Identity: Creative Study Techniques

You may regularly study your Bible and have a method that suits you.  That's fine - use that method with our study of Identity.  Do share your way of working with us all in the Facebook group.

You may not have a method that suits you, or you might want to find a different way to study your Bible, especially one that enables you to respond creatively.

Postcard Theology
Andrew Hall wrote a guest post on 12 Months in View on a way of studying a Bible passage and producing some art work from it on a 6"x4" or 7"x5" piece of card.  Read about making postcards here.  You can find out more about Lectio Divina here.

Visual Journaling
Valerie Sjodin shares her method of study in this post: Visual Prayer Ideas & Techniques.   And here she shares another techniques she uses: Doodling Extending into Devotions.

In addition she has made this video.

I signed up for Made last year: an online course to explore how faith and art converge.  Through this I met Beth Morey.

Beth is a mixed media artist and writer living in western Montana with her husband and their rainbow son. She is the owner of Epiphany Art Studio, the creator of the Made online course, and the author of the healing workbook, Life After Eating Disorder. Her words have appeared in various publications, such as Still Standing Magazine, Wild Goslings, and Disney's Family Fun. She is an advocate for babyloss awareness and healthy grieving, and loves to meet new friends through her blog.

Scripture Excavation
Beth Morey has kindly made this video especially for us.  You may like to try this method before you listen to the podcast for each session.  Take the main passages used in the podcast which you will find on each blog post.  By using this method you can study the passage and see what the Holy Spirit is saying to you before listening to Rob's message.

If you try this method you could glue your annotated page into your notebook or journal and add notes to it at a later stage. Or you could put it in your journal and paint over the top of it - having God's word as the foundation to your page.

The way forward
None of the above may appeal or you may want to make your own 'pick & mix' version of all of them!   Or you can listen to the podcast, take notes and answer the questions.  Find your own way to make a creative response.  And share what you do in the Facebook group.

Whatever way you choose to use through the sessions I hope you will find it useful to find out who you are in Christ.

My Journal
I have posted details of how I have made my journal on Newly Creative.

Reminder
So a quick description of what will happen now.  There will be 8 blog posts - 2 each week for 4 weeks - and then a closing post in the fifth week.  Each of the 8 blog posts will include a podcast to listen to, a worship video to watch and journaling prompts to answer or ignore as you wish.

See you on Monday.

Identity: Creative Responses

Welcome to the start of Identity: A Study in Ephesians.  This week we are going to look at how we can respond to the Bible verses and the teaching we're going to hear.

I like to respond to things creatively but you may not.  However you choose to work with the Identity study is your choice.

You could make notes in your journal.  Maybe you don't journal regularly - you could get a simple exercise (composition) book and write in it.   You could add doodles.  Choose whatever is good for you.

There is also Washi Tape, a repositionable patterned tape, and children's stickers.  If you've never heard of Washi Tape, in the UK you can buy it from Hobbycraft and Paperchase as well as online scrapbooking stores.  In the US try Staples, Michaels and the dollar stores.   Buy a few pens in different colours and use them for your doodled patterns and for your writing.   Uniball Liquid Ink pens are great.

You might also find appropriate pictures or words in magazines that you can cut out and stick in.

Of course you could do both!  Take notes from the podcasts you listen to and journal your responses to the prompts in a notebook and then respond with a creative page.  Which is what I have chosen to do!  The photo above shows my journaling in a notebook.  I will be doing a separate art journal page and I will be sharing my process on my personal blog, NewlyCreative.

If you have never responded creatively to a Bible Study, or if you are a regular art journaler, here are some ideas.

Journals
Teesha Moore has some videos on YouTube on how to make a 16 page journal from one 22"x30" piece of watercolour paper.

On her YouTube channel Teesha shares different techniques on how to art journal in this type of journal.  You could try making the pages a different size or folding the papers together in a different way.  I have made you a very short video to explain what I mean.

 

Using this basic journal Valerie Sjodin makes beautiful journals.

 

You can find Valerie's blog at Visual Blessings.

In this video Diane Marra shows you how she journals her faith using a bought sketchbook.

You can find Diane's blog at Adore Him Creations.

Another blog I like to follow is Me, With My Head in the Clouds.  Here you will find Mary Brack who has another different style of journaling.  I hope you will find it inspirational.

Art Techniques
There are so many art techniques - drawing, painting, doodling, zentangling, stencilling, collage - and so much media - acrylic paints, watercolour paints, watercolour crayons, spray inks, oil pastels, chalk pastels, Pan Pastels that it is difficult to know what to suggest you might do.

