Sharing the Work...Notes from ArtFest Midwest

Booth at ArtFest Midwest- Varied Industries Building, Des Moines, IA

July 24 & 25, 2010

I love sharing my work...it is always an interesting experience to interact with people as they respond to the work- which pieces evoke an emotional response, which pieces cause people to stand and look for a long time, which colors appeal to different personalities. While I don't paint only for the response of others, I still glean so much from interacting with people as they view the work.

Implications of this Rejection 48" x 36" 2009 Melynda Van Zee

This particular piece seemed to draw out many interesting comments including...

1. "How did she get those circles so perfect? Did she use a stencil to trace them? 'No.' Well, then she must of drawn those really slow and carefully to get them so even."(I can promise no stencils involved here-that would be more like years and years of drawing swirls-my college drawing prof would have us draw pages of circles).

2. "I sure wouldn't want to be around you while you were painting that one. There must of been a man involved." (I laughed out loud and in the interest of full disclosure it was a man who made this observation)

And, I think it is great when people see things I missed...

3. Don't you see the fish? (I hadn't, but now I do!)

Rhythm of the Struggle 40" x 30" 2010 Melynda Van Zee

4. "That one-now that one looks so like you..." This comment gets said about various different works on a regular rotating basis- maybe certain people see more of one side of a particular emotion in me than others???

Observing the Recovery 36" x 48" 2010 Melynda Van Zee

5. And, of course, someone was going to ask...do you drink before or after you paint those? My friend helping with the show, explained that in fact that wasn't the case. I told him that part of my process was often to play music as I worked and his final comment..."I don't think it was country you were listening to."

And, so many more thoughtful, deeply engaged questions, conversations, stories shared- the power of art to move and make people engage the bigger story we are all walking...what a gift for me to be able to be present and share bits of my story and journey deposited on the canvas. Met some great new friends, wise business and artistic minds and connected with some friends I had lost touch with over the years.


Deep thanks for all the help, encouragement and support to make this weekend happen. Friends, family, friends of friends-thanks to you all-I am so blessed!

Passion & Glory

When people walk an art show, they get the opportunity to see the finished product-the end result-the final step in a long process of creating. The actual act of creating still remains a mystery for most people, but when I look at a painting like this one above, I know the full story. I know whether this was a painting that flowed out of me like a stream I couldn't stop, or if it was a several week (or month or, even on rare occasion, a year) battle of sorts-me with the painting struggling to get out. I know how many layers of paint, how many times I wanted to stop, how much courage it took to paint the colors swirling inside. What I will say about this work, is that it was an intense journey...and I may have learned more after the painting than even during the act of creating. I always learn during the process, but lately it has been after the intuitive painting has emerged that I was able to see what I could not see before. So often I think a painting is about "this" and then, I see in hindsight that I had only scraped the surface. This is what keeps me coming back, keeps me returning to the paint, to the process, because there is so much we do not see yet. So much underneath the surface, waiting to break forth, so much yet for me to grasp.

New Work Available next week at ArtFest Midwest

Next weekend, I will be hosting a booth in Des Moines, Iowa at ArtFest Midwest "The Other Art Show". I'd love to have you stop by at the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds anytime Saturday, June 26 from 10 am-6 pm or Sunday, June 27 from 10 am-5 pm. If you aren't able to attend the show, but interested in my work, feel free to contact me by email.

We Came, We Danced, We Set a World Record

Tulip Time Pella, IA 2010

Dancing with my boys and my mom, extended family...double lines of Dutch dancers spread around all four sides of the Pella, IA square. We had been practicing (in the kitchen and on the front driveway), but nothing like the fun of dancing with over 2,800 other dancers all in wooden shoes on the downtown streets.
BBC News Article

The Church and Artists

A bit of Christmas cheer in the studio office

I continue to do research on the mixing of churches and artists. Found some fascinating interviews by individuals who share the passion for reaching out to artists but who execute their missions in many different ways depending on the context of their individual communities. The rethinkmission blog shared two blog posts asking arts leaders "As a local church how to do you engage and inspire artists?" The Church and Artist Roundtable-1. They also asked the question "What would you say to a local church that had a desire to engage artists in their city or cultivate the arts in their church? Where should they start?" The Church and Artist Roundtable-2. Amazing to see the diversity and imagination of churches around the country reaching out to the artist communities of their cities.

Studio Construction

"All I want for Christmas is one little overhead light"... Well, this dream, idea, wish has gone from a quick little studio improvement into a several week project. Who knew!?! Looks like we will still be in "construction mode" for a little while longer (probably why I've taken some time to get some computer work done and actually do some more blog posts so I guess it is not all bad).

