Find out the deeper meaning behind Joni’s art piece entitled New Life and what particular verse inspired her.
SHAUNA: Hi, this is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Joni, I know artists look somewhere for their inspiration. Where do you look for yours?
JONI: Well, most painters, myself included, love finding inspiration in oh, I don’t know, seascapes, landscapes, children, animals, flowers. You know, things that are beautiful; that elevate our senses. But that’s not the way our modern culture approaches art.
SHAUNA: You are so right Joni. Today, it just feels like the world embraces a fascination with ugliness.
JONI: That’s so true. And it fills our museums, it’s in our movies, popular music, books. Today's modern art [which is praised by critics] might be dead animals in a tank, or piles of trash. And I think to call these things “art,” robs the word of any meaning; what’s worse, it robs our world of meaning. A century or two ago, artists felt morally obligated to create artwork that enthralled and inspired the hearts of those who viewed their paintings. Renderings that were good and constructive to society. But in a culture that does not believe in absolute truth, many modern artists paint things that are chaotic, and abstract, and irreverent. They mock true beauty, they even pervert it.
But beauty reminds us that there is more to life than the commonplace.
SHAUNA: Oh true. Beautiful art carries us to higher things. More exalted and noble things!
JONI: Well, I’m glad you know that. I’m glad you see it in museums Shauna. Okay, friend listening, for example: you know what it's like to be transported from the ordinary to the sublime by things you see, or hear, or taste. Maybe a flash of sunlight, a symphony, a vista from a high mountain, or an exquisite meal – because you are created in the image of God, you recognize things as “beautiful”, as wonderful. And suddenly, life is full of joy and satisfaction. God built beauty into our world as a testimony to his own loveliness and creativity. He built beauty into our world so that we might experience him. Because God transcends the ordinary, he intends that beauty should do the same. Good art should elevate us and point us away from the dull and mundane to higher thoughts, noble ambitions, elevated tastes and spiritual experiences that help us feel God’s joy and satisfaction.
And this is why, as an artist, I look to the Bible for inspiration. It is so filled with beauty that lifts and inspires our senses. I mean, take 2 Corinthians 5:17. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation [I mean, right there, doesn’t the idea make your spirit soar?]; the old has gone, the new has come!” Now, when I read that, I am lifted up; the whole idea is beautiful. I ponder the verse and I can easily picture, let’s see, a delightful butterfly. Its old, shriveled, little caterpillar self has gone, and a glorious, new butterfly has come, ready to fly into the heights. And so, as an artist, I decide, “Yes! The stages that a butterfly goes through to become a lovely, winged creature, well, that perfectly expresses 2 Corinthians 5. The old is gone, the new has come!”
And so, I created an ink and watercolor painting that I’ve named New Life. I wish I could describe it to you, but I’ve posted a photo and a video of it on my radio page today.
SHAUNA: Go to joniradio.org. There you can admire the beauty of 2 Corinthians 5, illustrated with Joni’s painting of a butterfly and its stages of development.
JONI: And it’s all there for you at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends