S13 E04: The Art of Lament with Amanda Held Opelt

Amanda Held Opelt is an author, speaker, and songwriter. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds.

In today’s episode Amanda discusses the art of lament and how deep-rooted communal practices of shared grief can help us heal and grow through the difficult experiences of our lives.

Drawing from her book Holy Unhappiness: God, Grief and the Myth of the Blessed Life, Amanda shares her journey of grappling with experiences of disillusionment when life with God didn’t feel the way she expected it to feel.

*In just a few weeks, you can join Amanda live at The Breath and the Clay creative arts gathering where she will be conducting a workshop called “Let There Be Grief: Rituals and Remembrances As a Path to Healing.”

Support the podcast.

Art As Healing, Author, authors, Community, Culture, Grief, The Breath and the ClayStephen RoachFebruary 27, 2024amandaheldopelt, grief, lament

S11 E13: Building Bridges with Katherine Paterson

There is a relationship between grief and transcendence that may not be immediately recognizable. But it’s one often expressed within art and in particular, children’s literature.

Whether it’s Lewis’s wardrobe to Narnia, Dorothy’s house transported by cyclone to Oz or a bridge to Terabithia built across a chasm of loss.

Grief has a way of transporting us to a fantastical world of imagination where we can more easily grapple with the difficulties of loss and even find closure to the trauma that sent us looking for relief.

In this episode, Makers & Mystics host Stephen Roach talks with children's book author Katherine Paterson about the motivations behind her writing and why she feels it is important to create a safe space through art and literature for young adults to work through difficult emotions and experiences.

Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 40 books, including 18 novels for children and young people. She has twice won the Newbery Medal, for Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981.

LIsten on Spotify

Listen on Apple

S10 E05: Let There Be Art with Rachel Marie Kang

Rachel Marie Kang is a New York native, born and raised just outside New York City. She is an author, poet and founder of The Fallow House online creative community. Her writing has been featured in Christianity Today, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and (in)courage.

A mixed woman of African American, Native American (Ramapough Lenape Nation), Irish, and Dutch descent, she is a graduate of Alliance College with a Bachelor of Arts in English with Creative Writing and a minor in Bible.

In this episode, Rachel and I discuss her book, Let There Be Art: The Pleasure and Purpose of Unleashing the Creativity Within You.

In keeping our season ten theme of Restoration for the heart of the artist, Rachel and I discuss what it is like to create in the space between life and death, joy and grief and how creativity can serve as a bridge between the two poles.

S8 E09: Armature and Astonishment with Sarah Hempel Irani

Sarah Hempel Irani has been sculpting expressive figures in clay and stone for nearly twenty years. Originally from Michigan, she moved to Maryland to apprentice with Jay Hall Carpenter, former Artist-in-Residence at the Washington National Cathedral.

Sarah has contributed sculptures to national shows and received several notable awards, including the Maryland Arts Council Individual Artist Award in 2009.

Currently Sarah is sculpting a seven-and-a-half-foot statue of renowned fashion designer, Claire McCardell, to be cast in bronze and installed in McCardell's hometown of Frederick, Maryland.

In this episode, Stephen talks with Sarah about her creative process as a sculptor, how technique and spontaneity work together and how practices such as centering prayer leads to unexpected astonishment in her art making.

This episode features song interludes from Songs of Water’s three song EP titled Bright Mystery.

**Virtual and a limited number of live tickets are available to The Breath and The Clay 2021 taking place March 19-21 in Winston Salem NC. You can find this link in our show notes and on our official website at http://www.makersandmystics.com.

Art As Healing, Creative Process, Faith and Art, Grief, muralist, sculpture, sculptorStephen RoachDecember 11, 2020sculpture, sculptor, armature

S8 E07: Unearth The Flowers with Thea Matthews

Thea Matthews is a San Francisco born poet, orator and activist whose work centers on the complexities of humanity, grief, and resiliency. In this episode, Stephen Roach to talks with Thea about her debut poetry collection published by Red Light Lit titled, Unearth [The Flowers] and about her journey of finding healing and resiliency through poetry.

Thea's empowering poems provide a path to healing and illustrate how survivors can find a safe place within themselves to reclaim their own identity and sexuality.

Her book has been described as an electrifying letter to family, country, and self, Unearth [The Flowers] is relentless in its journey through stages of grief and healing while celebrating life.

S7 E14: The Path Became A Ghost with A Boy & His Kite

A Boy & His Kite is the music project by Colorado singer-songwriter and producer, Dave Wilton. In this episode, Stephen talks with Dave about the silence of God, expressing joy and grief through art, and the creative process behind his latest release, The Path Became A Ghost.