Artists

We're Artists. We believe that God has made us this way. We're passionate, we're creative, and we see the world differently than non-artists. We also sometimes feel lonely at St. Matthew...
The fact is, St. Matthew is composed, mostly, of non-artists...and it's really hard for us connect with them, isn't it? To make things even more confusing for us, many of these left-brain folks even participate in artistic activities such as music or drama. (and this is GREAT! That's how God has made them!)
This group is an attempt to gather the artists who are hiding in the dark corners of St. Matthew, looking for other people like them. We can gather here to enjoy and talk about the creative world in which God has placed us, and celebrate the unique people he's made us.
Let's be the artists we are and build up St. Matthew to be the church God has called us to be...together.

Group Postings

Art For Art's Sake

Submitted by Bob on February 2, 2008 - 8:06am.

I've noticed, recently, how much art has become utilitarian. (this book recently reminded me yet again) The Arts have become all about a 'product' and are rarely ever about Art anymore.

What Is An Artist?

Submitted by Bob on January 30, 2008 - 10:20am.

inspired by balder1718's request for further exploration of this topic...

I guess, before this conversation I thought that everyone held approximately the same definition of "artist" as I do. Come to find out...maybe it's not the case. So, let's talk about what an artist is, shall we? I'll be interested to hear everyone's reactions to this.

In my experience and definition, an artist IS NOT:

  • Anyone who happens to partake in making a product in the commonly held realm of "the arts" (a singer, a writer, or a guitar player). There are MANY people who do these things that are not, in fact, artistically minded.

However, an artist IS:

  • Someone who is inclined to look beneath the surface of life, beyond the obvious answer
  • Someone who thinks abstractly, as opposed to logically...thereby, isn't afraid of chaos or fuzzy definitions, but instead is inspired by them.
  • Someone who is often (overly) passionate, impulsive, and irrational when they encounter an idea or an artistic expression that truly moves their soul.
  • Someone who is often open to ideas that seem stupid or irrational, because they know that unorthodox ideas are usually the key to discovery
  • ..and much more...I could probably go on forever...

Usually artists have all this inside them...passion, the need to discover, the need to explore the abstract...and it needs to get out. That's where the true arts come from. An artist is not someone who learns how to play the guitar because they want to...they're someone who makes music because they MUST or....well...something bad will happen.

The Arts and The Church

Submitted by Bob on January 27, 2008 - 5:19pm.

Peter Belanger and I have been talking about some books, recently, that address the issue of arts in the church. I thought I'd share the link, and I think we'd both be willing to loan out the books if anyone is interested. They are:

Both books tackle the decline (and even denial of) artistic expression in The Church worldwide. Good reads, both.