Can Love and Art Be Connected?
The following was posted quite long ago: "It has come to my attention that some in the Catholic art community may find my use of the word Sacred (describing my art work), not in keeping with the traditional Catholic definition of Sacred Art. This is a bit discouraging."
I was a practicing Catholic less than two years. I thought I had received a valid critique of my style. However, the Deacon who told me to stop creating my art, brought confusion and I questioned my vision. This person had never talked to me. He only saw a single piece of my art work; submitted to him with my petition to be a member of his on line society. This discouragement caused me to think that perhaps I had made a mistake in becoming confirmed into the Catholic Church. I became depressed and fought back discouragement, remembering other Catholics who had made my choice of church affiliation so difficult. I wondered was this ever going to end?
That was then. It is now forgiven and I leave it...
This is 2017. A lot has changed and I have had many experiences to keep me focused on seeking to know what to see and how to share that vision.
St. Augustine writes in his Sermon on 1John 4:4-12 ~
Hear the Gospel: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matt. 5:8] But do not imagine God according to the lust of your eyes. If you do, you will create for yourself a huge form or an incalculable magnitude which (like the light which you see with your bodily eyes) extends in every direction. Your imagination lets it fill realm after realm of space, all the vastness you can conceive of. Or maybe you picture for yourself a venerable-looking old man. Do not imagine any of these things. If you would see God, here is what you should imagine: God is love. What sort of face does love have? What shape is it? What size? What hands and feet does it have? No one can say. And yet it does have feet, those feet that carry people to church. It does have hands, those hands that reach out to the poor. It has eyes, those through which we consider the needy: “blessed is the person,” it is said, “who considers the needy and the poor.” [Ps. 41:1] It has ears, of which the Lord says, “He that has ears to hear let him hear.” [Luke 8:8]
I am called to create. This art is part of that call. It is a gift I use to bless others to consider the needy. It is to praise God and God alone.
I will continue to call this blog Sacred Images because the title says what I consider a correct reference.
Let others call my art what they will... It is ART. It is from me. It is the best art I can do.
That was then. It is now forgiven and I leave it...
This is 2017. A lot has changed and I have had many experiences to keep me focused on seeking to know what to see and how to share that vision.
St. Augustine writes in his Sermon on 1John 4:4-12 ~
Hear the Gospel: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” [Matt. 5:8] But do not imagine God according to the lust of your eyes. If you do, you will create for yourself a huge form or an incalculable magnitude which (like the light which you see with your bodily eyes) extends in every direction. Your imagination lets it fill realm after realm of space, all the vastness you can conceive of. Or maybe you picture for yourself a venerable-looking old man. Do not imagine any of these things. If you would see God, here is what you should imagine: God is love. What sort of face does love have? What shape is it? What size? What hands and feet does it have? No one can say. And yet it does have feet, those feet that carry people to church. It does have hands, those hands that reach out to the poor. It has eyes, those through which we consider the needy: “blessed is the person,” it is said, “who considers the needy and the poor.” [Ps. 41:1] It has ears, of which the Lord says, “He that has ears to hear let him hear.” [Luke 8:8]
I am called to create. This art is part of that call. It is a gift I use to bless others to consider the needy. It is to praise God and God alone.
I will continue to call this blog Sacred Images because the title says what I consider a correct reference.
Let others call my art what they will... It is ART. It is from me. It is the best art I can do.
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