arts & artists [of mars hill graduate school]

ROUND 25 June 25th 8pm

2007-06-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Just a reminder that the next Round is a week from tonight at the Fremont Abby!

June 25th 8-10pm.

~Jessi

Addition to Jessi's post. Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2007-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures when I was driving from Bulgaria to Croatia and back in the summer of 2003. My wife, Anne, and I would drive for 17-20 hours straight through, because we were too scared to stop.
(above) This was the side of a working restaurant (the food was good). The marks on the side of the building were bullet holes and some larger caliber weapons as well! Every building in these countries was at least this damaged. Many building were in ruins.
One of the highlights of the drive was the UN escort we got through a particularly sketchy area! Most of the crazy stuff we saw we either couldn't take a pictures of, or were too scared to stop.
All the roads had speed limits for army trucks and tanks! In some places the bridges were still bombed out and we had to take detours. Notice the way the pollution hangs in the air. There were some pretty nasty industrial plants near by.
This was the entrance of an army base. Taking a picture like this was very illegal (probably would have gotten me arrested). But I had to get at least one.

Josh Garrels

2007-03-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

hey y'all

my bro-in-law is a great musician. He'll be in town and playing at the Park Pub Tuesday April 10th, 8-10pm. I'll be there. Will I see you?

Check out Josh Garrels to hear some of his music.

cheers,
cris

Thurs March 29, 5-7pm

2007-03-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

there is no limit to their passionate longing many waters cannot quench and mighty rivers cannot drown. - from "the same sea," by amos oz

round22

2007-03-14T04:18:00.000-07:00

round22mondaymarch198-10pmfremont abbey arts center4272fremontaveNcorneroffremontand43rd$5-10donationfree parking at zundelswith all star robert deeble and other fun loving people

365 Play...

2007-03-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

So several theatre companies in town have committed to preform a play a day for a year. This week is my friend's company Absurd Reality is up and I am going to be acting in two of the productions the first will be Friday evening 6pm at The Northwest Actors Studio (1100 E. Pike St. the entrance is on 10th to the left of Barca Lounge) and Sunday at Pike's Market in the Cave (right next to the fish throwers) at 3pm. If any one wants to come by either time that would be great! Here is the offical posting

Upcoming Shows! www.absurdreality.com
ART is participating in the first annual 365 Plays in 365 Days. We will be performing the week of March 5-11. Catch us:

Monday, March 5: "9 Bars"
Directed by Amanda Stoddard
At the Northwest Actor’s Studio
6:00pm
Featuring Brandon Ryan and Justin
BONUS! Tuesday's show included!

Tuesday, March 6: "NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN NOR HEAT NOR GLOOM OF NIGHT STAYS THESE COURIERS FROM THE SWIFT COMPLETION OF THEIR APPOINTED ROUNDS"
Directed by Amanda Stoddard
At the Northwest Actor’s Studio
6:00pm
BONUS! Includes Monday's show!

Wednesday, March 7: "Cuckoo"
Directed by Maridee Slater
At Westlake Center
6:00pm

Thursday, March 8: "Holey"
Directed by Dorothy Lemoult
Location TBD
6:00pm

Friday, March 9: "Father Comes Home from the Wars (Part 5)"
Directed by Kaitlin Dresdner
Location TBD
6:00pm

Saturday, March 10: "The Leaving"
Directed by Dorothy Lemoult
Location TBD
3:00pm
Featuring Brandon Ryan and Amanda Stoddard

Sunday, March 11: "Dragon Keeper"
Directed by Maridee Slater
At The Pike Place Market (Cave area)
3:00pm

All shows are entirely free.

slash and burn...

