Mister Nifty

The Scripture declares:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: … a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

Creativity is seasonal. The very foundation of creativity is the expectation of a harvest:

1. We plant seeds of idea and concept.
2. We nurture with faithful attention to detail.
3. We weed and prune with constructive feedback.
4. We harvest with implementation and presentation.

Genesis 1 shows us the first example of a creative season. Our Creator spoke words and concepts into the dark abyss, and in six days we see the culmination of the greatest creative work ever in the history of the universe. Then came day number seven.

(Silence)

God rested. God had a season of creative dormancy. This was for our example.

Creative Dormancy

A deprivation of dormancy can render our creative field deficient and deplete.  Dormancy is not laziness, it is restoration. The curse of a creative is the compulsion to create constantly. We all need a seventh day. There are no eternal batteries.

Sometimes you just need some time – sometimes five minutes – sometimes a day – sometimes a week. Sometimes you need to walk in the fresh air. Sometimes you need to read and learn. Sometimes you need to pray. Sometimes you need to sleep.  Sometimes you need to be yourself. Sometimes you need a hobby. Sometimes you need to laugh. Sometimes you need the Creative to create something in you.

The most fruitful times come after we rest. Let us never forget the most important season of creative dormancy.

I learned this principle from a commercial printing manager and it can apply to most areas of the creative productions.

When beginning a project there are three things you can choose from. You can only have two, you can’t have all three.

1. Time
2. Quality
3. Cost

(more…)

If you’re looking for some creative Christian inspiration, Joe Cavazos is the guy. Joe is from Mission, Texas and is a full-time graphic designer for the Palm Valley Church. He regularly creates sermon media as well as print collateral for his church. His work oozes with creativity and attention to detail. It really speaks for itself.  Here are some of the images he’s released for public use on CreativeMYK.

All of these images are available for download to use in your church. Some are flattened images, others are PSD files you can edit. If you like Joe’s work give him a shout and tell him what you think. You can find Joe here on  Twitter – @joecavazos or on his website. Beware: Following Joe on Twitter will push you out of your design comfort zone.

CreativeMYK.com is a treasure trove for people in media ministry.  This is a community sharing site where Christian artists freely share their work for others to use.  If you are an artist, this is a great place to get critiques and comments on your current work.  Hop on over to their site and check out all the goodies.

Go to CreativeMYK.com

Thanks to Ray Deck from MinistryLive.org for putting this together.