Sacred Artist Interview: Matthew Whitney

March 29, 2010 by Christine Valters Paintner

Continued from Page 1

I keep a sketchbook on me nearly all the time. Besides drawings, I write ideas and meditations out as they come to me. That's where I work out most of my painting concepts. I then carve out time to make art, and I use that time to do it, whether I am in the "mood" or not. Artmaking really is a practice when it comes down to it.

How does your artmaking shape your image of God?

Making pictures helps me refine my faith. It helps me answer questions about our world, reality, and myself in a way that words don't do justice. Imagination is an important thing. If we are made "in the image of God," then creating images ourselves can help us see into the transcendent reality of our world.

Art from top to bottom: Fear, Save Us, The Sleep of Faith

Visit Matthew Whitney's website.

Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D. is a Benedictine Oblate and the founder and director of Abbey of the Arts, a non-profit ministry integrating contemplative practice with the expressive arts. She teaches at Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry and also works as a spiritual director, retreat facilitator, writer, and artist. She is the co-author of Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness from Paulist Press.

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About Christine Valters Paintner

Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D., is a Benedictine Oblate and the online Abbess ofAbbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery without walls offering online classes in contemplative practice and creative expression and pilgrimages to Ireland, Germany, and Austria. She is the author of eight books on monasticism and creativity including The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom (Ave Maria Press) and her forthcoming book The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Inner Journey (Spring 2015, Ave Maria Press). Christine lives as a monk in the world in Galway, Ireland with her husband of twenty years.

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