Today I spoke on zoom at the FieldMoot 2022 Christian Creativity conference about my practice of creating art in prayer every morning; as well as in response to music, talks, nature and literally everything in life.
As most of you know, I am almost entirely blind and have found huge freedom in creating visual art BECAUSE I can't see it.
I can't judge myself if I can't see it, I just enjoy the process and trust that I will meet God in and through the creativity.
My experience is that focusing on the process is what really matters, and this is something absolutely everyone can do.
I share my art openly on social media both to encourage people but also because I trust that God speaks to people through my art.
I also shared about how each painting has a poem, and visa versa; and how finding that link brought my creativity to life.
It was a wonderful hour where we had a go at responding to Michael Logsdon's "Christ is our peace" and sharing how it felt and what we created.
I will continue to respond in art to the sessions, music and talks this weekend and share them online. But for now, here are the pieces I created in response to the Thursday night opening sessions.
Michael Logsdon's "Christ is our peace" created on zoom in the length of the track
My response to Michael Logsdon's "Christ is our peace"
My artistic response to "Silence a Stranger" by the Arcadian Wild
My response to Sandra McCracken's "all ye refugees"
My response to Andrew Peterson's "be kind to yourself"
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Thanks to the following people for sharing their thoughts after the zoom session.
"Thank you, that was so encouraging. A highlight was when she said that she plays with the color and shapes "just feeling the peace that God is with me in it"." Galina
"Thank you so much Emma, what a lovely practice to take time to be still and create. It is something I have more time to incorporate now with the kids in school and this seems like a very accessible way to start building my creative abilities." Trish
"Thank you, that was wonderful. I was just unstitching stitches from a sewing project. Which was great, actually - I usually do really mundane tasks like that while watching TV or movies. I'd never tried it as a meditative activity, and it was very soothing and calming" Cole