Imagination Released

"A purified and Spirit-controlled imagination is, however, quite another thing, and it is this I have in mind here. I long to see the imagination released from its prison and given to its proper place among the sons of the new creation. What I am trying to describe here is the sacred gift of seeing, the ability to peer beyond the veil and gaze with astonished wonder upon the beauties and mysteries of things holy and eternal." The Best of AW Tozer

Vision Copyright Melynda Van Zee 2009

"The sacred gift of seeing" I love that phrase. How often I forget that "seeing"-really "seeing" is a sacred gift. Maybe saying I forget isn't entirely accurate...I think the reality is that it is easier to forget- to not "know" this truth-then maybe so much isn't demanded of me-it won't be really important whether I go through my life "seeing" or not. I can slack off or deny or turn away and well...nothing would be different. But, it would be different, even if no one else ever noticed, I would. And, once you've peered behind the veil you don't want to stop, you can't stop. Even typing that makes me question myself and want to say "but that is all hocus-pocus" real grown ups don't "peer beyond a veil" but we do. We can. We must. It is this imagination released that allows us as humans to experience glimpses of the vast glory of God. Our imaginations are a gift-a tool He uses to expand our worlds- to transport us out of the "everydayness" of our lives and to imagine a bigger world-a bigger reality-a deeper experience than just the "day in and day out" that can consume our lives.

Those of us that are artists must grasp for our imaginations to be released and nurture this process in ourselves. Of course, there are so many things that fight against us to stop this process from unfolding-lack of attention, attack from within and without, avoidance, the list goes on and on.

Attack Copyright Melynda Van Zee 2009

"He (Jesus) even told us that we had to be like little children ourselves if we wanted to understand God, and yet the world (and too often the church) taught then, and still teaches that we have to outgrow our childhood love of story, of imagination, of creativity, of fun, and so we blunder into the grown-up world of literalism." Glimpses of Grace Madeline L'Engle

I don't want to out grow my love of story- as people, as a body of believers, we need story, imagination, creativity and fun to bring us LIFE, to point us to Him, to usher us into living the full and free life He created us to experience.

Launch Copyright Melynda Van Zee 2009

What are you doing now?

A frequent question to me over the last few weeks has been “what ARE you doing now?” Each of our journeys has varying twists and turns. My own journey took a twist this past August when I resigned from my part-time church ministry staff position. For months God had been showing me and nudging me to make some changes, but that is never easy to do. Change is a process-equal parts excruciating and exhausting and exhilarating. So often change can be such a big, scary, ugly word and yet it is a to be expected, can’t be avoided, totally natural part of life. And, when God is moving and speaking into your life, change is going to be constant. There are going to be things you do that are difficult, things that look risky, things that don’t make sense to others not in your shoes. And, there are going to be voices-lots of voices-telling you, encouraging you, urging you to do and be a certain way. I read somewhere recently that “it’s never dangerous being who you are” and I had to smile to myself. I’m not sure that is true-in fact, I think we live most of our lives afraid to be who we really truly are because of the sheer fact it is so dangerous. Linda Coons writes in The Artists Soul, “it is hard emotional work to be ourselves when we need to defy conventional rules to be who we honestly are.” But, you see, falling in love with Jesus changes the way you operate in this world. It makes you not care so much what those “conventional rules” may be. It makes you make choices based on things other people may not understand. It makes you look at your life differently. You make sacrifices, which is never a word we like to talk about in polite North American society. When you know deeply-into the very deepest parts of your being-that you were created in His image with a work designed just for you to do-it changes the way you live and think and look at life. So often I have lived my life focused on things that were slowly shriveling my heart- trying to please, trying to achieve, trying to do “the right thing”. I can immerse myself in amazing, whirling amounts of activity, while loosing me on the inside. So, in answer to the question “what are you doing now?” I'm creating (new paintings). I'm listening (taking walks and spending time focusing on inner work). I'm studying and I'm writing (I’m piecing together new curriculum for classes I would like to teach). I'm giving attention to some long-overdue things. I will continue to share the journey here on my blog.

I plan on sharing more of the pieces from my summer show on the blog, along with the descriptions I wrote for each piece. Here is the first...

A Road Less Traveled- from “Inside Out” Summer 09


What I have learned is that not only do I have permission to paint with any color in the crayon box, but I have permission to paint about any emotion or experience that I encounter as well. And, some of the things I have encountered are not easy, especially when it involves looking at my own weaknesses. I would like to pretend that as a “good, Christian woman from the suburbs in the Midwest” I have no difficulties, no pain, no struggles- I know how to put on that “Dutch front” we are so skilled at constructing, but where is the honesty, the authenticity in that?

Paul, an apostle of great passion, shares about his own conversation with God… But he said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. II Corinthians 12:9

“We tend to view our weaknesses as liabilities. Since our worth does not depend on us in any way, we can and must be honest about our weakness. Our weaknesses become areas in which God can do His greatest work. We ignore weakness, bury it, live in denial but a powerful life embraces pain, brokenness and weakness. Perfection is for heaven not for earth”. W. Dyrness

And, so, I work on my weakness, confront my insecurities, challenge my internal assumptions about “how life is” and continue to fight the battle of allowing myself to walk in true freedom.