Thursday, September 27, 2007

Paint by the Spirit: Monet

I have really enjoyed our series in worship about art/artists! I have learned so much and experienced so much beauty through it. This Sunday is our last artist: Monet. [We may come back to this topic in 2008.]
Monet is the leading Impressionist painter. He sought to paint what he saw. One critic said that Monet and his cronies (Manet, Cezanne, Renoir, etc) painted their IMPRESSIONS of what they saw, NOT what they actually saw. Monet took this criticism and used it to name his style. This is similar to how John Wesley took the derogatory term "methodist" and made it the name of his movement.
Monet's most famous work is Water Lilies.
In his later years, Monet suffered eye problems, including cataracts on both eyes. This obscured his vision to the point that painting was first difficult, then impossible. This was a tremendous blow to a man who prided himself on painting what he saw.
Our meditation this week will compare Monet's idea of 'seeing' with Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 13.12. The worship bulletin is here.

50 Ways to Pray



This is a really good book, but not for reading. It is a good book for USING. I recommend you get this book, and let Teresa Blythe teach you about prayer. Learn about prayer by DOING the different types of prayer in the book. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble for $13. Of course, it is also available online. Amazon's link.