“For All the Saints” is currently up at the Holland, MB Tiger Hills gallery.

A bunch of updates to my own art site are coming soon, including (but not limited to) some new galleries for all these cards I’ve been making lately.

Speaking of Baptism (as per the previous post), I’m the last person to think of baptism in terms of a fashion statement, but since this is a discussion forum about the connection between theology and its expression in liturgical arts… I strongly suggest going here to view some of the most beautiful baptismal garments you’ll see anywhere.  And yes, there are lots of cute babies on this page, too!  If you click on any of the pictures, you get multiple photos with different views.

I also need to come up with a way to show off some of my friends’ sewing skills with the various clothing, vestments, etc. that they’ve made.  It is, after all, one of the main points of this web page to encourage such behaviors!

And by the way, the banner I’m cutting and gluing together for our church in Winkler is coming along pretty well… something else I need to post a photo of.

Has anyone ever noticed that if you walk into a typical, general Christian book/gift store and browse the cards for Baptism (if there are any), practically none of the cards actually make any sort of reference to Baptism?  Now, I myself don’t mind making blank cards to let the writer pen in their own message, but I’m talking about the sort of card that seems desperate to avoid the topic.  Like:  “As you celebrate your baptism, remember that this is all about you showing God how committed you are to him”; or “Baptism isn’t just a ceremony; it’s a time for parents to make promises to God”; or “We rejoice with you as we remember the new life you received when you asked Jesus into your heart!”  And when Bible verses are printed in these cards, most of those verses are not the ones that reference Baptism, either.

I suspect that this is because the many Bible passages about Baptism all seem to just come out and say that Baptism is about having your sins washed away, believing and being baptized for salvation, receiving the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, being made a disciple of Christ, dying and rising with Christ, putting on Christ through Baptism, and so on.  And all that stuff doesn’t easily mesh with a theology that doesn’t like people talking about Baptism in those terms, even if the Bible itself does.

I do find it a little off-putting that so many of these stores will have tons and tons of cards for all sorts of secular occasions from Father’s Day to birthdays to “hey, let’s get together and go shopping,” but very few cards for actual observances of faith in the Christian life.

Ever come up with what you think is a good, original idea, only to find out it’s been done… a lot?    For quite awhile I’ve envisioned making some church banners with batik fabric pieces against a black background, to make it look like stained glass.  Well, now that I know it’s been done, I can poke around for some more ideas.    Here are some links to stained glass quilting, banners, or other fabric art.  I’m not necessarily totally crazy about all of the projects I’m linking to, but it seems cooler to have stained glass fabric art in Lutheran churches, as opposed to hippy Pentecostal banner art. 

Very colorful series, with beautiful possibilities.  You can buy patterns from their website, too.

Some holiday banners from Poiema Banners.  Nice design.

Calling all Lutheran quilter ladies… someone make a Luther rose window with this idea, please!

Drool.  This verse from the beatitudes is just great.

Okay, so this is not exactly stained glass quilting– they’re embroidery designs with some stained glass motifs, as well as various other Christian imagery.  Just ignore the first couple samples, as well as some of those saint invocations further down, and check out the good stuff–particularly, certain evangelists and saints, the Lord’s Prayer, and “Come Lord Jesus” (which should be awfully familiar to you Lutherans).

This isn’t a very clear picture, but apparently these “stained glass windows” at the front of the church are actually fabric.  The site involves an ELCA Lutheran/Presbyterian church combo in North Dakota; a page with more pictures, and some more stained glass fabric art, can be seen here.  (I’m still trying to figure out how the “Evangelical denomination” or the “Plan of Salvation” links made it onto the sidebar there.  Come to think of it, Alex and I have probably driven past this church before while cruising through Langdon.)

Just imagine… portable, less expensive, and yet relatively durable stained glass windows.  And I’m sure a similar technique could be used with paper.

A new blog has been created that is entirely devoted to the Weimar altar painting by the Cranachs.  Go here to check it out!

I must have missed this post from Pr. Cwirla’s blog originally, but it’s a good find.  Here’s how he describes the pictures he posted: 

“Holy Trinity’s resident artist, Judy Greenlees, created a series of marvelous panels combining calligraphy and Celtic art to interpret the O Antiphons.  These grace the walls of our sanctuary during the season of Advent (and sometimes a bit longer).  Enjoy.”