2007-03-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

tonight as i was listening to a special on architecture on npr i was struck by a the commants of an architect who specialized in housing for displaced people in disaster area (be it natural or human inflicted). as he spoke about the beginning of his work during the conflict in serbia i was struck and moved to tears. the habit of slaughtering a family or larger group and then utterly destroying the evidence of their existance was called (i think) slash and burn. the goal being to totally remove any sense of their presence in the world. this made me rememeber the command given to the israelites to utterly destroy the nations they conquored. it grieves my heart to realize that this horrible and evil practice could be traced back to and justified with bad theological understanding as a current command of God. Here is a link to the site of this organization. check them out they are incredible.

Grand Finale Gallery Celebration

2007-02-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

...with photography by urban youth from Seattle.

@ Seattle YMCA
Triangle Art Gallery
909 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

Thursday, March 1
5:30-7:00pm

This show will be the culmination of the projects these youth
have worked on over the past 6 months or so. They will also host a panel discussion,
answering questions and sharing why their photography is significant in their lives.

The workshop originated from a woman being inspired by the film Born into Brothels. . . and from the few stories I've heard, it sounds like it has been an incredible experience. Hope you can make it!

jen .

2007-02-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

you are invited.
this is the grand opening for
Robert Deeble's practice, FolkTown Counseling,
in Ballard. Hope you can come by to see his space
and these new little "memory paintings."

cost

2007-02-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

hey all,

i was watching the movie "sherrybaby" this evening and began thinking about the question of cost. specifically in regard to this film the cost for the actress to appear naked and be abused/used by almost every man in the film, but also the question of cost in general. what does it cost when we enter fully into a piece of art?
i have begun to think about different roles that i have played or even just auditioned with and what each character has cost me...

any thoughts?

artists and ministers

2007-02-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

hi ladies and gents,

came across a good article on theooze.
fun to read someone writing about who
i want to be when i grow up. good read.

here's a quote to get you going:
Artists and ministers know differently though. They know that they are not escaping reality and life and the problems and pains of the world. No, they are diving into them. They roll around in them until they smell like them, until their clothes are stained with them, until they get a bit of them stuck in their teeth. They realize that have not received a pass from human problems, no, they are building their home right in the middle of them.

creating the world that ought to be

2007-02-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

hey all,

in just a few weeks, jessi knippel, blaine hogan, paul belk, karen kirsch, and i will be placing our lives in the hands of a pilot and aircraft to cross the country to new york city. there we'll join with artists in various mediums and from various places to come around this idea of Redemptive Culture: Creating the World that Ought to Be.

I wish you could all come!! seriously.

paul, ed traub, and i had the chance to go last year, and it was so inspiring. not until a year later in reflecting did we realize just how monumental the conference had been in our lives. so there is much expectation in returning. we hope to blog while we're there so that you can all be a part of the conversations. if we can't take you all in our bags, at least you can come via blog!

please pray for the nuances of this journey: finding a place to stay, safe travels, no food poisoning, no getting lost, making it to the morning sessions! and other things such as inspiration, comaraderie, vision, connection, soul nourishment, rest...

the dates are february 22-25. we leave late wednesday and return late sunday.

thanks friends. peace to you all, jen

an invitation:

2007-01-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

"coming out party"

2007-01-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

(gathering numero uno)

date: saturday, january 20th, 6pm

locale: mars hill graduate school

kick back soup dinner, conversation, and
a chance to connect with other artists in the
mars hill community.

$2-5 suggested to cover food/drinks

rsvp please: mhgs.arts@gmail.com
[space is limited]

Your thoughts are needed

2007-01-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

I'd like to tell you about a photography project that I'll be working on for the next year or two. From what I can tell, basically, I've taken everything that I learned in the first semester and applied it to photography.

I've gotten in contact with brilliant photographers from Palestine, Iran and Venezuela (isn't Flickr.com great?). Basically, the group is going to take photos of people as they are thinking about people who live in countries that are currently at odds with their country. As we work, we're going to give each other access to our photos via the internet. The end result- I want to show the most poignant photos in a gallery facing one another as if they are having a lively and honest conversation. People who visit can decide for themselves what they think that photos are saying to each other. Hopefully, my photos along with the others will be shown in each of the other countries, so it will be an international exhibition.

