A friend asked me the other day, as we were talking about this new journey of mine – The Consummate Victress journey – what art has to do with faith. Legit question. I gave her some sort of 1,000-foot answer that seemed to satisfy her, but later I was thinking about her question again, I realized that I had a much more insightful answer to that question.
If you’ve read the About The Consummate Victress page here, you know a little about where this journey started for me. You may know why it’s ‘The Consummate Victress’ and you may know the premise behind the brand, but you may not know why I choose it as the outlet for uplifting women.
Well, let me tell you why.
I’ve always loved painting. Crafts of practically any kind really, but especially painting. Ever since I was a young girl and had watercolor sets and crayons and colored pencils, I have been I love with the process of creating an image (not always so much the results.)
I was always told I was good at it. Sometimes I felt like I was other times I thought I was awful at it. But regardless, I loved it.
I’ll spare you the lifelong painting stories so let’s fast forward again to early 2020 when the pandemic hit:
One morning a few weeks into the stay-at-home mandates, I woke up feeling particularly defeated. Like many other Believers out there, I upped my prayer game from the very first time I heard the word pandemic and I think many of us have relied on our faith a great deal this year. I kept telling myself that He has a plan. He will lead me in the right direction. He won’t give me anything I can’t handle. But that day,
I felt like I was close to the point of not being able to handle it.
I wanted to stay in bed and wallow in self-pity. But my husband is an essential worker so I couldn’t lay around while he put himself at risk for us so I drug myself out of the bed, did a few household chores and then decided I would make a new vision board. Maybe that would help me focus on the things I could control.
As I was standing looking at my then-current vision board, I saw a few pictures on there that I wanted to keep but knew I couldn’t get them off that board without ripping them (I’m an excellent gluer) and I didn’t want to use that same board and cover up the other stuff that was there. (Yes, I’m one of those that keeps my visions boards!) So, I decided I’d paint replicas of the photos that were on my old board that I also wanted on my new board.
Out came the brushes and paints and easel….and I jumped in.
I felt immediate ease in the pressure I had been feeling. And as I let myself feel the soothing flow of the paint on the rough canvas, watch as the colors blended to form different shades, and started seeing the vision come to life, I started chatting with God like I used to when I was younger. I didn’t just pray then, we had full-on conversations and it was very cathartic. I don’t know why I stopped doing that, but it felt good to be back at it.
With each design I’d work on, I let my faith seep out a little more. And by the end of that day, I felt like my faith had been renewed. My soul had been refreshed, and my focus had been redirected.
You see, when you paint, you have to let your instincts flow through the brush onto the surface so you must relax enough for your feelings to surface. And once they’ve surfaced, they end up in some form or fashion on your canvas. And from there you can manipulate them. You can recolor them, or whatever you need to do to make them the way you want them to be.
It’s messy and imperfect like me, it takes focus and dedication like faith, and the results aren’t always what you think they will be. I know it sounds silly but that’s what the process is like for me. Painting is my church. It’s where I feel the most like me these days. And if I let go of fear, and trust the process, it feels like He is working through me.
So that’s the real answer to the question my friend asked. What does art have to do with faith? For me, everything. Painting has helped me change ‘one day’ into Day 1. It gives me the courage to step out of the easy zone. And to try new things. I can be vulnerable without being fragile. It is my soul-soother, my prayer time, my church. And I’m so blessed to share that with you!
