god alone

 

nada te turbe // graphite on bristol paper

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There is rest for the weary! Recently I was blessed to experience a gracious pause that helped to center.  I have been dancing around the edges of an energetic young adult community at a local parish and this week I joined one of their bi-weekly meetings to share artwork created for the occasion.  Prior to gathering for a Taizé style evening of music, I was invited to one of the rehearsals.  I soaked in the simple, repetitive lyrics and sketched out some small drawings in response.

I then used the intervening days to create three pieces to accompany three of the songs.  Because I often feel overwhelmed with my own expectations for producing creative work, and even more intimidated sharing it in a quasi-public setting (anonymous blogs are totally different), I gave myself strict parameters for the art: use only materials already on hand, spend no more than two hours on each one, and use those two hours as a quiet space for meditation and prayer.

For the one pictured above, I had rejected three other visual interpretations of the text for “Nada te turbe,” which translates roughly to:

Nothing can trouble,
nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God shall
never go wanting.
Nothing can trouble,
nothing can frighten.
God alone fills us.

Time was running out so I went with the most basic materials: graphite and bristol board.  I also cast aside a figurative approach and went with one single concept: God alone.  I repeated these two words over and over in step with the pencil stroke.  Each tiny hatch mark brought me closer to a centered place.  I asked myself, what if my life was about God alone?  Would I make different decisions?  Would I be more satisfied, more whole?  Would I put down the burdens I carry?

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This video provides a sense of the music that the small drawing accompanied that night: