Sceadwian Installation

It has always been cold and rainy when I’ve installed outdoor artwork, and this project was no different. But after two days of icy rain and drizzly snow, the Sceadwian project is up — quite literally. The connections on the trees are about 20 feet up in the air, making this the tallest work of art I’ve done to date. I couldn’t have done it without several truly fantastic installation helpers. Here are a few photos from the installation process.

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Art With Teeth

By its very nature and definition, the Divine is beyond human experience and comprehension. Thus one of the main purposes of any spiritual practice — whether communal worship or private meditation, whether ecstatic celebration or penitence and fasting — is to expand our vision beyond ourselves and our own limited spheres of understanding and experience. The same is true when we study the wisdom of ancient spiritual masters, or search the natural world for markings of a divine hand. We are plagued with questions and doubts, and we are hungry for answers. It is revelation that we are seeking: the unveiling of truth as-yet-unseen, and reality beyond the tiny scope of our own vision.

History has shown that art can be the bearer of soaring spiritual truth and profound revelation, but at least within my own Christian tradition, much of what passes for “spiritual art” these days is really neither art nor spiritual.

Discipline & Desire

The Guild is a solid, tangible, physical place; and the Guild is also a fluid community with highly permeable boundaries. One of the things that unifies these two disparate realities is the many-layered conversation that takes place at the Guild — both within the space of these walls and within the relationships of this community. It’s an ongoing conversation at the intersection of spirituality and art, and the way we go about practicing both — a steady search for common ground among the many diverse perspectives, values, and experiences that are a part of the Guild.

Inspired by the Incidental “Art” of Nature

I’ve written before on this blog about artistic turn-ons — the concepts and visual elements where one finds inspiration for fresh artistic growth. I believe that inspiration is present and vibrant in every situation & every place, waiting to reveal itself to those who will meet it with curiosity, reverence, and attentiveness.

One of my favorite places to go looking for inspiration is in the natural world. Nature is an excellent place to discover incidental and serendipitous “art” — spontaneous organic compositions of infinite variety, beauty, and suggestiveness.

Early Morning Snow

I woke this morning to the muffled silence of falling snow, and decided to take my camera for an early-morning walk. I love the way snowfall transforms the landscape overnight — changing not only the appearance of a place, but its smells and sounds as well.

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