Art Directive and Demonstration: Exchanging Our Trouble for God's Rest

In this video I give direction, explain, and demonstrate how to exchange your trouble and stress for God's rest. I illustrate this process with my own trouble and stress, after a very trying and triggering week. I'm including it in my Grief Journal playlist because it is one idea or journal prompt for a journal page. This is a very emotional and highly spiritual video in which I share my own art process and vulnerability as I express my stress and underlying trauma while praying prophetically and singing to God. To express the stress, trouble, and pain, I start with tight, controlled lines that eventually become loose, dark, and chaotic using alcohol based illustration markers on glassine paper. I continue working, and these marks get further obliterated with alcohol spray, then balled up and ripped into pieces which I include as collage pieces overtop of an 8.5x5.5 inch mixed media paper that I first use the gelli plate with. I make use of stamps, stencils, and masks on top of the gelli plate. Once I get my base design, I further embeliish it with distress oxide sprays before adding the collage pieces of my stress. I then added more collage pieces, which included old artwork that had been destroyed accidentally as well as mulberry papers, and then even more distress oxide sprays. I added some oil pastels and other marks, then scriptures, which I wrote out with a white gel pen on top of tissue paper painted with Payne's Gray acrylic paint, which I ripped out and glued onto my artwork. I then add more golden marks to represent stitches and healing. In my art process, I notice that a dark abyss of stress and trauma gets transformed into a lovely flower. After I finish the art piece, which I made for my trauma journal, I show you how it looks in my trauma journal as well as some of the pages leading up to it.
It takes me a bit of pressing into God, mark making, and scribbling before I can reach my underlying feelings, but I eventually release them which results in a brief crying episode, and then a great peace settles over me. This was a fun and healing process. Although I experience a very raw and transparent encounter with God while filming, I'm honored to share that process with you because I want that for you, too, if you need it. I want to model that process and how God can bring healing to us through our art. What I pray for myself and my family prophetically applies to you, too, if you have faith to receive it.
I will put a trigger warning on this because I do get very emotional, and I do express underlying trauma, and this may in turn trigger your emotions of unhealed hurts, but at the same time nothing graphic is expressed and I do not depict or describe any particular trauma memories; they are only expressed as dark chaotic lines, scribbles, and a dark abyss which comes to the surface. God then has me depict His healing waters flowing over it, and that dark abyss later transforms into a flower! I didn't plan that out, but it happened!
During the video editing, I felt compelled to add scripture to address my concerns that I gave to the Lord as well as back up some of what He was telling me through my singing and prayers. This video is heavily laden with scriptures and the Holy Spirit's presence.
Also, this video was made to suppliment the workshop I did for my church in which I gave a teaching and preaching entitled, "Finding Rest in Troubled Times." The link is below:
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Directions for the art process: Exchanging Trouble for God's Rest.
Step 1: Release your trouble and stress to the Lord.
This can be done with any type of art substrate or art materials. I used a 5.5x8.5 inch mixed media paper. This can be done directly on your artwork or on a separate sheet of paper, even a scrap. I used illustration markers on glassine paper, but oil pastels work great for this part as well. You could rip those pieces and collage into your art or if you expressed your stress directly on your art substrate you can gesso over it, put other collage pieces over it, paint over it, incorporate it, etc. Another idea is to write your worries, stress, or fears out either on your art substrate or separately. There is no wrong or wright way to do this. Just do what feels right to you.
Step 2: Transform your art piece with your stress depicted or represented into something which will bring you comfort and a feeling of rest or a settled heart.
Step 3: Finish your art project in a way that will comfort you in the future as well. Maybe include some kind of symbols or scriptures which you can look back on and remember to trust the Lord.
Eventually I will link to my blog with a list of some of the art products I used in this video.
I include a lot of background music in this video found in PowerDirector365.

[@emeraldthronechannel]

Timely as always, I love this idea!

[@creativepassages]

Thank you! 😊