For me it's Instagram any day (and not just because I can visit 'any day')! Today I want to talk about my favourite artists, who inspires and excites me.

I studied Art History at Cambridge University and to be honest was incredibly bored by the experience. To be fair I'm not really academically wired, I'd got onto my teacher training course at Homerton College through my CV rather than my grades and hadn't quite thought through what I was getting myself into (in retrospect I should have gone somewhere else and done something different… but then I wouldn't have fallen in love with Nick, with my church and with Cambridge… God knows best). At 13 I was advised 'don't choose subjects that involve writing as you're no good at it' so it was a bit of a shock to the system, and a bucket full of discouragement, to find myself at 20 writing essays on art history and the theory of education at Cambridge University!

However, recently, my painting coach has encouraged me to take another look at past art movements and I've discovered all sorts of exciting people. I have realised that the problem with my previous studies was that it was all focussed too long ago, it's the more recent work that puts fire in my belly. So here's some of the good stuff:

Jackson Pollock, Hans Hofmann, Joan Mitchell, Barbara Hepworth, Norman Bluhm, Cy Twombly, Franz Kline & Robert Motherwell. These guys can all be grouped within the MODERN ART MOVEMENT.
Abstract Expressionists with an “emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation”. Action Painters whose work “shifted the emphasis from painting objects to depicting the struggle, a kind of residue, of the actual 'work' of art, the focus on the very act or process of the painting's creation. This spontaneous activity was the "action" of the painter - painterly gestures, brushstrokes, thrown paint, splashed, and stained. The painter would sometimes let the paint drip onto the canvas, while rhythmically dancing, or even standing in the canvas, sometimes letting the paint fall according to the subconscious mind, thus letting the unconscious express itself.” ….LOVE IT!

HOWEVER ...these guys might have done some pretty cool art, BUT they are all dead now!

Do know what REALLY excites and interests me? ...Finding people who are painting stunning art TODAY – people I can follow the journey of, people I can ask questions of… 'real' people, and that's where Instagram comes in.

An ongoing assignment from my painting coach DAILY DOODLES (or 'as often as I can' doodles) are an important part of maintaining regular creativity and visual expression, more about the journey or process, than the end result.

It's time I caught you up a bit with my doodling, having posted some in September and then October, things have moved on again. I started off with pencil, making shapes and marks, seeing what came:

This led on to using felt tips, where I closed my eyes, selecting colours randomly and making the shapes that came to mind when listening to music. Once my eyes were open I would work into the picture with water and more marks:

Here is one of my poem/painting combos - This is my story, created at David's Tent last August, acrylic on canvas (24x30").
It's about being who I am made to be, about running in my own lane. 'Do you know the sound your heart makes just by beating, do you know the song your life makes just by breathing! A sound, a song that only you make!'

Struck and comforted by a fresh awareness of God's knowledge of us, inspired by Psalm 139, the Alpha and Omega (A-Z/Beginning & End) knows every hair on our head, I thought I'd meditate on this by studying the letter 'a' in the dictionary... which led to this poem.

Today I thought I'd share a poem and sculpture combo that I created when heavily pregnant with our youngest. Whilst watching feet work their way across my stomache from the inside, I contemplated Mary awaiting the imminent arrival Jesus' birth.

WAITING TO KNOW YOU
Waiting to know you, to meet you, to love you.
Hiccups and stretches, judders and squirms.
Flesh of my flesh, treasure within me,
Promised, chosen, favour unearned.
Who will you be and where will you go?
Ready to hold you, to share you, to love you.
Ready to guide you, to stroke you, to dress you.
To hold your hand & to watch you grow.

'Waiting to know you' 2011. Mixed media sculpture

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Today I thought I'd share with you my most recent painting 'The Whispered Roar', created on Friday evening at City Church Cambridge Carol Service. Acrylic & mixed media on canvas (24x30").

