This is, in my opinion a feast for the eyes!
The image is a poster for a Christmas advertising campaign in the UK by The Churches Advertising Network. They have produced some really fantastic Christmas and Easter campaigns in the past, and are totaly in line with the heart we have as an organisation.
It’s so great to see stuff getting out there that is provoking thought!
For more information check out the BBC news article.
- James
We have had a great response to our initial call for artists to sign up to the Jonah Illustration Project, so thank you to everyone who has signed up already.
We have got a great mix of artists so far, but still have room for more, so we are going to leave the sign up page open for another week.
Whatever kind of art you do, I encourage you to sign up, this project is all about your artistic interpretation of the text, there are no right or wrong answers! This is going to be a great project to be a part of, and another step towards better exposure for Christian artists.
Please take the time to sign up on our sign up page.
- James
A friend of mine met Tim Steward at the Kings Way Conference a couple of weeks ago and, being a very useful type of person, got hold of his card for me. This made me happy. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of the crucifixion, it’s simple yet very striking.
So we can feel like we know him a little better, here’s a nice quote from him…
‘My focus seems to revolve around expressing those moments where one is taken onto a higher plane away from the mundane – where the line between what we experience on earth and that which is of a more heavenly nature is blurred…The interface is mysterious and engaging and the moments more abundant than I first imagined.’
To see more of his work, click here.
- Miriam
Jedidiah Clothing: Who We Are from Jedidiah Clothing on Vimeo.
Recently Jedidiah clothing started following us on Twitter, and this wasn’t the first time that I had been in contact with them. At the beginning of this year, whilst I was in Hawaii, I was working with an organisation called Surfing the Nations, and Jedidiah clothing did a LOT to support the ministry of Surfing the Nations, including sponsering the Surf competitions, making tshirts for us, selling tshirts and giving some of the profits to us, and i’m sure, much more.
Jedidiah are doing some great work, and their tshirts are AWESOME, I regularly rock my Jedidiah Surfing the Nations tshirt! So, I challenge you, buy some sweet clothing from Jedidiah, and know that your money is going towards supporting some FANTASTIC ministries all over the world.
- James
Today I found something really exciting that I wanted to share. I found an interview with one of our favorite Christian Graffiti artists, Lovepusher, on The Times’ Website! I think it’s so great how Lovepusher is getting out into the secular world and public places with graffiti, but it all being about God, and there being no compromise about that! You can read the interview on the Times Online Website.
- James
Friends, I’d like to introduce you to a man who has taught me quite a bit in the few years I have been a disciple of Jesus. I first came across Rich Mullins as the writer of the wonderful anthem “Our God is an Awesome God” (great verses as well as the famous chorus!). James then pointed me out to some more of his work, such as the stirring “I am ready for the storm” and “My deliverer is coming”. He was a man who took Jesus into his own heart, and wrote tender songs such as “Surely God is with us”, talking of how Jesus was willing to sit with those who no one else would (“The whores all seem to love him, and the drunks propose his toast!”). I thoroughly recommend getting the latter off iTunes.
The song below, “Hard to get” is one that I only discovered a couple of days ago. Rich writes from the heart, asking God who dwells in the radiance of eternity whether He still remembers the Weight and struggle of life here on earth. After all of the questions he asks of God he looks to what Jesus experienced, and realises that he is not looking for an explanation for suffering but whether God is truly with him in the midst of it. Both the lyrics and performance are classic Mullins: heartfelt, raw and beautiful. What makes this even more poignant is that the only recording of his singing (others re-did it later) was on a tape recorder in a little church, nine days before he died in a tragic car accident. I’ve put the recording of ”Hard to get” below, with the lyrics from the last verse beneath (some of the best in the song).
And after I figured this, somehow all I really need to know
Is if You who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can’t see what’s ahead
And we can not get free of what we’ve left behind
I’m reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret I can’t see how
You’re leading me unless
You’ve led me here
Where I’m lost enough to let myself be led
And so You’ve been here all along I guess
It’s just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get
- Stephen
Recently on facebook I met an artist called Cas Smith. Cas is a teacher as well as an artist who uses her gift to worship God and share the gospel. I asked Cas to write a little bit about herself and about her work.
I doodle and paint because I have to, it’s a compulsion, it’s something I do because I can’t not do it. Everything I create is an expression of my relationship with God, it’s ups and downs, frustrations and submissions, the reality of faith. I tend to paint figuratively but not in a realistic sense, the figures can become highly simplistic and distorted, often with a focus on the hands. With hands we can hurt or heal, it’s a choice much like faith. A lot of my images are highly personal and mark my walk with him, but relevant to so many who are on that journey with Christ as well. I’m constantly aware that sometimes we dress Christianity up in sugary sweetness and an “everything will be wonderful if you just believe” attitude rather than being real about the messiness of life. Supporting and walking with each other through that messiness.
The scariest and most liberating way of painting is during worship and ‘live’ art sessions. During a gathering, I’m led by the Holy Spirit to put an image to canvas, or doodle in a book in that space where he’s already at work, leading worshipers/seekers to a place where they meet with him, it’s immediate and of the moment. Generally when I do paint during worship, I tend not to talk to the speaker before the meeting, this would influence the image and would become contrived and forced. Instead it’s about giving the Holy Spirit free reign to move and work. This can make things sound ‘airey fairey’ but I’m constantly amazed by the way this turns out, how God works through an image and meets with people and draws them closer to him.
I doubt that my work would ever be displayed in the RA, but that’s not what it’s about, it’s about ministering to other people and leading them on in their walk with Jesus. The ‘live’ art sessions are also pretty much on the same lines but a lot more low-key, it’s really subtle, quietly ministering to people in the modern day meeting places, entering into the spiritual conversation of life. Taking Jesus out of the 4 walls of church into the streets, or in my case the coffee shops.
To see some more of Cas’s work, check out her Flickr.
- James
Ok, so, I saw this video the other day through one of our friends on Twitter, and for the last couple of days I’ve thought to myself “Should I, Shouldn’t I?”, but, i’ve done it! I think that this video is fantastic, it’s one of those ones that I WISH I had thought of myself! According to the blurb on the youtube page the video was created as an intro to a student retreat to, “set the tone” for the weekend, and to me it is genius! What a fantastic way of getting the students’ attention, seeing their grandparents perform Hip-Hop tunes!
Love it!
- James
When I first heard about this project a week or so ago, I got excited….and then when I saw this video I got EVEN MORE excited! I think that this is going to be a great album, it’s got some great names on it, and it’s all about serving those in need. So praise God for this project, I for one am definitely going to support it and as well as grabbing a copy for myself, maybe an extra one or two for Christmas presents.
If you would like to know more about CompassionArt and find out where you can get a copy of the album and book in your country please visit the CompassionArt Website.
- James
Note: I’m SO sorry for the technical errors we have had today with the links, everything should be running smoothly now, and to our RSS subscribers sorry if you have received multiple notifications of this.
Finally it’s here! The first Artists for Christ online community project, and as a team we are SO excited!
The idea is that we are going to get together artists from all over the world, and together we are going to illustrate the book of Jonah. This is going to be a very exciting project to be a part of, as when it all comes together Artists for Christ are going to produce and publish it as a book for the world to see! We truly believe that this project is going to be a great opportunity for coming together as a community, getting into the word, worshipping God, networking with other creatives all over the world, and bringing more exposure to Christian artists.
We would love for you to be part of it, and for you to ask your friends and people that you know to do the same.
So for more information and to sign up please visit the project page.
- James