“It was the first time I realized that painting could capture the Word of God, speak into people’s lives and give me the opportunity to share my faith.”

Janice T. (Alliance & Short-term team member)

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Every day all around the globe, artists on mission are creating, cultivating, and contributing in their communities. As they seek to see their art used in the work the Lord is doing, we want to share their stories to encourage and inspire.
This blog is a place to read those stories, giving you a glimpse into how the Lord is using the arts around the world.
Friday, 22 October 2021 20:49

Spray Paint and Acrylics: Thoughts from the Virtual Artist Residency

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This week, we talked with another of the participants in the Virtual Artist Residency program. Read below to hear how Chris grew in his technical skills as well as his identity as an artist. 

Hi all, my name is Chris Steinz. I live in, or at least very close to, Amsterdam. I'm a visual artist, although I also love to build stuff and write poetry. I was part of this year’s Artist Residency where we connected with a few artist from around the globe for a few months. It was truly a blessing to be part of this group, learning from each other by sharing who we are and what we do as an artist. It turned out to be a very challenging time for me personally because of health issues. This got me completely on a sidetrack, but the Residency meetings were some 'light in the darkness' moments every time. 

However, creating wise, the Residency was not as productive as I hoped. Instead of painting, I went through surgery and a recovery process. But the Residency did challenge me to think about who I am as an artist and why I create. And it made me think about why I do what I do. One of the things I took out of it was using different mediums or different types of paint. My background was street art/spray paint and I needed to do that outdoors. If you know Amsterdam, you know it rains A LOT over here. The Residency made me realise I needed something else, a new way of painting, so I can create more often. I got myself some new brushes and some 'normal' acrylics and started a new journey, with a new type of painting. This here is the first painting I did. I learned a lot of new things about how it works. I think the Residency pushed me into a new direction as an artist, by reflecting on who I am, questioning why I do what I do and the desire to grow as an artist.

Chris1Resized

To see a past article about Chris' grafitti art, click here

Last modified on Thursday, 06 January 2022 23:10