Painting Elephant Artist

Painting Elephant Artist

I know that frequently I hit a plateau with my art when I just cannot seem to see any differently. You may be there today. The creation of art becomes like a familiar workout, you go through the moves unthinkingly and arrive at pleasing, but all too familiar conclusions that leave you feeling dissatisfied.

If others saw your work, they would only pat you on your back and tell you that they 'love your style'. Your frustration would seem inexplicable to them. But you sense the need for change, for inspiration. So how do you break out of this repetitious cycle? Why is it even necessary?

Breaking out of the rut is necessary for the following reasons:

Otherwise you will submit to the urge to quell the God-given sense of disquiet that is absolutely vital for growth.
There may be specific discoveries in art that God is counting on you to explore, and staying in your rut would stifle them.
The joyful sense of satisfaction as you step out is addictive. It is like the runners high, a difficult experience to explain to a couch potato, but delightful enough for the athlete to seek out again and again.

So how to you break out of this rut? For an artist, the ability to see is the most precious gift there is. It is not just the ability to perceive shape and form, but also edges and line. Along with that we need to also intuitively grasp volume and mass. All of it together combines as 'seeing'. Equally valuable for the Christian artist, is being able to translate what is perceived into a tangible created form, in either 2 or 3 dimensions.

There is a powerful resource to help you see in ways that you have never seen before. It is totally depending on the Holy Spirit to impart to you, the Christian artist, creative ability, insight and knowledge of materials. He will help you draw deep into a bottomless well, for resources that you have no ability to fathom.

Did you know that one of the earliest recorded instances of the Holy Spirit imparting supernatural wisdom to man, was for creative endeavor?

Bezalel, the earliest recorded artist from the Old Testament, was filled with wisdom, knowledge and understanding for the design, creation and execution of the very structure that God would inhabit. His ability did not come from hours of practice or learning. It came from being yielded to the Holy Spirit and executing faithfully that which was revealed to him.

Bezalel understood fully the requirements for receiving the supernatural power and the wisdom of God. As a young child, he learned the reverence for the God of Israel from his father, Hur. This honorable father was commended in the Bible, for his zeal and uncompromised faith in God.

Could we as contemporary Christian artists expect the same from the Holy Spirit today?

Certainly, if we keep in mind the following:

Â• Our creations are to be an expression of praise to God - He still inhabits the praises of his people, just like He dwelt in the Tabernacle.

Â• They glorify and celebrate Him and not us.

Â• They are created as a result of our delight in Him and His world.

Â• Every artwork that is created, must be created with the humility that recognizes that the ability is His gift to us and not generated apart from Him.

Then all that is required is to begin by faith and trust that the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit will take over and lead you to hitherto unexplored arenas of vibrant creativity. So what are you waiting for?

If you want more inspiration, ideas or Bible teaching on Christian art, visit my website at http://www.christian-artist-resource.com/inspiring-stories.html

Sara J has created and exhibited art for over 25 years. Her work is in numerous private and corporate collections and she is a partner of a thriving gallery and art school. She is passionate about encouraging Christian artists to fulfill their artistic calling. Her website http://www.christian-artist-resource.com has been created to inspire other Christian artists to explore art in a way that may appear contrary to prevailing wisdom, but is intensely satisfying and productive.

What does Dali's elephant painting mean?

I would like to understand the meaning behind this painting? Please let me know. Thank you
This is the painting link:

http://www.artinthepicture.com/artists/Salvador_Dali/elephants.jpeg

The elephant is a recurring image in Dalí's works. It first appeared in his 1944 work Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. The elephants, inspired by Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture base in Rome of an elephant carrying an ancient obelisk,[56] are portrayed "with long, multijointed, almost invisible legs of desire" along with obelisks on their backs. Coupled with the image of their brittle legs, these encumbrances, noted for their phallic overtones, create a sense of phantom reality. "The elephant is a distortion in space," one analysis explains, "its spindly legs contrasting the idea of weightlessness with structure."[57] "I am painting pictures which make me die for joy, I am creating with an absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern, I am making things that inspire me with a profound emotion and I am trying to paint them honestly." —Salvador Dalí, in Dawn Ades, Dalí and Surrealism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD

'The Elephants, 1948' is a painting of two elephants with vastly elongated legs, both carrying an obelisk, which was a commonly used motif in Dali's work. He is trying to provoke a sense of weightlessness with the elephants which comes across in their spindly legs as they carry weighty objects on their backs. Dali's work was described by himself as 'absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern' and in producing work which he held no thought for it's beauty, he managed to create wonderfully dreamlike pieces which take the viewer into an alternate reality in which they are surrounded by hidden images and meanings.

http://www.popartuk.com/art/salvador-dali/the-elephants-1948-3454-poster.asp