Not so Common Time

Just Checking by Daniella Woolf

We are in the season called Common Time (or Ordinary Time). As Dale Brown points out in his article, the assumption might be that "common" or "ordinary" are a reference to reverting back to our normal day-to-day lives. But this notion encourages emotional and spiritual highs and lows to be reserved for the other seasons of the liturgical calendar. It assumes a hierarchy of not only the way we approach worship, but also in our own lives.

In other words, the assumption can creep in:

Well, since it's Common Time - I'll just sit back and relax. I'm good to go - at least until Advent.

That idea hardly sounds like the Jesus we encounter in the New Testament: the Jesus who redeems the everyday, raw and "ordinary" into something of meaning, something extra-ordinary.

This redemptive idea - of taking what may be considered commonplace, and re-purposing it - is one we can (and should!) mimic in our own art-making. It is a way that we can show solidarity with Christ's ministry, while setting the stage for the Holy Spirit to move through our art.

Take for example the textile artist Daniella Woolf. Her large installation (pictured above) is comprised of her mother's old checks. With her mother's death still fresh in her mind, she took her mom's old checks (and some of her own) and re-purposed them for art. When she speaks of her inspiration for this particular piece, she talks about themes of identity (life, death, financial roles, theft, etc), and references her love of fabrics and quilts. She has taken the ordinary and done something extra-ordinary, and in doing so paid homage to her mother.

I wonder during this season, what things we can see in a new light; what things we can re-purpose and redeem in our art-making? And in so doing, allow the Spirit to transform our ordinary lives into purposeful, out-of-the-ordinary ones.

Reflections on the 5X15 Night

I would like to take this moment to thank all of those who made it out to the 5X15 night this past Monday.  We had a pretty good turn out of both artists and art adorers alike.  It is really cool to see so many of you taking an interest not only into this new community of ours, but also in some of the art that exists within our church.  So on behalf of Jeff, the artists who participated, and myself, thank you for your patronage.

Monday night Jeff mentioned that all of us in attendance were patrons of the arts for that evening, though we may not contribute financially like some art patrons, we were patrons by showing our encouragement and support to the artists who presented that evening.  This is such a valuable concept for us to consider, and one that I would like to urge all of you to continue in.  

One way we can encourage and support our fellow believing artists is at our community nights that happen the first Tuesday of every month at Octane and Carroll Street Cafe.  These groups meet at 8 on these nights and simply discuss what we have been working on recently and just to support one another in our creative efforts.  There is no judging or criticism, just a chance to get to know fellow artists a little better, talk about what inspires us in our particular crafts, and support one another.   The next community night is going to be July 7th, make plans to be there if you can.

As far as the next 5X15 goes, start looking for more information coming in the early fall.   

5x15 Night!

I want to remind all of you that the 5X15 night is happening tomorrow night at Trinity Vineyard at 7:30.  This is going to be a very special evening, one that you will want to make sure that you check out.  15 artists of various crafts and disciplines will be sharing with us some of their work, all with only 5 minutes each.  This will be a great opportunity to see what some of our fellow artists from Trinity have been creating and/or to see what inspires them as artists, and to meet new people.  

This is sure to be a fun and exciting evening, so make plans to come if you are able, bring friends, family, loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, etc.

Hope to see you there!