In class on Wednesday we had the opportunity to respond to the text in the way of art. When professor Corrigan said that we would be painting I thought to myself, I am going to suck at this because I just can't paint. Even that morning, as I was walk to class with my suitemate, I was telling her I should just not go to class because I can't paint anyways so what's the point of going to try. She responded that that was a poor excuse to not go to class. Painting in response to literature doesn't have to be perfect. We have to realize that when we respond to something, it is through our own interpretation of whatever it is that we are responding to.
"You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of the LORD your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame. "
This was the text that I was responding to and I honestly couldn't have told you what I was painting as I picked up that cheap brush and dunked it in the yellow paint on my desk. I took the first stroke and still felt like a little kindergartener just painting to paint. But as I trusted myself and made myself understand that whatever comes of this picture is what is meant to come out, it was then that I was aware that it didn't matter the end result, as long as I was expressing what I felt when I thought about the text. As I made more strokes and added more color I began to feel more confident and the end result that came out really made me feel good about myself. It was no longer about not being able to paint, but it was now about expressing myself through the painting and telling my group about how the text touched my heart. It was an expression of my heart at the time because it was about praising God for His goodness and provisions that He makes for His people and the color and loudness of my painting expressed that. It was a great way to stretch us as readers and really helped me become comfortable with expressing my feelings towards a text in different ways.
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