The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
Embracing the Unpredictable in Art & Life
Ever found yourself at a crossroads in your creative journey, only to discover that the unexpected detour led to a masterpiece? Join me, Matt Tommey, as I invite you into my studio for a candid glimpse into my latest project—a series of nature-inspired reliquaries. While working on these intricate pieces, designed to inspire serenity and peace, I encountered a creative snag that transformed into a serendipitous opportunity for growth. What began as a botched glaze coat turned into a catalyst for a new color scheme, pushing me to embrace the beauty of the unexpected in my artistic process.
Throughout this episode of the Thriving Christian Artist Podcast, I'll share how this experience became a lesson in patience and trust, not just in art but in life. Whether you’re an artist searching for inspiration or seeking spiritual nourishment, this journey illustrates the importance of letting go and allowing creativity to guide us. So, grab your favorite drink, relax, and join me as we explore the twists and turns that make the creative process a true reflection of life's unpredictability.
Pre-register for the Foundations Course now at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/foundations
Join us inside the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor
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 Tama, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, my friend, it's Matt. Welcome to another edition of the Thriving Christian Artist Podcast. Super glad that you are here. Hey, it's after Christmas.
Speaker 1:I'm in the studio all this week and I'm getting ready for a great 2025. And I was just working, actually, on a pretty big painting. I'm doing these if you've seen my latest work. I'm doing these if you've seen my latest work. I'm calling them nature-inspired reliquaries. They're big boxes, I guess, or cradle panels with niches. I'm making everything from scratch and then I'm doing a cold wax painting surface and then filling the niches with all sort of nature-inspired woven goodies that are just special to me and, I think, evoke serenity and peace and just being with the Lord.
Speaker 1:But anyway, I'm in the middle of one of these big ones and I don't know about you, but there are some times that things in the creative process go exactly like you think they're going to go and you're like, yes, I got it. And if you're like me, as soon as things start to go well, I'm like, great, I can just crank these things out. Man, this'll be great, you know. And so you kind of get a pattern in your head of, well, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that, and we can, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And as soon as you do that, how many of you know that the bottom falls out and that everything that you thought you knew how to do doesn't work the way you thought it was going to do, and the paint's different and the wax is different and the the texture is different, and it just doesn't work the way you thought it was going to work. Well, I had one of those experiences.
Speaker 1:Uh, this morning I'd been cranking along on this piece and, um, you know, really feeling very good about it, and all I had to do, you know famous. And all I had to do, you know, famous, last words, all I had to do was put what I thought was going to be the final glaze coat on this piece. And I'm doing it and it's like, oh great, you know, this is looking really beautiful. I was going to do this, like, you know, payne's gray, sort of indigo blue, you know, over this cream color, really translucent, beautiful. And then I thought back, I'll come back with a gradient of, you know, some darker brown and make a beautiful, you know, kind of drama, but I won't do that today, I'll wait till tomorrow to do that because it needs to dry.
Speaker 1:Well, of course, me thinking let's just get done with this, let's just get on with it, wrap it up, I started to put the second glaze coat over the first glaze coat, and the first glaze coat wasn't dry. And so what did it do? Made a big old mess. And what did I start to do? I started to push and I started to try to fix it and I started making a bigger mess and finally I was just like I'm like why did I do this? Why did I do this? I do this so many times, I don't. I mean, you probably do as well. We, we all, you know kind of go for things that we, we know need to rest, uh, in the studio. And so I was just like, well, doggone it, what am I going to do? And I had to try to fix it, you know to, to do something. And I ended up doing this whole different color scheme of you know, with this blue. I started going with this cream, sort of an opaque titanium white, with some caramel sort of pigment over that to really hide all this other layer that I just did and blotting it and solventing it, doing all this kind of stuff, and all of a sudden I was like, oh, like something totally different than what I thought was going to be.
Speaker 1:This piece started to emerge Now for me in my journey. I wish I could just say you know, I do everything perfectly all the time, but there are many times in my journey where things happen like that, where something happens that I didn't expect and it turns in a completely different direction. Listen, I don't know about you, but for many years in my life when that sort of thing happened, that would set me off on depression, anxiety, it would make me want to give up, it would make me stop the piece and just not go in the studio for a few days. I would start having these recurring thoughts like why are you even doing this? Nobody wants to buy your work. Like what makes you think you can even sell this? You can't even mix color, like you know. Just all these, these overwhelming thoughts of you're no good, you're stupid, why are you doing this? You messed it up again, all this sort of thing, and it just debilitated me for years.
