Christian Artist Feature – Melissa Presser

The Artistic Christian

“I now had a greater purpose in my writing.  One purpose to be exact- to glorify God.”

Melissa Presser

 

Have you ever wondered where writers find the time to put their thoughts on paper? While you may imagine writers sitting around with nothing to do but… well… write, the truth is that the lives of our favorite writers are often just as hectic as ours. This can certainly be said for Melissa Presser, who worked as a criminal justice attorney for twelve years and now spends her days working for her local police department as a representative for the Chief of Police. She is also a mommy, and loves spending time with her three beautiful children, who are ages 5, 5, and 4. In spite of everything she has on her plate, Melissa still makes time to write about her Christian faith.

“I am chasing after my God-sized dream…

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Creativity and Stupidity #YourTurnChallenge Day 6

Very encouraging words!!

AMOKArts

http://dweisscreative.com

I was talking with a friend yesterday and I shared with her a great truth I learned a long time ago. There is a link between creativity and stupidity. I guess I better explain myself.

I told her one of the first steps to being a creative is being too stupid to realize you’re under qualified. 

It’s absolutely true. I mean if your desire is to be a brain surgeon, disregard this, or if you want to be bomb disposal technician or something is not an option, yeah go and get as much training as you possibly can. Creativity is a life filled with experimentation, trial and error, struggle and success. It’s a world full of possible solutions where the people bold enough to move on their ideas win.

Am I saying you shouldn’t get an education? No. Am I saying you shouldn’t try to expand your skills and…

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Christian Artist Feature – Julie “Cookie”

🙂 this was personally encouraging.

The Artistic Christian

“I have wanted my work, be it my paintings, my writings, or my photography, to give back to the Master Creator of the Universe, honoring Him for all that He has afforded me.”

– Julie

As a retired educator, Julie (affectionately known as “Mama Cookie” by her students), never considered herself to be an artist despite having taught high school art classes for 31 years. Instead, she always viewed herself as an educator first, and artist second. After retirement, however, Julie still felt that she had something to offer the world. The result was her blog, Cookie Crumbs: Life Through the Eyes of Cookie,” and the recent production of several beautiful paintings.

Julie grew up in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and though she has since started leaning toward her more catholic (collective Christian) roots, this early church influence has had a profound impact on her view of art.

“I…

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How to Build Your Creativity #yourturnchallenge day 4

Great thoughts!!

AMOKArts

Yesterday I wrote about the soul of creativity, which is seeking solutions to problems and/or seeking to make things better. I wrote about how creativity involves risk. Taking a chance at failing on your way to success. If this is the case (and it is), the first step to building creativity is to:

1. Fight the resistance: The resistance is that fearful little voice, that misused imagination that shows you a world of untrue worst case scenarios designed to take you off task. You need to fight this and create anyway. I know this is a common and repeated thought, but I share it again because this is what stops most creatives in their tracks. Okay we’re determined to defeat the resistance and forge ahead, but how do we actually build our creativity?

2. Acknowledge your creativity: I know this one seems pretty basic too, but you would be amazed…

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity, edition#15 — Vertical Movement

I would LOVE to see what they do. I was in pep squad and took jazz in high school. I miss dance.

Nurturing the Creative Spirit Within

Vertical Movement offers contemporary based workshops across the United States where the main focus is to use dance as communication to God and others. Workshops are held Friday evening and all day Saturday and often end with a showcase of worship through dance.

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First jewelry project…

Well, I’ve got the wax to begin my first project-rings. I’ll spend the weekend brainstorming on what I wanna do in them and think I may cast them both in silver. 🙂

Wish me luck. #artofwendic

The Soul of Creativity: #YourTurnChallenge day 3

Something I’m trying to work on in my artistic life…

AMOKArts

Maybe it’s because I spend so much time over at http://AMOKArts.com thinking about the links between spirituality and creativity, but I have come to believe that creativity has, of sorts, a soul. I think the folks at the #YourTurnChallenge have stumbled upon it with today’s question.

Tell us about something that you think should be improved.

If there is a soul of creativity this is at its core. This is what creativity is all about. How can I make things (or something better?) How can I solve a problem? How can I make the world a better place? When the tried and true solutions seem to no longer work, we find ourselves at a crossroads. We can either say, “Well We tried and give up, or we can get creative. You know which one I vote for.

In my faith tradition, our Lord tells a story. A ruler calls three…

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New year thoughts…

Well, I started working on 2 of my personal projects before school started this past Wednesday-didn’t get much done on them.  At least I have all year to finish them-that’s one of my goals for the year.  I’ve also committed to doing Scripture memorization with Beth Moore and the Siesta Scripture Memory Team-so far its been VERY beneficial to me.  http://blog.lproof.org/

School for me started Wednesday and I’m gonna be pretty busy-online English, Jewelry, 4000-level Spanish and Art Ed.  I’m about to start my readings for Art Ed and Spanish today…already have homework for Spanish due Tuesday!!

I’m already pondering my Art Ed final project idea…its a graphic novel.  I think I’ve got a good one-just gotta pick the right direction to go in.  🙂

Another “in the back of my head” thought is missions.  I considered working toward my church’s mission trip to Germany this summer, but, have decided that I wouldn’t be a good addition.  BUT, something that, I think, God is leading me towards is becoming involved in arts missions.  http://www.arts.om.org/mission-trips/visual  I’ve felt pretty excited about even considering this, so maybe He’ll work it out for the future.  I think He has things in the works that I can use here in the states in my teaching career.  Only He knows.

Well…I’ve procrastinated long enough, so I need to get to my readings.  TTYL.

Christian Artist Feature – Natalie Scarberry

“I keep posting entries because I want to bless Jesus in every way I can for His miraculous mercy… it is my prayer that my photos and words serve and glorify Him.” Natalie Scarberry     Have you ever stepped outside on an ordinary day, only to find yourself […]

https://theartisticchristian.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/christian-artist-feature-natalie-scarberry/

What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?

I feel like I’m in this same place. Praying for direction.

AMOKArts

I’m in one of those places again. A place where I don’t know what to do. I’ve prayed and there’s no “bolt from the blue,” sure-fire answer for me. Yes, I will continue to pray. Yes, I’ve counted the cost, but at this point there are a lot of ideas and nothing pops out as the right one. I don’t know what to do. Have you been there?

Here’s what I’ve found and what I am doing… God rarely gives us the whole picture. In my case I have the dream and the vision and the end game feels pretty clear. It’s the A-Z, “how to get there from here” plan that’s missing, as if often the case. I think this is by design, at least with me. If I knew A-Z, I would depend on the process and probably skip steps. I would especially try to skip the steps that cause pain.

Here’s…

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