Karitos Arts Conference 2011

A New Year

2012-01-01T21:28:00.000-06:00

A new year. 2012. You saw it coming. Here it is.

What will you do? You believe God called you.

Will you follow, or do you just enjoying talking about it? Will you be diligent, or disobedient?

Will you train, or will you sleep?

Will you paint, or will you let your inks and paints dry?

Will you write, or will you leave the paper blank?

Will you actively engage God through His Word, or will you avoid it by reading only what everyone else is saying about Him?

Will you...

Catch me on Twitter. http://twitter.com/anthonytrendl

Follow my writing on my official Facebook page

Your Artistic Life? Are You Guilty?

2011-12-19T17:40:00.000-06:00

You call yoursekf a Christian artist, or maybe an artist who is a Christian.

How is that indicated? Are you taking both faith and art seriously?

Ask yourself this: if on trial, suspected of being a Christian artist, what evidence would they have against you?
Or would the judge say, "This guy? All talk. Set him free. He is no worry to us."

How Do You Bring Your Art Out of Hiding?

2011-12-07T13:06:00.000-06:00

Hiding good things under a basket?

Do you show your work in a gallery?
Submit it to publishers?
Self-publish it?
Work with your church to lead a program?
Train kids at VBS?
Work with your community to promote the arts?
Teach?

You tell me. Give me ideas.

Christian Arts Groups?

2011-11-23T09:25:00.001-06:00

I am part of a Christian arts group based in Wheaton, Illinois. All art forms. It is good for me to be around people whose art is different in style, focus and medii than mine. It helps keep me sharp and creative.

Tell me about yours.

Sharper still... As a writer, a critique group is helpful. A great way of iron sharpening iron.

I've recently started attending Word Weavers, a national Christian critique group. It is a subset of the Christian Writer's Guild, led by Jerry Jenkins. Jenkins, as you may know, had a long career writer before his amazing Left Beghind success. He is now passing on his knowledge.

See what it is all about.

http://www.wordweaversonline.com/

Also see: Are You in a Christian Artist Group?

The Aim of Art?

2011-08-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
- Aristotle

What do you think?

How Was Karitos 2011?

2011-08-08T09:27:00.002-05:00

What's your story?

Sequential Art at Karitos 2011

2011-06-15T12:41:00.000-05:00

Workshop 7: Title: Sequential Art, Part 1: Creating the Characters -- Justice Carmon
What character is the Lord calling you to create, or to be, or to represent that depicts His call on your life? In this workshop, you will learn about and create your own characters using examples from Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, Johnny Hart, and others. You will learn how to simplify your characters so others can more easily identify with them.

Workshop 8: Title: Sequential Art, Part 2: Telling the Story -- Justice Carmon
What story is the Lord calling you to tell? You will discover, through hands-on sketching, how simple it is to lay out the path before you. You will learn how to create something suitable for storyboards, comics, cartooning, or for your own personal use in pointing you in the right direction.

Biography
Justice Carmon is a talented graphic designer and illustrator who holds a BFA in Communication/Fine Arts from the University of Memphis. He was born and raised in the land of Elvis by Presbyterians and rednecks, a Bible in one hand and comics in the other.

Residing in Wheaton, he now serves as a jail preacher, Bible teacher, caregiver, and storyteller for Jesus.

Blog: http://justicecarmon.blogspot.com/

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/JusticeCarmon

Karitos 2011 Announced - Christian Arts Festival

2011-04-11T23:44:00.000-05:00

July 14-16, 2011
Living Water Community Church
Bolingbrook, IL

When Did You First Realize You Were An Artist?

2011-03-18T22:42:00.002-05:00

Any ideas?

2011? Will this be the year you take your art more seriously?

2011-01-02T18:16:00.000-06:00

Lots of artists love talking about art, but when it comes to getting it done, well -- is this going to be the year?

Self-discipline sounds like a dirty word in art. Getting up early, working hard, drafting, crafting, editing, repainting. However, self-discipline finishes the job.

If God has ordained you, are you willing to be a martyr?

2011 is here.

Search Amazon.com for Sistine Chapel puzzle

Christmas Art, Anyone?

2010-12-24T08:58:00.000-06:00

Do you have examples of your art with Christmas themes? Besides the usual mangers and shepherds, or caroles and egg nog?

Post them as responses here.

Search Amazon.com MP3 Downloads for Christmas

What Do You Do As An Artistic Discipline?

