The Thriving Christian Artist

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever get stuck in analysis paralysis? It’s so easy to be overwhelmed with possibilities and options that we creatives tend to overthink the answers to the swarm of questions buzzing in your head. When it comes right down to it, though, I've found that there are really two kinds of questions:  purpose questions and process questions.  Recognizing the difference between...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you’re at church, a party, or on an airplane, small talk often starts with the simple question, “So what do you do?”   If you struggle to answer this question with, “I’m an artist,” just know that the struggle is real.  Between the reality of repeated rejection and the tenuous track of securing a spot in tenured teaching, a full-time art career has a reputation as a really...

Send us Fan Mail “Comparison is the thief of joy.” - Theodore Roosevelt In the age of Instagram, it’s hard not to get caught in the comparison trap...to see someone else having success and to lament that you're not experiencing the same. Success looks different at each stage of your business - the keyword there being “your.”  You can't compare your vision of success to anyone else's...

Send us Fan Mail “…Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — the LORD Almighty is His name.”  Jeremiah 31:35 If ever there were a perfect metaphor for the mystery of creativity—for trying to understand the beauty, life, and order of the universe—it may just be ocean waves. Waves can be beautiful.  Waves can be rough.  Waves can move you gently or knock you off your feet. My friend Allen Arnold...

Send us Fan Mail Remember Blockbuster, Beanie Babies, Backstreet Boys? All popular with audiences in the late 90s to early 2000s, probably not coming back.  In contrast, QR code marketing, once in decline, has become more popular than ever. It seems like everywhere you look, QR codes (those little black-and-white square barcodes) are appearing on everything - tickets, restaurant menus, product pac...

Send us Fan Mail Everyone likes to talk about “work-life balance,” but when your passion for creating, your business, your livelihood, and your faith overlap, striking that balance becomes even more challenging! As I help artists connect artistic, business, and spiritual life together in a holistic way, the question comes up over and over:  How do you blend that balance to express your unique voic...

Send us Fan Mail When I was a kid, I remember my parents warning me that if I hung around with the “bad kids,” I’d be painted with the same brush, and people would think I was a bad kid, too.   It wasn’t that they expected me to be a perfect angel - but they understood that as humans, we are susceptible to the influences around us, so controlling our environment was key to following God’s commandm...

Send us Fan Mail I'm fascinated by God's “glory stories"—amazing testimonies of the grace and goodness of God.  Artists who step out in faith and invite the Holy Spirit into their creativity are full of those stories. God's original glory story begins with creativity.  In the beginning God created.  Mankind was made in the image of our Creator; every single one of us is called...

Send us Fan Mail Do you feel overwhelmed by the size of the vision God has given you? Does your destination seem like it’s a thousand miles away? Are you ready to ditch the overwhelm and step into the grace God has for you in this journey? Then you need to listen to this episode of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast  - so you can learn the secret. My dear friend and mentor Billie Ruth Sudduth r...

Send us Fan Mail Over the years, I’ve noticed an interesting trend in the artists in the Thriving Christian Artist community.  They discover how to trust the Lord and invite Him into their art… but they see creating a successful business as super-heroic - something out of their reach. But really...isn't a “superhero” just an ordinary person who's been drawn into an extraordinary situatio...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever felt like your career - or your life - is taking one step forward...and two steps back?  Like you’re pushing a giant boulder up a mountain and making little progress? Like you’re doing all you know to do, but nothing you do seems to move you any further ahead? It’s frustrating, confusing...and can make you want to throw up your hands and quit! My friend, I have been...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever tried to pitch a tent, you know that tension and stretch is the difference between a tent that offers you protection from the elements...and just a pile of nylon and poles.   The Bible talks about enlarging the place of your tent, which requires that same tension in order to be successful. As an artist of faith, are you holding in tension both the dream and the hard...

