INSPIRED ART

This month the WAG has rented its walls to CAM (Christian Artists for Missions), a group of eight who, as their web site states, “honour God through the gift of creativity” by “raising funds through the sale of art in support of Christian Missions worldwide.”

 The titles of the paintings and drawings on display will give viewers a hint of CAM’s purpose. For example, Margaret Ebdon has titled her landscape The Glory of God (Psalm 19:1), indicating that the scriptures offer links to creative output. In her work we see a horizontal bank of billowing pink and lavender clouds, filling the sky above a simple hilly landscape drawn from Margaret’s memory of a trip to the Lake District in England. I hear rapture in her voice as she describes her oil painting: “Heaven makes us look up—to see clouds, stars, sunrise, sunset. It’s ever changing, never blank. In it, our imaginations can find images and songs. It’s an expression of His creation.”

Cheryl and William Jackson likewise look to nature in their acrylics. When Cheryl sees a beautiful scene, or perhaps a simple flower, or a butterfly, she is reminded of the scriptures. She attributes the beauty and fragrance of nature to the divine. The Earth Sings Praise (Psalm 66:4) depicts a rocky tree-covered shore, which could be anywhere in the Thousand Islands near Cheryl’s home. (It’s actually a lake near Lanark.) Cheryl sees joy in the living trees and reflected light on the water, and interprets these as the rejoicing of creation. William Jackson’s Morning Light (Proverbs 4:18) refers to “steps into the light”. He has painted the view he sometimes sees when he looks out of his current art teacher’s dining room window—a dramatic pink sunrise causing a light blue shadow to be cast by a row of denuded trees on a snow-covered foreground. William describes himself humbly as a student of art who is always learning.

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Prophetic Art, God-Breathed Art, Message Art: these are the ways Brenda R. Wright describes her creative output. Among her large acrylic pieces on exhibit, Hallelujah (Psalm 150) stands out for its boldness. What we see is an arrangement of overlapping orange and gold musical instruments, dominated by a guitar, and placed on an impressionistic background of complementary blue. The lively background and positioning of the instruments suggest the sound and flow of music. “Hallelujah is a word that is understood internationally,” explains Brenda, “and it connects praise, or worship, with musical instruments.” Brenda paints while listening to music because “music lifts the soul.” The subject for this painting was a deliberate choice, but Brenda often starts with a blank canvas and waits for divine inspiration.

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Inspired Art runs from October 31 to November 25 with a reception on Sunday, November 4, from 2 to 4pm.