Artist Stories

Trees Are God’s Scribble-Scrabble in the Sky

What happens when we look long enough to really see? Ever do something impulsive? I was recently inspired (yes, at the last minute) to go hiking with my two dogs one hour before sunset. Talk about a short outing! But I reasoned, even if we get 30 minutes in the foothills, it’s worth the mini-exploration […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

Art as a Daily Conversation: Kellyn Trapp

Kellyn Trapp started with Bible art journaling. Then things got bigger. Kellyn Trapp took our Foundations course. Her husband, Bob, did not. Somehow, Bob ended up in art ministry, too. I love how God works. Kellyn is a mixed-media artist in Connecticut. She creates in watercolor, acrylic, collage, writing, and whatever else she’s currently exploring. […]

God Loves Art

Artist Stories

Learning to See with Jen Alward

“I think the more I notice, the more I hear God through the beauty,” Jen says. Art therapist, daily doodler, textile lover, collage maker, and creative observer. Jen Alward lives in Eagle River, Wisconsin, where creativity runs through everyday life. “I bounce all over,” Jen says. She doodles daily with pen, often adding a tiny image to […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

Devotionals, Botanicals and Cartography, with Deryn van der Tang

Meet: Deryn van der Tang“Looking back on my life, I see [making art] was always God’s plan for me…I continue to pursue it with greater enthusiasm, knowing that not only is it a gift from God that I must use, but it is also His primary means of speaking to me,” Deryn says. We love […]

God Loves Art

Artist Stories

How Nature’s Beauty Inspires Art with Heather Dickinson

Meet: Heather Dickinson “I create, because my Father in Heaven creates. I am my Father’s daughter,” Heather says. We love to celebrate and introduce you to graduates of our Foundations Art Ministry course. These artists have put in a lot of work and we are extremely proud of them, grateful to have them in our God Loves Art community, and excited to see where God […]

God Loves Art

Artist Stories

He Loved Through Art: Esau ‘Mark’ Kessler

I want to tell you about a longtime VineArts leader who now inhabits heaven. His name is Mark Kessler, also known as Esau. In my last post I wrote how Mark’s early departure has deepened my understanding of this limited time that we have to create. Today I want to tell you about the heart of this man, and how he connected with people through art. […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

Open Our Ears

Do miracles really happen? I watched a young woman around 20 years old suddenly receive the gift of hearing for the first time in her life. This woman has been completely unable to hear since birth. She had never heard the sound of her own voice. The setting was not in a doctor’s office after […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

Baffled and Befuddled

Image God smote me with the following phrase, plain as day, the other morning as I emerged from the VineArts studio: “IT’S NOT A HAT.” Just prior to this moment I had been murmuring to myself, befuddled, after two amazing encounters with artists. I was shaking my head and smiling, stammering something like: “Okay, God… […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

A Most Childlike and Colorful Day

Today the VineArts gang did something awesome: With no plan in place, together we painted our roll-up garage door in front of the studio! (Well, that’s partly right…. The door isn’t actually operational, as there is insulation and drywall on the interior side; we wish it was still a functional garage door. Alas, we only […]

Jessie Nilo

Artist Stories

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