First session thoughts from the group

From Mike Mann:

It was a great first meeting. The artist [Allen Christian] and his art was so accessible. I was moved by his knowing that this was always his calling and his career as an electrician was just a vehicle to get him to where he is now.

 

I was also struck by his intentional purpose of reuse of common materials and his willingness to let the audience find their own reaction and message to the pieces. He was not about demanding that we see what he sees or that we should look at each piece and try to figure out what he is saying with it. This is very trusting and valuing of his audience. As if to say “Yes, you are capable of having an emotional response to this art and your response is just as valid as anyone else’s.” I admire the way Allen seems to have disciplined his ego. Not all can do that.

 

Mike

We find art everywhere

Zoe has a gallery right in her home!!!

Thanks to Caro and Theo

Deb says: "I love this delightfully welcoming entrance door to the Pilgrim Lutheran Church building near my sister's house in St. Paul. Note the colorful child-sized door to the left of the regular door." 

House of Balls visit

Deb Sodt summarized our visit to the House of Balls:

Five of us (Sharon, Mike, Zoe, Judi and Deb) carpooled to the House of Balls studio in Minneapolis’ Cedar Riverside neighborhood. We could tell we were in for a treat when we pulled in to the parking lot next to the art car (truck) in front. Sharon explained to owner Allen Christian what our group is all about and why we were there, and offered a brief prayer. Then we talked with Allen about his inspiration and his approach to his work. He creates sculptures out of a variety of “found” materials, including used bowling balls, metal equipment, wood furniture or musical instruments, and other things. He told us that his main message is that people need fewer possessions than we often think we do, and that art can be created out of what we already have (instead of using new materials.) It’s important to him that the viewer can still tell what the original object(s) were once the sculpture is finished; this is to remind us that we don’t need a lot of new stuff. Afterwards, we had coffee and hot chocolate at the Seward Café. 

The House of Balls

This is what greeted us when we pulled up to the 

House of Balls at the end of the road:

The head of this monstrosity moves with the air current.

 Paul Christian's first wood sculpture.

 Hub caps, pie pans, cake pans, light fixtures, fry pans, other found objects.

 Who wouldn't love to take a little road trip with the Wonder Home?!!

 Is this Sainte Lucia?

Then we stepped inside. What a treat. 

Very clean and quite organized for all the sculptures that filled the areas.

At the risk of too many photos, the following were just a few of the wonderful pieces that were created by Paul Christian.

Bowling balls were the idea for the name House of Balls.

Allen carved many of them into objects d'art many of which are faces.

See that black tubular thing in the background?

Well, that is the passageway to the room on the other side.

We stepped inside the tube and pivoted the opening to the other side.

It was a source of giggling and laughter as we each took a turn.. so to speak.

This is what we saw on the other side:

Walls were covered with many art pieces and forms.

 A bowling ball topped this manikin head.

  This seemed to be a sort of crucifix.

Close-up of the head

 A little political statement in this corner.

 Another bowling ball next to other found objects.

 Two more bowling ball heads - who seemed to have lost their teeth!

 I'm not sure but this seems to be made of flat washers painted yellow/gold. 

Being a retired electrician, Allen has many pieces that are lit.

Then, looking up toward the ceiling, there was the boat. 

It was filled with balloons and pieces of paper with prayers. 

This would look great at Holy Trinity! Yes?

Four of our group:

Sharon, Zoe, Mike, Deb. Judi came later

Food as Art

There is art in Zoe's Nacho Supreme. 

Looks yummy and very pretty.

Preparing food to look artsy 

makes it even more enjoyable to eat

and satisfies the creators soul.

So you know, A little background

Holy Trinity has received a Communities of Calling grant from the Collegeville Institute at St. John's University.

In his book Let Your Life Speak Parker Palmer points out that the word vocation comes from the Latin word for “voice,” which is why vocation is properly understood as “a calling that I hear.” And this calling, Palmer suggests, is uniquely heard in one's life: “I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about--quite apart from what I would like it to be about...I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”

Palmer's understanding of calling is linked with identity, which makes for a certain beautiful simplicity. It means that God's purpose for one's life is found in God's design of one's life. And this idea resonates. As writer Ryan Pemberton offers, “It's something we feel to be true, somehow. Like a kite released into the wind, there are moments in life when things line up in such a way that we realize we were created for this.” 

The Communities of Calling Initiative at Holy Trinity is a project based out of St. John’s in Collegeville and funded by the Lilly Foundation. Holy Trinity has been selected as one of 14 congregations throughout the United States and Canada to serve as a partner congregation with this effort. We have received a grant to explore how Christians discover and deepen their sense of God’s calling.

As is stated on the Communities of Calling website, “We all love a good story. It’s our belief that vocation is communal and is lived on the local level. Today’s secular versions focus on the individual: what do I want to do with my life? But the Christian tradition also believes callings serve the common good.”

Without a doubt you have a story to tell. What are the things that you are doing in your life that make your story part of the human story, part of God’s story? Holy Trinity is about to launch a number of small groups around a variety of interests in the hope of allowing members to connect with others in a way that does not always happen on Sunday mornings. The groups will meet four-six times between January and May.

The grant we’ve received means that we have money available to support all of these groups’ activities. No one will be excluded because of finances! Join a small group. Deepen your commitment to learning about one another and about God’s call for your life!

Members Begin To Share

See? Even Deb Sodt's dryer balls are artsy fartsy. Maybe she will frame this one. It's cool.

And Misty got us laughing with this selfie.

Getting started

Fiber Arts Tribe by Sharon Englund

There is Art all around us and in us. Our group will take a look at the many forms of art and sometimes the so-called mundane and see the serenity, the wildness and/or beauty. We will think about the lives of various artists and how and why their art became. We can visit a few art museums as well as street art. Discussion of all variations of art will be welcome including wall art, statuary, performing art, the art of conversation, culinary art, etc. There are movies about painters and/or performers we can watch. 

All of this we can reflect upon as we reach further into the meaning of art in our own spiritual lives and how it affects us and those around us. 

Even as some participants are artists, we probably will NOT be doing any art/crafts ourselves as a group. 

And as in many things, there is humor. Laughter is healing and fun. I bet we'll find a fair amount of humor in some art we experience.