An Artist's Heart

"To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness."

Ecclesiastes 2:26

An artist's heart looks no different than any other heart, but how it perceives, reacts and creates is another story. It's altogether odd.

Whether he creates a picture of his experience through paint, clay, pencil, word or musical notes, he expresses what his heart feels. Everything is extraordinary to one who creates. The world holds countless creative possibilities: from the first glimpse of light outside the bedroom window, to the person standing in front of him at the grocery store, to the last kiss goodnight. An artist's heart is always listening, always perceiving, always reacting to his world.

It's like he's born with extra sensory nerve endings...every sense kicked into high gear...every emotion on high alert. He perceives the details of every moment: the slightest raise of an eyebrow, the simplest breeze through the open window, the conversation in the corner, the colors of the sky, the pattern on the butterfly wing. These experiences, unnoticed by the ordinary eye give way to the artist's creative abilities to share the extraordinary.

Yet, this highly sensitive heart can also be a detriment to the creative person. His heart can misperceive. It can be fooled to believe what isn't true. It can catapult the artist into a melancholy baby pretty quickly. So, how does the artist cope? Some don't. Others drink. Many choose seclusion. The world says, "Stop being so sensitive! Grow a thicker skin." Have you ever tried to NOT react to something that effects the core of who you are? Impossible.

For this artist, running to the One who created me is the only way to cope (along with a box of tissues and my journal). When my overly sensitive, artist's heart is overwhelmed with melancholy; when this heart is caught in a tangle of misperceptions and the tissues run out; when it is totally overwhelmed I run to God's arms for comfort and just listen. I listen for His words to pour over me...His words of worth and truth and love.

Solomon, the wisest king who ever ruled, said this, "To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness..." Ecclesiastes 2:26. I hang onto that. I create, I live, I breathe to please God and no other. For pleasing any other besides God only frustrates the heart of the artist. Nothing created will ever satisfy the artist's heart unless he knows his work has eternal purpose and the smile of the One who placed the creative spirit in him.