Artist of the Month: Kathleen Housley
Poet Kathleen Housley is a sort of Dian Fossey of human language. In pursuit of its mysteries, she has gone out in language's dark, misty forest and lived among it like a conservation biologist, with her clipboard and binoculars. To our great benefit, Housley is a passionate, meticulous student. In her poems, one encounters a keen, sprightly intellect at play—but there is an unshakeable seriousness, too, a pure, clear, earnest desire for precision. Her thought moves in a graceful rhythm, quick and imaginative. The words themselves become live things, purring and clacking and chattering. Her vision of the world is capacious and full of a rich, humane curiosity. With acute, scientific exactness, her poems teach us a delight in the creation, in its multiplicity and surprise. A patient teacher, Housley leads us to the pleasure of the concrete and specific. Birds, animals, reptiles, humans: the poems offer a taxonomy of creation that is at once tender and wise, and a care for the life and nuance of speech that is both urgent and long-sighted. Like all the best poets, Housley is what Fossey might have called an “active conservationist” of the word.

Click here for more.

God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas

Today we are proud to announce the publication of a book that has been years in the making and which incorporates a variety of contributions from the extended Image community. The brainchild of Image board member Greg Pennoyer, God with Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas is a rich tapestry of a book, containing meditations for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by some of the leading spiritual writers of our time, including Eugene Peterson, Kathleen Norris, Luci Shaw, Scott Cairns, Richard John Neuhaus, and Emilie Griffin. Co-edited by Pennoyer and Image editor Gregory Wolfe, God With Us also contains references for the daily scripture readings, original prayers, and brief histories of the major feast days (written by Beth Bevis, editor of ImageUpdate)—and is sumptuously illustrated in full color with masterworks of classic and contemporary art. There’s even a red ribbon to mark your place among the daily meditations. The authors take us on a journey of exploration into how the Christmas season unfolds the meaning of Incarnation—the divine in the midst of the ordinary stuff of life—and along the way they help us to better understand who we are as human beings. This book will help renew your appreciation for this hyper-commercialized holiday—and would make a wonderful gift for those you love.

To learn more about the book and several book launch events, click here.

To purchase the book directly from us, click here.

Iron & Wine: The Shepherd’s Dog
Acclaimed as “one of the most vital new American folksingers recording today,” Sam Beam of Iron & Wine continues his restless evolution. Released last month, The Shepherd’s Dog transitions from the acoustic Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) to a layered and multi-instrumental sound hinted at on the collaborative effort, In the Reins (2005). While most of the songs on The Shepherd’s Dog are folk-based, they are expanded to include interweaving banjos, pedal-steel guitars, influences of Eastern music, and the layering of Beam’s voice on several tracks. Born in the south and currently living in Texas, Beam’s gothic lyrics and storytelling continue to deepen while growing ever more elusive. As the New York Times says, “Where Zen Buddhism has those paradoxical koan utterances, Mr. Beam comes up with what might be Christian koans: ‘With his gun, the pagan angel rose to say, My love is one made to break every bended knee.’” Subsequent lyrics deal with faith, contemporary life, and the current climate of war. After a close listen, it’s not surprising to learn the album was at least partially inspired by the American elections of 2004. “I was confused,” Beam says; “It was unsettling, but it’s a helpful thing when you’re trying to do creative work…So trying to make peace with whatever situation I was writing about gave way to not finding the peace and being OK with it.” Yet an uneasy contentment seems to be what Beam points towards in “Resurrection Fern.” Its title taken from a Southern fern that grows and dies on oak trees only to spring back to life years later, Beam sings: “And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire / Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire / All the more a pair of underwater pearls / Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern.” The song is a fitting summary for an album that grounds itself in innovative musicianship and expectant lyrics. Musicians on the album include, among others, Sarah Beam, Jim Becker, Rob Burger, Joey Burns, Paul Niehaus, and Matt Lux. Produced by Brian Deck, and released by Sub Pop records, the album includes a foldout set of lyrics, as well as artwork by Sam Beam. Iron & Wine will be touring in the UK and America throughout 2007.