The idea for this piece began with the line in a song “The angels roar for Christ the King” (I cast my mind to Calvary). I was contemplating the Christmas story where the angels appeared to the shepherds 'Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels, a multitude of the heavenly host, appeared singing praises to God' (Luke 2) and then Rev 5 'Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.' I began to get just a glimpse of the level of excitement in heaven over what the birth of Jesus actually meant. I imagine that what the shepherds saw and heard was the angels really holding back and muffling the celebration and joy that they felt. Hence the title. As I looked through several familiar carols I began to see the lyrics as if for the first time:

Please refer to Part 1 for WHY I paint 'live' and Part 2 for HOW I paint live. Here in part 3 I will give an example of WHAT I paint live.

My starting point for this piece was the passage 'Every word God speaks is sure, every promise pure'
Ps 12:6 from the Passion Translation Bible, which I came across in my daily bible reading and which seemed to leap out of the page at me. I researched passages that mention the word of God in the bible, and a fresh revelation and appreciation grew of the precious words that have been passed down and preserved through the generations. The truth that our faith is built upon.
'The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever'. Isaiah 40:8
'For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope'. Rom 15:4
'My word will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.' Isaiah 55:11
'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path' Ps 119:105
'The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.' Heb 4
'The Word became flesh and blood and moved into our neighbourhood.' John 1:14

 I decided I needed to use colours that represented writing – ink blue and graphite grey. Black with white and orange with blue representing boldness and clarity, flesh colour representing Jesus. I wanted to include marks made with a biro and pencil, and to use lined paper and tracing paper. I wanted marks that looked like handwriting rather than actual words and use Morse code somehow. I wanted layering to represent the years and to use uncovering techniques for tell of the research and study, the delving into scripture. I wanted the piece to have a vertical lined feel as God's words comes down to us from above. I choose the title 'True to your word'.

As I explained in part 2, our church has two morning services, I paint through both but only when the band are playing, which means a bit of stopping and starting takes place. Here is how my painting progressed through the morning. Click on each image to enlarge or hover to read about the techniques I used.

Whilst painting this at church one person commented that it looked like concrete (which linked in nicely with the idea of foundations), another said it looked like a waterfall and made them think of God pouring himself into their lives.

This painting is a celebration of God's Word. What has been told and written down, copied and translated through the centuries, then became human, living on earth as the person of Jesus, and now lives in our hearts as the Spirit of Jesus, reminding us of his words and guiding us into all truth.
Layering represents the generations, straight lines for plumbline truth, tracing and lined paper, pencil & biro remember the dedication of scholars. The splashes of flesh colour and white represent the alive and active nature of God's word especially in the person of Jesus 'the way the TRUTH and the life'.
We believe God's Word as true, our faith is built on this foundation – I have shown this by printing with children's building blocks. What has been communicated through the ages speaks to us today sometimes clear as day in black and white, shouting clarity, other times needing research and study to unearth new riches and depths (hence the golden morse coded Ps 119 passage)

I generally 'paint live' twice a month (once at our church's extended prayer & praise evenings and once during the Sunday morning services). I upload these paintings to my Facebook album Visual Worship 2016 - if you 'like' my artist page @FlourishandFly you can keep abreast of each painting as it is added (or follow me on Twitter or Instagram).
This November I exhibited the paintings that I have done 'live' since the start of the year, in my church gallery space, so people could see them finished. I hope to exhibit this work in other settings in the future. These pictures also go on the Paintings page of my website and are available for sale.

I hope you have found this three part blog post about 'painting live' helpful and interesting. If you have any questions, do get in touch.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

January this year I was invited to start painting 'live' at my church on a Sunday as part of the service. I bring my easel, set up a little table of art supplies at the front, alongside the band, and then paint during the worship times.
I know this isn't something that happens in every church, this is new to our church, so I thought you might be interested if I explained what I do and why. I'll split this into three posts for ease of reading – I'll start with the why question, then in part 2 I'll share how I do it, and then finish with an example as part 3.
Obviously I can only speak from my own experience and understanding, which is still evolving.

Over the past few years I've had a growing desire to express myself and worship visually. First I did this at home as part of my daily time with God, then I asked permission to tack sugar paper to the cupboard doors at church on a Sunday, where I sketched to one side, hoping I wasn't being watched or distracting anyone, and trying not to make a mess.

I then spent the weekend at David's Tent 2015 where a whole section of the big top is provided as space for artists. This was pretty much the first time I'd ever painted and it was in public – I created 5 paintings in the 3 days, 2 of which sold while I was there! The experience and encouragement I received that weekend was a real turning point for me.

