The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
What Does it Profit an Artist: Reflections on Creating
Picture this: you're flipping through an old sketchbook, and suddenly, ideas from over a decade ago leap off the page, still brimming with potential. That's exactly what happened to me, and it sparked a realization about the cyclical nature of creativity and the profound connection between inspiration and time. Join me, Matt Tommey, in this episode of The Thriving Christian Artist as I delve into the concept of "prophetic percolation," where ideas are like coffee beans, needing time to mature and reveal their full essence. Through personal stories, I explore how patience and reflection can uncover the seeds of great creative projects and how revisiting those forgotten sketches can inspire fresh, mature works.
Balancing the joy of experimentation with the steadiness of consistency is crucial for any artist. I share my experiences of playful seasons filled with risk-taking and those times when focusing on successful pieces brought both satisfaction and market success. As an art mentor and business coach, I emphasize the importance of pursuing work that resonates with both the artist and their audience, hitting that sweet spot of convergence. By embracing both spontaneity and structure, you can embark on a truly fulfilling and thriving creative journey. Tune in to discover how these insights can transform your approach to art and life.
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Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast, where we hope you connect with God to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tommey, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, friends, welcome back to the podcast. This is Matt Tommey, your host, super glad to be here with you.
Speaker 1:I was in the studio today and just making some new work and I've actually been in this whole thing, as you know, this last year, of really just having a lot of fun in the studio and pressing into a whole new body of work and working with clay in ways that I've never worked with before, actually doing some realistic representational sculpture of birds and branches and all kinds of stuff I'm just having. I'm having a ball. I'm having a ball and it was kind of interesting as I was working today and I just kind of had a moment to catch my breath and had a moment of reflection. I started looking through an old sketchbook that I have and, man, I've had this thing sitting around the studio. I don't know if you're like me, but I mean I have multiple sketchbooks all over the place, and so I started looking back at things that I had sketched years ago I mean years like 10, 15 plus years ago, and I don't know where this sketchbook has been, but it's not the one that I've been using. And I started looking back and I was like, golly, some of the ideas that I'm actually pursuing right now in my creative process are things that started in me 10, 12, 15 years ago.
Speaker 1:And I don't know about you, but sometimes we get ideas and we, you know, we just kind of go with it and then we never do anything with it again. And then other times we get ideas and we sketch around on it and all this and, for whatever reason, we don't pursue it and it just kind of goes in the hopper, if you will, and it just kind of sits there. I really call that in my little book Prophetic Art. I talked about it as prophetic percolation. You know, this idea that we get a seed, an idea, a bean, if you will, of inspiration from the Lord, and for that thing really to take off, I think it's much more important that we not just instantly recreate it, but we allow it to, to get cooked and get crushed and get, you know, squeezed and let the hot water run through it, just like we do coffee beans, in order for the essence of that thing to come out.
Speaker 1:And I, just as I'm looking at all these ideas that I've had over the years and that are really very reminiscent of things that I'm working on now and kind of, maybe, a more mature version of what I'd sketched previously, I was just really struck about how long sometimes it takes for great ideas to come forth in our life and to not be afraid of that or think you've missed it or feel like, oh gosh, I didn't, I didn't do that, it's never going to come back around. It always comes back around again. I don't know about you, but I find that in my creative process with the Lord and in my life, he's always bringing ideas back around and bringing these moments of of convergence in our life. You know I was also thinking about. As I started thinking about all of those different ideas and things, I started thinking, wow, there have been seasons in my creative journey that I've been a lot more playful and experimentational and willing to take risks, and then there've been seasons that I got really, you know, locked in on one or two things that were really working and just, you know, because they worked and because I loved making them it wasn't that I didn't love making them. I really, you know, pressed into those things.
