S13 E05: Why Community Matters with Stephen Roach

This week's episode is a collaboration with Lisa Smith of the Be. Make. Do. Podcast!

We are flipping the mic around for this one and inviting fellow podcaster, Lisa Smith to ask MM host, Stephen Roach a few questions about the importance of community in the life of the artist and why gathering together now is such an important part of our creative work and the process of healing from social isolation.

You can learn more about Lisa’s community of artists at soulmakers.org or see the show notes of this episode.

In just a few weeks Lisa and several of the artists from her community will be joining us at The Breath and The Clay creative arts gathering to host a workshop on Curating Wholeness: Building A purposeful world through Art.

Join the Makers and Mystics Creative Collective

Summer '21 Series E01: Calligrapher David Chang

Welcome to the Makers & Mystics Summer Series of artist interviews and bonus episodes! This episode features guest-host Vesper Stamper in conversation with calligrapher, David Chang.

David Chang is an NYC based artist merging the traditions of Western calligraphy and Eastern philosophy that is shaped by immediacy of his urban environment. Chang’s art is a sustained exploration into the significance and meaning of words and texts as embodied through physical gestures. Centuries-old eastern techniques in calligraphy find new form in the western alphabet as the artist shapes his own hermeneutics of the hand. The artist's brushwork, vacillating between traditional scripts and contemporary abstraction, issues statements of personal, cultural, and spiritual awareness, while it also retains an autonomous formal beauty full of urgency and grace.

Become a Patron of the podcast!

S6 E3: Slow Art with Makoto Fujimura

Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist, author and speaker whose process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of the New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.”

In a culture driven by speed and instant gratification, the idea of slow art runs counter to our normal modes of living.

Mako’s approach to art challenges our relationship to time and invites us into a more reflective approach to life, creating and viewing art.

In this episode Stephen speaks with Mako as he worked in his Princeton New Jersey studio. The two discuss his process of art-making, culture care and the importance of slowing down not only in art but in our relationships and in life.

Music for this episode is provided by jazz artist, Alfred Sergel four with compositions from his latest release, Sleepless Journey.

Patrons access additional interview segments with Mako on the importance of mentoring emerging artists, beauty, a glimpse into his daily practices and advice for artists of faith working in the world of art.

S5 E12: Impermanence with Lanecia Rouse Tinsley

Lanecia Rouse Tinsley is an abstract artist based in Houston, TX. Her portfolio also includes a range of work in photography, painting, teaching, writing, and speaking.

Lanecia creates out of a desire to make the invisible landscapes within and the human condition known; using texture, form + color to speak to life upon various surfaces in ways words cannot.

In addition to her art, Lanecia works with projectCURATE as Co-Spiritual Director and Consultant for the Arts; and is Co-founder/Co-Creative Director of ImagiNoir Group, an international alliance and think-tank of black activists, artists, writers, scholars and educators.

Lanecia is a graduate of Duke University Divinity School (MDiv) and a graduate of Wofford College with a BA in Sociology.

In this episode, Stephen talks with Lanecia about her creative process and about art as healing and as a means of expressing the full range of our human experience.

***Patrons on the podcast can enjoy an additional interview with Lanecia about her inspiration in James Baldwin as well as a downloadable PDF of Baldwin’s essay on The Creative Process.

This episode is sponsored by: DITA 10 Duke Initiative in the Arts. Join Lanecia, Makers and Mystics podcast, Chris Wiman and many others at this event.

Music Provided by: Moda Spira

Support The Podcast! Become a member of our creative collective.

Artist Profile Series 04: Nikolai Berdyaev

Nicholas Berdyaev was a Russian philosopher who believed our mission as human beings is to be collaborators with God in His continuing creation of the world. In this episode, Stephen highlights a passage from Berdyaev's book, The Meaning of The Creative Act on creativity and redemption.

Philosophy, theologyStephen RoachAugust 15, 2018Nicholas Berdyaev, philosophy, theology, art and faith, creativity, redemption

S4 E5: A Theology of Art with David Taylor

David Taylor is a professor of theology and culture at Fuller University in Houston, Texas. His work centers on revitalizing the church through the creative arts. He has written and edited several books including his most recent, The Theater of God’s Glory: Calvin, Creation and the Liturgical Arts.

In 2016, David produced a short film on the psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson. He has lectured widely on the arts in both academic and popular settings, in the United States and abroad.

In this episode, Stephen talks with David about his work with Bono and Eugene Peterson as well as his perspective on the relationship between artists and the church.

Sponsor: Red River Turning Company

Featured Music: Sister Sinjin

Join The Makers & Mystics Creative Collective!

David Taylor’s Blog

The Theater of God’s Glory (book)

Phaedra Taylor Artist Website

Bono and Eugene Peterson: The Psalms

S 3 E9: On The Relationship Between Art & Faith with Stephen Roach

In October of 2017, Stephen Roach joined United Pursuit for their Reunion Retreat held on Johnny Cash's land in Nashville, Tennessee. As part of the event, Stephen shared two keynote talks on the interface between creativity and spirituality.

This episode features excerpts from Stephen's talk On The Relationship Between Faith and Art and encourages artists to pursue their creativity without tired, religious constrictions.

Tickets To The Breath & The Clay

Become A Patron of The Podcast

Faith and Art, Inspiration, keynotesStephen RoachFebruary 7, 2018Stephen Roach, art and faith

S2 E13: Naming The Animals

In this keynote talk, Stephen Roach proposes that creativity is our birthright and essential to fulfilling God's original design for humanity. Stephen encourages that we are in the midst of a creative awakening and calls the church to break free from religious oppression into the creative liberty of sons and daughters.