Read Pastor Peters’ recent blog post about Christian art, especially as it’s used in the home. A quote:

“The point is this — don’t go the way of Christian music which is eminently forgettable and even shallow. Art is meant for the long haul so it should speak well over time and not just for the moment.”

Pr. McCain posted about a book he’s ordered from Germany that features paintings of the Lutheran Divine Service. Sounds fascinating! He posts some images as well.

This Luther Rose on a round canvas was a commission from our circuit for Pr. Al Borchardt, in honor of 50 years in the ministry.

Sorry for the lack of posts here. I’ll try to do better, but I’ve got two crazy babies now! I thought I’d start by choosing a church art photo for posting. Here’s this week’s picture, from Elephant Child’s church. I’m not sure how or why so many Lutheran churches ended up doing so much white and gilt in their sanctuary art, but it’s a nice combination.

To make up for my unimpressive blogging lately, I promise to post the work-in-progress of my latest painting: a Luther rose on a round canvas, based on an old woodcut of the emblem. It’s an ordination anniversary gift for a pastor in our circuit. The almost-finished product looks more like the woodcut, with lots of black lines, but the work-in-progress is interesting… without the black outline, the rose ended up looking kind of floaty and “O’Keefe”!

It’s the card gallery that’s updated, so I guess that’s not as exciting as it could be, but hey– I’m a pregnant mother of a toddler– do I have time to make much other than cards these days?    Actually I do have a few other pieces that I really should update, but that involves bugging my husband, and I don’t like to bug him too much.  Kelly needs to learn how to use computers more efficiently.

Anyway, here are the links to the most recent cards:

• A Baptism card with a shell bead and Holy Spirit charm
• A card suitable for a first communion or confirmation.  This one uses lots of gold Dresdens, as well as that nice flocked patterned paper, and a gold-printed vellum insert.  Super-fancy.
• “Gloria” Christmas card.  This uses a similar sort of flocked patterned paper as the above card, but different color and pattern.
• Exodus 15:2 card
• “Door” card with Jesus and children.  The window was created with a painted chipboard “window” frame.  The card opens up so you see the full picture of Jesus with the children on the inside of the card, along with a printed verse (1 John 3:1).
• Velvet, felt, and crocheted flower Luther Rose card.  The only thing I sewed on the card was the cross on the felt heart, which I think was a dollar store acquisition.  The red and blue backgrounds are ritzy Velvet Paper.
• “Shepherd” 1
• “Shepherd” 2
• “Shepherd” 3.  These shepherd cards were specially made for a woman in Holland, MB who apparently likes to give her priest “Good Shepherd”-themed stuff.  I think she also purchased that first Baptism card I posted here.

Eric from On the Wittenberg Trail has been writing a series of good posts that deal with issues relating to the vocation of the Christian in the arts.  Here’s an excerpt from some comments he has on Michael Horton’s book, Putting Amazing Back Into Grace.

Dr. Horton then addresses the subject of Christian vocation more specifically. He writes: “Each Christian, whatever his or her calling, serves God, and that person’s calling… is a ministry to the community on God’s behalf“ (emphasis added). He then addresses artistic vocations, concluding with these thoughts. “Painting, singing, playing an instrument, composing, writing, directing, acting, sculpting — these activities are callings which require no evangelistic justification“(emphasis added).

It is all too easy to see that doctors and nurses, firemen and policemen, even sanitation workers and milkmaids (one of Martin Luther’s favorite examples) minister to the community on God’s behalf — not by “evangelizing their workplaces,” but by simply serving others in their secular roles. We have more trouble with this concept when the vocation is artistic. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we recognize art as a medium for communication, and if what the artist communicates is not “explicitly Christian,” what good is his work for the kingdom of God? Yet, according to Dr. Horton, the effect of the Reformation was precisely the opposite. At a time when artists relied almost exclusively on ecclesiastical commissions for their daily bread, the Reformation invited artists to give expression to more universal themes and ideals.

Christians sometimes seem to be averse in principle to entertainment, and the arts can have a diversionary quality. We sometimes feel guilty spending time and money for no other purpose than to share a laugh with friends or a roomful of movie-watchers or enjoy a ball game. There are certainly times when an artist does nothing but entertain, and that does not mean he has failed in his vocation — on the contrary, in doing so he he has fulfilled it.