I'll spare you all the details, but all of the photos will be done with a white background and the same lighting so the people will stand alone and sometimes it might even be hard to tell what country a person comes from.

I've attached some samples of what the format of the pictures will be.

Alright, so if I come up to you sometime and want to take your portrait, you;ll understand.

Please let me know what you think.

Patrick Love

2006-12-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

merry christmas, friends.

Art Benefit coming up! Dec 16

2006-12-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

Manger Art is an annual Art Show to benefit the two-thirds world. This year the exhibit will be up and for sale for three months (December 16-March 10). We will be opening the exhibit with a gala event including live music from Deb Montgomery and Hollis Brown as well as live poetry including one of Seattle's top slam poets, Ryler Dustin and others from Bellingham's Lobster Manor Poetry Night.

The suggested $6 donation, as well as all proceeds of items sold will go to benefit Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.com).

There will be paintings, photography, mixed media, and quality artwork gifts (perfect for Christmas gifts!) to view, contemplate, and hopefully pruchase!

** art show being organized and brought to us by Becky Tucker & her friend, Deb, who began this adventure a few years ago. should be an enchanting evening! many from within the mars hill community and friends of will be contributing. spread the word!

Details:

The Levi Room (Next to Post Office)
23302 56TH Ave W, Mountlake Ter, WA

Saturday, December 16, 6:00pm

2006-12-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

ROUND 19

Monday, December 18 8-10pm

at 4272 Fremont Ave N
Seattle, 98103

$5-10 suggested donation.

This month is going to be killer.
Holiday Party with rotating groups of
ROUND alum. Many musicians, handful of
painters...should be a grand time!

Kindlings and Luci Shaw

2006-11-28T23:13:00.000-08:00

Anyone a Luci Shaw fan? She'll be sharing in Fremont week after next...I'm mostly curious to go and am looking for company:
The Kindlings Muse--Live At Hales

Also, I thought I'd share one of my favorite websites on film. It is Jeffrey Overstreet's blog. I don't agree with all of his reviews, but I love his sight for his frequent updates on the goings on in the film world:
Looking Closer Journal

2006-11-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Iranians are known for their superstitious ways. Sometimes an Iranian will randomly open a book of poems by their countries most beloved poet, Rumi, and trust that his wisdom will guide them. I was doing some research today and came across a book of his poems. I decided to give it a try.

In your light I learn how to love
In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,
Where no one sees you,

But sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.

-Rumi

S
(Click for large)

Do painters enjoy "worship leading"?

2006-11-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

As many of you are of the visual persuasion, I was wondering what your thoughts were with regards to leading worship. I've attended many church services where painters were up front creating during the music or sermon, which I've always thought to be beautiful and diverse. I'm dreaming up a monthly, one hour evening of sacred music at a theater, and have wondered what the painter's experience is. I'm leaning towards having finished art that ties in with the Liturgical Calendar (as the whole evening will tie in as well). Of course, those of you interested in helping with this are absolutely welcomed. So what is it like for you to be up front? To witness others painting?

I've posted this comment on my blog here if you wish to read my current philosophy.

Cheers!
Zadok

just rambling

2006-11-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

para mi

went to the studio last night...been avoiding it all week. too much studying to do, i'm already behind. wait, already? i've been behind from the beginning of the term. so maybe if i just hold off on making anything i can get to a place of feeling a little bit better about classes...and then get to work...other work. wait. a handful of little (and a few not-so-little) commissions are waiting...all need to get done before christmas. i need that money to....well...to at least tread water a bit longer. but there's no time to sit with any ideas...just gotta paint and hope that inspiration will find me. God, where did inspiration go?

so i bought another canvas last night...for me. a big one. that's right, it's going to hang in my room. and i painted again...hoping the masses hanging out in the building next door weren't paying attention to the light in my window, shades slantly drawn.

been so hard lately to get alone. alone with work. alone with God. alone with myself. sometimes it feels as though everyone is watching, all the time. probably not true, but it can feel that way.

no wonder so many artists become hermits.

