Biosophilia

Very good Post. We couldn't agree with you more. More times than not, people aren't ready to bring humility to the table when it comes to being a critic on the finer things in life. When I was first able to enjoy the pleasures of tabacco I decided, as did the young men in C.S. Lewis' example, that if a cigar or if a pipe tabacco cost less than $9.00 each or less than $5.00 an ounce then I would write it off as a gas station cigar or wal-mart pipe tabacco and raise my nose to anyone who would light them. As I grew in my taste and passed through the "stage" I begin to enjoy the craftsmenship of a nicely rolled cigar with a perfect drawl and a price tag under 9 bucks. Prince Albert started to have flavor and I began to appreciate their ability to mass produce a fine tabacco. Nonetheless, even though some of us are not being as patient we must remember to be patient until they can lower their noses and step off their horses. I think its better to attempt to accomplish something beautiful than to criticize something and attempt to make it ugly.

Great thoughts, both of you.

I think you make great points. However, I find myself disliking things, like T. Kinkaide, because they are so mainstream. If every house on every block has a T.K. painting in it, I start to roll my eyes a bit. I don't know what that says about me, but if it's easily attainable and mass produced, it doesn't seem as appealing to me. I am not trying to be a snob, I'm really not. There's no way I could sit down and do what he does... And I don't think I'm better than people who own it. I probably do think that they aren't willing to go outside a certain "comfort zone" and could be missing out on other things though. I dunno, what do you think? Am I being condescending?

Shannon- I wouldn't say that you are being condescending. I understand that people have certain likes and dislikes. My main problem is that he is a professing Christian and doing what he does to the glory of God - and he is being bashed- not by the secular world, but by other Christians. Why should we mock him? We owe him the same respect that we do any other human being- graciousness. And the fact that he has a voice - he is recognized by secular and Christian alike gives him a lot more opporunities than we have. Why not support him? Why would we bash someone who is promoting the cause of Christ? We don't have to say that their art is the best we've ever seen, nor do we even have to like it, or buy it. But, we don't have to make fun of it. We don't have to put it on the same level as cheap, slutty romance novels. He deserves at the very least our respect as a fellow believer. I, personally, had to learn to appreciate his stuff. I thought all he ever did was sweet little cottages with lights in the windows- that looked rather girly. Then I found a calendar with his paintings and loved it so much I cut out three of the pictures and framed them. Then we got his book as a gift called "Perfect Peace and Rest" that has lots of landscapes, city scenes, rural churches, beaches- all kinds of stuff. He really is quite talented. Perhaps, some people who like his stuff are stuck in a some sort of "comfort zone"- but that has nothing to do with Kinkade, but with the people.

Good point! I do appreciate that he is called the "Painter of Light" and tries to reflect something of God's glory in his pictures. Often, people with such talent, or intelligence, or whatever gift, focus it on themselves and where it can get them in life. Nice to see someone turn his talents Elsewhere.

Even if it's not exactly my thing, I would not berate him for what he's doing.

As a Christian, I dislike Kincaid's work because it reinforces what the world says about us-- that we are living in a dream world unconnected to reality. He reinforces the charge that Christians see the world through a romantic's eyes, all sweetness and light with no real solutions for tough issues.

Read C.S. Lewis further and you will see that he valued Christian faith that had no delusions about the world, saw things as they were, but had answers for the hard questions of life. Lewis valued faith that acknowledged the reality we see and feel and taste all around us, but was transcendant to it, touching the face of God. That is a faith that has meaning!

So, dear Christian artist, please try to show me purpose and meaning in the midst of pain and suffering in this world. Show me honor and sacrifice for a higher calling. Show me love for others that holds on even when the cost is great. Show me God actively helping us in the travails we each face. That is the type of art work that satisfies the soul, not pastel colors that soften and soothe, only depicting life as we wish it could be. What a shame that a man of Kincaid's talent could not be used to so much more effect.