If the person called to a secular (non-ecclesiastical) vocation must do his work in a manner that is somehow “explicitly Christian” in order to bring glory to God in his work, then the Reformation doctrine of Christian vocation is dead. If we affirm this truth, but then make exceptions for authors, painters, musicians, and movie producers (among others), then we are all still slaves to what the Reformers called “monkery.”

In another post, Another note on SAICFF, Eric talks about Christians making films and trying to find their “evangelistic justification” for their films’ existence by taking a political issue and twisting it into a theological one.  As he rightly observes:  “This is not merely a good way to make bad movies.  It is a boring way to present perverse theology.”  Read the whole thing!

So remember, folks:  This blog may deal with liturgical and ecclesiastical arts in specific, which has a particular function in the life of the church– but let it never be said that a Christian must deal in “preachy” art only, especially for the sake of attempting to justify their vocation!

What makes this silver pendant particularly interesting is that it’s not labeled as a Luther rose pendant, but as a “stylized Tudor rose” with an added heart/cross.  The pendant is described on the site both in terms of the Tudor rose and the Sacred Heart emblem, so I just left a little message to the site saying that to me, it seems most obvious to describe it in terms of a Luther rose.  ;o)  Anyway, it’s sterling silver, made in Thailand, and very pretty.  If it wasn’t intended to be a Luther rose, it certainly is an amazing coincidence that it turned out as one.  )

Silver Crow has a wide variety of stuff, ranging from Dia de los Muertos products and shrine supplies (which they’re probably best known for) to vintage emphemera and craft scraps, to pagan accoutrements.  So finding what looks like a Luther rose there was quite surprising.

*NOTE*… a lot of these links won’t work anymore, but you can find the same papers by going to the main site and searching that way.

This neat paper has a lot of “church words” on it that relate mostly to Sunday School students.  Some cute little pictures, too.

“Good Shepherd” paper.  Someone out there read my mind when I said that more stained-glass-looking paper would be excellent!

“Songs of Praise” paper.  You’ll be happy to note that visually, this paper does not automatically associate “praise” and “rejoicing” with Top 40 light pop.

“The Lord’s Prayer” paper.  Great stuff.

A gray-tone 1 Corinthians 13:13 paper.

“Keeping the Faith” paper.

“Scripture notes” paper, with a variety of verses on it.

This paper has small crosses and a nice border.

The label on this paper mentions baptism, but the paper itself doesn’t mention it, and seems to be geared more towards baby dedications.  Of course, a baptized child has also been dedicated to God (literally), but there might be potential for confusion there.  Otherwise, very pretty paper, which could probably be used at least in part, seeing as the paper has lots of other acceptable expressions on it.

Guardian angels paper.  So-so.

Moving along to a different product line, this paper has the “pure in heart” beatitude on it with the word “Love” at the top.

This paper has the “Train a child in the way he should go” verse from Proverbs on it.

This just says “Wonderfully Made” with a little plant in the corner; very elegant and simple.

“Grace & peace be yours” with a leaf print on the left side.

“Rooted and established in love” with roses.

Pink, with “She speaks with wisdom” verse from Proverbs.

“Wisdom verses” from Proverbs on green paper.

Christmas paper with Isaiah 9:6.

Christmas paper with Luke 2:10-11.

And a different product line again… this is baby girl paper with a variety of Bible verses about children, as well as a couple song lyrics, by the looks of it.  This is sold per 25 sheets on this site.

This Australian site looks like it has loads of neat stuff, and here’s just a sample:  baptism paper in pink and blue; and hand-stitched Bible verse embellishments.

This is my most recent creation; a new banner for Trinity Lutheran. The phrase “Trinity in Unity” is derived from the Athanasian Creed, and the overall design is to convey the idea that the unity Trinity has as a congregation is from the Word and the Lutheran Confessions, which point us to Christ alone.  We first used it in church on Trinity Sunday, and I figured it might also work well for Reformation Sunday.  Anyway, it’s colorful enough to fit just about any season…

“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.