On my return to Cambridge I asked if it would be OK if I painted in our Ministry Room evenings (monthly times of extended prayer & praise), which was welcomed and I set up an art supplies area so that others could join in too. This was a really great environment for me to start getting some experience, and I'd suggest this as the best type of initial setting for anyone wanting to give it a try.
Last Christmas I was asked to paint at our carol service, and then followed an invitation for me to paint once a month on a Sunday.

When asked to join the worship team as their first painter I felt this was ultimately God prompting me, so I said Yes. I felt rather terrified - I was really new to painting and now people were going to be able to watch me.
To be honest I wasn't even sure how I felt about the idea of someone painting at the front of a church! I'd never seen it happen and was concerned it would look like a performance and distract people. So I looked into it, read books, watched Youtube clips and quizzed people from other churches, whilst seeking God for the reasons and ways he wanted me to do this.

1. I was new to painting, shouldn't I wait until I knew what I was doing before doing it in front of people?!
2. how might this bless the church as a gathering rather than just blessing me?
3. did abstract pictures have a place in this setting? How important was it that I explain my work?
4. how would it work practically? Should I try to finish a piece by the end? Who should pay for the materials?
5. Would it be right to sell a picture if someone was interested?

I'll look to answer 1-3 in this post and the others in the next.

NO! a. I might never feel ready! b. My church leadership were happy that my work was of an appropriate standard. c. I was being invited to do this now and felt I needed to respond now, it was a step of faith.
Looking back it was really hard but it was good for me to start in such a vulnerable embryonic, humbling stage. It caused me to lean into God… a LOT, and gave me a real hunger to learn how to paint! I increasingly felt like I had visual 'songs/dances/prayers' within me that I didn't have the technique to execute and express. It wasn't long before I was seeking out a painting coach. As I've progressed through this year I've grown in my understanding and acceptance that this sort of painting (at least for me) is as much about the process and journey, as about the destination and finished picture, and it's about heart more than skill.

I knew I was meant to be true to the artist God's made me to be, so I probably wouldn't be going down the more obvious route of painting angels, lions and eagles (not to knock the power of these). For a while I have had an internal colour and shape dictionary growing in my head, a visual vocabulary/language that I feel God is teaching me (to tell you about this would be a post in itself – which I will write at some point!) I knew I was meant to use this visual language in my paintings but I might not always get to explain my pictures. If they only made sense to me, then what value would they have to the church on a Sunday?
It talks in the bible in 1 Corinthians 14:28 about when someone speaks in tongues in a gathering (a heavenly language that God sometimes gives someone, which should be followed by an interpretation so all can understand and agree) It says “If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.” So how important was it that my 'heavenly language' had an interpretation?
After seeking advice from those with more experience than myself and through my own prayers I've come to believe that abstract art in fact does have a value in this setting, even without explanation. That it can actually be really powerful, because God can speak through it in so many ways. I believe that live art can capture and communicate what the Holy Spirit is doing in a gathering beyond the knowledge or awareness of the painter. As my confidence and understanding has grown I've felt led by God to use certain movements and techniques within my pieces that I believe symbolise what is going on in peoples hearts at the time – pouring the paint, drumming in time with the beat, scraping, wiping, blanketing with a significant colour etc. There is actually a lot more scope for this type of visceral, physical expression within abstract art.

Ultimately, what is more important than anything else is that I worship through my painting, as an extension of my heart. For reasons best known to God, that I might never fully get my head round, he has opened up an opportunity for me to paint in front of people at this time and in this place. My job is to just get on and paint for him, the rest (what impact or communication it might bring) is his responsibility. My ability, confidence and freedom to do this has grown massively throughout the year.
I will finish part 1 by sharing some advice I received the first time I painted live at our church, I found this so freeing that it's written as a reminder in the back of my sketchbook:
“Here's what to do Kate – ask yourself just before you start “why do I paint? What am I painting for?” Simply paint for Daddy God, nobody else. Be free of all expectations – from yourself and from others and paint for him. A painting for your Daddy from his wee lassie :) #simples”

Please refer to part 2 for information on how I go about painting live and part 3 for an example.