The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
Getting More Out of the Time You Have
Ever found yourself struggling with the balance between creative passion and practical pursuits? Join me, Matt Tommey, as we embark on a journey of artistic transformation, inspired by my recent adventure in Asheville, North Carolina. This episode is a heartfelt invitation to Christian artists everywhere, offering strategies to harness your creativity and align it with your God-given purpose. Let’s tackle the hurdles of self-doubt, fear, and perfectionism together, while setting clear visions and priorities that truly matter for your art business.
As we wrap up, I want to express my deep gratitude for your continued support and engagement. It’s a powerful reminder of the community we’re building—a space where you can flourish creatively and spiritually. Stay connected with me on social media and subscribe to the Thriving Christian Artist podcast for ongoing inspiration and encouragement. Remember, you were created to thrive, and this supportive community is here to ensure you do just that, releasing the Kingdom of God through your unique artistic gifts.
Enroll in the Foundations Course at http://thrive.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 there, my friend, it's Matt. Welcome to the podcast. Super glad you're here and welcome to a brand new year. Can you believe it? I heard somebody the other day say I'm going to thrive in 2025. I'm like, yes, that's what we're going to do. I hope this year that you are looking forward to thriving in everything that God has for you and I've already started having a great year.
Speaker 1:I know it's just January the 7th and we're just getting started, but actually Tanya and I just got back from I guess what four days in Asheville, north Carolina. We drove back 14 hours, if you can believe, to see some friends, but mostly to deliver some work. I'm in a couple of galleries there and try to go back a couple of times a year to take work that is selling wonderfully, and try to go back a couple of times a year to take work that is selling wonderfully, which is great and get to visit and eat at some of our favorite restaurants and just see the mountains and all that. It was really a joy. I've had such a blast this last year creating In fact, I spent most of the fall creating about 40, 45 pieces that are getting ready to go out to different galleries and a solo show that I got coming up, and so I've just had a blast. I hope you're having a blast in the studio with what you're doing. But it was one of those things I was excited about and I posted on Facebook and everybody was like oh, it's beautiful. I mean, you know, so encouraging as an artist.
Speaker 1:And somebody asked me on there, which you know I get from time to time they're like oh my gosh, you know, how are you doing all that you do? I can't. You know you're not only making art, you're traveling to take it to galleries and you're doing this and you got courses in the mentoring program and dah, dah, dah, dah dah and a family and you know your gardening that you love to do, like Matt. How are you, you know, doing all of this? And listen, I I realized that can be a big, big question for a lot of artists, cause when you look at your life you may be like dang, I'm just, I'm just happy to like get into the studio from time to time, much less be actually feeling like I can grow a, you know, successful art business and and get out there and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1:And I think I felt like that for a lot of years when my art really was not on my priority list as something that I felt like God had put in my life, not only for me as a blessing, but also as the vehicle of blessing and income in my life to be able to bless others. And I've learned over the years that it's not really about having more time necessarily, which is what everybody always wants, but it's really about how you use the time that you have. And I think when you can understand as an artist that this thing that God's given you as a creative gift is not just for your own enjoyment although it is it's not just, you know, something fun that you do on the side, that really doesn't matter, it's not. It's actually the way that he's given you to uniquely release the kingdom of God in and through your life, and when you can approach it like that and start to reconfigure your heart and your mind to understand that that really is who you are and what you do. Everything changes and for me, that began to equal me taking really seriously the process of planning out my days, planning out my life, setting a course with the Lord and starting to take daily actions based on some clear priorities and the vision that God's given me, in order to be able to move forward into the things that God's given me.
Speaker 1:One of the things I think that keeps artists overwhelmed and struggling and even paralyzed the most is simply the fact that they don't have a clear vision. They don't know that. They know that. They know this is what God's called me to. If they do, or at least if they even feel an inkling toward that, then they're not taking the next step, which is actually setting clear priorities and actually taking daily action to move their life toward that end goal that the Lord is showing them. You know, for me, staying focused and productive doesn't have to mean that you're like superhuman. You know that you're like the best of the best, the most productive person, whatever. It just means that you've learned how to remove the distractions in your life and commit to what truly matters, and for a lot of people.
Speaker 1:For most people, especially artists, who, as we all know, we're, all you know, wired to be more feeling and sensing oriented that process of committing to what really matters, saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things, can really really be a difficult process, and the reason I think it is again the way we're wired. Of course, the enemy comes and wants to take advantage of those things in our life, but he uses these areas that we all struggle with, like feeling fearful and having self-doubt and dealing with perfectionism and all this kind of stuff. We have all this stuff that we think we should do. All this pressure, pressure, pressure. But because of the fear and the self-doubt and the perfectionism and maybe limiting belief or just unhealthy beliefs about what's possible, what God has for you, maybe a distorted view of actually how much time you have, what your priorities should be, the enemy's using all of that stuff in this big old soup, if you will, this customized to you, to try to keep you in the place of inaction and overwhelmed with the dream of being an artist, but never really seeing that dream come true.
