Wednesday, 06 June 2012
-
A True Ekphrasis Piece of Art
[Editor's Note: Sam is giving away two copies of the piece of art below at his site. To participate in the giveaway, you'll need to follow the instructions on his site.]
By Sam at Creative Theology
One of the main concepts in my book is that of ekphrasis art. I believe the artistic concept of ekphrasis can be readily applied to our lives. We can live ekphrasis lives, responding to God’s good work all around us, and in so doing, deepen our relationship with the one who is setting all things rights and making all things new.
Over the past couple years or so, I have followed the work of Mandy Thompson (you can get to know her here) and we have shared many thoughts and words by way of blog, email, and social network conversations. Mandy read an advance copy of the book, and was inspired to create in response. Ekphrasis!
I asked Mandy if she would be willing to create a piece specific to the book, and she agreed. What resulted was a beautiful mixed media art piece. Mandy has the following to say about the piece:
Sam Mahlstadt poured his life into inspiring other artists with his book, Creative Theology. I was honored to be invited to reflect his words in this mixed media piece. One of the strongest elements of Sam’s book is the concept of “Ekphrasis” art, which is inspired by (and a reflection of) other works of art. The same can be said of our response to Creation. We respond to the nature, the created beauty, by creating more beauty.
In creating this piece, my goal was to capture the essence of what I read in Creative Theology. It is a book about appropriately responding to the beauty of Creation through our own ability to create. I included choice words and quotes from the book, as well as some of its custom graphics.
Notably, this piece was created in the blooming vibrant spring.The cost per piece is $30. The size is 12×9. For additional specs and to see a few close-up views, you can view the piece in Mandy’s Etsy shop.
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: SamMahlstadt
- Name: Sam
- About Me: I am a graduate of the University of Iowa, where I studied English and Religious Studies. I am passionate about seeing the local church living in genuine relationship and maintaining a global mindset.
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 105 Views: 0 71090 Comments: 0 667 View all posts by SamMahlstadt
Comments (2)
I really like Sam's art! It is a passion of mine to see the visual arts used in this way; to reflect the Glory of God: www.accartshow.com.
My focus of the piece drew me to the phrase "Celebrate beauty...". Recently at Artists Celebrating Christ art event an architectural historian spoke on the definition of beauty. He of course focused on buildings, but what was stated can also be applied to art, man and nature. Basically, beauty is best defined not in the subjective sense of each person's opinion (which tends to look for some form of perfection) but by instead looking at how complete something is in fulfilling it's intended purpose. Beauty isn't about appearing to be as perfect as possible. Beauty is about being as complete in our purpose as we can be on this side of Heaven. In this sense... even a struggle can be beautiful. If the struggle matures us and pushes us toward fulfilling a purpose, than the struggle in the end is beautiful. So yes... let's celebrate beauty in all things; in the vibrant and colorful, in awe inspiring nature and in our fellow man as we all seek each purpose along our journey, as imperfect as we may be during the process.
That's not art, it looks like something you could buy at Marshall's.