Creativity as part of God’s nature
By Mike Goatman
In this Guest post, Mike Goatman explains and explores how he sees creativity as part of God’s nature and our identity as His image-bearers. Mike’s love of art began at school, grew through study and marriage, and later flourished in church groups where painting became a way to express faith. For Mike, art is not about achievement but about expression, with every mark reflecting something unique and valuable, pointing always to the eternal and his lifelong walk with Christ, he believes God is the supreme artist who delights in both His creations and ours.
It says in Romans 1:20 ‘ …. His (God’s) eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made..’
Creativity is part of God’s nature, He did, after all create the world, and the creativity and beauty in the world is breath-taking every day. The Bible begins with God’s work of creation, which is described in detail in Genesis 1: vs 3 to 25, ending with:
‘And God saw that it was good.’
We are made in His image and creativity is part of the way God made us as it is part of Him.
The biggest thing that has happened in my life was meeting The Lord Jesus Christ when I was 14 through a boy’s Bible club called Crusaders, I was previously unchurched, and didn’t come from a Christian family.
Art properly started for me when I was doing A levels. I was helping paint the scenery for the school play, when the art masters sidled up to me and said ‘we think you should do art, you may be a natch’. From the moment I went into the art room I found a sense of release, the blank sheet on which you could do anything you wanted gave a creative release that had been wanting to be set free for ages. Then I fell in love with Mandy my wife and together we explored the London galleries. So, art became mine as opposed to something that belonged to school or home. After 2 years art foundation courses, I did a 3-year degree in design.
Fast forward about 30 years to sitting in a church home group and discussing ‘interest groups’ linked to the group. I said ‘well I want more chance to paint, do you think anyone will want to paint with me?’. Encouraged by the groups response we started holding regular art evenings, and I went back into looking at paintings to work out where to start to introduce themes for the sessions and became enthralled with artworks all over again. One theme explored was ‘My story’, which enabled Christians to tell their own story and the part Christ has in their lives.
So, what’s it about? Art is essentially a medium of expression through visible and tangible language. For me it’s all about creativity, not accomplishment. Every time anyone makes a mark on a piece of paper (or other medium) they are expressing themselves and creating something new, only they could have made that mark. If you ask a number of people to paint exactly the same thing you will see as many different pictures as there are people and each one will tell a story about that person and be valuable because its original, it’s a new image we’ve never seen before. it’s amazing how inspiring it is when the ‘gallery’ is pasted up after a session to see the different ways of seeing and interpreting the same subject. The expression is tacit, you can’t not express yourself in artwork. If you look at the sketches of Gainsborough and Constable done ‘au plein air’ in preparation for a finished work, that’s where you can see their passion for their subject and their natural creativity. There’s no doubt that creativity is good for you, it gives release, and allows you to express yourself without rules and constraints. Whatever you see is important.
For me personally it’s like walking out into a field newly covered in snow and making the first footsteps. During the lock – down I often painted the sea, although we were living then in the middle of the country. So it wasn’t about the sea, it was a way to express feelings and moods. A lot of my canvasses have a horizon. I think this is because I’m drawn towards the eternal, the unknown, the possibilities beyond, and most of all to perfect eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ who I have followed and loved for over 50 years now.
In my last position I was Head of Industrial Design at Coventry University, which includes automotive, product and interior design. Automotive design being the design of external and internal form of motor vehicles. If you go to the Ferrari Museum at Modena the forms of the cars do look pretty fantastic, but then you look at one of the David Attenborough programmes and see a leopard changing direction at speed and it makes even the best Ferrari look static and contained. In fact, everything God designs is better than all that we’ve produced, He is the supreme artist and designer.
It’s possible to get a limited view of who God is and what He expects. He is after all The Great God, He sits on His throne, He is above all, will be the judge of all, and our rightful position is kneeling before Him. But He also made us in His own image, He loves us enough to send His beloved son Jesus to suffer and die for us in order that we can be with Him forever. The breadth of God is extraordinary, far beyond our imagination. I’m convinced that God, the supreme Creative, enjoys creating, He enjoys us creating, and He wants us to enjoy His creations and he enjoys ours. C.S. Lewis relates in his writings that every pleasure has been created by God for us and is to be enjoyed, art is one.
About the Author
Mike is married to Mandy and they have 3 children and 4 grandchildren.
He has had a long career in design, visiting many countries and led his subject in 3 Universities.
He has been part of churches in the UK and The Netherlands and has previously a member of a church leadership team.
Art has been the basis of his career and he has led art groups in several churches believing that creativity is part of who God is and can bring us all joy and fulfilment.