Getting the idea from my head to the canvas is not hard, but it's not easy either.

In the beginning (and who am I kidding? I'm still 'in the beginning') I'd look at another artist's work and appropriate. A background from one artist, a tree from another, a cloud from another. Most of the time, I could get close to the artist's rendition, and when I felt comfortable with the flow, I'd start adding my own flair to the piece.

This isn't much different than when I was writing--and surely the writers in the crowd understand reading Flannery O'Connor and wanting to flesh out A Good Man of their own.  

"Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it." 

She's right, y'know? It is not for everyone. And when Ms. O'Connor says "effort" she means the get-your-hands-dirty-fall-down-at-the-end-of-the-day-tired kind of effort. The kind that requires living. And living means experiencing pain. You take the beauty you see and mix it with the base pain any of us experience on this side of heaven, then you make art with it.

I might start with a word or a color or a shape, but I tend to start small. If I try to imagine how the piece will look in the end, I'm too hard on myself and I give up.  So I start with something small (just like in writing, one word at a time, one sentence at a time, one paragraph at at time) and I build layer upon layer.

And y'know that writing advice, "Don't be afraid to kill your darlings?" Well, same goes with Visual Prayer, don't be afraid to cover up something, layer a piece paper over a cool magazine cutout. Write a word and cover it with paint. Glue down a Bible page and cover it with your handwriting.  

The art is in the effort. 

The final product does not have to look like mine. It should not look like mine. It's ok if it resembles something else, but in the end, what you're putting on the canvas is how you see the world, how you meld your life into a visual mosiac. No one else can see things exactly as you--and that's a good thing.  

If you're still doubting, if you still don't think you can do any kind of Visual Prayer, then try this...

Get a pen (marker, pencil, crayon) and a piece of paper. Jot down some people you'd like to pray for. Draw a circle around each name. Then draw some more circles. Then more circles. Until the page is full of circles.

Now, take a picture of it with your camera (your phone camera will be fine) and email me your Visual Prayer to:   MLPendergrass at gmail dot com.

I want to post the pictures in an upcoming blog. I want to prove that 1.) you can do this and 2.) everyone's will look different, even though you're all instructed to jot down names and make circles.

 * * * * *

~michelle pendergrass believes you can do this.

Comments

[Jennifer Peacock]

I love your work, Michelle.

[Jeanne Damoff]

I love your work, too. And I love this idea. I may take you up on it.

[Michelle Pendergrass]

Jennifer--thank you :)

Jeanne--thank you, too :) And I hope you will take me up on it! I need some photos to show people they can do this!!

[Vicki @ Light for the Creative Soul]

Michelle, I love your visual journaling. I put a link to your site on my sidebar. Blessings!