2010-12-11T09:38:00.001-06:00

Artistic Discipline?

Musicians play scales? Painters practices strokes? Poets test forms? What do you do?

The easy answer is what you should do. That's not discipline. That's talking about discipline.

I'm looking for great ideas, even unorthodox ones. What do you actually do? How does it help?

Search Amazon.com for Adobe Creative Suite 5

Happy Thanksgiving and Art

2010-11-27T02:36:00.000-06:00

We are thankful to God for giving us life, and the liberty to express our faith in Jesus Christ through art.

These are cold days in Chicago. Keep warm: do art.

What are you working on? Where are you showing/submitting your work?

Search Amazon.com for Art

KARITOS CHRISTIAN ARTS CONFERENCE 2010 - July 15

2010-07-15T14:18:00.000-05:00

Thursday, July 15, KARITOS CHRISTIAN ARTS CONFERENCE 2010 welcomes the public FREE to their worship evenings.

This is a wonderful opportunity to invite friends to see extraordinary worship arts, including bands, dancers, mimes, banners, calligraphy, graphic arts, sculpture.

Go to http://www.karitos.com/ for details about location (Living Waters Church in Bolingbrook, times, and the daily schedule of workshops (for which you can still register and yes, pay registration fee).

Timothy Botts and Natalie Lombard will be teaching in the workshops schedule, and assisting in the visual arts critique sessions.

Calligrapher Timothy R. Botts: Bound for Glory - Chicago-Area Show

2010-03-13T06:14:00.000-06:00

Artwork by Calligrapher Timothy R. Botts, Inspired by Spirituals, Now on Display
March 18, 2010

New artwork by calligrapher and illustrator Timothy R. Botts will be on display in the Billy Graham Center Museum at Wheaton College through September 8, 2010.

The exhibit, titled, “Bound for Glory: New Work by Timothy Botts” is a collection of more than 30 works of art inspired by African-American spirituals.

An artist’s reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 18, with a performance by members of the Wheaton College Gospel Choir.

“With this new body of work I want to celebrate the incredible gift of music that African Americans gave to the church and to the whole world,” Botts says. “It is especially amazing that these people who, though enslaved by Christians, saw through their hypocrisy and met the real Jesus. I pray that the visual interpretations of this spirit-filled music will be an instrument of healing and reconciliation among us.”

The pieces incorporate influences from traditional American quilts, and from the quilts of the Gees Bend community in Alabama. Botts was also inspired by traditional African art and writing systems, as well as by urban graffiti.

Award-winning author and journalist Patricia Raybon provided captions for the works. Her personal essays on faith, family and race relations have been published in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, and other nationally recognized media outlets.

Bound for Glory: New Work by Timothy R. Botts opened March 4, and will be on display through September 8, 2010. Museum hours are Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Sunday, 1:00-5:00 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $4 for general admission, $3 for students and seniors, $1 for children under twelve and $10 for families.

The Billy Graham Center Museum is located at 500 College Avenue in Wheaton (campus map). The museum offers free parking and is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 630.752.5909 or visit www.billygrahamcenter.com/museum

http://www.timbotts.com/

High School Artists?

2009-11-05T16:52:00.000-06:00

Masterpiece Ministries
http://masterpieceministries.org/

Based near Nashville, TN, a center of music nationally, with a great emphasis in arts in general, is Masterpiece Ministries.

Music. Film. Dance. Theater. Painting. Writing. Graphic Design.

The impact of the creative world on our culture is irrefutable. The arts stretch our imagination and know few boundaries. However, there exists a chasm of acceptance and understanding between the church and those wonderfully complex humans we call artists.

Gordon and Sherrie Rogers have worked with young people for over 35 years at church, in their own home, and through Sherries adolescent and family therapy. They discovered that young artists often do not fit in well with church-sponsored youth programs that emphasize physical recreation. To close the gap, they founded Masterpiece Ministries in 1995 with a mission to help young people identify and develop their gifts in the arts and to encourage them to become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ.

Any Testimonies From Karitos 2009?

2009-10-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Who went?
What happened?
What is your media?
What now - what from Karitos did you learn that you can use?
How did you learn about it?

Christian Art Teacher: Jack Burgess: From Painting the Hills of Kentucky to Enriching the Lives of Students

2009-06-12T15:36:00.002-05:00

Jack Burgess: Living Curriculum Teacher: From Painting the Hills of Kentucky to Enriching the Lives of Students or in the Trib Local here.

