the Beginning

CallingForth

In 2005 I purchased pens, sketchbook, brushes, watercolours, and paper and attended my first “Ink and Watercolour Sketchbook” Class!  In 2006 I joined a group of wonderful artists in my first show. Like many ‘artists come late’ my optimism abounded because I sold several paintings – wow, I felt I was on my way to a new career.

My next thought, rather pompously, was to find a name to suit my new endeavours.  I pondered on this for some time and finally settled on “CallingForth Artworks.”   Why? To me the word, creative can be defined as, “the act of bringing something into existence” and when I thought further I realized that the act of creation calls forth from within us – from the depths of our being – from who we are when we are at home with ourselves, angry with ourselves, settled and unsettled, in community with ourselves and others, or out of sorts and in the doldrums.  What is inside will be exposed.

This act of creativity, of calling forth what is within can be expressed in various ways.  For me, there are two areas of particular interest – painting and writing.  I have not ventured into writing but I delight in the writings of others who can say what I am thinking, who can in one phrase fill my mind with a wealth of material to ponder, who can identify feelings and set them out in prose that I can finally understand and say, “Yes!” 

The term, “Callingforth” actually came about as I pondered the life of Jesus.  Jesus called out his disciples and enabled them to be more than they were. He called them to a life of deep questions, soul searching, and selfless love towards others….He called them forth to become a creative force for His kingdom on earth – to reveal a life worth living.  And in a sense this is what I long for as well, not just spiritually but artistically.  I long to find within myself a deeper reality that answers the creative longing that calls me to be more than I am.  So here I am… incredibly challenged to create artistically from within and being fed by writers who have pondered life deeply and in turn have given words and phrases, and thereby life, into my mind and soul.

It is then to these two things that I dedicate this blog: to share the art that comes from within and to share the thoughts and phrases that accompany me as I journey along.