Watercolor painting and artistic expression

[JohnH]

So, does anyone actually know of any church groups, conferences, etc. that would prohibit watercolours or colouring in a picture?

We may have an archetypal example of "Misstatements Anabaptist groups make about other Anabaptist groups" here. This seems to be quite common about a variety of topics.

Or possibly, misstatements ex-Anabaptists make about their own former Anabaptist group...

That is also a very common thing, including people who change between affiliations and then seem to have a distorted view of the group they left.

Hence why I will give this person a little grace to have fanciful claims that her former group didn’t allow watercolours.

[Soloist]

I wonder if some of the Anabaptist ambivalence around artistic expression is a residual reaction to the extravagant church sponsored art in the 16th century. Another possible contributing stream is suspicion of putting the individual over the group. We like choirs more than soloists.

I always knew there was something wrong about me

[barnhart]

I wonder if some of the Anabaptist ambivalence around artistic expression is a residual reaction to the extravagant church sponsored art in the 16th century. Another possible contributing stream is suspicion of putting the individual over the group. We like choirs more than soloists.

I always knew there was something wrong about me

Maybe you could change your screen name to "Choir"....

[joshuabgood]

It is pretty clear to me that art has a pretty low place of value in CA culture. I have various thoughts about why that is.

[barnhart]

It is pretty clear to me that art has a pretty low place of value in CA culture. I have various thoughts about why that is.

Do you have a positive vision/theology of art that includes those thoughts and at the same time give it more purpose, direction and acceptance?

[Ernie]

If a work of art does not bring is not accessible to the common person, I wonder whether it is really honoring to Jesus.

Could you clarify this any further.

It looks like I didn't put my sentence together correctly.

I meant to say...
"If a work of art is not accessible to the common person, I wonder whether it is really honoring to Jesus."

Some art is only accessible to those who are trained to understand it or appreciate it. Many of the artists in this world basically hang out together in a peer-oriented world. They do their thing as part of a "specialty club".

In contrast is something like Shenandoah Christian Music Camp.
The instructors at this camp have the training and ability to interact in a world like I just described, but they choose to use their skills and abilities to write songs and bless the common person. Their tagline is... "music and worship for the everyday Anabaptist".

[Ernie]

It is pretty clear to me that art has a pretty low place of value in CA culture. I have various thoughts about why that is.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

A few of my thoughts...
Most Plain Anabaptists believe in hard work and are very practical. Art doesn't seem very practical to them.
Most Plain Anabaptists don't do post-secondary schooling. As a result, most don't develop an appreciation for finer arts.
Most Plain Anabaptists have large families. Raising financially and emotionally stable large families doesn't allow much time for the cultivation of finer arts. Those who are rich enough to pursue this for their children don't often pursue it because their peers are not urging them to pursue it.
Most Plain Anabaptists believe that meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people should be priority based on the example of Jesus. Since there is not a New Testament precedent for pursuing fine arts, it is not considered something Christians should pursue.
Most Plain Anabaptists believe in efficiency. Producing art is not very efficient.
Historically, most Plain Anabaptists have believed in simplicity and utilitarian character. Fine arts that require extravagant amounts of training, money and time are not considered simple. An exception is quilting. But quilting is something that can be learned from family members at home, and the quilt serves a useful purpose.

[Chris IN]

There is an unwritten ranking system in CA culture regarding our "vices".

Painting pictures is regarded pretty low on the scale as a pointless extravance and waste of time.

Now, open up a coffee shop or roll up in an acai trailer and you're in business. The Amish and Mennonites line up to plunk down eight or ten dollars for things of questionable calorie and nutritional content. I hear CA people throw around addiction type language about caffeine consumption. I cringe.

Aren't there people among us who were given artistic talents? Why shouldn't they use those talents in the same way someone with a good singing voice uses theirs?

[JohnH]

The current frontier of art is AI, and my impression is that quite a few plain people are availing themselves of the very latest tools in that regard.

Plain people also run graphic design firms and spend lots of money on marketing packages from these firms. I’d say they do have quite a bit of appreciation for “art”. It’s just not “fine art”, whatever that is. Keep in mind this is what passes for “art” these days:



This sold for $25 million.

[barnhart]

It is pretty clear to me that art has a pretty low place of value in CA culture. I have various thoughts about why that is.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

A few of my thoughts...
Most Plain Anabaptists believe in hard work and are very practical. Art doesn't seem very practical to them.
Most Plain Anabaptists don't do post-secondary schooling. As a result, most don't develop an appreciation for finer arts.
Most Plain Anabaptists have large families. Raising financially and emotionally stable large families doesn't allow much time for the cultivation of finer arts. Those who are rich enough to pursue this for their children don't often pursue it because their peers are not urging them to pursue it.
Most Plain Anabaptists believe that meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people should be priority based on the example of Jesus. Since there is not a New Testament precedent for pursuing fine arts, it is not considered something Christians should pursue.
Most Plain Anabaptists believe in efficiency. Producing art is not very efficient.
Historically, most Plain Anabaptists have believed in simplicity and utilitarian character. Fine arts that require extravagant amounts of training, money and time are not considered simple. An exception is quilting. But quilting is something that can be learned from family members at home, and the quilt serves a useful purpose.

I agree these are contributing factors but the results can feel arbitrary or random. I have relatives who have put more time and resources into quilts, furniture, photography and building drift cars than graduate level training in another field. I question how it would have been received if that level of effort had been poured into classical voice, composing or film making.