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From the Canvas to the Cross | Part III | A Mess in the Making

Let me paint you a picture of my desk. It's right in front of a window adorned with long white curtains and a perfect view of the sunrise and my Window Tree. On the left side of the desk is my computer, a pale mint green desktop Mac. On the right sits the open terrarium my husband bought me for Christmas. (It's thriving, by the way. Turns out that's what happens when you water your houseplants).  

In between these two shades of green? What a mess.  

A pile of sun-bleached receipts that have yet to be filed. A splattering of pink sticky notes with random ideas jotted down. A holder for my highlighters and pens, though they often don't end up there. Love letters from the IRS, real estate flyers from my day job, books I don't intend to read any time soon, and coffee stains on the few square inches of wood that is visible have greeted me each morning for months. Guitar picks, hair ties, paperclips, and earrings without a match fill in the blank spaces, and in front of me, always left open - my Bible.

Similar to the tortured artist notion is another rumor about creatives - they're messy. 

My theory was confirmed this weekend when I decided to pull out my own canvases. I got a good start on a landscape painting, but now in addition to the mess on my writing desk, the kitchen table is strewn with paints and palettes.

It got me thinking - What If... (my two favorite words) art is not the result of a messy person, but rather, mess is a result of the Artistic Process. You see, it's hard to create anything without creating a mess. 

Take Marcus Brutus, a New York painter who has captured the attention of the art world with his color-rich depictions of contemporary lives of Black men and women. In a 2022 interview, Marcus shared the following about his studio space:

"I'm pretty messy. Every time I grab a bit of paint from the jars and apply it to the canvas, I use white paper towels to clean the palette knife. Then I roll them up and toss them as I go. There are also tiny bits of tape all over because that's what I use to create borders and straight lines." 

An artist not only unashamed of his messy process, but willing to pose in front of it for his interview photo to share it with the world. Take a look: 


As I sat in our garden painting a row of arborvitaes against the fence line, I was listening to Lewis' Chronicles for the umpteenth time and noticed something I never had before. Here's the passage: 

 Peter, still out of breath, turned and saw Aslan close at hand. 

"You've forgotten to clean your sword," said Aslan.

It was true. Peter blushed when he looked at the bright blade and saw it all smeared with the Wolf's hair and blood. He stooped down and wiped it quite clean on the grass, and then wiped it quite dry on his coat. 

"Hand it to me and kneel, Son of Adam," said Aslan. And when Peter had done so he struck him with the flat of the blade and said, "Rise up, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane. And whatever happens, never forget to wipe your sword." 

Did you catch the bit in Marcus' interview about cleaning his palette knife? In the chaos of his messy studio, there is one thing he never forgets to clean - his "chosen instruments". I, myself, though I did not clean up all of my art supplies because my work was not yet finished, did not forget to rinse my paintbrushes. 

Why? 

Because I wouldn't be able to use them if I didn't. 

Beloved, as artists of our own lives, sometimes things get messy in the process. As God's chosen instruments that he has Invited to co-create with Him His grand work of Art, he has washed us clean of guilt so that we may be put to Good use.  

I will leave you with some ancient song lyrics written by another of God's holy paintbrushes, the shepherd-boy-turned-king, David: 

"Now God, don't hold out on me, don't hold back your passion. Your Love and Truth are all that keeps me together. When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt that I couldn't see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out...

And me? I'm a mess. I'm nothing and have nothing: make something of me. You can do it; you've got what it takes - but God, don't put it off." (Psalm 40:11-12, 17, MSG)

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