Jack teaches Digital Photography, Graphic Design, and Painting at Wheaton Academy and is known by his colleagues as a creative, godly teacher. He wears many hats, including ad hoc artist at WA, called upon for his professional assistance in everything from branding to website layout. His Winterim course for set design brings students together who want to learn the art and craft of theater stage design, skills used in Wheaton Academy’s musical.

Books about art, design, education and collaboration fill Jack Burgess’ classroom. Student art and photography cover the walls. Piled in corners and leaning against his desk are a banjo, juggling pins, and a balancing device which looks like a cross between a skateboard and a see-saw. There is purpose to all of this, says Jack, “It’s about creating a creative space, where inspiration is always just a few feet away, where risk taking is encouraged.”

See the June Connection here.

Karitos: An Investment in Your Ministry

2009-05-12T10:48:00.002-05:00

Karitos: An Investment in Your Ministry
by Bob Hay, Director
The Karitos Christian Arts Conference

Someone once said, “Salvation is a free gift, following Jesus will cost you everything.” You might say the same thing about talent. Talent is a free gift, developing that talent will cost you.

I’ve worked with arts ministries for nearly 40 years. Most of my experience has been in the Christian music field where I’ve served as a concert/event promoter, manager and booking agent. I’ve watched people with amazing talent whose careers went nowhere. I’ve also seen others with a modest degree of natural ability build effective ministries.

In the first instance, there was almost always some outside thing that had to happen before the person could launch his or her career. “When I get my record deal, I’m really going to get out there and go for it.” “Once I find a manager, my career will really take off.” (I should add here that most young artists who thought they needed a manager really needed an agent. What they wanted was someone to do the dirty work of making phone calls-the job of a booking agent, not a manager).

In the meantime, the artist with modest talent was out there doing everything possible to make things happen. Playing everywhere possible, at a rescue mission or even on a street corner, and usually for free.

“A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” Many people think that because God has given them a gift or talent, He will also open doors for the use of that gift. Maybe, maybe not. Actually, a more accurate reading of Proverbs 18:16 might be “a man’s BRIBE makes room for him.”

I’m not suggesting that you bribe people to give you a platform to share your artistic talent. I am saying that opportunities are more likely to come to you if you are actively pursuing them and have made an investment in developing your God-given talent.

How about you? Are you sitting by the phone waiting for a record label (or a literary agent, an art gallery, or a ballet or theatre company) to call? Or are you spending time developing your talent, putting together promotional materials, growing spiritually, and attending conferences such as Karitos where you can learn from those who’ve already attained success? (More about Karitos later).

Where to start? To use an old axiom, “Bloom where you’re planted.” If possible, begin in your local church. I say “possible” because they may not accept your gift. A dancer is less likely to be used than a piano player in many churches. While they may not hang your artwork, they may let you paint characters on the nursery walls. They may not be open to your one-man play, but possibly put together a skit for Stewardship Sunday.

“What does this have to do with building my ministry” you ask? Quite a bit. Take it from experience, the support of your home church will be invaluable. Pastors, promoters and event organizers want to know that you are being supported and sent out by your local church. Also, I’ve known people who have developed very successful ministries traveling entirely within their own denomination.

The 15th Annual Karitos Christian Arts Conference is another good place to get started. One hundred workshops in music business, theatre, writing, dance, mime, visual arts and worship plus master classes for vocalists and audio technicians. Nearly fifty teachers, many of whom teach and perform nationally and internationally. Opportunities to network and to share your gifts. This conference has much to offer and the price is amazingly reasonable. Want to know more? Check the website, http://www.karitos.com/ or call 847/925-8018.

Focus on Faith: Jewish artist expresses Christian beliefs in works

2009-03-25T16:51:00.002-05:00

Focus on Faith: Jewish artist Ramsdale expresses Christian beliefs in works
Sunday, March 22, 2009
By Bill Buell (Contact)
Gazette Reporter
Marilyn Heisman Ramsdale has endured some struggles in her life, and she doesn’t mind talking about them and sharing with others just how she got through them all.

An Albany native now living in South Bethlehem, Ramsdale has a spiritual story that’s a bit more complicated than others: She’s a Messianic Jew, which means she believes in Jesus Christ despite the fact that she grew up in a Jewish family and continues to call herself Jewish.
more

Christian Art Show in Illinois - Lively Arts to Exhibit Their Work

2009-02-16T15:04:00.001-06:00

Lively Arts will be doing an exhibit at La Spiaza. March 5 to April 5. Above is the official flyer designed by Tim Botts.

