Monday Morning Encourager

I’ve been wrestling with this my whole career as an artist. There are times where the pressure is pretty huge to create for the masses. The thing is, if that is your intent, it rarely works. If you try to please everybody, you rarely end up pleasing anybody, least of all yourself. Perhaps we should consider these words from Andy Warhol, who once said:

“Don’t think about making art. Just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

Love his work or hate it, those are words to live by!

A Great Quote from Rick Warren

In the Expanded Anniversary Edition of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren gives a quote that every Christian creative needs to consider.

“Let me be clear: Having ambitious dreams, a desire to be better and faith goals are all good things, if they come from God, benefit others and are pursued in faith for His glory.You should want to make the most of your life, create beauty and help others. But envy poisons everything it touches and prevents God’s blessing on your efforts. Why you do what you do matters the most to God.”

It is good to have dreams and visions. It is great to want to make a difference but this quote gives us a couple great heart tests. When you look at pursuing any goal, it’s always a wise idea to ask yourself, “Does this come from God? Will it benefit others?” and “Will God be glorified?”

In all of our pursuits, the glory of God is paramount. Don’t invite Him to be a part of what you’re doing, ask Him to make you a part of what He is doing. Then live your life to be a blessing.

Great quote from Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison once said…

If we all did the things we were capable of doing, we would literally stound ourselves.

I believe this is thoroughly true. I believe we stifle our abilities and our creativity when we accept man made limitations. Think of Edison. As a child many of his teachers considered him mentally challenged. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but if he had listened to his detractors, we might find ourselves quite literally sitting in the dark. He didn’t accept his limitations and he didn’t quit.

Don’t you quit either! Looking at it from a faith perspective it becomes even more encouraging. Even when we reach our limits we can take comfort in the FACT that we serve a God for whom all things are possible.

Also remember this, difficulty is not a sign that God has given up. So many people act like God has removed his blessing as soon as things get tough. Don’t you believe that. To believe that negates the story of most of the people in the Bible including Jesus. If God has called you to something press on until he says quit!

You can do it!

Dee Hock on Creativity

You may have never heard of Dee Hock, but if you have a Visa card in your wallet, you know his work. Hock was the founder of what became Visa. He has an interesting quote that bears repeating pertaining to creativity. “Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.”

I think this is crucial to the creative process. People speak of creative block but the truth is what they are really experiencing is clutter. We have our minds filled with so so much data, so many things vie for our attention, combined with a billion sources of media. Our minds are like a bad episode of Hoarders and we wonder why we can’t come up with anything creative… There’s no room.

I watch in amazement as my son does homework while watching TV, texting, checking his email and listening to his iPod. All the inputs are full. I think the best way to overcome creative block is to do as Hock suggests. Unplug, separate yourself from distractions, pray, close your eyes and just listen.

Sometimes it’s not creative block so much as it decluttering time.

How do you declutter your mind?

Quote of the day…

I heard this on Dan Miller’s 48 Days to the Work You Love podcast. He also answered my question on this week’s podcast by the way.

He gave this quote from Photographer, Cecil Beaton which really resonated with me.
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”

Wow! What is Up with Beware of Artists?

On January 13, 2011 I posted this post

http://amokarts.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/beware-of-artists/

Today when I checked my web stats I was surprised to see that that post alone had over 240 hits last week and 60 today. Anybody know what’s happening? I love the quote and hope that is exactly what all Christ following artists will do to the glory of God.

By the way, if you like the image on this page and the sentiment. It’s available on a t-shirt by clicking the image.

Quote for the day: Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby once said that he didn’t know the secret for success, but he did know the one for failure, try to please everybody.

At the end of the day it all comes down to this. God created you uniquely for a unique purpose. Do what you’re called to do, stay on task and live to please God.

UBU!

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Popularity

For today’s challenge I needed a little help. I needed a good quote on the topic that said something really profound. So when looking for profound quotes, few people are more quotable than Mark Twain. Here’s what he had to say.

Deep down inside of each of us is a desire to fit in, a desire to be liked and loved and if we’re not careful we will compromise things that should not be compromised. The question for each of us is this: How much can you compromise for the reason of being liked (popularity) before you become someone you don’t like? I think it was Shakespeare who wrote “to thine own self be true…” and… well… that’s true… but it goes even beyond that.

What you value becomes who you are? Popularity is a fleeting illusion, here today, gone tomorrow. What lasts far beyond it all is your character. So be the best you, you can be. That will allow you to remain someone you can live with.

Quote of the day…

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream–Vincent van Gogh

Great Quote from St. Francis of Assissi

He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands, his head, and his heart is an artist.
~St. Francis of Assisi

Be an artist today!

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Joshua 23,24; Psalm 34
You can also download your own chart here.