me up at does
This post is right on the money. Not only that, but it serves as a point of contact with the languishing (dare I say dead?) connection between the modern Christian community and any semblance of real creativity.
When I lived in St. Augustine I would walk through the pedestrian streets downtown, and amid many worthwhile shops (there was an awesome kite store) were not one, but two Thomas Kinkade galleries. Every time I went into them (usually with visiting friends), I couldn’t help thinking the “art” on the wall at least had a slight kinship with pop art like Andy Warhol’s–it was mass-produced. Beyond that observation…I strained to find praise. The post linked to above sums up the rest.
I’m coming down hard on Kinkade, probably unfairly. But exchange a few terms, names and comparisons and the theme rings true in fields as diverse as popular music, literature and everywhere in between. Just earlier tonight my mom was listening to “Celtic-influenced” Christian music on internet radio, and I remarked to her that Celtic music seemed to be the only external arena mainstream Christian music had ever found it acceptable to borrow from. There was a brief flirtation with Celtic themes in the late ’90s, that fizzled out, and they’re back to playing follow the leader, and even that not very well.
In all fairness, the music establishment in this country is pretty wrecked from the get-go, and there’s little awry with the Christian music industry that isn’t present to some degree in the larger music industry. But still…there’s something in me that’s powerfully drawn to creativity, and that part of me views the community I’m a part of and its interface with the artistic community, and I can’t help wanting to build a bridge between the two. What form it would take I don’t know–discussion group, studio, even just coaching an Odyssey of the Mind team. But I know it can happen.
And…that’s enough typing with one hand. Ouch. Cramp, cramp…
Now i’ve had to type with one hand before (wow that sounded even worse than i thought it would) so i know that those three paragraphs must have taken quite a while to tap out with one hand sprawled across the whole keyboard…
I would stop to give a meaningful reply but it is my bedtime and i was just dropping by to say hi before i hit the hay. Hope the whole going off medication thing is going well for ya. Adios.
Thanks John :) No more medication for me… I’m off the Vicodin, thank goodness. Wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Have a great Monday!
Came across this today while doing some research on various ideas for the FD. Thought you might like to see it…
http://www.rx7city.com/FEATURED.HTM
Cheers!
That’s a sexy convertible. I can’t help wondering about the car’s structural integrity, though :) Thanks for the link!