Art & Drawing

'shorn of any faith in God, the arts have become imbued with the qualities of a secularised religion. The only immortality anyone believes in now is the immortality of the artist, whose soul is encapsulated in his works for all eternity.' - Will Self

Tomorrow is the first of a new monthly drawing meeting, I'm running. It is a 'drop in' style at Cornerstone church office premises in Kingston.

I've been looking online- revisiting the advice of my Art foundation tutor (I learnt from him over ten years ago). I found some refreshing and good advice to approach drawing with a new sense of adventure. However, before embarking on this new drawing activity I am happy to remind myself and be ready to remind others that drawn artwork is not the immortal treasure we often deceive ourselves into believing it is, with our investments of time and money to go to see masterpieces, or preferring quiet Art galleries to lively church meetings. It is good to be skilled and work hard to draw well as drawing is a skill and a gift from God. But to many in these times, Art in itself can become a God.

Perfect

Billy Corgan sang a song entitled 'Perfect' on the Smashing Pumpkins 1998 album Adore… in this picture (that I have hand- drawn copies of, numerous times in the past) from one of the singles on the album, he looks to me to be an angel-like image (but phoney) of perfection, a bit like Sinead O Connor in 'Nothing Compares' video.

These past few days I have felt a heightened awareness of other peoples expectations of perfection in the people and spaces around them. And the negative feelings this produces (in me!).

So in turn I've become more aware of how I also follow this pattern, in projecting my own ideas of perfection onto others and myself.

Anthea Turner 'The Perfect Housewife'.

In Cornerstone Church, Kingston that I am part of, the teaching repeatedly emphasises the importance of understanding grace - admitting that we cannot achieve perfection in our own power, from our own efforts. This is in contrast to previous churches I've been in, where the emphasis would be 'what am I doing for God?'. I'm not criticising the latter teaching as it was presented in the context of the believer receiving Gods grace, then being encouraged to follow up with action, not being lazy about their personal commitment to follow Jesus.

But it is true that as Christians we do need to be repeatedly hammered and commit to being personally conscious of the gospel of grace, that nothing we do on this earth will ever earn us a place in the eternal perfection of being with Father God in heaven, a place of no imperfection. It is a free gift from God to you when you admit your sin to him and ask Him to rescue you.

"To all perfection I see a limit but your commands are boundless" - The Bible, Psalm 119:96.