On Journey, Calling, and The Creative Struggle

2006-11-15T13:18:00.001-08:00

(The following reflections were shared with one of my profs regarding a book we're reading...)

Well, once again I find myself reading a book that is provoking a lot of “ooh”-ing and “ah”-ing from the wisdom of its words. If this keeps up with my experience of this course so far, I suppose I could be accused of being like a movie critic who seems to proliferate with hearty endorsements for every dud ever created, all part of an apparent con game—a paycheck-driven artful collusion between movie moguls and their statesmen. Why, I bet if you googled reviews for such flops as Ishtar and Speed 2: Cruise Control, you would be likely to find all sorts of pre-release propaganda about their merits. Keep in mind that Johnny Carson used the former as a byword in his opening monologue for years on The Tonight Show. Only the worst—especially when hyped with great fanfare and star power like Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty—get this reputation.

That being said, I hope that history won’t repeat itself through my reflections here. Rather, I hope they indicate some of my heartfelt appreciation in what I think have been excellent choices for us, Jacqui. All of our books deal with journey motifs—a very pregnant theme and language among Postmoderns today. But it’s hardly a new theme or language. I just think it’s making a big comeback in a time when people seem to be hungering for meaning in their lives and work and leisure, with questions that didn’t seem to be so prevalent among several of the generations before us.

And it is comforting to know that Parker Palmer’s life spans enough history that he carries a broad and deep perspective, while being very relevant in our own time. And he guides us by talking of the struggle it was for him to come into his calling. Whereas David Whyte related his struggles to living out of a lie—but with the trappings of outward success—when knowing he had a long-held sense of what his true desires were, and Viktor Frankl related the desperate challenges in trying to find meaning when a fulfilling life had been taken from him, Palmer talks of the struggle of being groomed to believe a lie that seemed life-giving from his earliest days, as an inheritor of the American Dream, with all of the unchallenged arrogance bound up in the particularities of that ethos as a White, Middle-Class Male. And to his shame, he fails in the areas where he pinned hopes of much (ego-driven) success, which explains part of the long difficulty in finally allowing these truths to land with him. His level of disconnect was so high, that it took several years after his beginning self-righteous efforts (a mixture of the noble, the true, the grandiose, and the pathetic) to find his calling, with a way of reflecting upon this journey that he simply didn’t have a capacity to bring from the start. He has to grow into this calling, and it comes mainly through his struggles and failures, as well as the guidance of a wise, loving (and small) community of friends.

It’s not unlike your comment in class, Jacqui, about the friend you admired in New Zealand—who embraced her life with a sense of spaciousness, hope, and risk—but seemed to be speaking in a foreign language all those years ago. Still, you were intrigued by her words at the time. On that count, I can really relate to the long agonizing struggle that Palmer suffered to find a place in the world that was True North for him (the experience that Beuchner names as “the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet”), as he begins asking a series of heart questions—the kind that when really listened to for the first time, can create greater anxiety because it runs so counter to the familial and societal expectations that have been ingested for so long. In this context, dying to self for me now means letting go of the False Self and finding my True Self. Thank God, this has been happening increasingly over the years, but there have been plenty enough moments of near despair and anxiety in my process.

I was having a discussion the other night at a pub with a younger Mars Hill alumna about my admiration and envy over her coming to see and name truths in her teens and twenties that I haven’t been able to do until my thirties. Her response was as kind as it was direct: “I didn’t have a choice about that. My life required me to come to this place of knowing at a much younger age. But that doesn’t dismiss yours. And sometimes folks like me become very cynical early on, while you carry a wisdom that we need to learn from. You have had to come to know what you hold through many years of struggle and disillusionment with previously cherished beliefs. I respect that.”