Send us Fan Mail There’s a holiday trend I’ve noticed recently where parents are encouraging potential gift-givers to consider giving their kids experiences like trips to the zoo, an afternoon movie outing, summer camp tuition, etc., rather than toys. As a parent who remembers all too well being surrounded by piles of “stuff” around the Christmas tree, I really appreciate this trend towards giving...

Send us Fan Mail It’s probably obvious that I’m passionate about both creating art and the process behind it.  I'm also just as passionate about helping fellow artists experience breakthrough and transformation in their creativity. As Christian artists, we know the Word says that transformation comes through the renewing of our mind. Well, I've come to learn how God uses the beautiful op...

Send us Fan Mail Is there an area in your life that's become a stronghold for sin?  It might show up as a negative coping mechanism or an addiction that you just can't seem to shake. I've been there.  For many years, I dealt with patterns of pornography and religious performance.  Both worked together to prevent me from getting to the fullness of God's plan for my life. Until I...

Send us Fan Mail If you believe that God can create through you, that He can speak to others through the medium of your artistic talents and ability, then you're going to want to listen to this episode of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast! As artists who desire to partner with God in creating Prophetic Art, discerning God's voice is something that we must do - but that doesn’t mean i...

Send us Fan Mail I'm a major coffee fanatic.  On any given morning you're going to find me in my comfy chair with my journal, sipping a delicious dark roast blend. As I savor the rich flavor and aroma, I appreciate that it doesn't just start in the cup.  The journey from the tree to my coffee cup is a process. Coffee has to be grown, selected, dried, roasted, rested, ground, brewed...

Send us Fan Mail Wherever you are in your journey as an artist in business, you can be sure that sooner or later, you will be tested, as if by fire.  You'll be given an opportunity to step out in faith, beyond the limits of your own knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. It’s easy to say that we know that God will provide...but actually trusting Him enough to let go and step out in faith can b...

Send us Fan Mail In this world of glow-ups and the ‘Gram, it’s easy to think that everyone’s life is perfect, that nobody else struggles the way we do.  But we know that the truth is, none of us is perfect.  We all struggle - and those struggles have helped us become the people we are.   If you want to be a leader in the arts – to have influence and be a blessing in the artist community – then oth...

Send us Fan Mail As an artist in the church, do you find yourself in a peculiar place, navigating between two different worlds?  Maybe you're a Christian with a vision for your work that doesn't fit in the "Christian art" box.  You may also find yourself outside of mainstream support for the work God has called you to do. There was a time when the church was the primary patron...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever experienced the power of transformation by association? Years ago, someone told me, “Never underestimate the power of the rooms that you're in.” The rooms that you choose to live your life in really do matter.  If you find out you're the smartest person in the room, then the smartest thing you can do is find a new room. If you continue to stay in the same r...

Send us Fan Mail When I was a kid, the phrase  “One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure” fascinated me.  I imagined someone rifling through a trashcan and holding up a gold nugget in triumph.  It’s entirely possible that I voluntarily took out the trash just for the chance to discover a treasure of my own. My guest on the podcast today uses her creative gifting to literally turn trash into treas...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever gotten stuck in the “not enough” cycle?  It happens to all of us - we burn dinner, we make a mistake at work, a painting doesn’t turn out the way we’d hoped, and suddenly we decide that we’re just not __________ enough.  When it happens over and over, it’s enough to make you throw up your hands in defeat!  There’s so much pressure! But what happens when someone sees...

Send us Fan Mail We talk about the transformative power of God moving through our art, but He doesn’t stop there!  So much of the transformation we experience is through relationships - with those around us, with potential clients, with other artists, and more. That’s one of the reasons that I just love the story of my friend Bobbie Blakely, one of the most truly joyous people I know.  Bobbie is a...

Send us Fan Mail “A dream without a plan is just a wish.” - Katherine Paterson, author Do you ever feel like the dreams that you hold so dearly in your heart are just never, ever going to come to pass?  That no matter how hard you work, things just aren’t panning out the way you want them to? When this happens, it’s easy to give up, to downgrade our dream to just a wish - because we don’t have a p...