Crossing the Frontier

Crossing the Frontier © 2012 Genesis+Art Studio

FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:

We have been experiencing genuine and dramatic changes. These tectonic life-shifts have put us on a journey across unfamiliar thresholds to deal with many emotions and new experiences. At times these changes have dragged us into view of the very things we'd tried hard to avoid. We offer our art as an expression of our spiritual practice that explores the healing potential of shape, color and form. By exploring universal themes of life and death, nature and earth, conflict and the redemptive power of love, Crossing the Frontier is a trek into the heart of wisdom and transformation. Without seeing ourselves as we are, we can never see ourselves as we are meant to be.

Finding the meaning

The Prodigal Son Journal © 2010 Chuck Hofman / Genesis+Art Studio

FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:
The Prodigal Son Journal 48 x 108 Charcoal, gauche, mixed media  2010
Created for The Jerry Evenrud Prodigal Son Collection 
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota 

Journal reflections from 9 September, 2009. As I began this year long journey with the Prodigal Son I hope to walk in his shoes of loneliness, despair and joy upon his turning back. I will draw from my own life experiences, my feelings and senses, as a father, brother and son. There are markers in my life where creating distance from God through my actions or inaction has left me in despair and darkness. Grace in the light of Christ erases my darkness and awakens me to a new beginning. It reminds me of the story about the person who chased the setting sun for fear of darkness, wisdom turned them around to run through the dark in hope, to greet the rising sun. 

The Prodigal Father

The Prodigal Father © 2012 Genesis+Art Studio

The Prodigal Father 

30 x 108 Acrylic 

The Jerry Evenrud Prodigal Son Collection 

Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota


FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:
As I turned the story of the Prodigal Son over and over in my head, I began to look at this parable through the eyes of all the family members. I tried to see the perspective as a father, an oldest child and a wayward son, fusing these thoughts with feelings from my own life experiences. I also looked at the definition of prodigal; wasteful on a lavish scale, being one of the meanings for the word. The title of the story tends to direct my focus on the wasteful younger son. But I was drawn to see a parable of a prodigal father; after all, the father knowingly wastes a portion of his wealth giving it to his son. The father must have recognized that his son lacked a sense of direction and was destined to a path that would lead him far from himself and the wisdom he shared. Or perhaps it was the father’s prodigal love that didn’t refuse the request for the early inheritance. The father could have kept his wayward son at home by denying his demand, but releases him into the storms of the world waiting on the road until he sees him again. By our world standards the father seemingly has wasted his time and his resources. The father, who lets the son depart, does not let go of the relationship between them. He waits with his pain and loss, constantly lifting his gaze on the distant landscape until he catches sight of his returning son. It tells me of a heart that was with his son throughout his journey and remained steadfast in his love. Keeping his son in his heart, the father is able to open his arms, exposing his heart and lavishing him with abundant love. Something extraordinarily unexpected happens at the intersection of their embrace.
 

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Rocks of Giants Causeway Photo © Chuck Hoffman / Genesis+Art Studio

FROM OUR JOURNAL PAGES:

We have been in our studio working on a painting around the theme of gratitude. It required me to reflect on the virtue of gratitude as a spiritual practice, which brought me to the teaching of John O'Donohue. I have been reflecting on his wisdom and writings for many years and find a newness to his words each time. I discovered this once again as I explored the nature of gratitude.


You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.

― John O'Donohue

Keeping us mindful of God’s abiding presence

Photo © St. Paul's Monastery

FROM OUR STUDIO:

Our work has been selected to be part of the exhibition Seeing God: A Juried Exhibit of Sacred Art. The exhibition will be up during February at the Benedictine Retreat Center on the campus of St. Paul’s Monastery, St. Paul, Minnesota. We are honored to be part of this art show as the Benedictine community works to sustain and expand the spiritual imagination and deepen a sense of awe. From their call for artists, “Over the centuries, Benedictines have encouraged women and men who use color, form, sound, and word to express the beauty one experiences in the encounter with God’s own creativity. Their "sacred art" contributes to keeping us mindful of God’s abiding presence. This exhibit features contemporary artists who work in that spirit.”

Seeing God: A Juried Exhibit of Sacred Art
1–29 February, 2012  9–5:00pm daily
Benedictine Retreat Center, St. Paul’s Monastery
2675 Benet Road, St. Paul
651.777.8181

The spirit of artistic creation

FROM OUR STUDIO:

Join us at Ghost Ranch for our workshop Heaven of the Heart: Creating a Space for Sacred Imagination June 25–July 1. Ghost Ranch is situated on 21,000 acres located in northern New Mexico, stands proud as an ecumenical and interfaith education and retreat center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). For more than half a century people have come for spiritual development, to discuss issues of peace and justice, to work together in creation care, to paint and write, to hike and ride horseback,
to research rich and globally renowned archeological and fossil quarries, to see where Georgia O’Keeffe painted or simply to rest and renew their spirits. For more about our workshop or to register click on Heaven of the Heart. Hope to see you.

Summer in the Washington Cascades

   FROM OUR STUDIO: 

Consider joining us this summer at Holden Village in Chelan, Washington. Holden Village is in an isolated mountain retreat center in the Washington Cascades. Holden is a place to come and celebrate Life, Community, and Renewal. We will be on the teaching staff facilitating our art workshops from August 11–25. For more information check out this short film that captures a few days of village life or go to their web site by clicking Holden Village. Hope to see you.