In this laboring journey, I have found moments of hope in the refuge of this class. I would heartily encourage any searcher to find such oases, because sometimes a soul death of purposeless futility (Camus’ existential impasse) can seem to be one’s destiny no matter how much he or she longs to know things differently. I tell myself often as I’m about to arise from my bed, when finally disrupting those few moments of waking pensiveness leading up to that choice, “Get back on your horse and ride, B.” I say this to myself in a spirit of compassion, because many days I feel that the cost to living in a way that seeks to connect my inner life to my outer life seems too much to bear. Lives lived as journeys are often cases of love in a dangerous time, or life on the run, much in the way that the fugitive David fled from the murderous Saul in the years that would eventually open to a triumphal entry into Jerusalem as king. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58, NIV).

The only thing that keeps me going some days is a defiant choice to be creative—even if in small ways—to honor my inner architecture. In the midst of all my school and internship burdens right now, both yesterday and today I made two correspondences each regarding creative projects that I would like to be involved with (all of them different, but all of them connected to my core). They are made in the same spirit as Whyte’s commitment to do one thing a day, for 365 days, in hopes that they will eventually yield fruit. And when I do this, I get a temporary resuscitation of heart. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12, NIV). This is no mission for pew-sitters or preaching-to-the-choir types. It is the call to be a “living sacrifice,” not according “to the pattern of this world,” but in a true “spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12: 1-2, NIV). The dangerous life of a pilgrim radical.

questions to consider

2006-11-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

hey all,

some questions for us to consider as this community is emerging from the shadows:

How can we love and support one another to further step into our own unique callings?
[what are collective and individual needs?]

How can we create together?

How can we create with and be a blessing to the greater Mars Hill community?

comment away! this on-going conversation will shape much of what comes... and we would be at a loss without your voice.

Resource lists

2006-11-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

I am in the process of beginning to compile some resource lists for student and faculty use. Can you send on any pieces of art, artist resources, and whatnot (especially non western pieces). The hope is that we can have these up soon for all to use. Basically any music, film, books, short stories, and visual art would be great!

Thanks,

Jessi (ladybug@spu.edu)

upcoming show

2006-11-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

Deb Montgomery
Conor Byrne Pub in Ballard
November 9th, 10pm

www.myspace.com/debmontgomeryrocks

extra photo equipment?

2006-11-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

hey all,

new horizons ministry (located in belltown) is looking for camera equipment to help with one of their projets. they're offering a six-month workshop, with weekly meetings, to help the youth grow in the basics of photograhpy and move toward selling their work in local galleries.

this is an incredible ministry...and right now they pretty much just have disposable cameras, which, you know, doesn't go very far.

so if anyone has stuff they are not using laying around, let me know! also, if you have extra film, photo. books, or any other odds and ends that you think would be helpful, that would indeed be helpful...let me know! thanks. jen

naked

2006-11-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

i recent piece i've been working on sparked a lot of questions for me around the theme of sexuality, nudity and eroticism in art. some conversation has occurred on my blog... but i'd love to hear other voices.
join the conversation here.
see my new piece here, it's called "connect with me."

something is coming...

2006-10-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

hello friends, just to say briefly, hello and welcome.

we begin anew as a blank slate...a white board with hopes for much vibrant color to follow. your voice, your desires, your longing to create, and your ability to draw out the human heart will conceive of much beauty within our community, the greater of Seattle, and the world.

are you serious about being an artist?

will you step into this calling...?

you, artist, made in the image of the Creator, will change the world simply by being more of yourself and inviting others to witness the maddening glory of the process of creation.
we want to walk with, create with, and hold up one another.

welcome.

art can of course be put into the temple. But it doesn't have to be put into the temple in order to be to the praise of God...an art work can be a doxology in itself. [francis schaeffer]