PAINTING LIVE: Part 2 – How?

I've answered the question of WHY I paint 'live' in part 1, so now to HOW I paint live (followed by an example in part 3 to finish)

How do I begin?

It starts, for me, in the week leading up to painting, when I ask God if there's anything he wants me to put in the piece. Sometimes the general shapes, colours and composition come to mind first and I ask him what it means. For example, for one, I saw in my minds eye, broken rainbows which became a horizon line with sad coloured stripes below and happy coloured stripes above. This piece ended up being called New Horizon (see below), it was about the disappointment of broken promises and the fact that God always keeps his promises.
Other times it's the other way round, the meaning comes first and the colours/ideas follow. For example for another piece I was taken up with the multi-faceted nature of God's love, which I then saw as multi-layered hearts using multi-media, 'Love has called my name' (see below).
It's a sort of dialogue I have with God whilst doing the normal stuff of life, hanging out the washing or in the shower or walking the dog etc. Sometimes it starts with a bible passage or a line from a song that gives me a fresh excitement about an aspect of God.

New Horizons

Love has called my name

Next I will seek to dig a little deeper, researching bible passages on the theme, collecting ideas in my sketchbook and deciding on a title. When I first started painting at the front of church I would plan the picture in detail, trying out techniques, deciding the order I would do things etc. This was a good way for me to start, there was some security in having a plan. More recently, however, I have felt led to be a lot looser and let things evolve as I paint. I always have some sort of starting point but I don't neccesarily know what colours I will use or in fact where the painting is going. This has lately led to feeling I almost don't recognise my own work once it's finished! Colours and marks are chosen in response to what I feel God is 'nudging' me to do at the time – it feels very much an experience of 'co-creating' with him.

'Intergalactic Intimacy' prep - detailed plans

Intergalactic Intimacy

'Holy Overshadowing' prep - just a few marks & thoughts

Holy Overshadowing

Practical details

Obviously every setting will be different and what I do has evolved over the year. This is how things look for me at present when I paint on a Sunday.

Set up

I arrive at 8am to set up with the band. I use a small sheet to protect the floor, an easel and a little table for my art supplies. I use a large canvas (24x30”) so it can be seen across the hall. I'm a mixed media artist so don't travel light! I use acrylic paint and various other things. I'm rather messy so I have wet wipes and kitchen towel at the ready, I wear my painting gear, an apron and disposable gloves. Gloves are particularly useful for freeing my hands of paint in seconds when I need to hold the microphone to speak to the church or when my 5 year old runs over for cuddles.

I have a variety of brushes, palette knives and things to scrape/scratch/print/flick with. Acrylic paint, paint pens, chalk pens, felt tips, pencils, graphite. Water spray, set square ruler, lots of palettes, tubs, sponges, wet wipes, masking tape, kitchen towel & plastic bags. I bring a sponge to clean up with, clingfilm and plastic zip bags to store wet paint palettes during the talk. I keep a reminder list in my brushes tin for each time I pack my bag.

While the band rehearse I pray through the song list, marking down ideas of colours that come to mind related to themes. I write my title on masking tape and stick it on my easel and remind myself of what I've prepared in my sketch book. I sing, and I also use this time to dance. This too is something new that has been growing with me through the year! I'm not a dancer at all but at the moment it feels like the most appropriate way of engaging and responding to God before I do anything else. It involves all of me and can be thoroughly embarrassing – it's about surrender and centring on him. As I move I find shapes and actions come to mind that I can only describe as physical prayers. It feels a vulnerable but appropriate place for me to come to my painting from. This may just be for a season, I don't know, I'm trying to follow God's lead.

Timings

We have 2 Sunday morning services 9.30 – 11am and 11.30 – 1pm. Each service starts with 2 songs before the kids go to their groups, then the talk, followed by communion and a time of worship at the end. I only paint when the band plays, which ends up being only about 1.5 hours of painting time across the 5.5 hour morning! I paint for 10mins, have a 50min break, paint for 30mins, have a 30min coffee break (where I paint a bit, answer peoples questions and get fresh water), then I do that all again.

I've needed to think practically about how to use each different section of time and what to try to achieve by the end of the morning. It's rather funny having people (including myself) staring at a painting that I've barely had chance to start, during the talk in service 1, before I really get going with it later on. And of course those who come to service 1 see a lot less of the finished picture than those in the second service. An hour and a half is never enough time for me to finish my picture, which I work on in the following week and then post on our church Facebook page once complete. As I said in Part 1, I believe that this sort of painting (at least for me) is as much about the process and journey, as about the destination and finished picture, so the fact that it isn't finished on the morning, and some never see it finished, isn't a problem.

What is it saying to you?

Mystery seems to be encouraged within the art world, 'untitled' seems to be the most common name given to art work. It can make one feel unenlightened and rather unwelcome. Mix this with the popular Relativist philosophy “What's true for you, might not be true for me” and I'm left feeling like the best thing to say to people when they ask about my artwork is 'What is it saying to you?'
This isn't always a bad question to ask, as I said in Part 1, I believe that God can speak through a piece of art in many different ways, that the artist isn't aware of. My artwork is an offering to God, for him to use however he chooses, and I love hearing about the things people have seen and responded to in my pictures. However, as well as being visceral, I believe that God gives me something to bring through my painting. I've prayed, meditated, delved into song lyrics and scripture and so I feel that I have something to share.
So, at the risk of being 'uncool', I give my art a title and I explain it to people. Sometimes on the day through the microphone, more often on Facebook. I'm rarely succinct (!) and I don't know how much people actually read of my detailed ponderings, but this is what feels right for me, it's being true to how God's made me.

What about money?

Who should pay for materials? - this is something that needs working out with one's church leaders. My church pays for the canvases I use, from the worship budget, and I pay for the rest.
Is it OK to sell the work I create? - Yes I believe it is. There are a number of people within the church who are paid for the gifting/work they provide: preachers, administrators, children's workers, prophets. When a recording of the worship music is made into an album people expect to pay for it. By asking for payment for my artwork I am valuing what God is calling me to do, and I'm enabling myself to continue doing it. It is allowing people to invest in my art work (a reminder of God to them where ever they choose to display it), but also to invest in me and what God is doing in me. I don't claim the expense of the canvas from the church if I sell the painting.
On occasion God might lead me to give a painting as a gift to someone, in some ways this gift is worth more if it would normally have cost them money!
Many people have told me how much my paintings on a Sunday have spoken to them or encouraged them in some way. I have recently started offering limited edition giclee prints of my work in order to make them more affordable and available for those who would love to own a picture.


Please get in touch if you have any questions that I've not managed to answer in this post, or in fact if you have any questions about what I've said.
Please refer to Part 3 for an example of one of my paintings created on a Sunday at our church.