In the last issue I shared with you 3 big ideas I've been learning while painting the face of Christ for 40 days. The first big idea I focused on was that the key to developing an artistic style is repetition within paradigm. The second big idea, which is interrelated with the first, is:
The provocation of wonder is tethered to discipline, routine, and exploration. If one is missing, the provocation of wonder becomes more difficult and haphazard.
Although I'm thinking about these big ideas in relation to my own vocation as an artist, I want to point out that they are applicable to everyone. "The key to developing as a web designer is repetition within paradigm," or "the key to developing as a home school parent is repetition within paradigm," are but two examples of how this idea applies universally.
Consider your own vocation and how important it is to repeat fundamental tasks within a paradigm (that is, your way of thinking and being).
Likewise, every vocation relates in some way or another to our experience of wonder. One of my earliest experiences of wonder as a child was reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. That simple book provoked a desire in me to make art. I've had similar experiences in other areas of life not directly related to art, and these moments are what drive me to create... these moments are what motivate me to find deeper experiences of reality.
But these moments of wonder are often rare and unplanned. We stumble upon them... or perhaps are led to them. Is there any way to experience wonder, and thus have a deeper experience of reality, more often? I believe there is.
Although we cannot plan the experience of wonder itself, what we can do is anticipate that it will happen. We can prepare ourselves for the experience of wonder in advance... we can be ready in and out of season.
Wonder is tethered to discipline, routine, and exploration. Disciplines are the specific tasks, techniques, and/or practices directly related to our vocation. Routine is the daily approach to our disciplines, the repetition within paradigm. Exploration is making room to experiment and try new things... to risk the potential of both failure and success, of shame and honor.
If one of those is missing, the potential to experience wonder will be suppressed and left to happenstance. As a corollary, it is better to fast in order to be prepared for feasting. It is better to be prepared for wonder than to miss the opportunities to experience it.
I've honestly spent most of my time in the realm of exploration. I've tended to neglect discipline and routine. Because of this tendency, I have accomplished far less that I could have if I had maintained a particular set of disciplines and routines. Writing this newsletter and doing my best to paint every day is my way of repenting of that negligence.
It's hard. I often would rather experiment with new ideas than do the same thing I did the day before. But I know that by clocking-in every day and putting in the hard work, the reward will be a body of work that is unified and orderly. I also know that I will be ready for those experiences of the wonder of God... the inspirations which flow from seeking the Kingdom.
When wonder happens, all the creative energies within me are provoked. I begin to contemplate icons related to the experience and desire to paint them. I also begin considering new compositions that express my experience apart from words and how I might materialize those images.
Whatever your vocation, I hope that these ideas I'm learning are inspiring and helpful to you (though, knowing most of you fairly well, it's more likely that I'm catching onto something you're already aware of).
