by Erik Peterson

I have a question for you... which is more important - what you do as an artist or who you are as an artist?

Ok, that’s an easy one, so the singular question remains…

Who are you as an artist?

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Our Limited View of Ourselves

The issue of identity is one of the most crucial...

By Erik Peterson

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, a period of 40 days preparing and culminating in Easter. It is a time of reflection, prayer, repentance, preparation, fasting and service.  Mostly, it is an invitation to grow closer with Jesus, learning from Him as we walk in His...

By Erik Peterson

I just spent some time praying, asking, “God, what do you want me to write about?  What do you want for this community of artists?”  These are questions I intend to keep asking, especially before creating. I know I have certain ideas, but what are my ideas when compared to God’s, whose ways are...

(Consider reading the post first before watching the video...context matters.)

In many years working with artists, one common theme emerges when I speak with an artist who feels stuck, stagnant or circling round and round in creative dead ends.

And that is the theme of purpose.

If you feel flat, unmotivated, frustrated, or discouraged in your...

By Joey O'Connor

The greatest threat to your life as an artist is not difficult circumstances, but a lack of persistence and perseverance to endure challenging times.

Difficulty. Hard times. Challenges.

These are what make you and I better. Faster. Stronger.

Squeezing a green lime into your Corona on the beach may provide you...

Thomas Merton was a Trappist Monk. He was one of the greatest poets, writers, mystics and intellectual minds of the 20th Century.  

Merton offers you perfect words for these perilous times...how you and I might live as children of light . . . as the sons and daughters of God. 

If we have the Spirit of God in our hearts, we...

By Joey O'Connor

The twin evil stepsisters of making progress with your art are Procrastination and Perfectionism.

What is the purpose of these two nefarious Sirens?

Nothing.

Listening to the Siren Songs of Procrastination and Perfectionism reveals the lack of a clearly defined purpose and the specific results you want in your creative...

By Joey O'Connor

I'm not a procrastinator or perfectionist.

And I'm not defensive.

Did you heart me? I am not a procrastinator.

I am a "deadline" performer with swaths of last-minute brilliance.

No ego here...really.

I am also not a perfectionist.

I am one with an eye for detail and thoroughness.

I live in the Zen of kaizen...continuous...

By Joey O'Connor

"We are not in a period of confinement, but refinement."

These words came during a recent call with my friend, Esther Ntoto, who lives in Goma, Eastern Congo as a peacemaker and minister of justice with her husband, Camille. In the past twenty years, over six million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo due...