The Affections of the Heart in Art

What does an artist delight in as he labors in his art? What should an artist delight in? Do I run after the praises of man or the praise of God in my artistic endeavors? Do I hope in man or in God for my satisfaction to be realized in the arts? Are my artistic endeavors about giving or receiving? What motivates a work? What motivates me? Is my heart enslaved by the fear of man or is it free in the fear of God? Do I seek God or the market for inspiration? Am I or art or God the end in a work of art? These questions, and many others, are not unique to artists. Put your life's work in the question.... But artists in particular, with all of our creating and expressing, need to take a serious look at our own heart’s affections. 

I believe we consistently fail to experience the fullness of enjoyment that God has for us in artistic expression because we do not understand how our pleasures relate to the pleasure to be had in God (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, I Timothy 6:17). 

We leave pleasure on the table all the time in the arts: the pleasures in serving, the pleasures in humility, the pleasures in freedom from the fear and praises of men, the pleasures of the extra portions that the Lord gives to the one who fears Him alone, the pleasures of fellowship with the Author of all things when enjoying all that He has made, the pleasures of artistic strength when God’s strength is the well from which we draw, the pleasures of purity, the pleasures in exhortation, the pleasures in edification, the pleasures in struggling to articulate Him who is unsearchable, the pleasures in giving of oneself for the edification of others.

Artists, whose pleasure would it be to push on this theme with me?