For more information, click here.

Blue in Green Film Screening with Ron Austin
November 26, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Seattle Pacific University Library Seminar Room
Join Image for an evening with renowned film writer and producer Ron Austin on Monday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m., in the Library Seminar Room at Seattle Pacific University. The evening will feature a screening of the film Blue in Green, created by the Unica collective Austin helped to found, followed by a question-and-answer session. Blue in Green is a funny, accessible, real, and moving exploration of desire and its subtle but devastating effects on our lives. Ron Austin was born in 1934, and was raised in Hollywood. At age 12 he became a child actor, initially working under the direction of Charlie Chaplin and noted teacher Viola Spolin. A graduate of the UCLA film school in 1956, he is a veteran writer and producer in the Hollywood industry, with over a hundred credits in film and television. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has won two lifetime achievement awards from the Writers Guild of America for his service to writers and the Hollywood community. Over the years, Austin has written episodes of Mission Impossible, produced powerful documentaries on the war in Sudan, and spoken before Vatican officials at large international events. Through all the hubbub, he has preserved a spiritual equanimity that conveys profound thought, openness and curiosity, and a grounding in the timeless. Most recently, he published In a New Light: Spirituality and the Media Arts, chock full of wisdom for budding filmmakers (and film-watchers) interested in linking the cinema with faith.

For directions to campus, click here. For a map of SPU, click here. The library is building number 14.

For more information contact Julie Mullins at (206) 281-2988.

Want to Work for Image This Summer?
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student who'd like to work for Image this coming summer? Or do you know someone who might be interested? The purpose of the Luci Shaw Fellowship is to expose a promising student to the world of literary publishing and introduce him or her to the contemporary dialogue about art and faith that surrounds Image, its programs, its contributors, and its peer organizations. In short, we're looking for summer fellows who share our vision for the place art has in the life of faith, and who are also diligent, meticulous, and responsible about the daily details. There's grunt work galore in this job, but also plenty of opportunities to grasp the vision at the heart of a dynamic arts organization. The Shaw Fellow will also receive a scholarship to Image's Glen Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

To learn more about the Luci Shaw Fellowship, and to download an application, click here.

Scrittura: Monotype Paintings by Kathleen Markowitz
Kathleen Markowitz will be exhibiting Scrittura at Page Bond Gallery beginning November 2. Scrittura is a series of monotype paintings which explore the gesture towards language: the abstraction of line calling to sound, what it feels like to write a poem. For more information, click here or go to the artist’s website.

Michael Wilson:

The Daylight Portrait
Photographer Michael Wilson’s evocative black-and-white portraits render people vulnerable and uniquely beautiful, always at home in their natural element. Having photographed the likes of Lyle Lovett, Over the Rhine, B. B. King, and Elton John, Wilson is notably humble about his art: the opening page of his website admits, in a handwritten scrawl, “Maybe there are already too many pictures in the world.” We certainly don’t think so. And now, with the opening of his new portrait studio, The Daylight Portrait, anyone can make an appointment to be photographed by this important American photographer. There will be an opening celebration on Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 p.m. at the York St. Café in Newport, Kentucky. The evening will include music by the Faux Frenchmen and the Comet Bluegrass Allstars, and selections of Michael’s celebrity portraits and personal work will be offered by silent auction (fans of Over the Rhine will recognize “White Horse,” the photo for the album cover of Drunkard’s Prayer, and "Charlie Wolf," album cover for Patience, pictured here.)

For more information, go to www.daylightportrait.com. For more on Michael Wilson, click here.

If you have information other ImageUpdate readers might find interesting, share it here! Do you have a question that you hope a member of the ImageUpdate community might have the answer to? Ask it here. Have your messages posted by sending an email to gwolfe@spu.edu.