My advice, especially if this is your first time trying a creative response to a Bible study, is to go with what you have and what you are comfortable with.  You can get a great result just with a packet of children's crayons.

There are plenty of technique videos on YouTube.  In a previous challenge, An Attitude of Gratitude 2013, I posted links to various videos.  You can find them here:
Ranger Distress     Adding Texture    Resist Techniques    Stamping & Printing    Stencils     Spray Inks   Watercolour

Pinterest
For further inspiration you can look on my Pinterest boards:  Art Journals      Faith Journaling

Letters
I have put together a PDF with the letters of the word Identity in different sizes and fonts which you can print out, colour in and then stick into your journal if you wish.

Take the next few days to work through the information on here and think about how you might respond creatively to our study of Ephesians.

Thank you so much for joining in.

Identity: An Introduction

During the next few weeks we are going to investigate our Identity through a study of passages in Ephesians.  There will be some other Bible references to look up.

How will it work?
There will a blog post twice each week on Mondays and Thursdays from 27th January until 27th February with a concluding post on Monday 3rd March.

There is no such thing as 'being behind'!
The study will be posted over a short period of time.  Not everyone will have the time to listen, study and respond within that timeframe.  Don't be concerned.  The blog will remain active and you can work at your own pace. 

Podcasts
There will be a podcast to listen to which can be downloaded each session. These are messages prepared by the Reverend Rob Davey, the lead Elder at Jubilee Church Solihull.

Bible Verses
The main passages referred to will be on the blog post with links to Biblegateway so you can access your preferred version.  I will be using the NIV on the blog.

Journaling Prompts
On each blog post there will be questions to answer relating to the message and the Bible verses.  It is up to you how you use these.  You will also be able to download the prompts in a PDF. You can write in your journal, blog about it, art journal or respond in any other creative way.  Next week there will be blog posts with suggestions for creative responses and study techniques.

Inspiration
There will be some videos which I hope will add inspiration to our study together.

Facebook group
There is a private Facebook group.  Please click on the link and ask to join.  It is a safe place where we can discuss the prompts, ask questions, and share our thoughts and our artwork from our study on Identity from Ephesians.   If you don't have a Facebook account I have set up a private Flickr group where you can share your art.

Supplies
If you decide to make an art journal I suggest you use the inks, sprays, paints, stamps and papers you already own to make the journal truly yours.  When you look at my pages on NewlyCreative they are there solely for inspiration, not for you to copy.  I use a lot of Dylusions and other Ranger products but you don't have to.  Use what you have.  Some of the techniques may not work in the same way with different products but it doesn't matter. It means your journal will be unique to you.

Creative Techniques
There are so many art techniques and media available to us.  Next week I will suggest some techniques you might like to try.  You may be a scrapbooker or a textile artist.  You choose the creative response.

Followers
To ensure that you don't miss a blog post you can follow by email by filling in the form at the bottom of the blog.

Blog Comments
I have set the comments to be moderated for this study so please don't be concerned if your comment doesn't show up immediately.

I look forward to spending the next few weeks with you.
Bernice

Coming Soon

Starting on Monday 27th January we will be investigating our Identity through a study of various Bible passages - particularly in Ephesians.

I am not a therapist or a counsellor but I hope that I can support and encourage you as we study together. If anything arises that you can't deal with, and that I feel I cannot deal with, please find someone in your church who you trust and ask them to help you.

Facebook group
There is a private Facebook group.  Please click on the link and ask to join.  It is a safe place where we can discuss the prompts, ask questions, and share our thoughts and our artwork from our study on Identity from Ephesians.

Supplies
If you decide to make an art journal I suggest you use the inks, sprays, paints, stamps and papers you already own to make the journal truly yours.  When you look at my pages on NewlyCreative they are there solely for inspiration, not for you to copy.  I use a lot of Dylusions and other Ranger products but you don't have to.  Use what you have.  Some of the techniques may not work in the same way with different products but it doesn't matter. It means your journal will be unique to you.

Followers
To ensure that you don't miss a blog post you can follow by email by filling in the form at the bottom of the blog.

There will be an introductory blog post on Monday January 27th explaining how the study will work and a post about creative responses on Thursday January 30th.

The Identity study will start on Monday 3rd February with two posts per week for four weeks - 8 topics in all.

Looking forward to working with you all.
Bernice