Amazing Sand Art

Done for an ad agency looking into the future careers of children, I just couldn’t get over the beauty of these creations.

Here’s the copy from Youtube:

Dirt is Good. Especially when it’s the result of your kids going out into the world to have fun, explore, learn and create. To illustrate this, we asked 3-times World champion sand artist, JooHeng Tan to build a series of 18-ton dirt sculptures showing kids’ futures.

If this guy can make art like this from sand and dirt, what can you do with what you have?

I found this video at the amazing art site thisiscolossal.com

Seeds of Creativity

This was the first thing on my Christmas list this year.
I saw it online and knew I had to have it. It’s a Revell/Monogram model kit of a 1926 Mack Tank Truck.

I know, I know, it must seem a little childish, but there’s a lot more to this than a grown man playing with toys. To understand, you would really have to have known my nana, Beatrice Steininger. If you asked me to name the one person who made me an artist, (besides God) it would be nana. From the time I was old enough to hold a crayon, she put crayons in my hand. She bought me puppets and ventriloquist dummies and paint kits, she even gave me a beret once (it’s okay I’ve long since forgiven her.) My mom had a lot to do with it too so did some other wonderful folks, but most of my early creative memories revolved around nana. And there was one other thing nana got me all the time. Model kits. She’d take me to Zern’s auction in Gilbertsville and we’d go to the hobby shop and she’d let me pick one out every time. Then we would go home and I didn’t go to bed until it was done. Oh how I loved doing that. As I got older, I’d paint them and take more time and slowly it became more of a creative pursuit and another seed that pushed me toward being an artist.

This kit is a rerelease of one that my nana bought me all those years ago. The price has gone up about 600 percent, but building it brought back a flood of memories and I had a great time remembering nana asI built it. The smell of the glue and the paint, the stickiness of the glue on my fingers, all of it brought back fond memories.

There is another reason I share this. If you’re a creative, you may see your craft as your hobby and indeed art is one of my favorite things to do but if you get really serious about it, there are times where you might need a diversion from it and that’s okay. Sometimes the best thing you can do to build your creativity is step away and do something else for a little while. This Christmas was a bit of a stressful time for me, and having this little plastic truck to build allowed me to unwind a bit, just have fun and rest in some very fond memories.

It was just what I needed.