Speaker 1:And I think during those times, especially if you're an artist that has found something for you that you not only love but the market is responding to, the normal reaction is to do more of that, which, as an art mentor and art business coach, I'm all for right. I want you to do the thing that there's favor on that, there's joy on that. People are buying this, that place of convergence. That makes sense, you know, for us as artists. But I started thinking about that and I said you know what I can tell In times where things have really sold for me, and even in times where my business has been the most financially profitable, usually those are the times when I've been the least playful, the least experimental, the least willing to push the envelope in my creative process. Why? Because I'm just focused on the things that are working and I got to thinking.
Speaker 1:This morning, as I was just kind of pondering all of that and sketching around in my sketchbook, I started thinking and the Lord brought up to my mind Mark 8, 36, which is this may kind of sound off, you know, off base with this, but it you know the scripture says for what shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? And of course Jesus is talking about our eternal soul right there and you know, warning about the dangers of pursuing worldly success at the cost of our relationship with the Lord. But I think you know, and I think the Lord was trying to remind me, it's got a really powerful message for us as artists because you know, although we're not risking our eternal soul, but we listen, we can really lose and risk our creative soul if we sacrifice the place of authenticity and risk and experimentation that's in our art for the sake of just what is selling. And again, I'm all for things selling and being financially successful and all that I mean. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you know me, you know I fully believe that God often blesses us through the sale of our work and that sort of thing. But there is this fine line and there's this beautiful tension, if you will, that I think we have to keep, as artists, between making a living and also losing our creative integrity.
Speaker 1:I really, really think that for all of us, no matter if your work is selling like gangbusters in the marketplace or you're still in that emerging process, we're called not only as believers but as artists, to create from this place of joy and authenticity and spiritual connection with the Lord. You know, that's God's plan, right. He designed us like that, in His image and, you know, in His likeness, so that we could be infused with His unique creative expression. And when we only get into this, you know, kind of season of only producing things that make money, we risk losing the beauty of this divine connection with the Lord and distancing ourselves, if you will, from the excitement and the adventure and the holiness even of what God's wanting to do in and through our life. You know, I just want to encourage you, whether you are in a season of real experimentation and playfulness and just trying everything that comes to you and just having a ball in the studio, or if you're on the other side of hey, you know I've kind of locked in, I found the thing that that works for me and I'm just I'm riding this thing as long and as as fast as I can or if you're somewhere in between, I want to encourage you to get back intentionally to that place of play and experimentation.
Speaker 1:Make time in your daily studio practice to look at Pinterest, look at ideas, look at materials, go for walks in the woods. Whatever it is that juices you up creatively. Do those things. Give yourself time to play with materials that you don't often play with. Give yourself the opportunity and the permission to make mistakes or, as Bob Ross says, happy accidents. Right, get in there and make some ugly stuff. Get in there and wrestle with materials again and allow those things to speak to you and to lead you and to inspire you and to excite you in the creative process.
Speaker 1:Listen, I really believe and you believe this too, I know you do that God wants our art to be a reflection of His life within us and we can't afford to let our creativity just become another checkbox, if you will, on a long list of to-dos checkbox, if you will, on a long list of to-dos. It's got to be an overflow of the beautiful things that God's doing in and through us. And you know, just like I do, if you ever get into a place with the Lord where everything's just kind of rote and religious and just going through the motions somewhere along the way there's going to be an opportunity for you to get refreshed and get revived, where you're going to get sick of the mundane and the status quo and you need that fresh encounter with Him and I pray, friend, for you, that that would happen in the studio this week. Hey, friend, I love you. I'm so excited that you're with me on this journey on the Thriving Christian Artist podcast. If this has been a blessing, please share it on social media with your friends. Please leave us a review.
Speaker 1:You know, tell everybody about this podcast and all of the episodes that we've had here for so many years, and I hope that they are a big, big, big encouragement to you on your journey with the Lord, as you really follow everything that he has for you as an artist. I love you, friend. Thanks for being here. Remember, until next time you were created to thrive. Bye, hey, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast. Listen, I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist Podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye-bye, thank you.