The artists will be available to discuss their works, including Lively Arts founder and calligrapher, Tim Botts, and Natalie Lombard, banner artist.

The exhibit features the works of Tim Botts, Scott Davis, Gary Lobdell, Natalie Lombard, Frank Nicholas, Kathy Schneider, Dan Stulz, and Colleen Yang.

The show's opening will include a spoken word performance by Anthony Trendl and guitar by Scott Davis. They will perform together "Love Song for Charlie Parker," an homage to the Beats, and other pieces.

La Spiaza Coffee House
114 N Main St
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 221-8772

Lively Arts is a gathering of Christian artists, meeting the fourth Monday of every month for show-n-tell, and to connect artists with the church and the community.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17, NIV

click image to see full size

Vincent Van Gogh Discusses Evangelism

2009-01-24T15:58:00.001-06:00

"It is true that every day has its own evil, and its good too. But how difficult must life be, especially farther on when the evil of each day increases as far as worldly things go, if it is not strengthened and comforted by faith. And in Christ all worldly things may become better, and, as it were, sanctified. Theo, woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel; if I did not aim at that and possess faith and hope in Christ, it would be bad for me indeed, but no I have some courage."

-Vincent Van Gogh

Strong Arguments on a Shaky Premise - Review - The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution

2009-01-23T23:18:00.002-06:00

The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution

"The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution" by Denis Dutton concludes itself before it begins, and it does so masterfully. It tries too hard, and asks too much of the reader, all with more aplomb than solid premise.

Charles Darwin argued a species evolved to protect itself, to multiply itself in his theory of evolution. All instincts meet that function, one way or another; no instinct exists that does not meet that function except for anomalies that are bleed from the gene pool.

Art, says Dutton, is instinctual. I caught this in the rambling introduction, and on the back flap. The back flap owns great praise summed up by Steven Pinker, a psychologist (not an artist or biologist or geneticist) who is listed six times in the bibliography. That's far more than any other author (including Kant, Derrida and Aristotle). That's except for Dutton himself, who happens to list himself six times as well.

In other words, his introduction was a chapter in itself, but lacks the strength of a good structure.

He does not adequately show why beautiful birds', in their beauty, are form and not just function, and how, if that is true, humans are part of this. Instinct's goal is never art for art's sake, but pure function without form. The base animal mind is not asking for art, but for a way to gauge the worthiness of a mate.

He tries to define art, which he agrees is a dicey thing to pin down, loaded with bias, knowledge issues and "personal idiosyncrasies." He dodges around the cultural differences, while swooning toward tribal art with only the most vague critique.

Among his larger challenges are ones surrounding the Dadaist movement, and forgery. This begs back to his chapter, "What Is Art?" Not Dutton, nor I, can clear up whether Dadaism is art or just a philosophically statement. He rightfully cites "Fountain," the urinal signed by Marcel Duchamp in 1917 as a pinnacle of what the Dadaists offered.

Dutton sees art as including the visual, musical and literary arts, and tries to respond to all of them at once, integrated and interdependent. That might be more than his small book can handle, as the topic requires several times the volume to make the necessary points.

Readers, in turn, cannot appreciate the book without a vast range of knowledge in each area. Dutton includes notes, but misses the opportunity to quote more from, at least, the literary pieces. Pictures, too, are in order. I caught myself reading this with an online search engine and encyclopedia opened, and even then, am not convinced I understood all his allusions.

Art may have, in its past, some kind of instinctual use, but Denis Dutton does not prove it. "The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution," discusses making an argument for itself, but never really lands. As Dutton himself once asserted about another writer, his book "beats readers into submission and instructs them that they are in the presence of a great and deep mind."

I'm not so sure.

Anthony Trendl
http://AnthonyTrendl.blogspot.com
http://anthonytrendl.com/

Andrew Wyeth died July 12, 1917 - January 16, 2009

2009-01-16T09:55:00.003-06:00

Artist Andrew Wyeth died.

July 12, 1917 - January 16, 2009

http://www.andrewwyeth.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wyeth

General Karitos promo video

2008-12-07T17:52:00.002-06:00

General Karitos promo video.