Not long ago I visited an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum titled Master Painters. The focus was a collection of pieces from The Netherlands during the seventeenth century, a period known as the Dutch Golden Age.
One painting in particular grabbed my attention: a stunning maritime scene of ships at anchor. I took in the beautiful blues, dramatic clouds, and glowing sails for a long time.
![By Jan van de Cappelle (Holland, Amsterdam, 1624/1626-1679) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.chadrallen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1024px-Ships_in_a_Calm_LACMA_M.2003.108.6.jpg "\"Ships in a Calm\"")
“Ships in a Calm” by Jan Van De Cappelle (Holland, Amsterdam, 1624/1626-1679) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
- “self-taught”
- “never joined the local art guild”
- “for the pleasure of it”
- “second to Rembrandt as a painter of light”
The artist was Jan Van De Cappelle, a wealthy industrialist who spent the majority of his time running his father’s dye works, which he inherited. But on the side he did something else entirely.
I like to imagine Jan at the end of a workday, grabbing his coat and hat. I like to think of him rushing out to a good view of the water where he could paint.
He could have done a lot of other things in his spare time. He had enough money to sit back and relax. He could have indulged himself or watched the seventeenth-century equivalent of The Bachelor.
But over a hundred surviving paintings tell us what he did.
Jan Van De Cappelle did his art.
The Decision We All Face
We face the same decision Jan Van De Cappelle did. How will we spend our spare time? We may not be as wealthy as he was. We may not have as much spare time as he did. But most of us have some amount of unclaimed time in which we get to decide how to engage ourselves.
The purpose of this post is to share two questions that will help you get focused and stay motivated to do your art like Jan Van De Cappelle did.
Question 1 (to Help You Get Focused): What’s Your Art?
What’s your side project? What’s your art?
Maybe you’re not doing it yet. Maybe you’re just thinking about it.
Or maybe you’ve just started.
Or maybe you sense that there is some kind of art for you, but you don’t know what it is exactly.
Maybe you’ve been doing it for a long time, and you’re tired.
Wherever you are on this journey, identifying your art will help you get focused.
Question 2 (to Help You Stay Motivated): What’s Your Why?
When the going gets tough, you’ll need to be able to articulate to yourself why doing your art is worthwhile. I’ve found it helpful to have a short sentence that I can use to rouse myself into action.
Here’s how mine goes: I feel deeply called to helping creative people do their best work.
When it’s 5:00 in the morning or late at night and I haven’t published a blog post that week, this brief sentence helps me push on and do my art.
Whether you use a brief sentence, a paragraph, or a whole book, knowing the why behind your art will help you stay motivated.
Question: What’s your art? What’s your why? I’d love to hear your answer to either or both of these questions. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
My art? Writing, blogging, and creating video
My why? Helping people connect with God in every area of their lives.
Great 2 questions. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for sharing! Focus is what I really need.
What is my Art? My Art to be is writing and painting. I have a few books already in my mind still to come alive…
Why? Because I like how others are touched when they read what I write or look what I paint.
“Holy Night Stalking” is what I call my art. It seems a lot of my writing comes to me in the night while I’m unable to sleep. Perhaps that’s when God can get my attention the best. I once did a “Holy Night Stalking” search in the scriptures and found it happened to Abraham, Samuel, David, Abimelech, Isaac, Laban, Balaam, Solomon,
Joseph…and the list goes on. I guess I’m in good company. My “why” is because some one else needs to see it. Another heart needs to be touched. Another’s day needs to be uplifted. Being the writing tool in God’s hand is a privilege and responsibility. We must never take it for granted. Thanks Chad for the reminder.
Thank you for this post. It is what God knows I needed to hear in this moment. I have struggled with lack of motivation for weeks now. My art is writing and while I have been doing it, it hasn’t been consistent and feels more like a task than a passion to create. My why is to encourage women in their faith which ironically is my current struggle. To keep going, keep doing, keep seeking more of the things of God. Your post today was a wake up call to get back to the basics – why am I doing what I’m doing and more specifically, who is it that I’m doing it for? They need to hear a word of encouragement today just as I did so it’s time to get to it and be motivated. Someone out there is waiting. Thank you.
Fabulous post, Chad. Love the artwork, too. My art remains writing. The why–because it’s my passion. I love writing. Always have. If I make some money from it, then all the better.
I write because it helps me feel alive. I write because I love to encourage people to love like Jesus did.
I feel deeply called to help people who write about the life of faith do it with skill and integrity. I study daily in order to be educated in the key topics within Christian discipleship and in the key skills of good writing. That knowledge combination embedded in my relationship with Christ fed by prayer and Bible study will help me to help Christian writers flood the marketplace with high quality Christian writing.
Great questions! My arts are writing and photography. Why? The writing because I want others who have experienced the trauma of caregiving to know that they are not alone. The photography–well, it’s been great therapy for me ;). I’m exploring ways to share what I ‘see’ with others.