Invitations and Transformations

January 22, 2008 · by Christine

This past week I was feeling pretty overtired from teaching all the previous weekend while recovering from a bug.  Finally by Friday I began to feel like myself again.  So it was a gift to have already planned to spend the morning meeting one of my favorite artists. 

I first discovered Miska’s work at the Priory bookstore, where I had bought two small reproductions of her icons.  Finally, because of my art editing role, I had a good reason to contact her.  She was so gracious and invited me over to see the cooperative gallery where she sells some of her work and then to her home to see a number of her paintings so I could decide which one would work best for the journal.  She made me a delicious lunch and we got to know one another a bit.  I found out she is starting to teach a painting class this week which I promptly signed up for, and then I purchased two of her icons she had ready to ship off to a gallery.  One of them is the Mary icon pictured to the right, I was very drawn by her sadness.  I hope to have Miska be the subject of one of my future Sacred Artist Interviews.

I drove home feeling a lovely sense of creative renewal and grateful for a life where I get to connect with so many other artists.  I have been in the process of transforming our home office space into an art-making space.  Living in a condo in a big city means making do without a lot of extra space or storage and I often find myself spreading plastic covering over the dining table so I can glue and paint with freedom.  But the time I have been spending in the hermitage has been teaching me a lot about priorities and where I commit my time.  I quickly realized that if I wanted to devote 3 days each week to writing and art at the hermitage, that I had to fit everything else I do into the other 2-3 days of the week, assuming a day off for Sabbath rest.  I discovered that, no surprise, if I truly wanted to devote that much time to my creative pursuits, some other things were going to have to be released.  Slowly I let go of some groups I loved, and even a part of my spiritual direction practice, because I realized that my energy was being pulled in too many directions.

I am slowly trying to integrate the gifts and lessons of my hermitage time into my everyday life back at home in the Abbey. This means figuring out ways to make more art space for myself, keeping an eye on my calendar and how many things I try to fit into its boxes.  It is an invitation to be clear in what I say yes to, and what I say no to.  For now, the yes is to more creative opportunities, some more art classes, more writing, more time for my own teaching, more stillness.  I seem to have an abundance of ideas for new programs these days.

The no’s are always harder, looking at the array of good things calling to me and recognizing which are the ones that most energize me in this season and which to let go of.  I often think there is a great wisdom in our no, perhaps even more to teach me than in the yes, because in that act of turning away I am facing my own attachments, my own fear of scarcity, my desire to do it all.

But for today, I say yes to the surprise gifts offered to me in my encounter with another artist and I wait in eager anticipation for the continued journey of discovery it will take me on.

** Visit this week’s Poetry Party! **

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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Posted in Creativity, Art and Spirituality |