When you don't have time to "do" art, a great way to take time for art is do the background prep for journal pages. Then, later, when you have more time, you can flip through the pages you've prepared and look for something that suits the muse (mood) to continue the journaling process. I'd had an intense hospital experience of dying & death during Holy Week, and the "please take notes" from an earlier background painting session resonated with my need journal.
As part of my reflection I compiled the encouraging text messages and emails that I had received from pastors who prayed me through pastoral care for the family. As I wrote and glued and carved theological words that expressed the experience for me, I was reminded God is present in death and in life and that God is always faithful.
The words I carved in wine corks and erasers are key words from the message I preached at the Service of the Resurrection which was held two days after Easter. The process of identifying and then cutting the letters for the words is an opportunity to listen to God. Ask such questions as: Why these words? What is the significance in the experience that is being recorded? How might I live out the message of these words vocationally, as a wife, and as a mother?
One of the challenges is how to express yourself visually when you are "not artistic." For example, I struggled with how to record the beautiful outpouring of love that was visually evident at the hospital through the hugs family members gave one another. I cut pieces from art paper to express my mental image of the circles of love as arms were wrapped around one another in strong and loving hugs of compassion, grief, and pain. Collectively, during the process of this reflection, I thought through my experience in pastoral care with a grieving family through the intensity of unexpected critical illness and death of a 65-year-old mother and grandmother. The goal of "artsy theology" is not the end product but intentionality in listening to God through the journey of art.
Tip: use a toothbrush to clean paint from stamps.
