Art is God Answering

My church offers a separate worship service for our children and young people.  Yesterday I attended as a guest.  The children's minister, Rev. E. C. Cunningham, spoke to the children about God's ability to answer questions.  He shared with the kids that all they needed to do was ask and God would answer.  Sometime the answer is immediate but some answers require waiting. At times my journey as an emerging artist is daunting, and that's when I wonder how other artists made it.

Woodrow Nash is one of my favorite sculptors.  Recently, my mother-in-law gave us an early Woodrow Nash piece.  Last week while reflecting on my journey as an artist I was admiring Mr. Nash's piece.  I thought, "When he made that piece he was like me - unknown and trying to make it."  I asked God to show me how Mr. Nash was able to persist.  My prayer was that God show me how I could learn Woodrow Nash's story. Yesterday, around 4:45 pm God answered my prayer. 

June 3rd was the last day of the 57th Street Art Fair  and Hyde Park Community Art Fair in Chicago's Hyde Park Neighborhood.  I had promised Pearlie Taylor, one of my mother's in art, that I would visit her at the fair.  After a Saturday packed full with meetings and a busy Sunday at church, my daughter and I reluctantly left the house at 3:00 pm to visit Pearlie before the art fair ended at 5:00 pm.  We hung out with Pearlie until around 4:30 and decided to stroll around the fair booths.  To my surprise, we discovered Woodrow Nash just 15 minutes before all artists began to close shop.  This was his first year participating in the art fair. 

While admiring his work and waiting to meet him, I shared the story of how my mother-in-law recently gifted us with a Woodrow Nash bust that she purchased in the early 1990's.  Unbeknownst to me, one of the ladies in the group was his wife, Wanda Nash.  She began to tell me about that time in his career.  She shared with me his journey from a painter, to graphic designer, to acclaimed sculptor. She talked about their struggles and successes.  But most importantly she told me that her husband's talent, just like mine, was a gift from God that God is requiring us to share with the world.  She encouraged me to remain faithful and focused on achieving what God has put in me to accomplish. 

 

Who knew that God would answer my question so quickly while giving me exactly what I needed to continue the journey.  All I had to do was ask!