Christianity & the Visual Arts in Indonesia: June 8-23, 2008
Christianity’s place in the world has taken a radical shift in recent years, with the great majority of its adherents living outside of Europe and North America. As Christianity takes root in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific region, it is producing fresh artistic visions and achievements. Might Christianity’s creative interplay with Asian art, religion, and culture excite some new approaches in the West as well? The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), the Nagel Institute, and the Asian Christian Artists Association (ACAA) are hoping to find a few innovative visual artists to go to Indonesia for two weeks next summer. Participants will meet Christian artists from Indonesia and other nations in Asia, see and learn about a fascinating culture, share insights and examples from their own artistry, and experiment together in studio on a common project. We are looking for some Christian artists and art educators who are eager to see new things and experiment with new approaches, and to become stronger agents of renewal in the North American art world. The deadline for applications is January 25, 2008. For more information and instructions on how to apply, click here.

Driving Miss Daisy at Pacific Theatre
In 1948 Atlanta, an aging and cantankerous Jewish widow reluctantly surrenders the driver’s seat to Hoke Coburn, a proud, Southern Baptist black man who, over the course of 25 years, becomes not only her chauffeur, but, against all odds, her best friend. Starring Tom Pickett and Erla Faye Forsyth. Directed by Sarah Rodgers. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Drama, Driving Miss Daisy is now playing through November 10 at Pacific Theatre in Vancouver, BC. For tickets ($16-$32) call 604.731.5518 or click here.

This section lists ongoing exhibits and events that have been featured in previous issues of ImageUpdate. Click on the links for more information.

Wayne Forte at the Signs of Life Gallery: In his new exhibition at the Signs of Life gallery in Lawrence, Kansas, Wayne Forte explores a way of understanding narrative through paintings styled as liturgical banners. The show continues through Thanksgiving. For more information, go to the gallery web page.

Update on Image Events in Canada
This fall Image editor Gregory Wolfe is traveling to four Canadian cities—Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg—to spread the word about the journal and to strengthen ties with Canadian artists, writers, and those who are working for cultural transformation. The grand Canadian tour got off to a great start in Winnipeg on October 25 at the Mennonite Heritage Centre Gallery. Wolfe will follow that appearance with one in Calgary on November 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Engineered Air Theatre in the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts, where he’ll talk about the power of beauty to nourish our common life, communicate faith, and renew our culture. In Vancouver and Toronto Wolfe will be appearing at two special book launch events that Image is co-sponsoring. These events, featuring Kathleen Norris as keynote speaker, will celebrate the publication of God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas, a beautifully illustrated collection of daily meditations for the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, written by Norris, Luci Shaw, Eugene Peterson, Scott Cairns and others. Image will co-sponsor book launch events, held in Toronto on November 13 and Vancouver on November 14. We are grateful to several Canadian donors for making these appearances possible and are looking forward to getting more Canadian readers—and more Canadian contributors to our pages.

For information about Gregory Wolfe’s appearances in Calgary and Winnipeg, contact Julie Mullins at (206) 281-2988 or jmullins@imagejournal.org.

For details of the God With Us book launch events in Vancouver and Toronto, call 778-995-9424 or e-mail greg.pennoyer@incarnation.ca.

Image and the Glen Workshop Featured in ChristianWeek
Just in time for our lecture tour north of the border, ChristianWeek, a periodical for Christians in Canada, has published a feature on Image and the Glen Workshop, our summer artists’ program in Santa Fe. The author, Peter Menzies, is the former publisher and editor of the Calgary Herald. He attended the Glen for the first time this summer, where he experienced the Image community in full force. In the article, Menzies reflects on the courage of the artists he met at the Glen, and the mission of Image to carry a rich legacy of faith and art into a culture in need of a renaissance. Says Menzies, “Those who attend [the Glen Workshop], professional or amateur, seek the revelation of beauty and therefore meaning in life—something that for many appears lost in a world that can no longer name its great writers, sculptors, visual artists or poets.… The pilgrims of Santa Fe hold on to the prayer that it is art that can inspire substance where pop culture offers only poverty.”

To read the full article, click here. Stay tuned for announcements for Glen 2008!