Speaker 1:I don't know if that's your story as well, but I find that for many, many, many artists, the very natural thing of things taking a turn in the studio and not going the way that we thought, unless it just turns out to be this wonderful, happy accident that we all want to happen immediately. If it goes the way you don't want it to go, all of a sudden it can really turn into a direction that is pretty devastating emotionally for you and can even paralyze you creatively for a few hours a day a month. Whatever it is for you. Thankfully, I've learned in my life some strategies to be able to take situations like that and hear them and process them through the voice of the Lord, not through the voice of the enemy. I've learned that being able to take my art as it comes and my life as it comes is does not mean that I'm a failure, that you know I didn't plan well, that things didn't go right because I'm not a good person or I'm not a good artist. Things just go, don't go well sometimes because they don't go well.
Speaker 1:Sometimes your art process takes a turn because sometimes things just you know, you, you put a stroke there that you didn't mean to. You use a piece of material that was rotten, you, you do a color that you thought was going to work, you were convinced, and then it just doesn't. But those things don't have to destroy you, and yet for many artists they do. And so I'm thankful in my own life and you know, thankfully that as I've mentored others over the years, I've been able to teach artists strategies to be able to take situations in their life that typically would destroy them, paralyze them, set them back, set them off into depression, anxiety, fear, whatever it is, and process those through a different lens, to see that situation differently, to be able to welcome those things as a surprise, as an adventure, rather than some sort of accusation against you that you're not a good person or not a good artist.
Speaker 1:Listen, there are so many things like that, not just our art process, but the way we deal with others, the way we see ourselves, the way we see God, the way we deal with issues in our life and situations that just don't go the way they. You know we thought they would go, and I want to invite you just for a second. Can you think of situations in your life like that, where somebody said an offhand comment or something didn't go the way you thought it was going to go, or you didn't get in the show, or you've not sold a piece for a while, and those things have become a place of torture and a place of just frustration in your life, to the point where it makes you just want to give up. Listen, if that's you. That's exactly why I created our foundations course. Our foundations course that's coming out in January is actually designed to help you uncover these sort of roadblocks internally that cause you and I to process life in a way that's unhealthy, to disconnect from those things and to learn to connect our heart and our mind to the Lord so that when it rains on the just and the unjust, as Jesus said, when we have trouble in this world just like Jesus said, when art projects don't go the way we thought, when we don't get in shows, when we don't get the affirmation that we thought we were going to get, when our friend doesn't call, when our spouse doesn't recognize and celebrate our gift, whatever it may be, those things don't destroy you. Listen, jesus came that you might have life and have it to the full. But that doesn't just happen on autopilot. It happens when you and I learn to cooperate with God's strategies for transformation. Not just hoping that it will get better and not just trying to pray it away, but actually learning strategies to cooperate with the Lord to see actual transformation happen in your life. So, my friend, I want to encourage you.
Speaker 1:There's a link in the podcast episode today all about the foundations course. Um registration opens for that on January 2nd. Uh, for all those who are pre-registered. You can pre-register right now. Uh, just to let us know that. Hey, I want to be on that list. I want to make sure I get um. You know the first notifications for that and the course actually starts on January the 14th.
Speaker 1:It's a nine week experience. Uh, there are going to be multiple opportunities for live Q and a with me. You're going to be a Facebook group with the ability to open posts and connect with with other artists from all over the world that are on this journey. There are art projects every week, not only to to get your creative juices going, but also to help you process the information that I'm teaching so much valuable content in this course that is going to help you to ditch some of those old strategies and old ways of thinking and actually step into a new way to see your life, a new way to process difficulty and good things that are going on, so that you're seeing and hearing life through the lens that God intended, which is his best for your life and his word and all the other things that we teach you inside of the foundations course.
Speaker 1:Listen, I want to encourage you to click that link join us for the foundations course. For those of you that have been or maybe you've heard of the experience course that we've done for years, this is sort of our version 2.0. Actually, this last fall I've taken the time to completely redo the course brand new art projects, brand new teaching videos, brand new art prompts and journaling prompts, all the stuff in order to give you the latest, best teaching on all of these subjects. And listen, we've had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of artists go through the experience course over the years and say it was the most transformational thing that they've ever done as an artist, and I'm believing that this foundations course, this 2.0 version, is going to be the same and even better. So, my friend, I can't think of a better way for you to start off 2025 than to lay a solid foundation for all that God's got for you in your life through the Foundations course. Click the link.
Speaker 1:I hope we'll see you inside and I hope we'll see you here every week on the podcast as I continue to try to encourage you and point you in the way that the Lord has for you as an artist in his kingdom. I love you, my friend. Happy, happy, happy new year and I hope we see you inside the foundations course. 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.