Artful Friday: "God Saw All He Had Made..." ~ JPII's Letter to Artists

Welcome friends, to Artful Friday, 

here at my spot on the web.

A gem, a beacon, a guide,

to those who are artists in any capacity,

is Blessed  JP II's 1999 

"Letter to Artists."

As parents, as homeschoolers, as Catholics,

it is vital that we familiarize ourselves 

not only with our 

Beloved Holy Father's intent, but also 

his style, 

his benevolence toward his flock 

and 

his love of The Arts.

 Have you read it?

Lately?

Now that the school year has wound down,

I felt I needed the rejuvenation of

his words.

After all, he is my family's hero.

He's our go-to guy for all things Catholic,

all things love,

 all things right.
I've written about being in the presence of this saint
here and here, 
if you have the time to click over and  read further.

In our homeschool 

The Arts play a significant  role

in that each of my children

study several instruments and

act in local community theater.  

In addition, my older son  blogs and writes a column at a tech site.

They "do" art.

They "live" art.

They need BL JPII's guidance.

So do I. Big time.
As a writer and blogger, I find I need to read and reread his words to artists
to remind myself about the why and the how of my craft.
Not the competition.
Not the bells and whistles of blinkies on my  blog sidebar ...
Yeah they're cute though. No?
Not the stats and the linky parties.
Not the number of "likes" or shares  my recent
 Catholic Mom column garnered.....
(Not many.)
But still.

When I get another freelance rejection.
When I see a post I poured my heart into is not widely read or commented upon.
 I need the reminder of this.
Do you, also?
About the real reason behind why we do what we do?

The real driving force?

Here is the beginning of Blessed John Paul II's
 Letter to Artists:

To all who are passionately dedicated
to the search for new “epiphanies” of beauty
so that through their creative work as artists
they may offer these as gifts to the world.
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gn 1:31)

The artist, image of God the Creator

1. None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when—like the artists of every age—captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you.

To read the full text of this landmark piece 

by our 264th Pope 

and

 my favorite artist/actor/writer 

turned priest....

please click here to the Vatican website.

Revel in the words he intended.
Just for you.
Their beauty and their magic.

Thanks for visiting, friends!

If you'd care to dust off something from the archives of the past

Artful Fridays,

here is the list of previous posts:

Study of van Gogh

Wisdom from a Violin Master

Everything You Need for a  Cezanne Study

The Arts in Our Homeschool This Week

 ( knitting, winter crafts, the theater and piano)

 Lenten, Valentine and Papal Crafts

Mercy Crosses, Lenten wreaths, Rosary Making, Music Lessons

Strings, Keys, Sketches

Strings for the Beginner

Yeats, Joyce and Watercolor with a Little Vivaldi Thrown in!

Crucifixion Paintings

A Few Resources on the Great Composers

Let's Have Some Elizabethan Fun!

My son's guest posts on crafting rocket balloons,

 both of which include instructional videos:

How to Make a Balloon Dog

Shaping Balloons: A How-To

As always,  thank you for spending some

of your precious time here at my home on the web!

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I'd love to stay in touch regularly.

Until next time,

~Chris

 Until next time,

~Chris