Description: Summarized in the phrase pray and work, The Rule of St. Benedict provides the inspiration for Christine Valters Paintners newest exploration of the mutually nourishing relationship between contemplative practices and creative expression. Artists of all stripes and stations in lifepoets or painters, potters or photographerswill discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work. Through this twelve-week course, themes like Sacred Tools and Sacred Space, Creative Solitude and Community, and Nature as a Source of Revelation and Inspiration are enriched by Paintners perceptive discussion and enhanced by insightful quotations from well-known artists and writers. Each week offers suggestions for grounding both the creative and the spiritual life through three basic practices: walking, lectio divina, and journaling. In sync with Paintners vibrant Internet presence, The Artists Rule is supplemented with online resources, including guided meditation podcasts, video lessons, and discussions.
Brief description:
Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery offering classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She earned a doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and achieved professional status as a registered expressive arts consultant and educator from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She is also trained as a spiritual director and supervisor.
Paintner is the author of numerous spirituality titles, including Artist's Rule; A Midwinter God; The Love of Thousands; Birthing the Holy; Sacred Time; Earth, Our Original Monastery; The Soul's Slow Ripening; The Wisdom of the Body; Illuminating the Way; The Soul of a Pilgrim; The Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire; and three collections of poetry.
Paintner is a Benedictine oblate living in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John. Together they lead online retreats on their website, abbeyofthearts.com.
Review Quotes:
"Gracefully written and ever-consoling, The Artist's Rule demands engagement from its reader. It challenges artists of every variety to journey actively with their Rule, and to thereby plumb the riches of both a contemplative and generative discipline." --from Image Journal
"This jewel of a book will help you tap the eternal in your deep soul." --Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B., Author of Seven Sacred Pauses (from the Foreword)
"It is a time of shift, of awakening, new challenges, greater complexity in every dimension of daily life. The Artist's Rule is a treasure for those of us who long to live a rich inner life, to be fully human and creative members of a creative Universe, to give expression to what is moving within us--to write, paint, make music, and dance. Christine frames her exploration in monastic wisdom, but in our present context where the whole world is our monastery. The inner guide of each of us is thoroughly welcomed and nourished throughout the chapters--in explorations, guided imagery, mystical insight, poetry, music, reflections, inspiration, practices of creativity, ritual--as we travel today's call to creativity and contemplation." --Mary Southard, C.S.J., Artist/Illustrator for The Cosmic Dance: An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness
"Graciously offered, wisely conceived, carefully crafted, The Artist's Rule leads the reader ever more deeply into practices that recover the awareness that contemplation and creativity spring from the same Source. This work, grounded in Benedictine spirituality, offers us ways to rediscover the sacred art of living and serving, following the Spirit's lead and awakening to the artist's palette of our daily lives." --Mary C. Earle, Author of The Desert Mothers: Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness and Days of Grace: Meditations and Practices for Living with Illness