A Shot in the Arm

Brennan Manning has taught me much.  A brother sent this link to me, and I had to pass it on to you.

 

Rubens as Peacemaker

Peter Paul Rubens, "The Allegory of Peace" 1629-1630, Oil on Canvas, 78"x116", National Gallery London

A while back I spent some time reading a nice little book by Phaidon on the artist Rubens by Kristin Lohse Belkin.  In it I was struck by the prolific painting career of Peter Paul Rubens in the Baroque era in Flanders (now Belgium), but in addition found myself especially surprised by Rubens peacemaking motivations underling many of his later works.

Rubens in the 17th century, functioned for the country of Flanders not only as the preeminent artist but also as an ambassador to other nations. Late in his life he would create the paintings featured in this post.  A devout Catholic who attended mass daily, he was also well versed in Greek and Roman legends.  He understood their gods and the symbolic powers of these stories and put them to use.  Developing the characters as metaphors, “The Allegory of Peace” creates an image with a clear message that peace brings prosperity, bounty, happiness, and stable family life.

To quote Belkin from the book directly,  “In the centre is the figure of Peace, expressing milk from her breast to feed a child, commonly identified as Plutus, god of wealth.  She is protected from the heavily armored Mars, god of war and his attendant Furies by the helmeted Minerva, goddess of wisdom.  Two young girls are led forward from the right, one to be crowned by the torch-bearing Hymen, god of marriage and both to receive the fruits which spill from a cornucopia held by a satyr….”

Contrast that with “The Horrors of War” (painted during the deteriorating situation in Europe during the 30 years war) where Venus’ love is unable to tame Mars and his Fury as they trample victims.

His work gives me pause in my own life.  How do I create peace in the here and now, in my day-to-day life?  I think many can get wrapped up in all the “war” out there, when our own life is just as violent in how we treat one another.  Let us hope and pray that as Ruben’s painting as our example, we protect the peace in the lives of others around us with a  heart of wisdom.

Blessings- Tim

Peter Paul Rubens, "The Horrors of War" 1637-8 Oil on canvas 81"x134" Galleria Pitti, Florence

 

Samuel May in Pate de Verre

Samuel Joseph May (September 12, 1797-July 1, 1871)

Samuel Joseph May was a Unitarian abolitionist minister in the 1800′s.  Over the years I’ve been collecting stories of friendship throughout history and was very moved by May’s friendship with the revolutionary abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison; a friendship marked with affection and longevity (the true sign of friendship according to the medieval age).  Theirs is a relationship founded in part to help others, to come up against the powers of slavery that had been holding our country fast.  (The article I read is by Donald Yacovone: “Abolitionists and the “Language of Fraternal Love”, from Meanings for Manhood, Construction of Masculinity in Victorian America).

Last summer I began working on three pate de verre figures, each representative of a different friendship in history; I decided to take this abolitionist minister as one of my subjects.   Now complete I am working on a shadow box type construction that he will be a part of. Keep your eyes peeled here as to where and how he’ll show up.  Below shows you a bit of my process in his creation.

Working on the original image in clay, his head and body were built in two parts. I had my buddy the artist Dan Callis pose for me to give me the position of the figure that I needed.

Here is the clay version of Samuel May when completed. I liked the light falling in our hallway at the University, so decided to shoot an image of the clay piece there. I wanted May's palms up which was a bit tricky to do since technically I couldn't have any undercuts and needed the back of his hands to be flush with his legs.

I have at this point made a mold of the clay pieces, removed the clay original, cleaned the mold, and have packed glass into the molds. Here Samuel May as well as another figure (Cardinal Newman) are being cast in glass. The glass has gone through an initial drying phase and I've opened up the kiln to add talc into the vessels so the sculptures can go through their final fusing stage.

Here the Samuel May figure is complete and the head and body are now attached. The grainy quality of the sculpture is due to the glass being in sand like form (called frit) that I pack into the mold.

