Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Dancing with Fear in Troubled Times
      • Novena for Times of Unraveling
      • The Two HT’s-Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
        An Online Writing Retreat
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Sacred Artist Interview

Sacred Artist Interview: Bill Hughlett

I first met Bill Hughlett because of my friendship with his wife Kayce, aka the delightful lucy.  I fell in love with his photography before I ever met him and then have had the chance to sit at dinner on a few occasions now and get to know him a bit better.  He is a really engaging person who speaks passionately about both his spiritual journey and his creative expression.  I am excited to share his insights into the connection between the two, so on to Bill's responses:

A brief introduction of yourself — faith tradition (if you have one), spiritual practice, art medium

I was born in the Belgian Congo – my parents and grandparents were missionaries for the Methodist church so from the beginning my faith tradition was based on Christian evangelism. In recent years my spiritual practice has undergone a shift and is much more about God’s kingdom right here, right now and less about trying to get into heaven or stay out of hell! Photography of ordinary, every day beauty – which is actually extraordinary – and to a lesser degree music, are the art forms I use to express what I see and feel.

How do you experience the connection between spirituality and creativity?

Stepping outside of the rigid, fundamentalist frame I’d been in for most of my life had an explosive effect on my creativity. A mind and spirit that are free to question and explore without the fear of backing into some theological propeller just have infinitely more raw material to work with in the creative context.

What role does spiritual practice have in your art making? (and vice versa)

For me art-making itself becomes the spiritual practice. Capturing a moment on “film” that holds something sacred in it, or listening to or playing a beautiful melody are more transcendent than any religious experience I can remember. It was a great day when I realized that sharing my art with people was as important an act of evangelism as standing on a street corner witnessing to strangers or going into the heart of darkness somewhere to share the gospel!

What sparked your current spiritual journey? What sparked your artistic journey?

We were in crisis with our teenage son about five years ago and it forced me to stand back and look at myself and put most of what was in my spiritual foundation through the fire, so to speak. It was astonishing if not terrifying how little of it survived. As far as sparking my artistic journey, the creativity was always there, and occasionally there would be sightings, but it took getting blasted out of my religious fortress to really get things moving.

Do you have a particular process you use when entering into your creative work?

It’s not a process I can really define except to say I know when it’s happening. Often things catch my eye in the everyday collage of people, places and things – it’s literally a physical sensation that tells me there is something worth paying attention to. If I take the time to “work” these moments, something beautiful almost always emerges.

What are your favorite resources to spark your creativity? (books, music, etc.)

I’m fortunate to have some nice tools to work with as far as equipment, and the technical knowledge to use them. I’m also inspired and influenced by the work of other photographers – Bryan Peterson, John Shaw and Phil Borges are three that have had a big impact on my work.

Thank you so much to Bill for taking the time to share some of these insights into his own creative process and spiritual journey.  I especially love the image of the explosion of creativity that comes from being in an environment of questioning and searching and art as its own act of evangelism.  Make sure to visit Bill's website to see more of his stunning images.  His prints are available for sale and he also makes gorgeous notecards.

Photos from top to bottom:

kino nueve | sonora, mexico

salmon bay | seattle, washington | 1st place 2007 CAC juried art show

e. smith | pembroke parish, bermuda

highline highschool | burien, washington | 3rd place 2006 CAC juried art show

 

** Visit this week’s Poetry Party! Submit your own before the end of the day on Friday to be entered into a drawing to win a prize. **

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16 Comments January 24, 2008

Upcoming Programs

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
Retreat for Lent 2021

February 17-April 1, 2021
with Christine & John Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman

Recent Reflections

  • Celtic Spirituality and the Spiral Way ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 3: Ní heolas go haontíos ~ by John Valters Paintner
  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

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