Painting as Rest

 love to paint.  I only really began a few years ago but have really fallen in love with the process.  I have always had a creative side, but it has most often been expressed through music and, in particular, songwriting.  I have come to realize, however, that I approach painting and songwriting differently.  

Songwriting tends to be one of the ways that I work through thoughts, ideas, feelings, people, places and issues that I am facing.  Although creative, it is not particularly restful for me.  It is a time of emotional or mental wrestling, and one way that I process much of my ministry.

Painting on the other hand, provides a break and a rest from the everyday.  I personally don't tend to use painting as a way of grappling with the issues around me everyday.  I tend to paint landscapes or architecture which provides a mental break where I focus on things other than that which usually occupies my mental energy.  What painting does is gives me opportunity to pause, to focus, to observe things around me often taken for granted, and spend a concentrated time of solitude (an important bit of rest for an introvert).  I tend to save painting for when I have a day off.  As well as seeking spiritual refreshing, painting is one of the ways I seek rest on those precious days, a break from the everyday.  Of course, when observing creation, standing in awe of its detail and being led to create in imitation of The Creator, it is often a part of the spiritual refreshing.  

Here is a painting I did on a recent day off as I experimented with techniques for capturing movement in water.

 

Do you create art?  How do you think about it?  I would love to hear about it.