By the way, I’d love to post more photos or links from Lutherans who have some church-related art to share, either from their own churches or private collections.  Contact me!!

Here’s the most recent ordination card (apologies for image quality).  I think the card turned out really well, despite a couple of small things like me not bothering to make it perfectly symmetrical, which would have definitely improved the overall effect.  The gold paper accents are Dresden paper again– I bought the tassel strips specifically to do this card design.  The stole is more tomato-colored velvet paper, and the effect together is really quite stunning.  The cross is actually a brad.  One of my biggest overall concerns with this design was to avoid making it look like a headless pastor.  LOL!  I think the design stays sufficiently abstract to avoid that.  After I’d finished the card, I found the perfect sort of trim to make a small horizontal line of a cincture, right between the stole, but it was too late– the ends of the white trim fray when cut and would need to be hidden under the stole, but I’d already taped the stole down.  Other variations could include the use of white lace, or making a chasuble instead of a stole.  This card would probably work well in any sort of pastor capacity, including ordination or installation, and if you’re really nerdy, the stole color and images on it can even be adjusted for the proper church season.

I definitely need to experiment more in the realm of those gold tassel strips with different colors of velvet paper to make tiny banners or paraments.  And check out these links to see some truly spectacular Dresden paper “scraps” that I hope to add to my collection soon:  altars, churches, and an ornate frame.  They’re a little on the expensive size, but really beautiful!

Here’s one confirmation card and two baptism cards. They all share similar design components. I was looking at some of my “word” paper and was wondering what sort of card I could design where the maximum amount of text would be visible. For the first and the last card here, the solution was to place a small square of vellum in the middle, with an object, and frame it. The card in the middle appears to have a transparent square near the middle, but that’s actually the design of the paper itself. All I had to do was add a little frame with a blue card stock oval and a cut-out paper shell.  These particular images aren’t the clearest, because I scanned them directly into the computer. The first card, especially, has a very 3-D Luther rose. To make it, I used a white paper rose (obtained by the package at a dollar store), cut out as much of the middle part as I could, and glued a small red heart rhinestone in the middle (also obtained in a package of materials at the same dollar store). The cross was simply drawn on with a fine-point Sharpie. If I’d have been really clever, I’d have used a circular piece of vellum and put a gold paper frame around it to complete Luther’s seal. Oh well, it still looks good… (UPDATE: Tonight I finished an “ordination” card long in the planning. I’ll post it very soon.)  And I maintain my threat to assemble a book of arts and crafts projects for liturgical sensibilities. Just find me a publisher.

In my never-ending quest to give you, gentle reader, art and crafting tidbits from all over the place that especially pertain to good stuff for Lutherans, here’s an excellent find.  Scrapbooking paper with Scripture verses, including some really good ones for occasions like Baptism and Confirmation.  (I’ve used both of these… in fact I’ve made a card with the Confirmation paper recently, so I’ll have to get that up and scanned soon.  The Baptism paper I’ve used for my daughter’s Baptism scrapbook.)  Note the use of Ephesians 2:8 in the Confirmation paper.  It might have been nice for the ”First Communion” paper to have a few more references to the Lord’s Supper.  Still, not easy to find this kind of stuff!  The company is called It Takes Two.  It also sells cards for religious occasions.

Other interesting products include Jesus Loves Me paper in pink or blue, sets of stickers with different themed verses, rub-on transfers, and a 6-piece assortment of scapbooking paper that includes a “1 Cor. 13″ paper I didn’t see elsewhere on the site.

I think my hubby wishes I would lay off the crafting stuff just a little and get back to painting and fine art.  My only problem is time– it’s not easy to pull out the paints and work for a couple of hours straight when you’ve got an infant (and no free-babysitting).  I have so many projects and ideas on the go, for both painting and crafting.  Not enough hours in the day!

Apparently this happened by accident (sort of like me stumbling upon the blog), but there’s an interesting photo at Prophet, Priest and Pirate of some pottery glaze that turned out looking suspiciously like a Luther rose!

Thanks, Pr. McCain at Cyberbrethren, for compiling this list of Luther quotes on the value of the arts as vehicles for God’s Word.  One of my favorites:

“Yes, would to God that I could persuade the rich and the mighty that they would permit the whole Bible to be painted on houses, on the inside and outside, so that all can see it. That would be a Christian work.”