Speaker 1:You know what God's word says about that. It says hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In other words, if you keep on living with a hope after a dream, after a hope after a dream, but it never comes to fruition, you never see real, measurable process and progress in your life. That will destroy you internally.
Speaker 1:And so it's so important for all of us, as we're thinking about this new year, to not just be thinking about our art skills and marketing strategies and that sort of thing. That's, of course, important. There are, of course, marketing strategies and that sort of thing. That's, of course, important. There are, of course, big, big parts, integral parts of being an artist, but none of that, I promise you, as somebody who has mentored thousands of artists, who has walked a journey of over 30 years of being in the professional creative realm myself, those things are extra. They get built on top of the foundation of what's going on inside of your heart and mind you, rather than the things you've been through in your life or the things that you're just hearing from others think are important, or the things that you know may be based on woundedness or trauma or fears that have always given you the context for your life.
Speaker 1:You know, for me, that difference when I made the switch of not just trying to do it myself, not just trying to learn more marketing strategies, just be a better artist. Just hope my art sales would get better. But I actually learned how to get rid of all that old, nasty, garbage-filled thinking that had filled my mind for years and I actually started coming in to alignment with who God called me to be, actually started laying a foundation of his word and of prophetic revelation, as the Bible says. You know, to get clear on what it is that God had called me to do. When I did that, man, all the marketing and business stuff and art stuff I promise you actually got a whole lot easier, because I wasn't trying to do that in a vacuum by myself, but I was doing that in cooperation with the Lord and my friend listen, anybody can teach you how to be a better painter, anybody can teach you the latest marketing things or whatever, and we do a lot of that inside of our artist mentoring program. But here's the deal Very, very, very few of anybody is talking about how to lay the foundation in your life as an artist and a believer, so that you know that all of the things that you're building in your life are based on who you are in Christ, are based on letting the Lord heal those broken and wounded and skewed places of your heart and mind and bring that into alignment with what he has for you, and so that's why we started the foundations course.
Speaker 1:In fact, many of you may have have taken our experience course, uh, over the years. This is sort of version two, if you will. Uh, bigger, better, longer. It's nine weeks instead of six weeks. It's actually got all brand new art projects and updated journaling prompts. All the teachings are brand new. It's an opportunity for me to take sort of the latest, greatest transformational teaching that I feel like the Lord has given me over the years, to really speak to the issues in the lives of artists and really address these challenges that are at our core and really help you work through those so that you can build a strong, sustainable foundation for your art and life.
Speaker 1:So listen, if you are somebody that's saying, you know what I've been trying to do all the other stuff I've been trying to do all the stuff in the natural. I've been trying to do all this stuff on my own and kind of. My art life's over here and my business life is over here and my spiritual life is over here. My business life is over here and my spiritual life is over here, and never the three shall meet. Listen, if that feels like you which that was me for a lot of years and it's a lot of artists who mean well, who love Jesus, but just have never seen a pathway like this Listen, I want to invite you to be a part of the Foundations course. We're actually starting on January the 14th, uh, which is just a few days away. Registration ends on January 13th and, uh, you can jump in right now using the link that's right there in the show notes of this podcast.
Speaker 1:We've got tons of artists already in the Facebook group from all over the world who are are just like you. They're tired of being stuck and overwhelmed. They're looking for a clear, step-by-step framework to help you get clear on who God's called you to be, what he's called you to do, start aligning your priorities with his vision for your life so that you can stop feeling overwhelmed. They're ready to and I hope you are too just to uncover and replace those I don't know like roadblocks, inner roadblocks inside of you they're holding you back from what God's got for you and start empowering you with truth from his word to let you be who God has created you to be, and also give you a lot of really practical, actionable tools to manage your time. Focus on what matters, build consistent momentum and start rewiring your heart and mind to one that aligns with the truth of God's word and all he has for you this year.
Speaker 1:Listen, my friend, if 2024 was not all that you hoped it would be, or if it was pretty good, but you really believe that God's just got a whole lot more for you and you don't want anything holding you back from that. You want to build this year with him, not just for him. You want to be led by him, not just do things that you think will please him by yourself. I want to encourage you join the Foundations course. Like I said, you can click the link right here that's in the show notes and join us. It's a nine week course. It's self-paced. Within those nine weeks you get lifetime access to the course If you don't finish. We got live Q and A's all throughout the time. You got the private Facebook group art projects all throughout our time together. It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful time and way to start this year off right and get really clear about who you are and what God's called you to do, get rid of those roadblocks and start feeling the freedom and the fulfillment that God designed for you as an artist.
Speaker 1:Listen, my friend, 2025 can be the year that you can thrive, and I believe that the Foundations course is probably the best way that you can do that. Join us inside and I look forward to seeing you there, and I look forward to seeing you every week, uh, here on the podcast as well. I've got lots and lots of great topics, uh, this year to to be helping you and sharing with you, and I look forward to hearing you, uh your feedback on that and and just encouraging you every week right here as well. All right, love you, friend. I hope we see you inside foundations and until next time, remember you were created to thrive.
Speaker 1: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.