deAnn Roe: Still Before the Lord

Today I'm concluding my interview with deAnn Alyse Roe, Director of Visual Arts at her church in Pennsylvania and the blogger behind Vertical Creativity.

LeAnne: What are some ways you're helping people to "live in their creativity"?

deAnn: I post much of my own creative journey on the blog, my struggles and highlights, which I hope encourages others to approach God through their creativity as well. I also feel strongly about the importance of arts communities. These gatherings offer people a chance to meet with others who are exploring their creativity through a particular art form. Currently there are three arts communities at our church: a photography group, a reflective writing group for women and a new writing practice group that will begin in January. Other art communities are forming--sketching and painting. The synergy that builds when a group of like-minded creative people gather is unbelievable and fun.

LM: What are your favorite creative outlets?

dR: Oh my, I have several. But honestly, the current favorite depends on were I'm at in my spiritual journey. I've always liked words. I'm a big journaler and occasionally a poem will birth from a place of gratitude or grief. Sometimes when words can't express what's on my heart, I sketch or sit before a canvas and paint (usually with my hands and fingers--I like the feel of the paint and the texture of the canvas). In high school, I played the saxophone in marching band. Recently, a friend sold me their saxophone. When the mood strikes, I pick it up and squeak out the only song I know, "I Love You Lord." It's a song from my heart to God's heart, a real source of worship for me. However, photography, particularly macro photography, has really captured my interest.

LM: Why?

dR: Photography causes me to slow down and see--really see the world around me. There are two little lakes close to my house and it's a near perfect day for me when I meander through the tree-lined trails in silence, enjoying God's presence. I don't zoom past anything; instead, I get on my knees, nose to the ground and investigate a fallen acorn, decaying leaf, spider web, or dew drop on a blade of grass. Then after taking in its wonder with my eyes, I try to snap a shot that will remind me of the experience. With macro photography, you get up-close  and personal with your subject. You see things that you never would have noticed if you hadn't slowed down to really look. This gives me a deep sense of gratitude for the beauty of creation and God's love for me. 

Also, photographs can tell stories or lead your mind into imagining--whether it's the aged face of a stranger, the broken TV on the curb, even the Ghost "Peeps" [marshmallow puff candies] that I saw abandoned alongside the road (yes, I took a picture of them!). There is something healing about slowing down our pace of life and being fully present in the moment--and the arts cause us to do this. I believe it's important to develop our creative voices for this reason: to break out, from time to time, of the fast-paced lives we've grown accustomed to living, to slow down and "be still" before the Lord.

Coming soon: new features!

deAnn Roe: Vertical Creativity

deAnn Alyse Roe is Director of Visual Arts at Living Word Community Church in York, PA. As Director, she is curator of the monthly art gallery exhibits and creates the sacred space installed for the season of Lent. She plans to offer classes on discovering creativity soon. She's also involved in the Spiritual Direction program at her church through which she meets with a small group of women every month and walks alongside them in their spiritual journeys.

deAnn's blog is Vertical Creativity. She says that God has put on her heart a passion to develop her creativity and meet with Him through her creative endeavors. She believes that spiritual formation through the arts is very real. It's her desire to explore this and offer her experience to others and encourage them in their own creative and spiritual journeys.

LeAnne: Your blog is called Vertical Creativity. What is the focus of it?

deAnn: The focus of my blog is to encourage people--from artistic dabblers to professional artists--to live into their God-given creative Imago Dei (image of God). I can't help but think there is a connection between our creativity and our spirituality. So, I try to help people think vertically about their creativity and to consider approaching it as prayer, which has great potential to deepen their relationship with Jesus. I call this practice, "sitting before the canvas," being fully present and in prayer. Your canvas may be a sketch pad, hunk of clay, your garden, computer keyboard, the viewfinder of your camera, or an actual canvas for painting, etc. Then create whatever bubbles up from within. 

I also post local art scene happenings hoping to encourage people to get out and interact with other people's creative endeavors. Vertical Creativity is currently a blog but by the beginning of the new year, it will be a website with an attached blog. I'm excited to see where God takes this ministry.

We are all created in God's image. Therefore, we all have the ability to creative. Vertical Creativity is a place of encouragement as we move along the creative journey.

LM: Why do you want to see people "live in their creativity?"

dR: I believe that we can meet with God in unique-to-us ways as we seek to discover and live in our creativity. God is Creator of everything beautiful and we can co-create beauty with Him. But it's hard to get past the negative inner critic we hear so often, that voice that tells us we are not creative, that we are not artistic, that it's a waste of time, that we have absolutely no ability. That squelches the Imago Dei that is within each of us. You never know what can be created through you until you take the time to try, and then allow God to surprise you!

More from deAnn Roe on Thursday.