Because I have to make the parts in vessel like form interesting things happen like the "crown like" look for the head of the figure. What I enjoy about pate de verre is that it's full of surprises. You can see the contrast of the final figure from the original clay image, and although getting detail is sometimes a little risky, I like how the work seems to take on an ancient and timeless quality. Much like friendship eh?

 

C.S. Lewis on Originality

C.S. Lewis

Here’s a nice quote to get you going this week:

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

C.S.Lewis

(I find this quote pretty assuring in light of the culture found in the arts especially over the past fourty years or so.  Truth telling hasn’t necessarily been the priority and it seems irony is king as of late.)

 

The Kingdom

I’m a big fan of Frederick Buechner and ran on to this of his as of late.  Thought I’d share it with you all. Hope your Thanksgiving went well.

Author Frederick Buechner

“If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for.  The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers.  We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know.  We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength.  The Kingdom of God is where we belong.  It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.”

 

Healing of Suffering

Author Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

A very nice book I read this summer while in Belgium and France while traveling with students was “Kitchen Table Wisdom” by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.   I found her to be honest, insightful, practical, and down to earth with her insights.   She has learned much over years of working through her own physical pain,  as well as ministering to others in pain and those facing death. It’s worth a read. Here is a quote I’d like to share with you:

“Everyone alive has suffered.  It is the wisdom gained from our wounds and from our own experiences of suffering that makes us able to heal.  Becoming an expert has turned out to be less important than remembering and trusting the wholeness in myself and everyone else.  Expertise cures, but wounded people can best be healed by other wounded people.  Only other wounded people can understand what is needed, for the healing of suffering is compassion, not expertise.”

(From Kitchen Table Wisdom, page 217)

 

Our Daily Bread

I read a little C.S. Lewis this morning, and thought I’d pass it on to you this Friday:

C. S. Lewis

“A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands.   We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not.  Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future.  Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for.  The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.”

C.S. Lewis from “Learning in War-Time” (The Weight of Glory)

Hope you have a blessed day living in the now.

 

A gut-level experience of our profound spiritual emptiness.

A photo of author Brennan Manning speaking

A spiritual grandfather that saw me through difficult times is Brennan Manning.  I read “The Ragamuffin Gospel” about thirteen years ago and it rocked my world.

All of his books reiterate his basic theme:  the grace of God is overwhelming.  I read a bit of “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus” this morning and thought a quote would be appropriate to pass onto you this fine Sunday.

Blessings.

“Poverty brings us to the awareness of the sovereignty of God and our absolute insufficiency.  We simply cannot do anything alone.  Any growth or progress in the spiritual life cannot be traced to our paltry efforts.  All the work is grace.  We cannot even acknowledge that Jesus is Lord except through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Life is lagniappe. (This is a southern term meaning “gift” that he unpacked earlier in the chapter.) We are faced with the possibility of genuine humility.  I am convinced that without a gut-level experience of our profound spiritual emptiness, it is not possible to encounter the living God.- Brennan Manning (The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, page 65)

 

A short time in expectaion.

Henri Nouwen

Read a little bit of Henri Nouwen this morning and thought I’d share some of what I read with you.  I am always moved by this man’s honesty and depth.  He wrestled with his angels and loved many.

Here’s the quote:

“Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.  There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments in our life.  It seems that there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy but that, even in the most happy moments of our existence, we sense a tinge of sadness.  In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of its limitations.  In every success, there is the fear of jealousy.  Behind every smile, there is a tear.  In every embrace, there is loneliness.  In every friendship, distance  And in all forms of light, there is knowledge of surrounding darkness.”  Henri Nouwen from Out of Solitude

I guess I have been resonating with the dicodomies of life as of late, so found this ringing true in my heart this morning.

Take care.

 

A couple of quotes from our friend Leonardo

Dibujo de un árbol (Drawing a Tree) by Leonardo da Vinci

I Saw an exhibit several months back on the Renaissance painter Leonardo daVinci; here were some of my favorite quotes I found of his:

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.  They went out and happened to things.”

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.”

“There are three classes of people:  Those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.”

Hope your day is going well here….

Tim